The most Socially Selective schools in England.

[smokepole]

Here is a list of the most socially selective state schools in England , total no of pupils entitled to free school meals over the last six years. Dept Of Education Characteristics

1. Cranbrook School Kent 5
2. Borlase Grammar Bucks 5
3. Bishop Words Wilts 7
4. Pate's Grammar Gloucs 8
5. Colchester Royal Essex 10
6. Caistor Grammar Lincs 10
7. King Edward Louth Lincs 10
8. Adams Grammar Shrop 11
9. Colchester High Essex 12
10. Kendrick Grammar Berks 12
11. Dr Challinor High Bucks 12

12. Alyesbury Gram Bucks 13 12. Beaconsfield High Bucks 13 12. Newport High Shrop 13 15. Stratford Gram Warks 14 15.Skinners Sch Kent 14 17.Chelmsford High Essex 15 17. Judd Sch Kent 15 17. St Olaves Kent 15 20. Alcester Gram Warks 16 21. Tonbridge Gram Kent 17 22. Kegs Chelms Essex 19 22. Lancaster Girls Lancs 19 24. Skipton High Yorks 20 24. Tunbridge W Gir Kent 20 26 Hockerill Anglo Essex 21 27. Ripon Gram Yorks 22 27. Ermysteds Yorks 22 29. Altrincham Boys Ches 23 30. St Bernards Slough Berks 24

well, just looked at our nearest school and it has received a grade 3 this September after 4 the year before.
Its the one dd would be likely to gain a place next year.
You have done me a favour as I need to look for local schools just in case, but I'm dreading it.

My cousins all come from blue collar backgrounds. Their children attended Great Barr, were university educated and all bar one with health issues have been successful professionally. One works for the diplomatic services.

Smokepole I'm surprised to see you so negative about equestrian activities. I thought your brother was buying your daughter a pony when you were planning to move North?

morethan - presumably that school is improving then?

Yes he was. However, it was a private issue not linked to a school !.

The second point is I am not moving any more at least in the near future.

I am not negative about Equestrian activities as you can see with me having friends who have competed at international level. There is just a time and place for horses .

ilovesooty

It seems to be, there's a new head who seems good, but I haven't really looked much tbh, didn't even bother applying for a place because they are all pretty similar, there are better ones but they are usually full before they get to our streets there are 27 secondary schools here, I believe that 7 are special schools.
The next school available to us had 39% 5 A*- C GCSE passes which is really good as a high percentage SEN
There are a couple with low to mid 60's and one school with 82%
I am only finding results atm and haven't dug any deeper yet.
Hoping I won't have to.

Talkin

We lived in Norfolk well the border with Suffolk
our dc would have attended Loddon High school if we had remained there.

Yes morethan I would expect a new head to be turning things round. Hope your daughter succeeds in getting to the planned next stage in her schooling.

Marling school did build an aeroplane. They have engineering speciality, it was sponsored by a major company(possibly bae) and then sold to repay the grant. I dont think that it cost the school much at all.

Ds1 goes to a school in the top 5 on the list. We are certainly not wealthy as both minimum wage parents.
We know other families who can only get their dc to school because gp pay the bus fare.
We would be better off if the dc got fsm as the pupil premium would allow them opportunities access now.

Thanks Sooty

I know I may sound harsh on the local schools but 2 of our dc had the worst luck in terms of schools. One went to a really bad school which improved drastically whilst he was there but he had to endure the most awful environment. Then ds2 went to the school I mention when it was good and it went drastically down hill until he left.
Our dd may have the chance to receive a good and fitting education, I hope she achieves it too.

Actually Morethan St Edmunds and St Peters both achieve 82 and 83% respectively . However their FSM rates of 5 and 7.6% FSM are not representative of the area .

Smoke, yes I know and St Peters we aren't in Catchment and St Edmunds is t'other side of borough
We are close to the not very impressive large Cof E school, in fact round the corner.
It may seem silly but if she has to go to a school round here the school I mention above with the high SEN and 39% A-C is good with performing arts and would be more approachable for time off for dd to perform. The high performing schools just wouldn't allow it, I know from other dc in dds ensembles.

Smoke

You are scaring me now with your knowledge, I think I will employ you to find the best school should it come to it.

