Schools admission criteria......

[LookingforMaryPoppins]

So, my youngest has her heart set on the same grammar school as her sister. She has worked hard and successfully passed the 11 plus. Really proud off her, she is dyslexic so no mean feat.... having just checked the admission criteria, having a sibling at the school makes no difference. Passing the 11 plus is the first criteria followed by children in care, pupil premium and then distance - she is bottom of the pile. If she doesn't get a place, which with that criteria is likely., the option is a sink failing school..... how is that fair?

There won't be enough children in care or entitled to pupil premium to fill the whole year's intake I wouldn't have thought.

@NoUsernameAvailableAgain I agree on PP not being black and white. You could have a child of divorced parents who lives with a parent on means tested benefits but the non resident parent may be wealthy so the child may still benefit from lovely holidays and great enrichment activities. Both parents could be graduates. Another family may be headed by a couple with poor education and skills and working in low skilled minimum wage roles but working high hours so not claiming benefits.

I very much doubt there has been a change in admissions criteria. Priority has been given to “looked after children” (which includes adopted children) for many years, even when I was going to secondary school in the 80s.

Jesus I’ve just now read some of this thread.

What a bunch of selfish people.

Do any of you have any idea the experience of children in care???

Give yourselves a shake.

The grammar system is simultaneously extremely fair and extremely unfair. I strongly believe it is a parent’s responsibility to ensure they are prepared to provide the support required to navigate the 11+ before they enter them. The admissions criteria are always very clear, whether you read them, like them, or not.

Your language speaks volumes. “Hardworking”, “normal” families - the very clear implication being that anyone needing extra support does not fall into these categories. I would suggest children in care - almost certainly through no fault of their own - have enough to deal with without being derided as “abnormal” by people like you, who think their offspring are far too precious for the local comp.

You are rightly proud of her daughter for passing her 11-plus despite the challenge of dyslexia. So maybe think for a minute about how challenging it must be for a child stuck in the care system to do the same. Realistically, how many are there? You make it sound like there’s a whole slew of children in care just waiting to pounce for the place to which you feel your daughter is more entitled.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if your daughter went to the “sink” school. Mixing with a more diverse group of contemporaries might teach her some of the life lessons and compassion her mother clearly never learned.

So you're complaining that children from typically poorer families and those looked after by the state are getting priority ina state funded system? Even when they have passed the 11+?

Have you looked at the proportion of children on PP or in care are actually enrolled in the grammar school? I bet its a small minority.

Just go private if you dont like the state system prioritising vulnerable children.

Thank you. I think sometimes people don't understand what proportion of the prison population has at some point been in care, the same with girls and women being involved in prostitution and sexual exploitation.
It's not about them having some amazing privilege, but attempting to give them at least a chance in life.

This thread illustrates so clearly what is wrong with the grammar school system. Even the people taking issue with the OP are showing up how ridiculous and damaging the system is!

Quite. A case of be careful what you wish for. People got what they wanted with a side order of what they didn’t. More fool them.

@EverythingElseIsTaken I've posted this already buts it's a fast moving thread. DS's old grammar school has changed the criteria since he applied 9 years ago. When he applied there was no priority for LAC but now there is.

I am extremely thankful to the headteacher who cared and wouldn't give up. She was a fantastic support for all of us.

Well done to your DD. I don't think people understand the pride we feel for very normal achievements. I still remember the day DD ran out of school with a massive smile on her face, telling me she could read now! Everyone else inherited year group was reading well - this was the first time she had managed it. I can still remember the name of the book - Bob Bug!!!

Lovely 🌹

I am very surprised that the OP didn't think to read the admissions criteria till now. Far too late to change her choices at this stage. If they live a 12 minute train ride from the school they're many miles away from it. If she was relying on sibling priority, it would have been sensible to check that actually existed.

having a sibling at the school makes no difference.

Good, that's as it should be for a grammar school. I know plenty of families where some of the kids passed the 11+ and went to grammar and where siblings didn't, because they didn't pass. That's what happens.

Exactly. The OP seems to believe the entire cast of Tracy Beaker will be rocking up at the grammar gates on 1 September; probably making rude hand gestures at the windows of the bus to the “sink” school as it passes by, packed with the mournful offspring of the overlooked “hardworking families”.

Exactly. It just perpetuates a two tier system. Some people just don't want to see equality of opportunity in education.

If the grammar system worked, people wouldn't worry about their child failing to get in, because they would then be going to a more suitable school.
It seems to me that somehow the existence of grammar schools seems to make the non grammars relatively 'worse'. Whereas all comp areas don't have that issue.

If you have documentation showing an imminent move then that can be used.

We had to do this as we had temporarily moved when our house sold to break the chain and were living with relatives in another village but were in the process of buying another house.

Although renting a house for 6 months just to get a school place is extreme. This is why house prices around grammar schools are high.

OP have you checked how many children from each category were offered places in previous years?

That’s exactly what has happened, and what many grammar school heads warned of. Many grammars (although it is area dependent) have seen large increases in applications from families who would otherwise have gone private.

😂😂
Look out for Maci-Lea, she's never been in John Lewis!.

My son has just passed his 11+.
But what I’m genuinely interested in what makes you think that children who are on PPG have parents who do not value their education?

All our local schools have admission criteria that puts ahead factors such as looked after children and pupil premium etc. I don't think this is unusual, are you sure it was actually a change not standard? It's always been the case in our borough.
Sibling rule at grammar has never been a thing. Grammar is hard going. Pupils should only go there if they are confident with the heavy academics.
I went to a grammar. I actually left end of year 8 as I hated it. It was so much pressure and I have adhd (undiagnosed back then). Then went to our local comp and started to enjoy subjects again and stil got good grades.
I wouldn't put my child in a grammar school full stop based on my own experience of being in one. They are very pressured and the pace is very fast and they are very focussed on grades and academics.
Either your child gets in based on being a top scoring candidate or she doesn't. If she doesn't then you should really think that its because it is not the right environment for her to be in.
You have probably hyped up DD1s place, were super proud when she got in etc, making your younger daughter think this is the be all and end all of schools. But really, I would not recommend sending any child to grammar who might struggle with academics. My grammar was one of the top three schools in the country at the time, but it was so pressured, mental health issues were rife, bullying and drugs. It was all girls and the kids were a bit of a mental health mess. Hence why I left myself.
My son could have passed the 11 plus, his sats scores were incredible but i decided not to put him through that. I never wanted to see my happy, creative, fun loving child be pressured into academic rigour and competative study. Grammar destroyed a lot of my peers mental health. Ok some kids do thrive but ai certainly wasn't going to watch my childs mental health be destroyed by such a system. I knew he would be better in a creative mix of people and a less academics heavy environment that focuses more on pastoral care and the whole child.

YABU. There are not likely to be huge amounts of kids in care/ pupil premium unless you live in a really deprived area. Your issue is going to be distance. And it’s completely unfair that your DC should get a place, just because her sister is there, when someone on the doorstep, who also passed their 11+, doesn’t.

The school and the LA will be able to tell you how far they took kids from last year and the year before and, sorry to sound wise after the event, if you’re in a difficult area on distance you might have considered moving if it’s that important.