Brighton votes to allocate secondary school places by lottery - good or bad?

[TheDullWitch]

Would you put your child's future down to pure chance because it's a fairer system?
here

No, it all sucks. Lottery is fairer for sure, but who the hell is going to say, "oh for reasons of social justice, I will put the most important decision of my child's life down to pure chance".

if more MC kids go private, it leaves more school places

People are up in arms.My ds is in one of the good schools and I have to admit we bought a house we couldn't afford to get him in there.It seems all those who apply and are turned down will have their names put into the computer and will then be allocated a place at random at another school with places.Nightmare although withing a few years it could result in better schools all over Brighton but people are already looking to move as close as poss to the schools in question in order to guarantee a place as I think the roads immediately adjacent to the schools are still a cert.but cost a fortune.I understand that people want the best for their kids but it has been a nightmare in Brighton for years so they did need to do something

I m in middle of secondary transfer in S London and the state allocation feels like a lottery anyway.

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no one will say that www. hence why many social liberals like the ideal but not the practice - as it may mean the price of pesto goes up or sommat.

But that is even more socially divisive!

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soory not www. dullwitch

I don't see having MC kids in a poor school will improve it. So much more needs to be done - motivating the other kids and their parents, getting rid of rubbish staff. Our village primary went from failing to outstanding in 5 yrs thanks to achange of head and governors. The demographic didn't change. But then he only needed 4 teachers.

more socially divisive than a ystem where being able to afford an education by virtue of the part of town you live in?

i personally dont think so.

am sniggering at cod's sundried tomato sandwiches and tuba playing

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cod - I m a Northerner but naturalised Londoner.

Brighton is full of people who moved from here to escape the London secondary school lottery... now they ll be stuffed again. You can laugh cos they re poshie Londoners. But actually they re not. Poshie Londoners stay and go private. These are the non-poshies who couldn't afford to go private, who relocated away from shite inner city schools.

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I think it's an awful idea, but I suppose it shows what a terrible state the education system is in.

I will await with baited breath the local MP in Brighton to put their children into the lottery system. Yeah right.

"Do as I say, not as I do".

does this exclude religeous schools i wonder?

might haver a flurry of church goers

only fresh homemade pesto

I don't recall seeing protests by these parents about the state of schools. It's straight selfishness, they don't like the fact that under investment and incompetence expose their kids to the realities of British education.

So I half agree with Cloudhopper that it shows how awful education is in this country.
But for the life of me, I can't think of anything better.
It does not alter the number of school places at good schools.
It's a classic problem in any resource allocation by the state. Some parents are getting better schools, but they aren't very loud about it, but the ones who perceive theylose out, protest.

I was going to say the same thing, Custie.

Of course more MC parents going private is more socially divisive, but it is what will happen. And all the Labour MPs milk the system anyway. The current situation is also divisive, but this isn't the solution. People will simply find the towns (like mine) where both schools are good (if one is huge) and move there - it doesn't matter which one you get in the 'lottery'.

And it doesn't adress the issue of the cost (financial and environmental) of shipping kids four or five miles in rush our across town to one school when their nearest is a short walk away.

How did we get to the stage where some schools are so bad parents would rather go bankrupt than send their kids there?

I don't know if it is middle class as I would hate to be seen as MC(shudder)but most of the parents of my ds's friends were very involved with the school on many levels and it really felt like a community.Surely if some of this sort of attitude and involvement is scattered around things might change or maybe this goes on at all schools and some are just crap regardless.The school is not just the responsibility of the teachers and kids but the whole community and I am so glad my ds had that and think every child deserves that

I liked teh caller on r4 who suggested moving good teachers around - by lottery

Noddy I completely agree with your post.

That the schools in my area are good is a lot to do with them being LOCAL and part of the community. I am not sure how this is going to be achieved by sending kids across the city to a school nowhere near where they live.

The transport issues in Brighton are terrible already, especially at school run time.

And I think it is easier to improve a primary school through power of numbers, because parents are there picking up every day, there is a sense of community among them anyway (which I will really really miss when my kids are older) At secondary school, you rarely set foot in the place, don t know other parents unless your kids are v gd friends.