Is it worth trying for a place at Redland Green School?

[Brainwracked]

We are moving to the Bristol area and can't decide between Redland Green and Backwell Schools. Is it worth makig the effort to get our DD into Redland Green? We would have to pay through the nose to rent a house within 700 metres of the school and although we would love to live there, chances are we wouldn't get a place at the school anyway since we won't be moving until March or April. I think Backwell School is good for performing arts, which is DD's main interest, but we worry about becoming isolated in a small community and having to commute a lot to Bristol. Can anyone share experience of this?

Rougher ethnic, poor choice of words...but if you mean St Pauls kids or Easton then I would my dcs didn't go there either.

I would go for Backwell, you get much more room for your money.

Cotham has just been given 'outstanding' by Ofsted.

How about a bit further afield? Castle School in Thornbury specialises in the Arts and has an outstanding ofsted report.

Thornbury is mostly white, if that bothers you.

My ds is a St. Pauls kid Posie, what exactly is your problem with him I wonder?

I've heard bad things about Cotham - v druggie and the teachers don't make much effort with the kids apparently. This is from a v nice 18 year old who went to BEC (Brislington Enterprise College, not got a great reputation, and then did A-levels at Cotham. She said BEC was the better school). You'd be better off with Backwell.

'but if you mean St Pauls kids or Easton then I would my dcs didn't go there either.'

My DD goes to an Easton school. Actually the Early Learning Years is better than some of the schools in the posh parts of town.

And not as racist.

This is not about race, this recognising that social issues are quite different in those areas. Fucking hell I'd happily send my dcs to most private schools which are abundant with different ethnic groups. But I wouldn't want them attending a school, Monks Park, Fairfeild, where the social problems are very different to those experienced at Redland GReen, Cotham etc. there's nothing wrong with individual families or children from any area of Bristol, but large groups from particular areas belong to a different set of rules. To pretend that isn't so is just silly. Some areas are rough, just look at the house prices.

So what do you think are the social issues here in this rough area where the house prices are low?

God forbid your children should have to mix with the lower classes.

Honestly. Why is MN such an abyss when it comes to stating the obvious? Like every rough area in each of our cities.

Moon, you can dress it up however you like. There's a reason places like Henbury and the like get lottery money and big social schemes and it's not because they're thriving with opportunity. My dcs go to a school with a good mix, but it is a mix.

Because I don't think it's obvious that you wouldn't choose a school with working class children in it.

Working class, if only.

Stating the obvious? You mean like Somalis?

be brave enough to say it, if that what you mean by the abyss.

No, I mean drugs, prostitution, knife crime, gangs....

Somalis? I will feel embarrassed for you.

So where are you planning to send your DCs to secondary Posie?

Obama....They are the closest rough areas to me, what did you think I should do A-Z the whole of Bristol to ensure I only mention the white shitholes? Cotham's catchment used to include St Pauls.

Probably Backwell or Easton in Gordano as we will be moving in the next couple of years, if not Cotham.

Obama, just have to say that working class was all about the class.....but you carry on projecting.

Most people who slag off the 'rough' areas of town don't know them at all. Just because you may have driven down Stapleton road once doesn't mean you know the first thing about Easton.

Horrible thread, bringing out the worst of Bristol's middle class snobbery, school obsession, and borderline racism.

So Cotham is full of prostitutes and knife crime because kids from St. Pauls go there

Not really a horrible thread, I have actually been stimulated by this discussion since I now realise why contributors slammed me for mentioning race in my early comments. I do not yet live in the U.K. and am unaccustomed to the race issue. The extreme reactions to my comment have been a wake-up call for me to be careful with mentioning race once I settle in Bristol. I somehow feel grateful to PosieParker for bringing the topic out into the open, however.

Thank you to all who gave me advice about Backwell. I think it will be the most appropriate choice for my DD, and I still get to enjoy coming to Bristol.

Yes, it's all a myth those crime statistics, Ofsted reports and teacher accounts...all liars. There are no social issues in Bristol and no fight for school places.