Private school plumbs new depths

[Lemonsole]

Well. I have browsed many a thread here about the depths that Queen Ethelburger's school/faculty/college will go to in the quest for pupils.

Here I am, one of the people least likely ever to use a private school, and today they sent me a mail shot.

My jaw hit the deck when I saw inside it a list, by full name, of their leavers, together with their university destination and course, and full A level results.

Would anyone here ever send their DC to a school that sent that information out to randoms? Really? Here is my email to them, but I am wondering whether I should also report them elsewhere. Has any other Guardian-reading southerners been sent this rubbish?



I am horrified that you have mail shot me. My children are far too important to me to take the risk of educating them in any school that needs to send out mail shots to people who have never expressed any interest in your school.

However, as a teacher and parent, I am even more horrified that you sent the names, A-level grades and current university of your leavers in a mailing. This alone shows me that you have no respect for the personal data of your pupils and show scant regard for the most basic safeguarding procedures. You can show destinations without names, you know. Any good school or college can do this. 

Do not contact me again. I am a member of the mailing preference service. Do not pass my data on to any other organisation. The reference on your envelope was jhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhj Please confirm my email that you have deleted my details and that they will not be passed on. I would also be interested to know where you got my address from.

[goralka]

ooh how we laughed

[SoldeInvierno]

I got that letter as well and have been wondering who the hell sold them my address.

[archilles]

I am feeling very left out. Sad to say no mail shot here.

Xenia, you are quite the most boring,unpleasant and ignorant person to frequent this board. Posting the same old tripe repeatedly does not make it true.

[drjohnsonscat]

Nicely done greythorne.

[SunshadesOfGrey]

DH got this too. He's on the no junk mail preference list and is far better than I am at remembering to tick the box to not send any crap. neither of us shop at Boden.
Very strange indeed

[blisterpack]

I wasn't too bothered about the mail shot, though I didn't know at the time what a mass scale it was on. Thought we were special .

It was the doctored league table that made me giggle. I'm not giggling at any children or their results though as above. Just the fact that they listed only co-ed, indies, with both boarding and day pupils. Thereby eliminating all the top names in one swoop.

[Turniphead1]

I feel really gutted not to have been "mail-shotted" by Queen Ethelburgas.

[Turniphead1]

Wot Greythorne said.

[CaseyShraeger]

I got this. I was a bit surprised, but thought I was special . I may have the mailshot still lying around somewhere if those feeling left out would like a copy (although TBH that sounds like a far more selective group).

[OhDearConfused]

Unless there is "informed consent", there is a clear breach of data protection law - the point ha been made above already.

However, I do not think that consent obtained in the Ts and Cs of the contract (signed at the beginning of year 7, or whatever entry point is applicable) does the trick. They would need to ask at the time of the mailing to include children's results. By then, they would ask the children who would be clearly of an age to give informed consent.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

I think the past tense in this instance might be 'mail shat'.

[bulletpoint]

Greythorne said ^Xenia
Yes, silly state schools. They take everybody. All children in catchment. The bright ones. The not so bright ones. The ones with learning difficulties. The ones with absent parents. Or parents working two minimum wage jobs to stay afloat. So amusing of them to highlight their modest exam successes.

How the private school parents with £20k a year per child to spare, plus a bright child who is academically able must giggle.^

Absolutely! I dont think private school parents are giggling at all, Xenia is just ghastly and her arrogance knows no bounds, ridiculous woman!

[Abra1d]

At my son's school Further Maths papers are referred to as 'Asian Maths' because of the high concentration of boys from China in particular who sit them and excel in them.

[iseenodust]

at TheOrigSN

[Lemonsole]

I do like the past tense "mail shat". It depicts meaning in, oh, so many ways.

[Umeboshi]

I think Xenia's post got slightly misconstrued. She was criticising the schools for pompously trumpeting mediocre results. Perhaps she has a point. I know that my son's old comprehensive got very few A*s for its pupils and the reason was the teachers were struggling to shout over the children. The bright children at the school were not being well served.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

How on earth do you know they are 'pompously trumpeting'?

If Xenia felt she had been misconstrued, she's had plenty of time to say so.

[Umeboshi]

Nit -- Because she's repeatedly used the words 'trumpeting' and 'mediocre'.

The sad thing is most of you weren't really paying attention to what she was trying to say. You were too busy pandering to your own prejudices about her.

Next time, read the words more attentively.

Personally, I agree with her. Celebrating mediocrity is pretty sad.

[Greythorne]

umeboshi

Re-read Xenia's post

She did not talk about anybody being "pompous"

And she talked about decent grade, not mediocrity.

[goralka]

Next time, read the words more attentively
I have deconstructed her message totally and all I can see is blatant mocking of state schools for celebrating any success.

[bamboostalks]

Dh received one. Very bizarre indeed as we live in London and have never professed any interest in this establishment.

[poozlepants]

I got one and I live in Scotland and have one DC (4). It can't be Boden as I haven't shopped there from this address. I did think it was very strange. I scoffed.

[Umeboshi]

Greythorne -- in Xenia's very own words:

'No one disputes that their [the good state schools'] exam results are excellent. What I meant in passing was some of our schools which take children who don't go there will trumpet someone in the local paper with relatively mediocre grades, that's all ...'

Is that really so hard to decipher?