Will many 'alternative' schools survive?

[pippil0ngstocking]

I was thinking of Summerhill and how they'd deal with this pandemic, and I decided it was probably the fact that it's so well known that'll rescue it. Do you think other unusual schools are liable to shut, considering that they tend to have a small number of students?

Yes - many alternative schools seem to have a high number of pupils with SEN so parents really stretching themselves so dc can attend.

In case that wasn’t clear, my point was that because the dc need extra help parents IME often send them to less traditional schools even if they don’t find it easy financially.

Whether they actually GET the extra help going private is a whole different question!

I am hoping that because of the way education has changed by schools being closed might mean more schools decide to go 'alternative' and get rid of pointless stuff like uniforms and having so much testing and insisting teens have to do 10 GCSEs. I would love schools be able to become more calm and creative and teach more useful hands on stuff and have more community based activites for the children.

No uniform equals lots of jealousy when some DC wear really expensive stuff to School. Uniforms also lead to a sense of unity and belonging. They are often cheaper than a daily fashion show!

GCSEs form part of university admissions so of course bright DC do 10. No one has taken any notice of tests before then. GCSEs actually give the young person a portable set of qualifications. Sats don’t. Just teach your own dc if you want a creative alternative. Or find clubs and activities.

But @bookmum08 what about the children who want to be academic?

Not everyone can teach their own children at home for many many reasons.
I think it is deeply unfair that there are state funded academic schools (ie Grammar Schools), state funded faith schools, state funded secondary schools that have a speciality that can allow a certain percentage of pupils to go there due to that speciality even if they live miles away taking the places of children who live locally. Why can't we have state funded 'alternative' schools if we can have just about every other type of specialist state funded schools.

Titiana those children can go to an academic school.
What about the children who aren't suited to an academic school? Where are their schools?

I said 'more' schools by the way. Not 'all' schools. If you want your children to go to an academic school then fine.
I would just love to see some schools change their ways for the 1000s of children who are more suited to an alternative educational experience.

My0My oh and your uniform argument is a load of stereotype nonsense. Not all children give a toss what clothes other children are wearing and what shops they get their clothes from.
For many children clothes are just clothes.

Also not all families can afford 'clubs and activities' to be able to do creative things.
If the state is providing free education for all then there should be a variation of what that education is.

Just laughing at that uniform argument 😊 have you ever had children at a non uniform school MyOMy?
Do you have experience of this?

There are state funded alternative schools though - the Steiner academies for example. Not an environment I would choose for my own DC but they do suit some families.

What nonsense about the non-uniform!

State funded alternative schools are very very rare which is why I say I hoped 'more' would go that way. I wouldn't touch a Steiner school with a bargepole though and I don't think many of them are state schools anyway.

Yes. I do but not directly. American friends say they struggle with no uniform and the jealousy it can lead to. They would love a uniform. We don’t all have to agree. I liked my DC to have a uniform at school and I didn’t want an alternative education. If you do, maybe start a free school? I suspect you won’t get many pupils. The majority of parents want DC on recognised courses and to get recognised qualifications and, as the state pays, they get to decide on this. If alternative schools were really wanted, there would be a lot more of them.

I live in a grammar county. Lots of state schools here for the less academic. But they all have uniforms. In fact I read Summerhill has hundreds of rules - decided upon by the pupils. They like rules apparently.

There are all sorts of routes for practical DC. Just choose a school with BTecs.

My0My don't be so patronising. Of course I want my (all) child to get qualifications. A school can still be 'alternative' and offer GCSEs/Btecs/A Levels etc.
Alternative and with no uniform doesn't = no rules either. Like you say Summerhill is big on rules.
It's all very well saying there are 'routes' for non academic children but the exam years don't start until children are 14 and in Year 9. What about years Reception - 8 ?
Also 'alternative' doesn't have to mean 'less academic' either.
It would just be nice to have that choice in state education along side the state Grammar, Modern, Comprehensive, UTCs, Faith, Specialist Sport/Art/STEM/Business 'colleges' , Academies, Studio Schools etc that already exist.

Having these schools existing never means you could get into one. Choice isn’t reality. It’s pot luck in many cases. Just look at all the schools you listed. Not one of them suitable for you.

I clearly said exams that actually define the individual. No one takes any notice of Sats. They are used for primary data and league tables but what university or employer ever asked for Sats results? It’s not going to be of any importance to anyone ever again.

It’s not patronising to articulate an alternative point of view. It’s rather narrow not to accept a view that doesn’t agree with yours.

I think SATS are a big pile of crap and as this year's Yr2 and 6s haven't had to do them I hope that's the end of that nonsense full stop.
I think you are the one not having an alternative point of view. I have no problem with the assortment of schools I listed. I just think if the state is funding them why can't they also fund something a bit different for the 1000s of children and parents who would prefer something like that.

Anyway I am going to sleep now.
Bye.

I went to a non uniform school for 5 years and it was awful. Snobbery and jealousy. Very real. Left and went back to a more traditional school with unform and was so much happier. I'd avoid a non uniform school for my children partly because of my direction experience with it. Also because I have two little boys and it is infinitely easier to have a uniform. It's a simple one at their school but it's smart and they, funnily enough, love wearing it.

There are not thousands of people who prefer an “alternative” school in one area over and above the different characteristics of schools already available. If there was demand I would have expected a huge raft of alternative free schools. They may not get funding of course if they had an alternative curriculum of course.

One of my DDs did Sats and the other went to an independent school and they didn’t do them. If you want the state to pay, you follow what the state wants. Your DC doesn’t have to take them seriously. I’ve found state school teachers really want DC to do well and do actually get pleasure from DC who exceed expectations. Sats are nowhere near as bad as the old 11 plus and, as I said, who actually cares about them after the results come out? No one. So chill out. They are not worth the worry.

In your op you named one school. What other schools are you talking about? Most alternative education seeking parents home educate.

I’d think uniform is even more important in these covid times, much easier to bung it in the wash at the end of each day than to need two sets of non uniform clothes. NHS staff generally don’t wear their own clothes when there’s a risk of exposure to infection.

@AndNoneForGretchenWieners the state funded Steiner academies have been taken over by a MAT and are no longer Steiner schools.