What do people who have no choice of secondary schools do?

[cressetmama]

In rural areas, if there there is one comprehensive and one size has to fit everyone. And if there's no alternative to a failing school, what does one do?

I sent my dd to a school in another county. Which hadn't occurred to me until I found myself in a similar position to you. The school in my small town is failing.

It is a new academy spawned from a failing school. And so far it's absolutely brilliant.

You have no real choice, they just have to go.

SavoyCabbage, did you send your dd to state school in another county?
Can you do that?
I have exactly same issue as OP.

Home education for us, as no other school feasibly accessible by public transport.

Yes I did. I didn't really know I could either. Of course all the usual rules apply. The distance and all that but there was space so she was in.

Yeah we would have had some more (fairly poor) choices if I could drive both ways each day, but I can't because of work. I have also considered moving!

I think you can technically apply to any school in the country - if it has places you get in

We moved house because we would have had no choice other than one school which didn't look kindly on aspiration or achievement. We had met too many people who said that sending their kids there was the worst thing they ever did.

Thanks! It gave me a bit of hope.

Quite a lot of people went private who probably wouldn't have done if they'd been in a different town, though.

We live rurally and have one choice of school. As yet, we haven't quite decided what to do (another year to go) but we are starting to look further afield at schools. In hindsight, I travelled quite a long way to my secondary school involving train, bus and walking, so I think it's not so unexpected at secondary.

I went out of county
but
many many fully comp local schools do a pretty good job with all their kids

There are at least 10 buses/coaches that go each day from our town across the county border to a secondary school in the next county - I watch them from my office window! We have two schools in our town, both poor and failing. The school across the border is in a small rural village, it's come from nowhere, was just a tiny secondary school 15 years ago, and is being rapidly expanded, mostly on the back of huge numbers of people from the our county. From what I see and hear of it, probably 75/80% of it's pupils come from across the county border. It's not the only one either. There's another secondary school in another small town across the border in a different direction that has a couple of school buses going to it from our town. So, crossing the county border is certainly possible if that school has the places and wants your kids - if there are enough, they'll organise the transport.

Happens all the time for parents with disabled children of course.

It's important to remember that "one size fits all" and "comprehensive school" are not synonyms.

But you can apply to any secondary school you want to. If you fit the admissions criteria and they have spaces, you will get a place.

I pay to have the luxury of choice within the same county but 20+ miles away. I like where we live so rather not relocate. Fortunately, there is a direct school bus so transport is not a problem and there are about a dozen kids getting on/off at the same stop.

We are going to have to move house.

If not an option then I would do lots of extra stuff with kids at weekends/ in holidays. School is just part of how a child learns about the world.

If you have no choice then you have no choice.

I couldn't drive my dd to a school for which there's no transport. I start work at 8am and don't finish until after 4pm.

We're rural, she has to go to the school which has a bus leaving from the village.

Likewise due to working I can't home ed.

She goes to an awful school where only 35% of kids get 5x gcses inc maths and English. Where the teachers are leaving in droves as they dislike the new head.

Where she hasn't had a proper geography or a chemistry lesson since sept and she's in year ten!

She just has to make the best of it. It will affect her grades of that I'm sure but what else can I do? She refuses to have a chemistry tutor but I might push that option a bit more next year. I buy her revision books and she works through them.

I thought most posters on here wanted a single school , where everybody went regardless of abilty diversity or family beliefs!
That school is called a comprehensive.

I find it quite funny how the biggest advocates of comprehensive schooling, try to eliminate the term 'one size fits all' .

The only 'Comprehensives' schools that are not one size fits all are the ones that operate selective admisson policies.

"The only 'Comprehensives' schools that are not one size fits all are the ones that operate selective admisson policies."

Rubbish.

"One size fits all" suggests that there is no setting, streaming, differentiation, choice of subject, choice of clubs, choice of anything - that everyone gets exactly the same education.

The only schools where I have seen anything approaching that is in old fashioned grammar schools!

I grew up rurally and went to the only comprehensive that was available which had a terrible reputation. It wasn't great academically, but I coped. I still managed straight As in my exams and got a place at Oxbridge.

You send them to this school, or they/you travel to next town/city, or you H.ed
There are always choices, not always the ones you'd like though.

Indendent day school, boarding, out of county, home ed, that school plus lots of work at home etc.

All depends on the place and the child.