Agonising over school choice

[llareggub]

Well, not really. Just can't understand the lengths to which people go to get their precious little darling into the right school.

Unless there is some legitimate need, why won't the local school do? Parent pressure might then drive up quality.

Obviously everyone wants the best for their child but what diference does a good school make to an average/above average child? Is there just a marginal diference?

Parental influence just as important/more important IMO.

I agree

Each to their own. To me the choice of school was very important. Where I live there is a huge gap between the good schools and the bad schools in terms of league tables and results, but also in terms of behaviour and attitudes. And not all schools suit the needs of every child, so - if you do have a choice, why not exercise that choice and choose the environment you feel best suits your child?

My loval catchment is an excellent school on paper. However, when we went to see it it just didn't feel right. We didn't feel happy with it and that put us off, so we kept looking. We ended up choosing a different school for DD and felt very happy in our decision. She started in September and I know I have made the rigth choice.

Parental influence is crucial IMO. But you need a lot of the parents influence to make a difference, not just a handful.

Hulababy, this may seem hypocritical but actually I agree. I've pored over OFSTED reports and spoken to other parents about their knowledge of schools. I'm aware of local reputations but wonder if exercising my choice, whether it be through moving house or what not, will only lead to a downward spiral of quality.

Is my child's education more important than the greater good?

It's quite likely that I'd want to be involved in the school as I am an interested parent. Do all such parents head for the same school? Is that what we really want?

Dh is a teacher and we chose to send our daughter to an independant school ratherthan our local school.

Perhaps academically, on paper this will not make a huge amount of difference in terms of the grades she will eventually achieve. However the atmosphere, ethos, opportunities and everything else that the school offers, things thatyou can not always quantify, made this the right choice for her.

I don't agree that parents can make a difference, some difference in terms of achievment expectations and behaviour yes, but ultimately the only person who can make a real difference in a school is the Head.

There are schools locally who have a wonderful reputation and excellent results, however they are SATS factories and nothing any parent can do will change that.

Only a Head can decide to value theimportance of a wider curriculum and chose to spend time and resources on music/drama/sport/other acticivies.

As dh is a peripatetic teacher he goes into many school in the same area each week and there are huge differences.

We chose the state school for atmosphere, ethos ,opportunties and everything else the school offers.

llareggub - no one can answer that but you.

My concern was for my child's education. Have to admit that was my peiority when chosing DD's school.

The greater good I gave to in a different way I guess. I was a secondary school teacher for 9 years and now work in prison education - so did my bit that way.

When teaching I worked in two very different schools. Given that I do have a choice, there is no way I would send my child to the second school I worked in. The first I would have been very hapy to do so.

I think that the question is more about matching the child to the school. My DD is not, and never will be academic. But she is very musical, so I wanted a school that could bring out her most positive qualities. If she is in an academic or competitively sporting environment, she will not be happy and, being the stubborn, single-minded little minx she is, she will not try her hardest to improve whatever she needs to improve. If, however she is at a school that specialises or has good credentials in something she tends towards, her overall impression of the school is better and she puts in more effort at her other subjects. It's a psychological matter, for me! Not that it really makes that much different in the end, because IME it is damn near impossible to get them into anything other than your catchment school anyway (luckily for me, ours could be worse)

It's a myth that above average children will do fine anywhere. They can become thoroughly disillusioned if the school doesn't take sufficient interest in them.

I agree with julienetmum that individual parents can make very little difference, and that ultimately the Head has the biggest influence. However, he or she has to work within financial and other constraints, so is not entirely free to shape the school to his or her vision.

I don't think you would be doing anything for the greater good by sending your child to your local school regardless of quality. Indeed, parents avoiding a particular school may bring the problems of that school to the attention of those who can do something about them.

Picking up on Hallgerda's points, something I've not thought of before but motivated parents sending their child to a poor school may prevent weaknesses from being picked up on if results are skewed by things like private tutoring etc.

The school could look better than it actually is. Interesting thought!

"It's a myth that above average children will do fine anywhere."

Agree with this entirely and have see it happen.

