Another wanky Guardian article - the 'anguish' of finding a good school ....

[disgustedbythehypocricy]

This is the most BOAK-inducing thing i've read in a while.. it's so bad i honestly don't know where to start!

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/04/andrew-penman-schools-education

[donnie]

fuckin ell.

My DH went to Rutlish!

And no he is not an Uzi toting crack dealer.

Andrew Penman is a ghastly navel gazing liar.

[Merrylegs]

oh god oh god, one more thing and then I'll stop because Andy has taken up far too much of my time - curse you OP. My eyes. My eyes!

Anyway -

the bit about their 'so-called buyer' (er, 'so-called' because he um, actually bought their house perhaps? I digress, as does Andrew)...

I would love the 'so-called' (sorry, couldn't help myself) buyer to come on here and confirm whether he is, in fact, anal. I love the idea of him as an innocent bystander in the midst of this madness, throwing his hands up in the air with a 'wha did I do?" expression.

And now I will bow out. But not before wishing young Robert all the very best for his new school. Good luck, kid.

[ZephirineDrouhin]

muminlondon I recognise very much what you say about the parents of pre-school children who opt out of community schools either by means of faith or money. IME a lot of these will spend a great deal of energy justifying their decision by telling anyone who will listen how terrifying and dreadful the local community schools are. It's not only bloody demoralising to be on the other end of that conversation, but also has a very damaging effect on the schools' reputations, and helps to amplify the divisions that already exist between private/faith and community schools. And of course this is just what this idiot Penman is doing on a massive scale.

[PollyParanoia]

Muminlondon and zephirine, I couldn't agree with you more. I live in Islington and the likes of Boris Johnson and Tony Blair have happily trotted out that "well we're in islington what do you expect" line which is massively disrespectful to those working in and using these schools. It's so self-fulfilling that you get wealthy people who are happy to live in a vibrant and conveniently close to the city area, yet don't wish for their children to play any part of it nor do they even visit the local schools. And as you say, they have to believe that the local schools are hell holes to justify the expense and inconvenience they put themselves through.
I would be fecking furious if I lived near Rutlish as it has evidently been irresponsibly slagged off by a man who was willing to dismiss it on hearsay and move to Surrey to get a 2% better GSCE pass rate. Which to me indicates a far less effective school than the one he has rejected.

[Dukey66]

Have just read the article, after been asked isnt your son at Rutlish?! I just dont understand how the Guardian can get away with writing this kind of drivel, could they not have at least checked their facts?? or mentioned that the school is now sitting over 60% in A - Cs including Maths and English. How can you base a decision on moving etc for a school that is in the same ballpark (if indeed you would move for these reasons) on hearesay? so he has wasted 40k plus I am sure an increase in his travel. We should be supporting local schools and celebrating a 75% increase in results in 3 years not printing rubbish like this especially at this time of year. I, like a lot of my friends chose Rutlish as we went to the school, met the new head and heard his vision - imo there is no better to place to be than a school which is on its way up. Oh and my son has made friends with boys that came from Holy Trinity - this guy is full of crap. Not only is my son excelling academically, he has made lots of friends and his confidence is sky high.

[semicolon]

Every time I read that Family section I feel like hurling it out of the window.

It is always the biggest load of precious-me-and-my-family bollocks ever. Every so often one of the features is genuinely interesting but most of it is a sort of sub conscious diarrhoea poured out on to the page, requiring no research or facts or hard work to back it up.


And his parting shot:

"Nationally, the picture isn't so happy: around 100,000 children did not get into their first choice of secondary school. I'll bet that the second choice often isn't just a bit worse, but dreadful."

No - their second choice of school will be fine. And they will be fine. And maybe a little bit more open minded than their parents.

[titchy]

Anyone know which school Penman Jr has just started at?

[Blu]

Oh, LOL at Merrylegs and the poor 'so-called' buyer - I can just picture it:

S-C B "The drop-down kerb that leads into the driveway - it was put in by the council, was it? Approved by them?"
AP "How the hell should I know - and why would it matter? They do 'distance from school' from the crisper drawer in your fridge, not from your driveway, you know!"
S-C B "er, yes, very helpful, but I'm looking for somewhere with off-street parking, and if i'm funding your move from one 60-is% school to another, I want value for money. I don't want to find that the council can replace it with a high kerb and all those catholic 4x4 drivers dropping their kids off can park across my drive and box me in!!"
AP "well, I've told Pam to search the attic and we can't fnd the paperwork, but you can take my word, take my word as a Christian, that the dropped kerb is legal. On my honour, no word of a lie...."

