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?

Comps are NOT one size fits all
Comps are the full range of sizes and colours on the rack in one shop

Comps cover kids getting 11 a* GCSEs and heading straight to top 200
they also cover kids who will scrape 5 c grades and happily do BTEC or C&G and enter work
as well as all of the kids in between who get jobs in offices and companies keeping the economy running.

Differentiation on one site : NOT the same thing for every child in any way shape or form.

The same as a big company has every job from warehouseman through to Chief Accountant.
Even Goldman Sachs employ a lot of cleaners and maintenance staff after all

Even in 'failing' schools there great individual teachers and pockets of strength. I have quite a few adult friends who went to sink schools. Their parents were well-educated enough to spot which subjects had problems and support their kids at home or with private tutors. Cheaper than private school or moving house...

If I were in this situation, had looked at the school and decided it was definitely not for ds, I would look at out of county, state boarding schools, home education and at running a group him education setup with some friends. No idea how many kids you can do that with before you have to set up an official school.

I think if there is only one school, in a rural area, it isn't anywhere near as bad as a similar school would be in a city, just because it's that much harder for the active engaged parents to opt out.

We moved - house and area. Best decision we made for all sorts of reasons.

This: "Even in 'failing' schools there great individual teachers and pockets of strength"

Also, even sought after schools have many very average /useless teachers. Propped up by parents sending their kids to tutors (what my parents did!)

Even in areas where there is a choice, not everybody will be able to cram into the most popular school. The choice is partly illusionary. But then the same goes for a supermarket or a café: the idea that every single shopper in town will be able to walk in and order a strawberry smoothie on the same day is clearly not sustainable. Someone will find themselves having to make do with a large latte instead.

If there is no choice, I would just send DC to this school, but keep an close eye on it. If school don't provide good teaching, then maybe do some extra at home ourselves. And make sure DC make friends with the right children.

We moved. The secondary was ok, but tiny. 4 classes per year! Few opportunities to do extra curricular, sports, music, anything really. And just below average results. So moved and are in catchment for a much larger more dynamic school with loads of sport on offer, for sport mad DS.

cresset,

I think you have to look at why it is failing, and if there is no other choice of school then you have to get involved much more than you might prefer to.

Some schools 'appear to be failing' because their 'top line' results are poor, based on their intake. However, that does not mean that the school itself is bad, or that an able child may not do well there. For example, I know of a school where a very high proportion arrived at the school as 'low achievers' - level 3 or below at the end of primary. Although the progress those children made at the school was higher than at almost any other school in the county, this still meant they had low 'headline' GCSE results and were labelled by ofsted as 'failing' on that basis. However, their very tiny number of high achieving pupils all did very well indeed - 8 or more B-A*.

On the other hand, some schools are 'failing' because they have been coasting - they push middle or high ability pupils less hard than they might. In that case, you have to get really involved and do the pushing yourself - get the textbooks, organise the revision, tutor yourself or get someone else to do it, research which departments get good GCSE results and base GCSE choices on that, know the syllabuses etc etc.

You will also have to be really on top of any discipline / behavioural issues, and be prepared to go into school and make a nuisance of yourself.

Many years ago, DBro1 and I got almost identical O levels - he from the 3rd comprehensive intake of a tiny rural 2 form entry secondary school previously a secondary modern, me from a highly selective private school on 100% scholarship. I got more, but his levels were the same, IYSWIM. Mine were an easier ride - all taken in school, no involvement from my parents. He took 1 at a local college in parallel with school, one with a private tutor because the teacher in school hadn't taught the right syllabus, and my parents were very involved in all (DF became a governor, lots of involvement with homework etc).

It's possible, but it's harder work, getting good results from a less good school. If travelling further, or moving, is an option, either of those might be easier.

Differentiation on one site : NOT the same thing for every child in any way shape or form.

Not all comps are like this. Ours doesn't set for anything but maths, despite being quite large. Not too bad if you want to do STEM subjects, but not so good for humanities.

Here kids all have to go to the one failing school.
The ones that can afford the transport send them on buses/trains to schools some miles away.
Most people can't afford that.

Even in 'failing' schools there great individual teachers and pockets of strength. I have quite a few adult friends who went to sink schools. Their parents were well-educated enough to spot which subjects had problems and support their kids at home or with private tutors. Cheaper than private school or moving house...
Agree fully with this. Lived in a town where you either got the top performing religious school (which clearly was massively over-subscribed and no chance to get in unless you showed lots of evidence of regular practice of faith) or a school that went from bad to worse and ended up in remedial measures, Head going, replaced by worse, teachers leaving etc...

The primary schools were all very good though so there were many worried parents as only alternative became private or moving quite a way. In my case, we did end up moving to another town as my new partner and I moved in together, which of course came at the right time.

Looking back though, all DD's friends who did well in Primary, worked hard and achieved well are set to do well at GCSE and have been happy with their time there. I think sink schools are more of an issue with struggling pupils.

If I were you, I'd have a good look at the school and do more research to see what it is really like. Also, failing schools often appoint new headteacher so to sort them out which can happen relatively quickly so I'd find out a bit more about the situation. Otherwise, you could look at moving, independent schooling (if you haven't got the budget, then there might be bursaries available). Applying to another county is also an option but you'd be at the very end of the admissions queue.

Ofsted do not judge a school solely on results. To be graded below GGod,there are usually a number of problems and these may be governance, teaching, progress, safety of pupils, discipline and a whole host of other things. Bare results is not the only factor.

I would look to see if the school is actually improving. What are the indictors for the school on Ofsted and especially look at results this summer. What progress are the different ability groups making? Where does your DC fit in? Is it still below expected progress, or has it started to improve? Lots of Bs is not brilliant for high abaility children. Lots of A* and As is much better. How does it compare with similar schools? What do the children look like when they come out of school? Has the ethos changed? Are the new teachers likely to be better? A huge clear-out of teachers usually indicates the SLT is demanding more of them!!! A younger cohort may be better. Existing teachers are not always good teachers.

You can see what schools have vacancies in other towns even if they are in another county but you will have to provide transport. That LA will have details on their web site regarding what distance these other schools recruited from. It may be your local school loses bright chidren to other schools so gets left with the more difficult to teach children but you can only find this out by doing your homework.Where are the other children going fron your primary school? Are they all happy with the local comp? Would these parents seek to make improvements if you all got involved with the comp school? Or do they not really care?