"the more middle class the school, the better it does"

[puddle]

A study, reported in the Guardian today has found that regardless of background, children do better the more "middle-class" the school they attend. 50% of a school's performance is accounted for by the social make-up of its pupils.

Here's a quote from the article:

"In affluent areas, such as Dukes Avenue, Muswell Hill, in north London, and Lammas Park Road, Ealing, west London, the study would expect 67% of 11-year-olds to achieve level 5 in the national English tests and 94% of 15-yearolds to get five or more passes at GCSE at grade C and above.

Meanwhile, of the children growing up in more deprived areas, such as Hillside Road, Dudley, or Laurel Road, Tipton (both in the West Midlands), just 13% are likely to get the top level 5 in the national English tests for 11-year-olds, while only 24% of 15-year-olds will be reckoned to achieve the benchmark five-plus GCSEs at grade C and above.

Put simply, the more middle-class the pupils, the better they do. The more middle-class children there are at the school, the better it does. It is proof that class still rules the classroom."

This seems to me to be proof that middle class parents damage all children by taking their kids out of state education and into private schools and gives credence to the arguement that middle class parents should stick with the state sector to improve education for everyone.

Views? I know it's a total parp subject for many.....

why pick on the middle classes- why shouldn't the upper classes use state education as well?

Because they don't do Latin any more Iota! Silly!

Because the upper classes are widely acknowledged to be thick

I think if I was Enid I'd feel quite angry with the parents in her area for choosing private schools, rojak. I'd be gutted if my children went to a good village school which was nevertheless adversely affected by this middle class exodus which seems, imho, quite unncecessary and only motivated by snobbery.

On the other hand, I could never condemn, say, Marina, who I know would send her children to state schools if she thought it would do them more good than harm, but it's sadly not the case in her area.

I was educated in Ireland where class played a very small part in academic achievment. Some of the most successful pupils came from poor (and I mean dirt poor) agrarian classes. I don't know why but education was very highly regarded regardless of your background.

My family were pretty poor but we were in no doubt what was expected from us. It wasn't that they were involved in our homework, far from it, but you just knew that to gain their respect you had better do well at school. Perhaps it had something to do with seeing education as an escape from poverty. Maybe this explains why Ireland is so wealthy today.

I was going to say Rojak....the upper classes (bless their inbred little souls) would not survive a day in a state school. They need some more...help. Think Prince Harry!

are you really suggesting that parents should be so altruistic as to do something that they know is against the best interests of their own child in terms of their education for the greater good?

I think private schools should all be banned. You can bet your boots state schools would improve then. Does anyone think not?

Enid may feel angry with the parents who have deserted her state school but I reckon that because the area has a wide middle class catchment, that the school by virtue of its location and strength of its position on the league table will continue to attract other similar families.

But I just don't get this "blame the middle classes" thing - why? It's a free country and we all exercise choice to some extent. Most of us argued in favour of free speech over the Danish cartoons so why not for parental choice too?

middle class much larger than upper class so more impact?

Dinasour makes good points IMO. I don't know what the answers are totally though. And where I live where there is one school per village and the vast majority go to the village school it is not so much of an issue. The issues here are more about developers wanting to build vast new housing estates on green field sites and what impact that will have on the schools.

I think I am middle class, or at least bringing my children up in a middle class life style.

I must be middle class as I went to a Boden sale and then straight on to Waitrose, which apparently according to my mum, puts me past the point of no return, class speaking. She of ourse remains the miners daughter, while rampaging through my sales purchases and snacking on my Waitrose delicacies.
I moved 250 miles + to put my son into a better secondary school, but no way could we afford private, we were very lucky we had the option to move...
And I would move only if I felt my children were not being educated properly. I did that whaen I was lower class to as ds started school at a failing primary and I was absolutely with no other choice as I was a single working mother who had just exchanged om a house close to the school.
So actually I'm just smug :)

looking at the league tables for tipton the rot really seems to set in in a big way at secondary level

I still think it's a much bigger problem than schools and their attendees

if the area is lacking in economic terms then that has to be tackled

they are a lost cause iota

the only vaguely upper class mum I know who was happy to use our village school has used it for reception and year one but next year Bruno is off to switzerland for two terms to make sure he is up to speed with skiing and French before he goes off to private school (private primaries do common entrance and state schools dont apparently)

Ah piffle - maybe I am not then - no Waitrose or Boden for me... But I think my children will be.

rojak no it has a falling roll

sorry this is all a bit personal for me atm

Enid I'm not sure that your area is normal though- most of your neighbours seem to have more money than sense.

We are paying for ds2 from Sept, but wouldn't if we had your school on offer locally for free!

www- I'm sure it would have a good chance of improving things (providing the funding was increased sufficiently- and it would have to be massively!) but it isn't really practical- and what would happen to all the private schools offering alternative philosophies - eg Steiner- at a relatively cheap price (compared to most private schools).

There are plenty of parents who don't help with school work or take much of an interest in their child's education at all, but who have the money to move to a good area or pay a private school to take care of their child's education. So of course being mc or having money does not make a better parent as such.

I would not send my children to Eaton if they paid me 20K a year to have them as pupils. I think it's important that children grow up being able to mix with a wide range of people.

I know the circumstances

and they are not because the school is in anyway shite

I can quote them here if you like but they are pretty boring standard fare

Enid - baka is right. There is middle class and middle class.... And there does seem to be a lot more money rolling around your area of Dorset than much of the rest of the country.

Enid - baka is right. There is middle class and middle class.... And there does seem to be a lot more money rolling around your area of Dorset than much of the rest of the country.

Can't think of that many independent schools around Dukes Avenue (there may be a couple of small ones) the vast majority of children who live around there go to state schools (albeit v good ones) and some then go onto Fortismere. While the vast majority of children who go to the local state schools are middle class not all of them are but the common denominator seems to be that the parents are v committed to education and to paying tutors. Well over half of year 4 in one of the local primaries are tutored....rising to almost 100% by year 5....I hear that most children in Fortismere are tutored - probably explains the good results for a local comp.

parp parp parp parp parp parp parp parp parp parp and parp again.
Well my kids' school's last ofsted report said there was "an absence of middle class indicators in the area" (sheesh, said I to partner, we don't even register on the m c census) and it's a great school with great results. It doesn't do this because middle class people are beating down a path to its door. It does this by meeting the needs of the kids who wind up there, whose parents, like me, realise they are on to a very good thing. Absolutely shameful to suggest that only the middle classes care about their children's education, imo.