English vs Welsh education

[BillandBen12345]

I have put this in education but am posting here for traffic. Hubby says it is U to not move for fear that the schooling is not so great and that I have no evidence of this...

We are considering moving to Swansea. My children are currently in Ofsted outstanding schools in England, yr 5 and yr 7. The school in wales that we would send them to is Estyn Excellent. However, I am told the education in Wales is not as good as England and that the children will leave school with a sub standard education. Is there any truth to this? Does anyone have any evidence either way that can help me make this tough decision? Tia.

Hubby hasn't made any ignorant comment @forallthesaints ???

I did the IB about a million years ago in Wales instead of A levels. I remember being told that I would struggle to get into uni over A level candidates because universities wouldn't understand the IB. This was the early 90s but I did get into a RG uni nevertheless. So I don't really worry about Welsh v English GCSEs, so much depends on individual choices and variables.

There is generally less angst in Wales (or at least in the circles I mix in) about school choices. I still have friends in England with DCs at similar stages in my own. Generally our Welsh school has been better at dealing with bullying and other interventions that our previous school in England. My children have had a far more broader primary experience with lots of residential trips and extra curricular activities that they wouldn't have had in their English school. I'm sure that this is just school specific though; I know plenty of primary schools in Wales that don't offer residential trips and mine started their first in year 3. Our school is v big so can offer more in the way of specialist art, music and computer facilities that they tiny rural English school could not.

My kids are happy and thriving here but one thing that does bother me a little is that Swansea is such a nice place to live that most of my contemporaries at school (I grew up here) never left. Ambition is limited to what Swansea can offer. The lifestyle here is amazing but I do want my children to look outside Wales for future career options and not just limit themselves to our tiny city.

I moved three children from another part of the UK (not England) which still maintains grammar school system and 11+ etc. Eldest only did a few months of primary but we noticed he was very ahead in Maths and English and this lasted for first two years of secondary where he was doing work he had already covered in his first primary school under a different curriculum. And this is at a highly rated, very academic welsh secondary. However now although he is in the top sets, he is surrounded by extremely able and bright children who presumably came through Welsh primary system and are all being stretched by the secondary curriculum. I also have had a couple of teenage babysitters from different schools and colleges in the area all of whom have gone on to top uk universities including Oxford and are flourishing.

My youngest has been almost completely educated in the Welsh system and has three more years to go. My personal observation is having had time to get used to it, the system here is just different. There are still some areas where I find it lacking but there is much more focus on a rounded education and whole child development which I have come to value. I also have some knowledge of how much resource and thinking is being put into the education system overall and effort to continue to improve it before making lots of quick changes which seems to happen elsewhere with teachers struggling to keep up.

We absolutely love Wales and in an area where an outdoor and sports focussed lifestyle seems to be the norm, our three are flourishing generally and we don’t regret our move at all. I know this was specifically about education but we’ve found everyone to be welcoming and friendly and that has helped us settle massively.

temporary IB? Swansea College by any chance...? Snap!

HildaSnibbs, yes! I don't think you were in my cohort though. There were only a handful of us - just five!

temporary I was there 98-00 so I think we missed each other - it was fantastic though, so glad I got the chance to study the IB. I was sad when I heard that the college stopped running it.

I was there 91-93. It's a real shame they stopped it but I guess it never really took off. We were very lucky.

Spam88 Welsh GCSE is compulsory, the rules changed last year x

They do Colouring now? When I was in school in South Wales in the 70s, we had no such luxuries. There's no electricity mind. This subject would be considered racist if we were talking about a different country, but the Welsh have always been fair game.

Bishopston comp is a fantastic school. In 2016 it came first in The Times list of UK state schools without a sixth form. First in the UK!!!

Op I'm in Swansea although currently in the East, where the dc 's Primary is fantastic but the Comp it feeds into is dire. Ds1 is fast approaching secondary age so we're planning a move this year to be close to a good Comp.

