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Original poster

Its good enough for mine if its good enough for yours

269 replies

educationforteachers · 31/12/2013 12:59

If the school is not good enough for the teachers kids, then should it be good enough for our kids?

Should this apply to primary and secondary?

Should this apply to the methods they are using in school?

Since teachers are after all the best people to ask!

OP posts:
Seeline · 31/12/2013 13:17

Depends on whether the teachers children are going to a different school for any other reason.
Eg what is the impact on the child being in the same school as the parent - is it something that either party would prefer not to have to endure?
Is the parent teaching at the local school - would it be better for the child to be at a local school to meet other local children?
Is the school the best for the individual needs of the child - we all (allegedly) get a choice of school, why shouldn't the children of teachers?

TeWiSavesTheDay · 31/12/2013 13:27

It is reassuring if teachers send their dc to the school they work at, but I don't see any reason why they should have to - in fact I think that would be unfair on the teachers dc if they had no chance to go to a school that suited them better/was closer to home/no worries about whether they are being treated fairly.

If I was a teacher I would try and avoid sending my dc to my school.

MirandaWest · 31/12/2013 13:30

A lot of teachers live sufficiently far away from their school that their children provably wouldn't get a place there. Or it could be that another school meets their children's needs better.

BackforGood · 31/12/2013 13:42

Maybe the teachers want to give their dc an opportunity to be who they are, rather than "MrsSoandSo's dc"

Maybe it's not the local catchment school for where the teacher lives

Maybe the teacher's dc have their own individual needs which need to be met at the best school for them

Or maybe the teacher knows a school isn't the best at the time of accepting the post, but feels they are capable of making a positive difference to the school.

MrsCakesPremonition · 31/12/2013 13:48

Most teachers at my DCs school would not be eligible for a place as the admission rules mean that the school effectively has a tiny admissions area. Or are you suggesting that local children lose their places at the school in order to prioritise the children of teachers?

MrsKwazii · 31/12/2013 13:49

All of the teachers I know work at schools that are way out of catchment for their own children, some even in different counties. That would be why their children aren't there.

TaillessChicken · 31/12/2013 13:53

There is no reason why they should go to the school a parent works at - it might be too far away, it might be/not be a church school, they might not get a place, the parent might have gone to work their after their DC was settled in school - any number of reasons really.

I know a teacher who sent her children to a different school; she gave them the choice which high school they went to and they chose the other one. I know she felt that she had to justify it though, she would get asked outright by colleagues and parents why her children hadn't gone there.

fedup21 · 31/12/2013 13:58

My children do not go to the school I teach at, they go to our catchment school!

My friend's dad was the headmaster at their local school so she went to a school slightly further afield. They didn't want her to be known as Mr Smith's daughter and also didn't want people to say she was only chosen for the hockey team because of who she was etc etc

Try not to read too much into this-there are many reasons why teachers don't send their own child to the school they work at.

LaVolcan · 31/12/2013 14:44

Are you talking about teachers who send their children to independent schools whilst teaching in a local state school? If so, OP, then I would tend to agree with you - if the standard of teaching that they are offering is not good enough for their own children, then why should it be for mine?

Mary1972 · 31/12/2013 14:53

One of ours went to the same school (he was the only boy of ours at the time and it was all boys in that school). We only had to pay 15% of the fees. His parent treated him just like any other pupil and was very careful not to be nicer to him (the rare times he taught him) than to others. It was a pretty good prep school actually so win win all round.

Plenty of parents do not earn enough to pay school fees so of course they cannot afford better education. If teacher can afford it good luck to them - we should be patting them on the back not denigrating them.

TaillessChicken · 31/12/2013 14:55

LaVolCan - but a teacher can only be responsible for the quality of their teaching and not that of others? I'd agree with you with regard to a head teacher though.

The head at the school that both mine went to lives in one of the nearby villages and his daughter goes to their village school. I think that's right for her - it wouldn't be fair if she had to go to where her Dad works but if her Dad was head of the village school then I'd expect him to send his daughter there.

Original poster
educationforteachers · 31/12/2013 15:19

Seeline
I agree with free choice for teachers kids
but if its not good enough for your kids why is good enough for mine?
we can always find laudable reasons for our kids not going to the same school we teach in

as somebody outside the profession, parents don't really know what is going on
if you want to know what is going on in a school, ask a teacher off the record, ask a teaching assistant off the record, or should we rely on Ofsted?