I think you're right, julienetmum. Indeed, private tutoring may get in the way of the school being able to assess the effectiveness of its teaching properly, so problems are not picked up, thus making matters even worse for those children relying solely on the school for their education.

So you can stop feeling guilty, llareggub.

why won't the local school do? Well, for a start, some people can't get the local school when they want it, because if it's a good one it will be over-subscribed by people from outside the catchment who have expressed a "preference" for it.

Also, let's not fall into the trap of talking about independent schools as a "choice". They are not. They are a consumer item, affordable only by certain people. You may as well say it's a "choice" to buy a top-of-the-range hi-fi, or a sports car.

I would class independent schools as a choice BUT it is only a choice for some people. It was a choice for me, therefore I know that my choice of schools for DD was greater than some other people's choice.

Just because an option is not available to all it doesn't make it no longer a choice full stop.

I would sell a kidney to ensure DD was in the school that was right for her. I was not placed in a chool that was right for me. I went to the local comprehensive. Which didn't stream according to ability. I was bored in nearly every subject as disruptive kids made the progress of lessons very slow. Yet in maths where I had problems the slow pace didn't assist me either. This was in 80's where there were only 22 kids in a class. I cannot contemplate this for my DD.

Well said Batters

My children come first without question. Sorry but the 'greater good' will not help my children get the grades and achievements they deserve, it will not help them learn science when the HT has said it is not important for primary children, it will not help them to enjoy their childhood.

So yes, I do all I can to chose the best school for my children be that independent or moving house to a different area for the local school.

I am constantly reevaluating whtehr the current provision is still suitable for each child and will change if necessary and in thier best interests.

I have no compunction about this - dealing with the greater good is the job of politicians but they are too busy scoring points to get the job done.

Look at the reading statistics - 20% or more of children leave primary school unable to read well enought to access the secondary curriculum. I do my bit where i can to try to raise standards and awareness of issues locally but i will not sacrifice my children's future to that.

How much do you want for that kidney lasvegas? I have a crap one, I could replace it!

CD - my liver is wrecked maybe we could swap!

To anyone who is interested it was a real response, to try and explain just how important my DD's education is to me. I really don't care about the greater good - I hand over 40% of my salary for the greater good - to my mind that is enough. I did really consider becoming a school governor, but decided against it as it would be another thing that prevented me from spending precious time with DD.

Well, it's a very different sort of choice. I have a choice of what shirt to wear, which radio station to listen to. But the "choice" of independent school is not available to us - I'd love to have that available for DD, but right now, despite both of us working, it's about as likely as "choosing" to buy an aeroplane.

But the idea of choice is always subjective and dependent on people's situations.

There are always going to be some things that are not within the means of some people, but are for others:

house ownership
cars
organic food
private plane.

For some people these things are out of reach and not part of their personal choice. However, for others - and yes even the plane although an extreme example - those choices are real and do exist for them.

Just because I can't afford a private jet doesn't mean that others don't have this choce open to them.

Quite hula. House prices for in-demand state primaries in many parts of London, for example, make the choice skewed for lots of the population

Everyone has different choices available. We don't have the choice that my cousin has of sneding her dd to a Catholic school for example.

We have a choice between a mortgage of £60,000 or one of £150,000, some don't.

Our choice is the £60,000 and independant school. We also chose not to have holidays abroad, some people can't chose to have holidays at all. I know we are incredibly lucky to have that choice but ultimatly it is a choice to live as though we were are on a much lower income.

We put food on the table, heat our house and run a run down car essential for dh's work.

Your choice of shirt is still a consumer item, (Asda or Next)I can;t think of much that isn;t these days.

I really feel I am going off at a tangent now!!!!SOmeone shut me up.

IME parent pressure does actually relatively little to drive up the quality of the school. However it does play a part in compensating the impact of an average or medicore school, whereby parents can supplement the teaching and other activities - though not for all pupils. To turn round a school takes more than a few liberals to get on the Board of Governors. But I'm very gald to hear when people do opt for this, as it frees up places at other schools.

llareggub, I assuming that either your local school is OK, or that you don't have children at school yet.

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