Hang on what about "Standish High" that achieved 82% as well and has 51% high ability students. Why do the high achieving schools not have Sixth Forms ?...

Aren't they advertising that as 2013 though?
Have all the final re markings and moderating happened now.
Should they be advertising 2014 now?
This is the one that refused several dc to attend rehearsals for xmas concerts as they didn't have high enough attendance.
Shevington used to be on a par with Standish there was nothing between them at all.
I'm still leaning towards Rose Bridge or Brittanica, whatever they call it these days
This second audition in Feb can't come soon enough.
I suppose could always continue H.ed but said I didn't want to do Ks3

Wow this thread has been fascinating! Just to throw my oar in, you are all so lucky to be able to even consider the options for your DCs, we have 2 secondary state schools within a 40min (car) drive radius. The first one we tried for primary but found that the career and education expectations of the children & parents was well below our own, DS was told by teacher in his 2nd yr that as he was above average he would just have to sit the year out and wait for the others to catch up! Many of the parents refused to bother with homework as they didn't see the point and one daughter woke up to find her single mum had OD, (and died!) it was then announced in assembly to age 6-11yr old kids! The other school is a Grammer and has the police outside it to keep the drug dealers away from the kids! Yes some kids do come out doing well but the aspirations for most are very low. So we have opted to go private, nearest school is 3hr drive and we get funding help but our DC are both now doing well and are happy. We could have applied for FSM in the state system but chose not too. We work very hard to pay for our DC education and get no help from family, we go without everything and often we do not know where the next meal is coming from..but if you met me you would never know! Also, I went to a state school and I did a paper round every day before school to pay for my riding lesson once a fortnight..I went onto become an International Event Rider before 'retiring' as a broodmare!

Sorry for the long post but have enjoyed this post and wanted to dispel some myths (except that yes, Slough is a dump!)
I also believe that every state school child should have FSM and children should be taught proper table manners and healthy eating. School gates locked from 9am - 3.30pm so they can't eat rubbish from the high street, all kids would be = and well nourished! And yes I can explain how to fund it but you won't like it!

Pepperpot69, I don't know if you will be coming back on this thread, but I was interested in the fact you had become an international event rider from a state school background. Did you have contacts in the horse riding world? (Please excuse me if I'm being too nosey.)

I don't want to derail the thread by banging on too much about the equestrian angle but I'm intrigued. I had a look at the school backgrounds of the 2012 Olympics team. Where it was possible to find out with a quick google, I found that seven were definitely privately educated and three were definitely state educated. I admit this is a higher number of state educated riders than I had anticipated. What is apparent though, is that those who were state educated, were able to avail themselves of the cultural capital of their parents and benefited from being in the right sort of environment. They had contacts, connections and a lot of lucky breaks. It seems that all - state or privately educated - were steeped in the milieu. An Olympic standard horse changes hands for more than a million pounds - sometimes significantly more. So it seems you either have to have money or at least be working in a moneyed environment where you can meet the right sort of people who might if you are lucky help you out.

I don't see anything wrong with Equestrian Teams in state schools if it is part of the background culture of the children attending the school, as long as it is not something that could introduce social divisions within that school. (And I do feel it could be a danger.)

I was reading an interesting book called Bounce by Matthew Syed. The book is about achieving excellence in your chosen field. As a former Olympian he concentrates on sport. His thesis is that raw talent is less important than you might think. Interestingly he doesn't dwell on money - but then his sporting expertise was in table tennis and I suppose even the very best bat can't be that expensive. (He went to a comprehensive school too.) What he did emphasise was the importance of connections.

Anyway, derailment over! (Sorry, I get obsessed by minutiae very easily!)

Just to pick up on the whole elite sports people from selective / private schools sub thread that went on.

Running.
Its not an expensive sport.
You turn up at a track and if your physiology is right you run fast.
Oh, except that to stay selected into school then cluster then regional then county and higher teams takes hours and hours of training
Before school
On weekends
After school
In the holidays
so any family without the means to drive to obscure training venues come rain or shine
will not be able to let their child compete even in a cheap sport
it struck me this morning dropping off one of DDs friends at 10am training after a sleepover

And if you have an area with selective segregated schools, guess where those able / motivated / funded parents are likely to send their kids?

