From Grammar School State School

[XoXociao]

Has anyone made the decision to move their DS or DD from a grammar school to a state school? If yes, why? and how has this decision played out? I am considering this due to a relocation to a cheaper borough as i work remotely. I can tough it out as I have been financially but just thinking it might be overall beneficial to move

Grammar schools are state schools. Do you mean private to state or grammar to comprehensive? I moved my son from private to state school.

I meant non paying comprehensive. Thanks

I’m not sure how much you can generalise about that experience, because it will depend so much on the comp.

Some comps have very poor behaviour, low aspirations, lots of disruption and supply teachers, and the academic and social experience will be much worse than a grammar.

Other comps are lovely happy places with classes in streams so the kids that were capable of grammar school will still be working at that pace and depth but with less pressure.

So it all depends on the comp really.

Also on the age of your child, obviously you won’t want to move them in the run up to GCSEs for example.

How old is your child? Have you asked them how they feel?

13. He seems fine with it. He feels his friends at state school are having more fun than he is anyways.

I understand that it can't be generalised. I am hoping for positive experiences that others have before I make the move purely for financial reasons

Getting into grammar school often requires work and then mid-year admissions means taking a place at whatever school has places, which is rarely the most popular ones. Therefore it's probably not very common to make the move you are planning. Is there not somewhere cheaper, maybe further out, that you could move to and he could commute in? I think this is less about moving from grammar to comprehensive, and more about moving from an assumed good school to whatever is left elsewhere.

It’s not clear from your post @XoXociao – is your DC currently at a fee-paying private school (often called grammar schools) and the finances are why you want to move them?

Or are they at a state selective grammar (free) but you need to move house to access some ££ (or pay less mortgage or rent) and that will mean a school move?

I would say the former is not unusual but yes, the latter, moving from a selective state school to a comp is less common.

No my son is in a free grammar school. Financial pressure due to work redundancy and struggling to get by financially

More fun?
At school?
After school?
Weekends?

Our grammar school children worked harder than the children at comprehensive. They did more homework and yes, sometimes they missed out on other things going on.

Wasn't he aware of this could happen?

Oh I see. What year is he in? If he is 13 I assume he has just started year 9? Does his school currently or the school he would move to do GCSEs over three years or two? If three in either case that would make a difference.

I guess only you can know how much of a difference it would make to move house in terms of more ££ to play with. I will say tho that IME YP are pretty adaptable, a bright child will do well with support from home and a good attitude themselves, and it's no fun at all being in a household where there is not enough ££. Especially if you suspect it might be because of you (in this instance, your school).

Well if you can move somewhere much cheaper (taking into account your initial moving costs) and still send him to a good school then that seems like a sensible choice, and long term that extra money will give him more options. If you find the teaching in the comp isn’t as good you could supplement with tutoring, you can help towards uni costs etc.

But the big issue is whether you can get him into a good school.

Generally the best state comprehensives are oversubscribed, and people don’t often move once they’re in secondary school so places don’t tend to come up.

Do you have an area in mind to move to? If you do, do have any sense of what the schools are like there and whether they have space for your son?

It really is very unusual to move from a grammar to a comp, so I’m not sure you’ll get many helpful real life examples. Maybe better to focus on the options for new schools?

If he's happy at his current school I'd do everything possible to keep him there. An undersubscribed school with a place for him (which is obviously what you need) isn't likely to be as good.

Thinking of Crawley/Horsham. We are currently in London

A good comprehensive is supposed to include as much academic challenge and stretch to those in the top sets as they would get in a Grammar School. The point of the word Comprehensive is that it's supposed to be a singke school that offers the right level of education across the whole spectrum of academic ability rather than having some schools taking the most able pupils and other schools taking the more challenging ones.

If you are able to move into the vicinity of an excellent comprehensive that has no grammar schools anywhere near it and so has a fully spectrum of ability within each cohort then it should be no worse for your son than a Granmar - but it will by definition be nowhere near his current friends.

Any so-called "comprehensive" that is located near to a Grammar Schoolis not actually a comprehensive because all their potential top-set pupils are at the Grammar School. They still have a "top set" but it mostly contains pupils of 2nd/3rd set capability.

I see your point. Thank you. I am just exploring ideas. We are relatively new in the UK. We came in just about 4 years ago. I guess he just misses his fun goofy friends from primary.

Year 8. He likes it there but always still hangs out mostly with his friends from primary.

Sounds like he's not entirely happy in his current school then, which does change things...

Have you looked into possible schools? If there's a good school with spaces in an area that would be more affordable, and you son is happy with the idea then I'd consider it. But if he currently hangs out with his old primary friends presumably that wouldn't be possible after the move?

So do you have a school in mind @XoXociao and does it have a place? I initially read your post as meaning that but it is now sounding a bit more vague. That}s not to say it isn’t worth investigating – of course it is. But as others say, you may find that the best comps are oversubscribed and don’t have a space. And it’s less likely that one will come up in year 9 tbh than in year 7/8.

ETA: sorry just seen your update. If he is in year 8 that makes things perhaps a bit easier and give you a bit more time.

Loads of different factors to take into consideration.

Your child already goes to a state school, its probably worth thinking about using the right words when discussing with your child and looking for advice from others to make sure you are clear about what is actually happening.

Unfortunately I don't think you will get the info you need unless you name the schools you are moving from and to.

It completely depends on the specific comprehensive schools in scope and crucially which have available spaces.

My DC go to grammar, had they not got in, they would have gone to the local very good comprehensive. We live in an affluent area and have good school options. If we lived 2 miles south, they would have gone to another comprehensive with a pretty ropey reputation and very average/ below average grades.
I would fight tooth and nail to keep my DC in the grammar over a mediocre/ below average comprehensive - particularly if they are academically able.

Anecdotally my DC get more homework than their comprehensive friends - I would say that's fairly standard

I wouldn’t move my child from a free grammar school to a state school. The education he’s receiving will be very different to a state school. A grammar school is geared towards academic students who want to learn. Unfortunately many state schools are having to deal with behaviours that you just wouldn’t see in a grammar school.

Your DS says his state school friends have more fun. Sounds like code for not working particularly hard. On that statement alone, I’d do everything I could to keep him at the grammar school.

I think it’s possible but it needs a lot of consideration. You’ll need to pick a few high performing comprehensives (as pp said in a non-grammar area) and compare it to your grammar school / get parent feedback etc. Then you make the move only if there is a possibility to move to these specific schools.
to give you an example Orleans Park in Twickenham has great results and not wildly different to a Slough grammar result. In fact being non-selective it’s doing better for its wide intake ability than a selective grammar.
Changing house and school during secondary seems like a high stakes move. So make sure your school selection is good and doesn’t cause regret in later years.

The biggest issue will be getting a place in the local comprehensives. I have had friends move and struggle to even get a secondary place. When places do become available, they are invariably in the schools people least prefer. I don't think you can make a decision before you know there is a place available at a local comprehensive you are happy to send your son to.

The OP's DS is at a state school - a state grammar school. As opposed to a state comprehensive school, which will be the only local option in the area to which they are thinking of relocating.