In praise of comprehensive schools

[FreshHorizons]

It was cheering to see the Sutton Trust announce that 60% of Team GB medalists came from comprehensive schools.

I have finally come off a thread where certain people can't find a good word to say about comprehensive schools. They equate them with mixed ability teaching, poor behaviour and an inability to stretch bright children.

I would like a thread to celebrate the best of comprehensive education.

In my case it allowed my 3 , very different, children to be able to go to the same school without being judged by outsiders. It meant the stability of knowing one school over a long period of time and them knowing our family. It meant that days off and parent evenings didn't clash and that money was saved by handing down uniform. They were able to move up with the bulk from their primary school. They were able to mix with children of different abilities and backgrounds, as you do in adult life. It meant being able to enjoy education for the joy of learning new things, without the stress of an exam that would determine their path in life, aged only 10 or 11yrs.

Those things didn't really matter, although they were helpful.

What really mattered was that they could all blossom at their own rate.
They all got a good education and are now happily established in careers- the careers that they chose.

It wasn't all about the academic side- there were opportunities in sport, music, outdoor activities etc.

It would be nice to have some success stories. Please don't post about crap schools- start another thread for that if you have grievances you want to air.

It is the summer, the sun is out and some happy, optimistic stories would be nice.

And I have told you Clavinova that like some of us, you don't have any real knowledge of the schools you are talking about. When I said that mine went there, I got some sarcasm. Well DC's and their friends results and their successes now in adult life speak for themselves. That's good enough for me.

HPFA
I guess us grammar school girls are simply no match against privately educated/Oxbridge girls such as yourself.

Can't you cut out the ad hominem remarks Clavinova? Make your case if you want to make it.

I am still fighting the fight HPFA - more fool me!

I have come back to say something that occurred to me after being accused of choosing comprehensives in leafy areas and that is that if people insist on comparing the comprehensive system with the selective system we should compare like with like.

Since grammar schools are generally at least 80% middle class, generally from very nice areas, then I feel fully justified in picking some of the comprehensives where the pupils come from a very similar background.
I really don't see why I should pick a comprehensive from a deprived area of Hull to compare with a grammar school in Tonbridge Wells.

Not that the thread was ever to do with comparison in the first place.

The Hackney link was very interesting- if I get the time I will find some more non leafy comps to praise.

Well I'd like to add a very positive story about comprehensive schools.

There is no way I would have passed the 11 plus, was very glad we weren't in a grammar school area. I went to a good local comprehensive. When I started I could hardly read or wright thanks to a useless primary school. But I'm dyslexic and it was only picked up in my last year at primary.

My high school was fantastic I received a lot of additional support. I left with 8 GCSE top of school in science and went on to six foam collage and get a degree in physics. Nobody would have though that possible at age 11. You just can't write children of so young. I am so greatful to my school and teachers with all they helped me achieve.

Yes I put in the hard work but without the additional support I wouldn't have improved so much in such a short time. I very much doubt any private school or grammar would have even let me in. Children with SEN can do so well if given the right support but where else would you find that other then a comprehensive system. (yes I'm aware they still desperately need more funding, my parents even then had to fight for my assessment).

Sometimes celebrate a system that doesn't write children of at 11 or make them feel like underachievers so young. I'm sure that would have seriously damaged my confidence at that age I was rather sensitive.

"You keep praising the results of comprehensives - one local school I looked at at random had 55% getting 5 A*C GCSEs. This is an improvement for them. All well and good but what about the 45% who didn't?"

But....but...but.... I thought grammar school supporters want us all to accept that not all children are "academic"? What would happen to that 45% in a selective area? Or are you saying that 100% get 5 A*-C in selective areas? [Hmm]

Well done MigGril - it just shows that one size does not fit all and comprehensives treat them differently, according to their needs.
One of my sons is dyslexic and had a great deal of help and support.

I think that if you pooled a grammar school with the accompanying sec mods in Kent you would see that comprehensives came out higher in a lot of places. You would get a similar result if you took the high ability streams from comps and compared with grammars.
We don't compare like with like.

God, I hate "one size fits all"!

Frankly, , if I was going to use it, which I'm not, I would use it to describe the grammar schools. But it's a silly thing to say, especially about comprehensives.

You are spectacularly missing the point. This thread was never about comparisons with grammar schools. People keep trying to make it so and derail it. I can't think why grammar schools even crack a mention on a thread about comprehensives. I mention them because people keep criticising my choice and wondering why I don't mention failing ones- on a thread praising comprehensives!!
( Inam not praising failing schools).

FreshHorizons- the problem is that for many people, "failing" and "comprehensive" are synonyms.............

One size can't fit all if you have a child destined for Oxford and one with a reading age of 6 yrs!
My links to results were showing that comprehensives do get top results and they also help people like MigGril.

If people don't like comprehensives you can shout positives from the roof tops - they are still bog standard and mixed ability teaching!

"Which challenges the term "comprehensive"

What does?

Now that we have exhausted England, Scotland and Wales we seem to have moved to Ireland!

I loved it a few days ago when someone said the Scottish schools were all so much better- when they are all comprehensive! ,

And 10 year olds can be sorted into sheep and goats. For those who understand irony.

I have heard it all now in that expensive areas only have bright children!

I had the right idea earlier when I left the thread- it gets sillier and sillier!