It doesn't take much research to quickly narrow down the best options in Swansea to Olchfa or Bishopton. I briefly looked at Pontarddulais Comp a few months back but I believe their status as 'best school' (if you've seen this) is a blip whereas Olchfa and Bishopston have been consistently excellent for years and years.

We've decided on Bishopston school as it tips the scale academically and it's also half the size of Olchfa which I personally prefer. We're currently looking in Newton, Bishopston, Murton or Southgate for a house. Be aware though that your money (to rent or buy) goes much further in the Olchfa catchment area of Killay and Sketty and that houses in Bishopston and surrounding get more pricey the further into Gower you go.

oslo ah I did wonder after I posted if it had changed. I wonder whether there's any change in practice though - top set people who didn't take welsh when I was there only had one lesson per week and were entered for a foundation short course GCSE.

Rumour has it Bishopton kids who feed into the local sixth form college have somewhat challenging behaviour for the staff.

Really temporary? In what way?

Obnoxious. Ridiculously rude and dismissive of teaching staff and worse to non teaching staff. Lots of "who are YOU to tell me what to do" and eye rolling. I have also heard rumours about drug taking but that isn't specific to Bishopston of course.

Olchfa is happy to enter students so long as they perform, not so much if they don't. They absolutely fail at tackling bullying. They were not interested when a student was beaten up badly outside school by other students. Ive heard it just isn't tackled by the school.

I have heard good and bad about all schools in Swansea. I went to poor performer but I did OK. I have chosen BG because it is the closest and we liked it. It may not have the reputation olchfa has but I am OK with that. There's a lot to be said for a short walk to school!

If someone at Gorseinon or Tycoch have said that 'generally' kids that come from Bishopston cause problems/are dismissive of teachers, I'd be more inclined to think it's some kind of sour grapes from them really.

Every school will have it's problems but Bishopston produces the best GCSE results in Swansea and some of the best in the whole of Wales - I'd find that hard to believe if most of their students are behaviourally challenged and dismissive of teachers tbh.

Well not all of them obviously. But I've heard it from a few sources. Not all of them Gorseinon. Not sure why it would be a case of sour grapes though. it didn't come across that way.

We’re in North Wales. DD grew up in an English household and learnt Welsh in school. Both the junior and senior schools in our town have a good reputation. She’s bright and never struggled really. She’s got a good job now and has just moved from Manchester to London.
I’ve never really settled here and we’re moving back to England in the next year.
I always found that the schooling was good though, no different really to my own school, other than learning Welsh.

Temporary I teach ex Bishopston pupils in a small independent school. I’ve found them all charming, funny and well taught.

I went to Bishop Gore, live in the catchment for one of the other schools you've mentioned and did my teacher training in England. Education in Wales IS different. Not bad but different to England certainly. Welsh is compulsory (we had to do it as a short course in my day) although I loved languages and was able to do three! Bishopston is, by some people at least, considered 'the school to go to'. Friends children who have attended have done well there but the same can also be said for Bishop Gore and Olchfa! Each does have a slightly different slant though and I think figuring out where your priorities lie will go some way to helping you make a decision should you decide to make the move.

My welsh education certainly did me ok!

It is very very sad to me that someone doesn't see how it's offensive to rubbish the education system which taught me and my family, thus making my qualifications count for less than for those awarded over the border. All it took was a few googles for you to figure this out yourself. Check yourself OP. You have offended many and should be able to work out from that that what you said was offensive.

Cardibach, that's good to hear. I know some very lovely children going there in September!

Ah my family were very much the same when we moved to DH's home town in Wales when the DC's were small. Very much I was dooming them to a sub-standard life all round. They have an amazing life, go to a school that annually scores more highly than the very expensive private school I went to and are just models of the teens you want due to all the outdoor activities available when you live near mountains and sea.

Swansea is an amazing place to live and has some excellent schools, you will have the beach and Gower peninsula to the front of you and beautiful, beautiful mountains all around as well as all the culture in Cardiff just on your doorstep. Grab that job offer and welcome to Wales!