HOW that S-C B ust be searching the council's planning consents file now....

[GetOrfMoiLand]

PMSL Blu, crisper drawer lolol

[MissM]

My husband, who's a teacher, has a theory about people like Andrew Penman. Basically they don't want their kids mixing with poor kids. Yes, it's a crass, over-generalisation of a theory, but there is an element of truth in this case, no? Because surely in Mr Penman's blinkered eyes it's only poor kids who tote guns and knives and speak rudely to random adults. (Oh, apart from that guy from Eton mentioned above but that was a shocking one-off naturally).

[Quattrocento]

Andrew Penman is the most compelling argument for private education I've read on MN.

Well-worth shelling out the beans just to avoid him, IMHO.

[CaptainInkheart]

The Guardian publishing features written by appalling people like Penman and the Myersons just gives them credence - and gives the impression that their immorality is somehow acceptable, even par for the course.

The 'Living with Teenagers' column - also in the Family section - was shocking; not a reflection of normality.

[EdgarAllInPink]

well, in some ways as someone who would most definitely lie, cheat connive and stretch the mortgage to get my kids in a better school if possible, I'm not going to judge this dude for that.

I went to comps of varying quality myself - no better way to know how much difference a good school can make to how happy your kids are.

and no, bright kids don't do well if you park them just anywhere - funnily enough teachers do actually make a difference. If a teacher is pitching their lesson at C-grade, to engage the majority of the class, the A-grade student is not going to be pushed - they may not even be taught everything they need to know to get that grade.

I will judge him for his tone, the fact that he is making out it was all terribly difficult - i mean, all he did was move house then apply to a school by the normal mens...and it doesn't sound like he ws short of the wherewithall to make that happen.

I don't know anything other than the details on this thread about the schools in question though!

[Cammelia]

Its his mixture of I'm so hard done by but look at how clever I am to outwit everybody that grates

Loving your posts, Blu

[Ephiny]

"and no, bright kids don't do well if you park them just anywhere - funnily enough teachers do actually make a difference. If a teacher is pitching their lesson at C-grade, to engage the majority of the class, the A-grade student is not going to be pushed - they may not even be taught everything they need to know to get that grade."

This is where setting is useful though - in my GCSE classes, for example, the top set were expected to get As/A*s, and were taught appropriately. The C-grade pupils were in a different class with the lessons pitched at the right level for them (I think they might even have been sitting different papers in some subjects.) We had 5 or 6 sets for most subjects which seems fine-grained enough to me. You get a range of abilities in all schools (except possibly the most academically selective), it isn't an insurmountable problem.

I agree teachers make a difference, but you get some good - and some not-so-good - teachers at all types of school. I had some great teachers when I was at school, and know several teachers among friends and family now (including my mum before she retired) who teach in ordinary state schools and are very good at their jobs. You could argue that it takes a better teacher to get results out of a more 'challenging' intake.

[mixedmamameansbusiness]

I am planning on moving into teaching and would like to teahc at a bog standard comprehensive like I attended as this is where I feel as a teacher I can make the most difference and inspire.

[amidaiwish]

Rutlish should do him for slander. why not?

[BecauseImWorthIt]

Dukey66 - what year is your son in? Mine has just gone into year 11

[IagreewithLeQueen2]

Ephiny - that is what the teaching is like at my dd's bog standard comp (I am getorfmoiland, btw). It is a big school (1500 kids) so there are many sets per subject, and they are arranged by ability/predicted GCSE grade for all subjects other than RE, Citizenship and PE.

So DD is in classes with peers you are aiming to get the same result as her - she is good at History so is in the top set (A and A*) and is less good at maths so is in the second set (B).

Schools are not stupid, they are as results driven as the grammars in some respect, and if there are kids who are able to get a good grade, well they will be nurtured.

How they are BETTER than the selective schools (IME) is that they do not dismiss spending time on a child who is emphatically middle-ability (like my dd) in order to concentrate on the star academics.

[IagreewithLeQueen2]

Oh, and for SN provision there is NO CONTEST between selective and comp. DD had dyslexia and has come on in leaps and bounds since she has started going to the supposedly inferioer comp.

Not that that would matter to Penman as his child is evidently a GENIUS.

[IagreewithLeQueen2]

lol senua

[said]

This article makes me want to move my child to Rutlish. And I live in the NW

[Blu]

I bet the poor old Merton Director of Education is either being sacked or suing....I wonder if he knew he was being interviewed for publication when he said the things he is purported to have said?

[senua]

It's not really LOL: I feel ashamed now. Because of the article this man has written, I have made an easy joke at the expense of a little boy. I have reported myself.