to not want my DD to get lumbered in the 'chav house'?

[HobbitMama]

I think I probably am B a bit U about this, but need to get it off my chest -
my DD's off to a (lovely) secondary in Sept - in fact, the one I went to. They now have the school divided in to 'communities' which seem to be akin to 'houses' in HP - there's a maths one, a Literacy/languages one, a Performing Arts one, a Humanities one, and a PE/Science/DT one.
Apparently the latter one is rumoured amongst the Year 6's as 'the one they put all the chavs in'.
My DD, is into English, Drama, Art, has just started piano with me, and does tap dance, choir and tennis during the week, so all in all more arty than sporty.
Her BF, with whom she's with, doesn't seem sporty or sciency in the slightest, but does have a stepdad who teaches PE in a nearby secondary.
I can't help but feel that it's this association that has got them into this community, and feel that my daughter's just been declared to be a Slytherin, when ANY of the others would have been preferable.
The one she's been put in seems to have the worst record for rewards and behaviour, so I'm worried that this is just going to discourage her from trying at all eventually, and she's angelically behaved at school at the moment.
Of course, I can kick up a stink about this, but will probably feel really petty doing so and obviously would only do so if DD wants me to. But it also means that DS, now 7, will be put in the same community - and he's ALSO more arty than sporty!
Is it really such a big deal? Or am I having a strop over nothing?

at runnybottom!

TBH if you went into a school with this attitude asking for your daugher to be moved you would be unlikely to get what you want. Maylee is right. They will think you are snobby and odd and that would be more likely to have an effect on your childs future than a silly house system.

AMIS - hadn't thought of the geographical practicalities, so that may well explain it.
And yes, that's why I thought they did it that way - so that the 'care' teachers would be able to help them with the subjects they're good at, or the ones they enjoy.
Perhaps you're right about the bullying, undoubtedly lots of backgrounds, as was the case with my secondary friends - but by chav, let me explain that my perception of a chav (in this context) is someone who has not learnt the value/enjoyment of education, who (for whatever reason,) sees no benefit in school and therefore not only makes no effort in lessons, but actively discourages others through peer pressure and bullying. I guess that may be why their reward and behaviour tally's so low compared to the others?

Getting back to your OP - you accept the perceptions of a (presumably) small number of year 6s who are not evn attending the school concerned

I know you are worried about Secondary school, but this all sounds a bit barmy.

The children in my DSs school talk all sorts of crap about things of which they have no experinec

experience - not experinet

Also (sorry, me again) - you are REALLY getting ahead odf yourself worrying about your 7 year old. The school could be gone by then, you might have moved etc etc etc etc)

As of today, parents can set up their own schools. Suggest you do this.

LIFE IS TOO FUCKING SHORT.

she has a boyfriend? isn't she a bit young for that?

Do you have any reason beyond playground gossip for thinking that the low-aspiration children are put into this house? Or that this house genuinely does have lower "points" on a regular basis? Even if the house does have lower points than others, that can often be explained by one or two "persistent offenders" rather than an overall culture problem. Those individuals may be leaving this year, or next, and are very unlikely to have an influence on the children in your DDs year.

I honestly seriously doubt that any school would deliberately cluster the low-aspiration children into one house. Why would they do that? It would be a recipe for continued low achievement, if there was a culture of "not trying" which filtered down from one years under-achievers to the next all within the same house.

I agree with you that there are children who have already been put off learning, have low aspirations, may cause disruption etc (though I wouldn't call them chavs, and would feel sympathetic to what has already gone wrong in their lives). But I think you are misunderstanding the school's system, and believing gossip.

BF is Best Friend in this context i think.

yes of course that's what you mean by chavs.

You are not a cello teacher talking about the perils of your child mixing with the working classes at all

There are a load of things you need to worry about when your child goes to senior school. This nonsense isn't one of them, by a long chalk.

BF = Best Friend

I'm finding the reference to Slytherin hard to take seriously

I know... Slytherin were actually good at some stuff - it was Hufflepuff that all the chav's would have been in. I thought everyone knew that!

No it was Gryffindor

Ron was poor

Harry Orphan

Hermione mudblood

Aaah , but Hermione was a girly swot, therefore not a chav

Runnybottom you induced a spluttering-tea-at-work-moment [stern look]

... and her parents were dentists

mudblood dentists though disgusting common creatures !

ask her to be put into a different house

what else can you do?

good luck

sorry miss Omni, I'll go put myself in the bold corner with the chavs.