Colyton or Torquay Girls?

[Trambuctious]

If all goes very very well on the exam day this will be the choice we need to make. Has anyone had to decide between these 2 schools, and how did you do so? We've been to the 2 open days, and they came across very differently, but were both tempting!

summerends my point was restricted to the fact that Milly's speculation was......pure speculation. No discussion was closed down! The fact that it doesn't chime with my own experience of the school over a long period and under two head teachers as opposed to Milly's non contact is I suppose neither here nor there. But hey. I completely concede that others who've actually had different experiences of the school (as opposed to none at all, such as Milly) might very legitimately think differently. But Milly was talking about a particular school, not raising a general point, and it's entirely fair that I'm allowed to respond.

I act with complete integrity at all times crusader. I always have done and I'm always likely to continue to do so even in the face of slightly tedious provocation. As I say, some parents in some circumstances have particular axes to grind but I don't, thankfully (not yet anyhow - I suppose there's always time). I'm also completely capable of objectivity thanks and completely entitled to express any opinion I care to hold (within the guidelines) on what should be an anonymous forum. I'm aware that a lot of posters like to tell the world who they are and what they do and where they get their experience from but I choose not to and that's completely my decision, no-one else's. It's up to others to decide whether anything I say is worth listening to on its own merits and if they decide it's not, then they can ignore. Simples.

But a bit misleading just to post as a parent.....

Molio whatever the rights you perceive in how you responded to Milly, all I can say as an outsider is that the impression your posts have given me is that of a rather overegged attacking tone which seems to make a mountain out of quelling the molehill of Milly's views. (Feel free to laugh at the appalling use of metaphors in that sentence).

Nameshifter - I am not aware that anyone has claimed to be anything other than a parent at the school on this thread. I am most certainly a parent at the school (my knowledge of the crapness of the chips and the poorness of the veggie options in Take 5 should prove that)and I have been both supportive of some things about the school and critical about others (both in this thread and elsewhere (including to members of the SMT). Nevertheless I retain my view that of all the things that I would change the 3 year sixth form is not top choice. But despite the fact that there are changes I would like to see the school has been extremely flexible with my DC. And I'm grateful for that (especially since I may well be regarded as a bit of a nuisance parent but this has never had a negative impact on my kids). And this thread was originally asking for a comparison between Colyton and TGGS and since we have several friends with kids at TGGS I did feel able to comment (especially since the parents of those girls have the same level of things they are happy about and unhappy about (different things though) as I do about Colyton).

Molio - I changed my name to post in this thread because I have revealed information in other threads which would most definitely identify my DCs once linked to knowledge of what school they attend and I don't think it's fair on them. I'm especially glad I did namechange since Chocolate's unfounded flinging about of 'mental health' insinuations (something she has still not apologised about).

Not unfounded, based on experience, but I'm quite happy to accept you didn't have knowledge of students with the same experience .....

BTW the eperience of my Dc is that the chips are the highlight of the week, so it just goes to show that everyone has different, but valid, experiences provided one is open about the context of those experiences

Chocolate you 'experience' is that your DC told you that you can only drop a subject if you have mental health problems (which is something I seriously doubt the relevant staff member would have said to a Y12 not least because it would then be 'labeling' the many kids who have dropped subjects including my own DC). You have persisted with presenting this hearsay as fact even though I have pointed out to you that my DC and others have been allowed to drop a subject without having mental health problems. Since you do not have a child who has been allowed to drop a subject and I do, I think your 'experience' of what will persuade the school to let a child drop a subject is not actually worth anything since you don't actually have any.

The chips are allegedly greasy and often cold. To the point that my chip loving vegetarian (and thus with restricted choice) DC's won't eat them. But I'm oreoared to believe that some kids like cold greasy chips. Or that my kids have a different definition of cold and greasy than others do.

Anyway - OP, if you're still around - I don't know about the TGGS chips (although I will now ask my friends) but that's as good a thing to base your choice on as any.

Gosh, sometimes you sound just like Molio!

You're right of course, I only have the student's word for this and they weren't allowed to drop the subject. I do trust this student's word though, they have no reason to give a false account of what happened. More than one student had this issue. They were told that they would only be allowed to drop the subject in the event of extenuating circumstances, such as a mental health problem, supported by a doctor's note.

You are lucky in that your DC was allowed to drop a subject, but your account of their meeting was also presumably hearsay, unless you were present?

This is incredibly tedious for the very few readers left of this thread, but I post only my own experiences and take exception to those who seek to discredit me and extrapolate their own views to everyone they and their DC seem to know.

I don't think I sound like Molio. What I sound like is what I am - someone who is incredibly pissed off about the way you have flung around insinuations that my DC has mental health problems. And now you are insinuating that I'm a sock puppet. Well, MNHQ will confirm that I am not.

