my son is going to the local bog standard comp

[southeastastra]

is yours? club

'When they are well funded'

There's the rub. It has occurred to me that all the non-BSCs - the ones that are deemed to have some other advantage (GSs, faith, whatever) should automatically receive a somewhat lower capitation.

A lot of the schools people are talking about on here sound far from bog standard. If they are achieving the standards people say they are and sending kids to Oxbridge it beggers belief that people would ever contemplate sending their children to private school.

mine is nothing particularly out of the ordinary
look at the Hampshire results on the BBC league tables
all the secondaries in Hampshire are comps
very few have 6th forms
we feed into Peter Symonds, Barton Peverill etc

its a positive feedback loop
good schools attract bright parents ....

People hqve very strange ideas about state schools!

well then startail if you want to give thanks and celebrate, don't run the schools down by calling them bog standard ... if schools have great facilities, good results, sends kids off to Oxbridge etc etc they're not bog standard are they...

All state schools should cater for the brightest while simultaneously supporting the less academic, offer fantastic pastoral care, be a vibrant part of their local community etc etc and yes, there are many schools that are all those things. The tragedy is that some schools are not.

FWIW ds2 goes to the school 5 mins down the road - it's a comprehensive, but it's far from bog standard. We're lucky that we live where we do and have that option but I'm not fooling myself that there's anything particularly praise-worthy about my decision to send him there. It's easy for me to say 'why would anyone not use their local school' but I don't have genuine fears for ds2's safety every day and I know that he will be stretched and encouraged to achieve - I wouldn't judge anyone who doesn't have that luxury and yes, there was a judgmental tone to some of the posts on this thread - lots of you don't recognise that, being too busy agreeing with each other!

Both of mine are at the local comp- we're rural and the nearest non-comprehensive is miles away. We're very happy with it. It's genuinely a comprehensive, with hairdressing and construction skills on offer for the non-academically inclined, so it'll never shine in league tables, but pretty much everyone goes from school into a job, an apprenticeship or University. There's a good work ethic across the board.

DC went to the local local comp - 11 A grade GCSEs, 5 A grade A levels, played the Albert Hall with the school orchestra, now studying medicine.
What's not to like?

What if someone were to open a 'club' for parents of DC at 'top grammars' or 'public schools'?

Happens all the time. Anyhow, this thread isn't a private club is it,?<

Grimma -- that was my point! The OP explicitly called this a 'club'. Could you kindly point me to a single thread where grammar or indie parents have explicitly declared themselves a 'club'?

Seeker -- my very own DS was going to a bog-standard local comp when I took him out for his own safety. So kindly don't patronise me.

Basildonbond is right. The tone of this thread is decidedly smug. Why can't we all respect each other's decisions regarding the most suitable school for our DC? All children are different, and one size does not fit all :).

Smug?

It's not smug , it's most peoples reality. Time and again comprehensives are slagged off on MN, it's nice to read a positive thread for a change.

I really don't want to bring this thread down- but.....

"club" wa obviously a joky way of putting it. Particularly obvious when we remember that it's a club where 90% of the population are automatically members!

It's really easy to forget on a "selective" forum like this that about 90% of kids go to Their nearest school and most do fine. It's fabulous to have a thread reminding us of that fact.

And ( this does not apply to me because my implacable opposition to private education is well documented), there must be nothing more depressing and/or infuriating to the minority of parents whose children are NOT doing well in their local school to have private education presented as a viable choice. "We had to send him to private school" is a sentence that must really stick in the throat of the vast majority who could no more afford fees than fly.

And that sentence, or something like it appears every day on here. And it is one that fuels the usually unfounded fears of first time secondary parents who have sleepless nights about the drug fuelled knife wielding low achievers that they think their children are going to be surrounded by. A year down the line they realise thqt their children are surrounded largely by other children of concerned, involved parents. Because most are. regardless of sector.

But seeker what is clear from the offer day thread is that some people just don't have a local BSC ,there are quite a few people who have applied tontheir nearest school,not private,not selective just their local school and have no place ,in some cases no place anywhere and it others they have been given a place at a school they didn't apply for which is not definately not their local school (1 hour plus commute).

Imagine how hurtful this thread is ,I am sure they would love a BSC to send their child to .This thread does come across as rather smug and insensitive

Hurtful? Smug? Insensitive? I am even more .

Puremince I am confused our school is a true comprehensive as you put it construction, beauty etc and does shine in league tables so schools can without being purely academic.
And some friends of mine do send to the local school that perhaps does not shine out but are confident that their child will do just fine so do not think it hurtful and suggesting all would love a BSC to send children to is patronising and hurtful to those who do through choice

Imagine how hurtful it is to read that you don't care about your kids education if you send them to the local comprehensive school. I've read that plenty of times on MN.

Imagine how hurtful it is to read that some posters don't want their children to mix with my children.

Now I am hurt blushing. I don't get all this at all. Another fairly lighthearted thread goes all pear shaped.

Sparkling , don't be just keep off the school threads

I think I will blushing. I didn't realise what trouble could be caused by sending DS to the local comp.

Yes there is a lady on the offers board who is in bits because because her son has not been offered a school at all ,she applied to all her local BSC no selectives etc she was offered nothing ,apparent 4000 11 yr olds in greater London are in the same boat ,some not all the posters on this thread seem to imply that this is in some way her fault .

It's just a bit well I'm alright my child has got a place at a good local school ,what about a bit of compassion for those who were not allocated a good local school.

Maybe it's just the insensitivity of the timing ,starting this thread at the same time as some have no place .I am not in this situation ds3 only year 5 but I flinched when I saw the title ,I just thought how hurtful to all those people without places

Well I'm sure some people find "Tell me about your positive birth experience" or "What are the good things about having a 2 year old" thread deeply painful, but they serve a useful purpose in reminding people who are paranoid that the extreme things are not the norm, and for the majority of people the average outcome works out fine.

That's like a BFP announcement when people are struggling to conceive though isn't it? I still don't get it.

OK maybe I am supersensitive I just do think maybe starting this thread on the same day that many were feeling sad that they didn't get offered a place at their BSC did sound a little like gloating

Am I stupid or do I not get your children not mix with my children perhaps I am naive but I really think no one would be hurt as thoses who do not care about the childs education send them to local school good or bad and those who send to the local school [even if not top of league tables etc] have their reasons and of course they care about their child education so I do not think they will be hurt

Oh dear Lord. Smug? I've heard it all now.

Yes, extremely happy my son is at our local comp. one of the best in the country, he's thriving, the sports facilities are excellent, many, many other positives, can add a few thousand onto your house price if its within catchment - we're lucky. Perhaps you have to pay a fortune for all that and it's making you a little.....bitter. Sorry!