If you wanted to fix a system you would ask people doing the job

OP posts:
Original poster
educationforteachers · 31/12/2013 15:25

I love this term "meets the children's needs better"
it is the catchall of all catchalls

LaVolcan
I wasn't referring to independents in particular

OP posts:
Havingagoodny · 31/12/2013 15:27

I actually think that it's preferable that teachers children are not at the same school they teach in. I think that it blurs the lines between personal and professional. It can be difficult on one hand having a professional relationship with a teacher and perhaps not being happy with that they are handling a class or dealing with issues and at the same time socialising with them as their child is in your other child's class. I also think that there is a risk of unhappy teachers staying in a role they don't want to be in for the convenience factor which can then have a negative impact on both them and the classes they teach.

It's also important to remember that not all schools suit all children and therefore, just because a teacher doesn't send their child to the school even if eligible it doesn't mean they don't think that it's a good school, it just might not suit their child for a whole host of reasons.

TaillessChicken · 31/12/2013 15:36

I doubt you'd find a teacher or TA who was willing to go 'off the record' and tell you how it is in a school. Either it's good and they will happily say so or it's rubbish and they will lie/be evasive if they are even prepared to tell you anything.

Original poster
educationforteachers · 31/12/2013 15:37

Havingagoodny
"meets the children's needs better" springs to mind yet again

what do you think the perception is of parents who see the teachers kids going to different schools (for un-obvious reasons)?

do you really think "meets the children's needs better" springs to mind?

OP posts:
Original poster
educationforteachers · 31/12/2013 15:38

TaillessChicken
a friend would though

OP posts:
BillyBanter · 31/12/2013 15:40

What has brought on this thread question? Do you have something particular in mind or just trying to stir?

There are many reasons why teacher's children would not be at the same school as the one they teach at so I'm a bit unsure as to why you are insistent that yours is the only possibility.

TaillessChicken · 31/12/2013 15:44

Maybe, I suppose it depends if they don't mind risking their job! I'd not put a friend in that position to be honest.

clam · 31/12/2013 15:45

Are you writing some sort of article? Or just looking for another angle to teacher-bash?
Or maybe both?
For most of us, there's precious little choice about where we send our kids to school. I'd be more than happy for my own kids to attend my school (if they weren't 10 years too old) but they wouldn't get in under current admission rules.
Or does that simple fact not suit your argument?

Havingagoodny · 31/12/2013 15:45

I have honestly never given it a moments thought about the reasons why teachers children go to a different school. IMO there are far too many teachers children in our school, hence my comments. However, if I were to think about it I wouldn't assume anything other than they have their own reasons especially as I know nothing about their children. Perhaps grandparents live closer to the other school for pick up ditto childminders, maybe the child has SEN and the provision is better, maybe children were there before they started and they didn't want to move them. In fact my SIL is a teacher and her daughter was offered a place at her school which she turned down. She actually thinks that the school she teaches at is better than her DD's school but she doesn't want to socialise with her parents when she is a teacher and she wants to move on in the next few years and doesn't want to feel tied to her current school by having children there. All perfectly sensible reasons.

Littlefish · 31/12/2013 15:47

I teach in a school a 40 minute drive from where I live. My dd went to the local school 5 minutes down the road, in the community where we live and socialise. The children at her school belong to the community and families with which we socialise. Why should she be at a school 40 minutes away, in a community which is not hers.

And before you ask why I don't teach at her school - there are only 6 teachers at her school and I know of at least 10 teachers living in our village!

There are several children at the school where I work, whose parents work in the school as teachers, TAs, caretaker, secretary etc, because it is their catchment school, but no staff children for whom it is not their catchment school, I presume for the same reason as my child does not go there.

Littlefish · 31/12/2013 15:47

Good point Clam - my dd would not have got into my school either due to admission arrangements.

Original poster
educationforteachers · 31/12/2013 15:50

BillyBanter

the title of the thread is clear
and that is the only issue
parents who are not teachers are relying on the school system
the teachers are delivering the education in the school they teach
most parents have not got a choice of moving their kids to another school, they are relying on the school

do you stand by your school and the quality of its teaching?
if you do what's the issue?

and again "there are many reasons why teacher's children would not be at the same school"

apart from the obvious ones?

OP posts:
mrz · 31/12/2013 15:51

Why didn't my children attend the school where I teach ... we lived 20 miles away at the time and they went to school in the village where we lived, where their friends were and near enough to my parents so that they could do drop offs and pick ups so saving child care costs for a few years.
I did contemplate moving my daughter to my school in UKS2 but then there would have been a problem with secondary schools as we lived out of area.
It's a really silly question to be honest nothing to do with schools being good enough or not!