To think I should be able to express a desire to not want to send my child to the local school which has more than 95% asian children and not be called a racist!

[Sails]

The school is a few minutes walk away from me but I have no intention of sending my children there. Most classes there isn't a single white child in it especially the younger end of the school. The other nearest school is about a 25 minute walk away. It has a 50% mix have absolutely no problem with that whatsoever. I have asian neighbours and even they don't even send their Reception child to the local school. Told my hairdresser that I don't want to send my child to x school and she said "thats a bit racist!" Told my neighbour and she too was shocked and said I am probably the least racist person she knows!

Rest assured UQD, independent school parents do get a fair share of shit on MN

In fact, if memory serves me right, you yourself are one of the many people on MN who regularly dish out large dollops of shit to the independent school parents.

I don't dollop out shit, I argue the case for state education. And it doesn't happen for the same reasons and with the overwhelming tide of antipathy that one sees on here - all these people doing he knee-jerk "racist" thing without really stopping to think what it migth mean.

I'm with Squonk

Also if I was a racist would I not be thinking of sending my child to another primary school just a little bit further on where the vast majority are white rather that the one thats about 50/50? I told the hairdresser the one we were considering btw. And my reasons are: I want him to go to a school where there is a good mix of races where there isn't a large number of children starting school with English as a second language and where the transition to starting school can be as smooth as poss and hopefull my dc could make friends have friends round etc etc and where the school has a good ofsted report. Ofsted report actually said that English continued to be poor right up to starting secondary school although the children had largely caught up with Maths and science by then.

Sails - I have just sent you an email, if you see this and reply quick to the email I can take the book to the post office tommorrow

Only as prejudiced as the parent who took her black child from our majority white school because there werent enough "black children" and muslim parents & catholic parents who will not send their children to mainstream schools.

You are doing what you feel is right for your child, which is all any of us can do.

I would give your reason as being the ofsted report if anyone asks.

My opinion was based on the OP. Where the poster clearly wrote
I have no intention of sending my children there. Most classes there isn't a single white child in it especially the younger end of the school.

And... Onestonetogo - - they only provide Halal or Hindu food - you know that you probably eat halal meat when you get kebab? It's only a different way of preparing the meat!

Yurtgirl thanks for that! Not got the e-mail though I've just checked!
Anyway all this talk about schools today I thought was very hypothetical I thought because although ds1 is 3 and a half he is actually not starting school for another year and a half. I suppose people assume because of his age he is starting in September

Message withdrawn

Yurtgirl Your email went in to the junk emails for some reason! Have just replied!

It should be in the post tomorrow then!

Thanks!

Hmm...

DD's school (independent) is overwhelmingly Asian and Afro-Caribbean. She is one of only 2 white children in the nursery group.

As this reflects the ethnic make-up of the local area, I don't have a problem with this at all. The school is Catholic (but takes all comers and has a high proportion of Asian children as it's single-sex) and has an excellent reputation, it's also 5 minutes away so that we can walk DD to school. All of which were contributing factors.

However, the friend thing (ie that 'Asians don't do playdates') is something that other people have said to me and it did bother us for a bit before we finally made our decision.

DD's just had her 4th birthday party. Out of 30 children invited only 5 didn't come and only 4 of them didn't bother to reply (another 'problem' others have told me about - which I have to say I don't think is a racial thing!). She's also had several reciprocal invites to tea and birthday parties. So that particular chestnut doesn't appear to hold true...

In fact, the only thing I've noticed about DD being the minority is that when she's drawn pictures of mummy/daddy/herself she's given us all brown faces!

Onestonetogo - why would you not buy halal meat in the supermarket, or feed it to your children?

Onestonetogo - Halal meat I understand, but what is Hindu food?
Sails - just send your child to the school of your choice without fuss and the need to inform all.

Wasn't really making a fuss just answering a question and making conversation. It is afterall a subject that does come up from time to time when you have children nearing school age (although he isn't starting for another 18 months as already mentioned!)

Why do I have the feeling that the OP would be outraged if a black parent expressed concern about her child being the only black child in a class......?

Message withdrawn

Well that's fair enough then! I was genuinely interested, tone is so hard to express here!

I can see where the OP is coming from but what I cant see is why she is telling everyone, she is bound to get a reaction. Some things are best not said or repeated.

I went to 2 schools that were very mixed, at least 50% Asian and various other backgrounds too, and found it great.

However I then went on to a 6th form which had an even bigger percentage of Asians, and here I sometimes did feel it was a disadvantage - not because of any kind of racism, else I would not have been happy at the other schools and had friends of all backgrounds. It was more that a lot of the Asian students socialised only with each other and would sit in the common room chatting in Urdu, Punjabi etcetera (even though they were fluent in English too), and I often felt excluded.

So although I was happy to go to mixed schools, I was glad afterwards that I had not gone to the other local junior school, which was about 95% Asian at the time, as I think I would have felt very left out even though it is apparently a very good school.

I also think I would actually have learnt LESS about other cultures by going to that school, as at my schools we also mixed with black/white/Chinese/mixed race kids as well as Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims, so we learnt about pretty much every religion and culture, from Hanuman and the ten-headed demon Ravana to nativity plays and Chinese New Year!

So I can understand the OP's point of view, and don't necessarily think there's anything racist about it. And as she said, the school she prefers is also very mixed anyway.

I think possibly OP WNBU - if she just said she didn't want to send her child to a particular school but got called a racist before she had given any reasons as to why not. (ie her reasons were the crappy ofsted report and the other person immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was because the majority of children weren't white).
And (to OBM) - OK this might come back to bite me on the arse next year but: the playgroup I mostly take DS to is very racially mixed but very sociable as well, they have lots of parties and all the families come along, bring food and have fun.But we live in a very mixed area ie afro-carribean, asian, chinese/japanese and lots of mixed-race so maybe it's because there isn't one dominant group.

Of course it isn't racist.

We live in a similar area, and I am not sending my son to a similar school - for a lot of them English is a second language, which puts them (and would put my son) at a disadvantage.

At his school's "International Picnic" last year, there were flags of 32 different countries representing the ethnic diversity of his current school

YANBU.