Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Original poster

Innocent poll: Would you willingly send your DC to a so called poor school for the sake of.....

309 replies

fireflytoo · 01/04/2008 17:45

...improving the standards of that school? There are often threads about all the issues revolving around so called good or bad schools. Many factors are blamed; class sizes, teacher child ratios, the middle class influence, sociological environments etc.

What I would like to know is whether anyone (especially anyone who gets cross at parents who move to good school areas or who pay for tutors etc) would willingly send their DC to a school where they know the DC would not nessecarily (sp?) get the best education....but where the school would benefit from having them there. (Presuming these said DC have supportive parents and the DC are quite capable of doing well.)

Hope I am not stepping on any toes here... I am genuinely interested in this question though.

OP posts:
castille · 01/04/2008 21:34

We are considering sending our DCs out of catchment to a "dodgy" comp in a deprived area (in France, where we live).

This is because the education authority chose this school (rather than a more central one with a more privileged intake) to house a new international bilingual section, with the specific intention of improving its reputation. A brave choice, I think, given that some parents will be put off by the school's location alone.

Because of its disadvantaged intake and the international section, the school has lots of extra cash for supervisors, teaching assistants, equipment etc. We were reassured when we visited. But if we do send DD1 there, we will be keeping a very close eye on her.

oops · 01/04/2008 21:49

Message withdrawn

AbbeyA · 01/04/2008 21:58

I wouldn't go with reputation or exam results. The only way is to visit. Schools can get reputations that are way out of date. When I moved to my area, parent's who sent their DC to the school up the road thought it vastly superior, however it was the school my DCs went to that became a Beacon School of excellence.

oops · 01/04/2008 22:05

Message withdrawn

Original poster
fireflytoo · 01/04/2008 22:06

I think Jacanne made a good point..(sorry been out a while) in that it is the commitment of the parents that makes the difference. Parents who back up teachers who discipline their children end up contributing to good learning environments in school.

OP posts:
Original poster
fireflytoo · 01/04/2008 22:07

and I agree with oops on that point.

OP posts:
bethelsie · 01/04/2008 22:07

My best friend is an LEA advisor in an inner city borough and i have worked in one for nearly 10 years. She was telling me that the most inspiring, dedicated teachers are always in your percieved poor schools. The more affluent areas (1million pound houses) she reckons teaching is much poorer, due to most kids having tutors and being reasonable bright. I would always send my child to the nearest school. In my experience the children who work hard will always do well. if you really want to measure a school, look at their value added score, that will tell you all you need to know.

oops · 01/04/2008 22:18

Message withdrawn

Umlellala · 01/04/2008 22:20

Amen!

Hulababy · 01/04/2008 22:26

Answer to OP: no I wouldn't.

scanner · 01/04/2008 22:26

When dd1 was starting reception we were in between two schools, one supposedly good and the other had been closed down. The closed down one had a new head, lots of new staff - but I wasn't prepared for dd to go there.

Dd got into the good school, that year the reception class in the poor school only had 15 children - I was rather . Now - a few years later the 'poor' school has a much better reputation.

oops · 01/04/2008 22:30

Message withdrawn

Original poster
fireflytoo · 01/04/2008 23:02

...and then blame teachers for not getting it right

OP posts:
undervalued · 01/04/2008 23:33

we 'some people' oops. I didn't move.

Judy1234 · 01/04/2008 23:33

It certainly feels another world if you're talking about a top 10 in the UK sort ofschool rather than the compromises on this thread. Makes me glad I earn a lot.

As for oregion... the answer is to assert yourself over your husband. Why should he choose the type of schooling and not you or is he in charge in the marriage?

UnquietDad · 01/04/2008 23:36

Isn't that supposed to be the point of the "comprehensive" system? You pays yer money (taxes) and you takes what ye're given? It's only since the spurious misnomer of "choice" that this has become an issue.

Quattrocento · 01/04/2008 23:54

Comrade UQD.

I know that in your world nurses should earn as much as doctors, and teachers as much as lawyers. This despite the fact that the barriers to entry to medicine being massively higher and the training twice as long and expensive ....

So why should it surprise me that you should be against parental choice?

But it still does surprise me. Those donkey jacketed days are over. You have to work to succeed. If you are with a crowd of illiterate children who don't work, then you don't understand the meaning of work.

UnquietDad · 02/04/2008 00:20

Quattro, I'm tying to make sense of the non-sequiturs above. Especially the last sentence. I'd have thought trying to get a "crowd of illiterate children" to produce something worthwhile would rank among the hardest work you can do without actually getting coal under your nails.

I'm against what gets called "choice" because it's an easy way out. It's an excuse for governments and local authorities to allow some schools to be considerably worse than others.

And I have never, ever worn a donkey jacket...

Desiderata · 02/04/2008 00:36

Jeez, I am very glad that I frankly couldn't give a fuck what my son does for a living, having heard some of the comments on here.

Lol at the very notion that a child should have a work ethic!

controlfreakyagain · 02/04/2008 00:39

yes xenia, all that money has made you so empathetic....

cory · 02/04/2008 08:40

I have to admit I never felt that sending dc's to the local comp was about 'us' conferring a benefit on 'them'. Being the selfish parent I am, I thought more of the enormous benefits conferred on dc's by this arrangement.

And incidentally, we have never noticed that coming from the local council estate automatically translates as being disruptive. Children who are extremely disruptive are usually disruptive because of extreme family problems (which, surprise, surprise! can happen in middle-class families too) or certain SNs (again not class-bound).

I went to a local comp and was possibly the only child in my class who took work very seriously- I find it has been a great benefit to me later in life to have learnt to push against the stream.

Dc's are not the only children working hard in their school- but they are learning that there are different takes on this, and to them having an interest in school work is even more valuable because it is a personal choice. And no, it doesn't mean they look down on children with other attitudes or capabilities.

Oh, and btw I did use to wear a donkey jacket. And I've got a PhD. Not mutually exclusive. Both were good times in my life

ninedragons · 02/04/2008 09:40

No way in hell. My child is not a lab rat.

spokette · 02/04/2008 10:13

I live in a MC area and trust me, there are many arrogant, sneering, aloof spoilt brats with appalling behaviour.

I hate, hate, hate the constant inference on MN that WC equates to poor work ethic, no interest in education blah, blah, blah.

Many poor WC families value education and have no choice but to send their children to the local school and many of those children actually do quite well. Also, doing well does not just relate to going to university, thank goodness.

My DH and I are from poor WC backgrounds, went to local comps and both have PhDs but according to the MC snobs on here, we would have been labelled as either thick, ASBO contenders, badly behaved etc. Well I have news for you. Bad behaviour does happen in the schools with the nice MC children with their shiny patinas and well polished halos.

The most important factor in a child's education is the influence of the home environment. I doubt that a MC child whose parents pay no attention to them will do just as a well as a WC child who parents inspire them to work hard and provides the resources and support that they need to achieve their potential. They will probably turn out to be very pleasant, emphatic, inclusive and tolerant adults too.

Quattrocento · 02/04/2008 11:22

Sorry UQD expressed myself badly - I'll admit to non-sequiturs. I wasn't referring to teaching the crowd of illiterate children but to trying to learn amongst them. It must be hard.

SixSpotBurnet · 02/04/2008 11:25

in answer to the OP - yes

they don't need the "best" education

good enough will do

but i might feel different if DS1 and DS2 weren't very bright

and I wouldn't send DS3 (ASD) to a school where he couldn't cope