What would you consider to be a "good" state school?

[SparklePrincess]

Would it be school A in an affluent area that gets 65% A*-C (with English & Maths) or school B thats struggling with a problem intake yet still manages to get just under the national average?
If I had a choice id go for school A purely to avoid the social problems associated with a school like school B. My dd is the type that will always gravitate towards like minded naughty kids so needs as little encouragement in that area as possible.

Lol! Sorry but that did make me LOL VS!

Yes, the pp is correct, watch out for the %pass-rate:

There is a school in a London that advertises its 85% pass rate as the best in the borough. However, that is because the students all sit the ICT GCSE worth 4 GCSEs & the RE - all c/w based. Next year, schools have to publish their 5A*-C pass-rate that includes Maths and English, so expect to see a lot of changes in the tables.

You also need to check out the B-A* pass rates, since schools can direct their best teachers into getting D students into the C band to get the all important % up - to the detriment of other students.

The other aspect to consider is that schools who do early entry AS level or the respected iGCSE are not included in the stats.

Pukkapatch, grammar schools generally have a range of pupil A*-D. The 11+ tests maths and verbal reasoning but not the ability to write. School refusers, ADHD, EBH, dyslexic students attend grammar schools.

the dyslexic kids i know off, tend to be intelligent and hardworking. a c grade is not beyond them.
i also know of plenty of children who have left that schoold wel l before gcse's as tehy didnt get ont here.
so why the failure to get a c grade?

maybe they were ill on the day? Even grammar kids can have health & other domestic issues in their lives that will performance.

will affect performance

65% Including English & Maths is a pretty good score for a state school. St Bedes (independent in East Sussex) only got 62% & St Leonards Mayfield (highly selective high performing girls independent) only got 89%
I was wrong about our village schools anyway, most of them got around 55%.
Most of the schools I am looking at are in the Eastbourne area.
Larry5 is probably right actually, that it depends on the particular year group they are in. Im finding that at our current school (village primary) dd1 is in a lovely class with a real learning ethos, yet dd2`s class are quite naughty & disruptive.
I suppose its the luck of the draw like anything. What suits one will not necessarily suit another.

Pukkapath, if a child had slipped a year at the grammar school and sat all of their GCSEs a year early then they wouldn't count in the stats as I understand it. The stats are very narrowly defined and only measure the results of kids sitting GCSEs in the school year in which they turn 16. So if you did your GCSEs a year early you would count as having attained no GCSEs! (or at least this was the case a coupele of years back)

It is due to anamolies like this that good private schools will appear lower in some of the Government league tables than you might expect: if you allow pupils to attempt exams early then they will have fewer to sit in the year that was measured. In loads of schools it used to be common practice for the top set to sit Maths a year early, but that can't happen now as it would screw up the league tables.

So unless you actually know of a pupil who left the school with fewer than 5 GCSEs in total I would be careful of what assumptions you make! The dcs school always appears bottom of the league tables locally when included, but then they don't do sats.

slipped should be skipped!

Yes I did Maths and English early at school and was slightly surprised to find out that my DCs are not allowed to do these exams early even though they are a bit easier nowadays. Pernicious league tables again ...

I thought you were in the private sector Q. Poor show if they have succombed too?

pukka- children who are coached intensively to get into grammar school (probably so that daddy doesn't have to fork out for independent) can't always handle the work once they get through the exam.

We ARE in the private sector - blardy ridiculous

One that stretched ALL children, regardless of their level of ability, bright and struggling alike, and encouraged them to achieve their best at whatever they chose. Not just yakked about doing same.

One that did not believe that intellectual elitism is a dirty concept.

I say this as a teacher and parent.

We are paying through the nose to educate ours.