Who saw BBC 2 Grammar schools - who will get in " last night?

[Foxy333]

Watched this last night with interest. We're not in Grammar school area and generally I think it was / is a bad system that works for the top abilities but not for the middle and lower ones. However I've seen my daughter suffer in years 7 to 9 or a comprehensive from not being stretched and teachers concentrating on the most demanding pupils who need lots of help and ignoring the quiet well- behaved pupils who going to pass GCSE's anyway. Often some pupils disrupt the class and the whole class gets punished.

They only set them for 2 subjects and I've heard that's changing in future to one. so I see why a Grammar would suit some. But why cant all schools be good. Is it stricter discipline that's needed?

Felt for the children in the program, so young to face this divisive test.

Missing I was one of the PP who said that. Originally it seemed no one on the thread wanted to discuss the programme and then bring wider issues in, they just wanted to rant about grammar vs comp or SM or whatever, so I left the thread - it keeps popping up though and I couldn't believe BR's comment about not seeing the programme.

If its only last night's you missed Bert, how come you needed to ask what the series is about? That's the entire premise of the programme!! How can you be on the thread so vocally and not know that?!

"That's the entire premise of the programme!!

The premise of the programme is: " this series follows children and teachers to see how selection impacts on education."

Not another MAT thinking that enforcing uniform is the answer to all ills. We've already seen stupid amounts of time being wasted on uniform in the few snippets shown.

If its only last night's you missed Bert, how come you needed to ask what the series is about? That's the entire premise of the programme!! How can you be on the thread so vocally and not know that?!

Because the first programme focussed on children in primary schools, maybe? I'm not sure how anyone was supposed to know in advance which schools they will be focussing on in programme 2.

staples I said that on the other tread that started in the Telly Addicts forum. It very quickly turned into the grammar debate and I wanted to discuss the selective editing more than the selective education.

And , might I add, bert is not on that thread.

Because the first programme focussed on children in primary schools, maybe? I'm not sure how anyone was supposed to know in advance which schools they will be focussing on in programme 2. - erm, maybe because the first programme focussed on kids from the local primary wanting to get into Townley or Erith and then they showed that the nexts programme would be about what it was like in those schools. Dunno. That was my clue.

Caught up now. The grammar school head is an unmitigated git. I am still outraged that Erith prioritised a detention over a revision lesson. My secondary modern ds was equally outraged, so with a bit of luck it was a one off crap decision.

Misbehave 4 times and the teacher will then request for someone to come and might remove the kid. No wonder it does not work at Erith. The behaviour of the father does not help either.

Not sure why he's a git.

The head of Townley has a long bio of himself on the school website. It is interesting. he thing TGS shows him the sort of education he 'should have had' from his own not affluent background. And yet form his 'bog standard comprehensive' (his words and speech marks) he has achieved very highly (and not just as a head)!! The irony does not escape me.
www.townleygrammar.org.uk/home/our-people/meet-our-headteacher/
I also find it interesting that he is the only teacher with a bio.

A lot of kids just use revision as an excuse to get out of things they don’t want to do.
If she valued the revision that much, she should have not got herself into a detention in the first place.

I never understand the revision after school either. Is the teacher not good enough to deliver the curriculum during the year or is there not enough time or the curriculum is too hard for kids to access? Do they think going to one hour after school sessions will magically cover for all things that they missed during the year?

Any grammar school head who whinges about not getting pp funding is, by definition, a git,

Huge apologies. I did get the girls swapped round.

However, it has long been the case that children with behaviour difficulties are separated from mainstream children and offered places at special (ebd) schools. Primary and secondary. There is a secondary one near me. These children have a special need. It is no different to dyslexia and needs to have specialist teaching and pastoral care. The awful regime at Erith won’t help the worst children. At special schools there is a much more favourable pupil teacher ratio and specialist staff. The prus are full and special schools have closed in many areas due to “inclusion”. We now fund inclusion really means exclusion. Inclusion is a great goal, but it definitely stops others learning when the difficult to teach children are in mainstream school and not even in a special unit (as far as we know).

Continually barking at children about uniform and talking to parents who are a bit daft themselves won’t address the problems. It will not even scratch the surface.

He was hardly whinging,simply commenting and pointing out that the assumption that grammar schools are dripping in money is incorrect.

Many grammar schools are struggling, not entirely sure why this isn't allowed to be mentioned.

Yes, Bertrand. I agree. The Bucks grammar heads have whinged about it too but 20 years ago the head of WRGS boasted they raised over £100,000 pa from parents!

There is generally an expectation that revision sessions are provided nowadays ,sadly. Some if it is not enough time; some of it is pressure and expectation. I imagine Townley was running them, too. But I agree that students do sue them to get out of detentions, and agree that that is likely to be what Chi Chi was doing!

I don't agree that the boy's dad was the issue. I thought he was tying his best against many odds. He had moved to the area for a better life. He was pleasant to the teachers and clearly loves his sons.

use not sue!

I agree with all of that bubbles, apart form the daft parent bit.

Piggywaspushed
I know the dad was doing a hard job trying to be both mum and dad to his sons but going into a re-admission meeting and trying to play down the son’s racist behaviour was not on. Let's call it what it is.
He also said that his grounding of his son was enough and the school shouldn’t had excluded his son. What message was he trying to tell his son then?

I didn’t say that parent was daft. They will waste a lot of time talking to ineffective parents who cannot help their children and possibly have caused a lot of problems. Parents are drug takers, in prison (obviously then they are not hauled into school), alcoholics, violent, permanently disagreeing about how to bring up children, illiterate, low IQ, or just not able to instil any good behaviour traits in their children at all. Things went wrong for Bradley’s family years ago.

Marking

But to be fair to the dad, he did ground his son so he was showing disapproval and supporting (and adding to) the school's actions.

I guess he just thought the exclusion was too soft, in some ways.

He didn't say they shouldn't have excluded. He just said he didn't think his son minded! He was very clear that saying the n word was totally out of order.

Yes he did say that but it’s a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. I would love to know what happened to Bradley in the years leading up to this. I would be amazed if this was a first incident.