Resulting in even poorer resources for the other kids

Talkinpeace. You provide a good statement of the fact, that no matter what people or persons do to try to improve the outcomes of the disadvantaged. The better outcomes in sport and education will always be the preserve of the more affluent. This could be in financial terms , connections or knowledge /ability to use/benefit from good coaching /facilities.

The examples given of people succeeding in sport from "normal" backgrounds is that they still had very supportive parents and family units. Charlotte Dujardin success was down to her mother finding the means to purchase horses/ponies no matter how "humble" those might have been. Charlotte Dujardin might not have come from a Wealthy background, but still she had a mother/family who would find a way forward for her talent. This is the same for Lewis Hamilton whose father found a way to pay for his early Go Karts and meetings.

These parents and family groups are very different from some of the groups of families discussed on here . The reason being because even though , they may have had "limited" means they had large amounts of "Culture Capital" or the means of knowledge of knowing what was needed for success.

Smokepole I have to disagree with you, my parents did everything possible to discourage me and certainly never supported me in my dreams. I don't know if I had any talent as no one ever told me, I just had drive and determination. It was a friend at school who told me about a competition yard and I cycled there after school one day and asked if I could help out at w/e and that is how I got started. Years of mucking out and hacking out before I got to my first competition..and no my parents didn't come. The first proper event they came to was a certain 3de in Glos! and then only on dressage day! I have now become the most determinedly supportive parent for my kids, I will do whatever it takes to give them the opportunities that I didn't have, but I won't hand it to them on a plate.

Of course wealthy backgrounds will always buy advantage but you still need a will to win and that goes for education too. There are plenty of kids who do really well in state schools regardless of backgrounds but the independent sector often does give more sporting opportunities, it's just a fact of life.
There are many sports where wealth and privilege do not feature in success..look at football! How many football players had a private education? Why are we so hung up on education backgrounds for sporting success? Surely it is more important how our children turn out as responsible caring adults, regardless of extra curricular, that is more important.

Pepperpot
How many football players had a private education?
Not many
BUT
The vast, vast majority come from organised motivated homes as the commitment needed to get into and stay on the youth squads is insane.
Night after night of training, most weekends, many holidays.
And still with a high chance of being kicked out at 16 when they miss a selection cut.

our local premiership team has an amazing youth squad but the kids on it are NOT from disorganised homes

Pepper. Actually the number of privately/selectively educated footballers is increasing beyond belief. Talkinpeace. I presume you are talking about Southampton , the recent graduates from their youth set up include Theo Walcot Gareth Bale , Adam Lallana , Luke Shaw and the next one will be James Ward Prowse ( who's father is a Barrister ) Football is changing and it is becoming harder for Troubled Kids off the "estates" to be signed. The days of the "Crazy Gang" Wimbledon "other People's /teams rejects getting a chance is finished.

The majority of young footballers coming though today, are no different in educational terms attitude or in behaviour terms than any other young sports people.

Thanks TalkinPeace, but is this not the sentiment of all sports and life itself..if you want to achieve something you have to be prepared to make sacrifices and work damn hard! There will always be some lucky so and so but I have seen so many wealthy riders with zero talent! Money doesn't buy everything! (Sorry about football comment, have to admit I know nothing about it!)

Pepperpot
I fully accept that money does not buy talent
but money and time and motivated parents allow what little there is to be disproportionately nurtured

hence the number of ex public school but bloody incompetent politicians

smokepole
the kids I'm thinking of are still at school in the area - several of them at the same Comps as DS and his friends
PS Walcott = Comp, Bale = Comp, Lallana = Comp, Shaw = Comp, not sure about James but if his dad works in Pompey, probably private school

This child would be doing back flips in the play ground, armless cartwheels, all self taught. There was a gymnastics club, a really really good one, 75 yards away from this mother's home, and I told her that she should send her dd. Her response was that her dd preferred to watch tv after school than do any activity, and anyway, it was too difficult to organise

see the thing is THE CHILD WASN'T INTERESTED. Gymnastics isn't only or mostly about learning to throw new skills (which incidently most kids teach themselves in their back garden rather than waiting to be taught at the gym) It is about lots of often boring and uncomfortable conditioning.It is about practising a skill a million times to get it perfect if you want to even have a chance at winning a medal.It is about getting hurt and keeping going Talent is cheap as table salt what separates a champion out is their attitude.