Grammar schools - why are they different to streaming in comprehensives?

[tootsietoo]

So the government has just announced that they will consider reintroducing grammar schools. Admittedly I don't know much about the education system but I don't understand why they are different or better than streaming in a comprehensive school. Would they be funded differently? Have different or better teachers? A narrower range of subjects? As far as I can see to stream in certain subjects in a comprehensive enables the stretching of the academically able children but would allow for movement of children between streams each year therefore avoiding "pigeon holing" children at 11. Explanations gratefully received!

How can it not be good for society for all kids to go to the same school, to find out a bit about each other's different lives and to make friends with people outside their little bubble?

We are a naice comfortable family living in a leafy bit of town. It has done my kids a world of good to go to high school and make friends with kids whose lives are less comfortable and who tend to be more resourceful and, in many ways, mature. I would hope some of their friends have benefitted from spending time in a calm comfortable family environment and from talking to adults who are more familiar with higher education and the choices that are available to them.

Sorry if that comes across as patronising; it's not meant to be.

Mumsneedwine

Your school's approach to behaviour sounds good. However, I think it's important to accept that sometimes poor behaviour (especially low-level disruption) is caused not by kids having problems, but by a desire to show off to friends, or simply because it's more enjoyable than buckling down to work.

I have also read too many teacher blogs talking about SLT who have abandoned any responsibility for behaviour, who will blame the teacher for 'not making lessons sufficiently engaging' if there is any poor behaviour in their class, and who will target any teacher who dares to try to use the on-paper behaviour sanctions system. Or they will insist that all detentions, etc, are the responsibility of the individual teacher, so that the administrative burden of handling behaviour sanctions becomes so great that teachers just give up for lack of time.

poster TinklyLittleLaugh Sa

Making friends getting to know people comes 2nd to getting a good education and tbh that sound somthing a middle class person who has the resources to counter the shit school

You want to keep bright with minority's and bright children in comps to enlighten your children 😕

We're not a naice family from a leafy suburb.

One of mine goes to a comp and the other to a grammar. They are both in the right school for them.

By the time they are both at university, the comp one may be better off at a more selective uni and the grammar one at a less selective uni. That's fine. People have different ability levels at different times.

And after uni, an Oxford graduate may be less capable of postgraduate study or a particular job than one from a post 92 uni. There is not some magical time at 5, 11, 18, 21 or 30 where we make some final and lasting decision on who is the most academic or intellectual.

And my kids' school attendance is not some kind of anthropological experience put on so that naice kids have the opportunity to mingle with the proles before going on to Oxford.

I dunno, if more people got out of their bubble perhaps government and society as a whole would have a lot more empathy. Segregation is never a good thing.

some kind of anthropological experience put on so that naice kids have the opportunity to mingle with the proles before going on to Oxford.

this

Personally my kids spend enough time with working class people there family at home

I've learned lots, thank you. Didn't know the difference between setting and streaming.

I agree with a PP that it would make so much more sense to spend all the money that will be going on setting up new Grammars on making the less good comps as good as the good ones. Which are brilliant, obviously (we have one near us, we are very lucky, but there are lots of them around!). And it's so great to hear from the good teachers about their good comps.