Would you do this?

[teta]

Eldest dd is doing very well in her current good comprehensive She is in the top groups.After a morning spent doing multi-choice tests a while ago,we have just heard today that she has been assigned the bottom set in Maths in a local private school.She got 7c in her end of term exams in her current school but sometimes gets erroneous low results in tests[ has happened twice now].She has put an awful lot of effort into improving her results over the last 3 years.I do accept that the standards for private schools may be higher [although her teachers reckon she will get a's and a*'s where she is now].I'm really not sure whether to go ahead and transfer her now as the sheer demotivation of moving from top to bottom would mean she may just give up.I may just refuse to move her unless they agree to place her in the middle set.

I got this page from the Guardian results for a school local to me. You could try yours?

That Guardian Page is crowd sourced - not verified
so schools like my lovely local Oasis Academy are not included. Funny that.

I wouldn't worry about the maths set, they will quickly move her up if she's not in the right one. But if she's a hard worker and has an ambition and motivation, she will do fine at a good state school and she'll be in top set with others who want to work. She'll also get lots of positions of responsibility in 6th form as she'll stand out rather than being one of many and teachers will go out of their way to help her. Universities are likely to favour state school kids with good a level grades - tutor if necessary to fill in any gaps. Of course it's up to you and her and you know the schools, but don't write off the state school too soon.

She has spent the last 3 years gaining in confidence in her current school and has made a lovely group of friends.

Why on earrth move her then?

Stop looking at overall results, look at your daughter and how well she will do.

My girls moved to the private sector at 11. Eldest was in set 4 of 5 for Maths (got an A at IGCSE). Youngest has always been in top set.

At first parents night for DD2 her Maths teacher said to me two things - she couldn't believe she had not had private tutoring to bring her Maths up to top set standard and she also couldn't believe the gaps in her knowledge - its only partly about levels of achievement - its also about the breadth of topics they've already covered.

It's unlikely that your DD will have covered enough topics to perform well in a compArative test at this stage. Less likely to be about ability than exposure to a broadrer curriculum.

I went to an academic private school where I was in the bottom set for maths (top set for everything else). It didn't bother me. I got all As at GCSE (before the days of A*) apart from Maths, in which I got a B, which I considered my best result!

I would agree you have to go with what your DD wants to an extent. Does she feel confident she can get A* across all subjects in her current school with extra tuition? She will need top grades to be a vet. Personally I incline to the view that being in an environment where everyone wants to do well - which the private school sounds like it offers - is more likely to breed success but that is just my view.

Pippin i'm not sure she will get a*'s in everything in our local school.Its well nigh impossible to tutor in every subject.She has a good chance to attain these in the private school.She is really not bothered by her Maths placing and is perfectly happy to work her way up.Gettingalifenow i'm sure you're right.The private school will probably teach to a much greater depth.I do know that she is not brilliant in Maths but she has done a lot of extra work to improve this year.She is happy to carry on working hard at this.
Sshh i do feel there is more to life than being happy.We have asian family and i have seen how important getting their dc's into a good school are and the extra work from a really young age.Now, whilst i don't want to start sending my dc's to kumon i will do the very best i can to ensure that all my dc's have the best education i can offer them.
Finally i did find some information on out local schools results.Its very clear that the results last year were far worse than the previous year [where they were the top state school in our county].Several local schools seemed to do better in the number of top gcse grades.This has reinforced my conviction that its better to move now.

I think I would feel the same as you teta. Whatever people think about school-life balance etc., if your DD aspires to being a vet she will need top grades just as a starting point, and as a parent I would (and am) be prepared to do whatever it took to give her the best chance. I'm moving my DCs to private schools in 2013 and even though it will mean we don;t go on holiday for the next few years I am utterly certain that this is the right choice for them. In fact I'm really excited for them as I know they are going to thrive.

The other thing about good private schools I think is that they are much more helpful on the careers front. As I say, top grades are just the starting point for highly competitive careers like vet, doctor, etc. My old babysitter, a lovely girl and very bright, wanted to be a doctor and got all A*s throughout (super selective grammar) school but didn't get an offer for med school. This was because she had no relevant work experience - her school just hadn't explained to her that she would need this. Lucky for her she took a year off, got some work experience, re-applied and is now in her 5th year

What are the class size differences? What teaching methods do they use in the respective schools? How qualified are the teachers? How much homework do they assign? Would the volume of homework leave any time for other life? What is the school's reputation for pastoral care? How awkward is the commute for her to undertake independently? What are the discipline procedures like? Does she have any friends in the new school? Does she actually want to do any of the ex-Curric activities only on offer in the private school?

I would want reassuring answers to those questions; more important than results.

Have you spoken to other parents at the private school to see what they think of it?

If your daughter is happy and thriving then I would not move her just because of a career choice she will almost certainly change her mind about in a few years time.

Do not assume that a private school with good results has good pastoral care or good careers advice. Help with your UCAS form does not equal good careers advice.

Go and observe teaching in the two schools - do they use a variety of teaching methods or are pupils just dictated to and expected to answer Qs from a book. How often is the curriculum updated? (Are they still teaching the same content from the same textbooks they were over 15 years ago - and yes I know for a fact local inde school is doing this!) What do they offer in terms of PHSE/Citizenship?

And also - if she needs tutoring and intensive help to get A*s etc to get into uni - who is going to tutor her when she gets there?? If she is hard working and motivated she will do well in any school she is happy in, and she will get the results she deserves. I agree there are actually benefits to keeping her in state in that she will stand out as exceptional, as opposed to being average in a private school.

OP, think you have answered your own question in your last post. Sounds very much like the private option is the one that you favour. If this is your gut feeling then whatever research you do will be coloured by this.

TC I got the same impression from the opening post. Go for it teta, hope it works.

OP - we had a bit of this. DD went to a top 100 comp for two years. She was in top sets and got a 7b at the end of Y8. We had issues with poor behaviour which is why we moved her. She is now at a nurturing Surrey indy. When she joined at the beginning of Y9 she was put in top set for maths and languages but was behind and we had to put in some tutoring for her. She finished the year flying and we are very glad we moved her - she is happier, there is far less disruption and bad behaviour is dealt with.

Nice to hear that Marriedinwhite.Dd loves her current school ,but does get cross when some of the dc's in the class are disruptive.Plus there is a fair proportion of kids with special needs in some of the classes.I'm glad she has not been placed in the top maths group but i would prefer her to be placed in the middle to be honest.However dd appears to be fairly positive about it all.
Adventures..... and vj32, yes i have done lots of investigating of this school.I wouldn't consider sending her if it didn't fulfill most of the above criteria.Pastoral care is apparently excellent.The school is very academic and children are pushed to achieve their best.In dd's current school the children are not pushed at all and go 4-6 weeks without any homework at times.Yes ,the children have fun and are very happy but i'm not so sure they will be happy when the only job they can get is working in the local Coop.[at least dd wouldn't be happy doing that].Another factor is,we live in a very small town[more like a village].Most of the kids have zero experience of living anywhere else and consequently aspirations are limited.This school is more international in its outlook and better suited to us as a family i feel[with mixed kids-born overseas and previously attending international schools].

talkingpiece2

That's a brilliant link.

Personally, I'd leave her where she is right now and move her for A levels.

I thought the research showed that state schools outperformed private schools for 'improvement' of grades, and that the better grade average of many private schools is down to selection and other external factors.

Glad to be of assistance - Google is my friend :-)