You know what? If I had a DC that wanted to drop a subject and had been unsuccessful in persuading the appropriate people that this was a good idea and then I met someone whose DC had been able to persuade the appropriate people (with no difficulty) that it was A Good Thing to drop a subject, I would ask that person how their DC did that in case there was something I could use to help my DC. I wouldn't piss them off, insult them, question their integrity and make insinuations about their child.

Well everyone is different.

I have not insinuated anything at all, I have only posted the experience of a student trying to drop a subject after AS.

I have readily accepted that others have other experiences.

One poster on this thread has another connection with the school beyond that of a parent but keeps it hidden, that is true.

Beyond that my posts have been of publicly available data and my own opinions.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Yes everyone is different. Some people try to spread nasty rumours about DC who they feel have been advantaged compared to their own. That's certainly different. Luckily since, despite what you keep claiming, several Y12s have been allowed to drop subjects, I'm not that worried that anyone else you try to spin this tale to will believe that all of them have mental health problems. So your nastiness probably won't adversely affect my DC or the other DC they know who have dropped a subject.

And you know full well that I haven't disagreed with you about either the 3 year 6th form or the uncertainty over the head. You also know that I have pointed up issues with the curriculum which you have not mentioned - you seem really fine with the school apart from the 3 year sixth form and your own DCs not being allowed to drop a subject, whereas I have wider concerns (which I don't think are general felt, I admit).

Broadchurch I completely get why you namechanged but I think name changing to cast aspersions is another thing altogether. It's weasley, as I said before. People should have the courage of their convictions as far as I'm concerned. Not very noble.

For goodness sake crusader lighten up. We're not in the High Court here. I am a parent and have been for more years than you. MN has never demanded objectivity. If the Queen chooses to she can go on the royal bashing threads and say what she likes. No one would harass her. She might even be able to make reasonable points. I find it amazing that you think people are incapable of independent thought. It suggests that you may be crusader, but I'm definitely not.

As I said before, if you've these many concerns with the school, write and air them.

crusader I don't think you should insult Broadchurch by saying she sounds like me. She doesn't in the least. She's far cleverer and far more eloquent. That was rude.

??
Yet again, for the sake of clarity:

I know a student who was not allowed to drop a subject after AS and the reason given to them by staff (whether you choose to accept this or not) was that they would need extenuating circumstances such as a mental health issue to be able to do this.

I am sure that other students, as I have repeatedly mentioned upthread, had very different conversations (i.e. presumably no mention of extenuating circumstances etc.) resulting in very different outcomes. I unfortunately do not know what goes on in the minds of Colyton staff dealing with students. It would be good if a consistent approach was adopted.

But I can only post about my own knowledge and do not seek to extrapolate to those I have no experience of.

I would politely request that you do the same and respect my views, as I respect yours.

I do not respect your views since they include the view that it's acceptable to spread the rumour that a fairly easily identifiable group of 16/17 year olds have mental health problems. That is a view that I have only contempt for.

Non sequitur.

Please read my last post again.

No it's not.

crusader at the risk of your being rude to Broadchurch again by implying a nexus, can I just add my tuppence worth by declaring two DC in the past two years who have dropped a subject after AS with no mental health problems whatsoever, fortunately. I actually have some difficulty understanding why you felt the need to insert the word mental in any event, let alone underline it. That was really bad. And I do mean really bad. It's not ok to do that in the modern world. But then you don't seem to have any regard for privacy either, even though you've identified your self in effect, yet no-one is outing you. Perhaps just take a rain check on what you've said and perhaps take time to read back other people's posts. You're not covering yourself with glory here. Just as well I'm quite laid back.

I don't choose to identify young people, Molio. You do and therefore identify who you claim to be to anyone who looks for the information. As you can see by the responses withholding information about your interest is seen as dishonest.

You do not seem to realise that your posts come across as a closed and defensive stance or that your aggression is a poor advertisement for the school. Threads like this can be found by potential headteachers and if this is what they see no wonder recruitment is difficult!

Colyton is in a nice part of the country, house prices are well below those in London, unemployment rates are low so accompanying partners/children can find work. Parents will support any headteacher who deserves it. The young people are generally well behaved and easy to teach. Perhaps the governors need to look with a more open mind at why they find it so difficult to recruit and what they need to change.

Nameshifter - does it occur to you that accompanying partners might have their own careers and might not be entirely delighted at the prospect of 'finding work' rather than pursuing those careers? I was lucky when I moved down here in that I was able to maintain my London based career but I know plenty of other people who have made similar moves and not been able to do that long term. I have no idea who has applied or who has been interviewed, so I don't know if anyone from the SE has been interested - but having actually done the moving for a spouse's career thing myself, it's something I always think about because I know what it entails not just in the short term but over time. However, the flipside of that is that I probably shouldn't expect anyone else to put any more thought into it than I did so yes, probably lots of people think it'll probably be fine. And the house price thing is indeed an inducement so long as you are certain you never want to go back (my old 3 bed flat is now worth more than my current 4 bed house. :( ).