Best place to live in Kent for Grammar school

[vik2017]

Hi,
This is my first question on this board....
and I wanted to know which is the best place to live in Kent and falls into Grammar catchment area and also if my son dont get to the Grammar at least will go to a very good comprehensive school.
Any suggestion will be appreciated even suggest to move to another place considering we both work in London.

Many thanks in advance...
Viki

the local motivated kids and parents do not lose out - they are just at other schools.
There is massive cross catchment traffic in Hampshire
up to 1/3 of pupils at some schools come in from other catchments.

And doesn't that just create a similar situation to the grammar schools/secondary modern schools in Kent? A third of pupils there go to 'other schools'.

A comprehensive school is a comprehensive school if its intake matches its applicants, if there are no selection barriers other than distance / catchment to pupils being admitted, and if no other state school preferentially admits selected pupils from the school's effective catchment.

So a school is not comprehensive if it selects some pupils by aptitude, any pupils by faith, or by ability, or has any significant number of potential pupils drawn away by nearby selective schools.

Comprehensive schools WILL vary in their composition, because they are situated in different areas and parents may exercise their preference to apply yo another school. The school remains comprehensive unless the alternative school selects any of those applicants by ability or aptitude or faith.

The headmaster of St Anselm's school in Canterbury put his name to a letter from numerous Kent headteachers at non-grammar schools complaining that the grammar system is harmful to the education of the majority of children who do not pass the 11 plus. So, whatever anyone says on here about how comprehensive it is, he thinks that's bollocks himself.

The headmaster of St Anselm's school in Canterbury put his name to a letter from numerous Kent headteachers at non-grammar schools complaining that the grammar system is harmful to the education of the majority of children who do not pass the 11 plus. So, whatever anyone says on here about how comprehensive it is, he thinks that's bollocks himself.

There is a Headmaster with a chip on his shoulder.

A great tactic when the school achieves his poor results, blame the system rather than looking at the schools failings or shortcomings.

Achieves poor results.

The school achieves good results and has been held up on this thread as an example of a good non-grammar in a grammar area, mountford100. Care to comment on that?...

The letter was written in 2016 when the government was talking about expanding grammar school provision and was signed by 32 Kent school headteachers. It's not a great advert for moving to Kent, if so many headteachers have colossal chips on their shoulders.

And doesn't that just create a similar situation to the grammar schools/secondary modern schools in Kent? A third of pupils there go to 'other schools'.
No, because the selection is not being made by the schools.
The criteria are perfectly transparent and apply to rich, poor, thick, bright in exactly the same way.

The secondary application form requests merely date of birth and home post code.
No exams, no test, no church, nothing else at all about the kids or their parents.

The parental choice rules will allow parents who can be arsed to choose non catchment schools
and mean that folks like me who cannot afford to move into a decent catchment, still get the change of a good education for our kids
with minimal stress.

Getting back to the OP ....
Clavinova has done a splendid job of highlighting your school options ....
There is no need for you to move to Kent

@Ta1kinPeece: So the OP could solve her problem by looking at where the kids of her fellow local motivated parents send their kids
This was my initial thought as I also dont want to move my house but the I thought if moving house can increase chances of better education then why not?
I am now inclining towards Bexley as there are good grammars and comps as well...will do more research...

Thanks..

good grammars and comps

You mean "good grammars and non-grammars", or "good grammars and good alternatives if your child doesn't pass the 11+".

Schools with comprehensive intakes - as I defined above - CANNOT exist in the vicinity of a grammar school. However, you do find good non-grammar schools in some grammar areas, and, since they are succeeding against such obvious odds (in terms of having a proportion of their potential high attainers removed) are probably very good schools indeed. However successful, they are NOT comprehensive schools.

Confusingly, of course, the split of high / medium / low attainers in some comprehensives in very deprived areas can be lower (in terms of overall numbers at the higher levels) than a secondary modern in an affluent area.

That still doesn't make the secondary modern - or 'other school in a grammar area' comprehensive, because the distribution curve of attainment will be truncated - many of the highest ability children removed - rather than reasonably smooth. Also, the 'second class citizen' stigma, of taking only or predominantly those pupils who have 'failed' at 11, has an impact on the secondary modern whereas it does not exist in a comprehensive.

Ta1kinPeece
The parental choice rules will allow parents who can be arsed to choose non catchment schools

You are missing the point about the cost of the bus fares.
Still it's nice to know that a good comprehensive education is so easily accessible to every family in Hampshire.

Clavinova
Hampshire is by no means perfect, but when DH travels all over the country working in schools, he's never seen a system he'd want us to move to over what we have here.
even though our local school is so utterly dire that it is half empty

Free bus passes are unlikely to be particularly relevant to the OP as a consideration, however, if able to consider moving around the country for schools. He/she does not sound particularly badly off. So it still begs the question why you would move to Kent and risk getting a non-grammar school led by a headteacher with a chip on their shoulder.

And why would you live in Hampshire if your dc spend up to 3 hours a day on the school bus.

.

And why would you live in Hampshire if your dc spend up to 3 hours a day on the school bus.
Its a big rural county.
The bus to Symonds from here takes over an hour each way.
But its a time for homework, socialising, messing about on wifi and general social life.
There are kids whose nearest school is half an hour away by bus.

And a fair few parents in Winchester commute to London every day -

life skills and all that

Clavinova - And why would you live in Hampshire if your dc spend up to 3 hours a day on the school bus.

It would be far less hassle than paying/organising tuition etc. to get your DC into a Grammar School that requires a journey of 2-3 hours (and more in some cases) a day on the bus/train/walking.

It also cuts out the year or two of stress and uncertainty building up to exam. Not to mention the disappointment and emotional issues that arise if the DC doesn't pass the test and then has to go to the school that is clearly considered second best because why else would everyone be going to so much time, effort and expense so their DCs don't have to go there.

I'm interested to read about comprehensives being a school without any firm of selection criteria. Does that mean they do not prioritise LA children in the way primary schools do?

Sorry perhaps haven't written that clearly I mean children in the care of LA

Looked after children are prioritised in all state schools, so far as I'm aware.

roundaboutthetown Looked after children are prioritised in all state schools, so far as I'm aware.

Does that also include Grammar Schools?

Mum, yes - though the degree of priority given can vary.

Usually it is an element of 'of all the children who 'pass', LAC go to the top of the list.

Occasionally, schools have mechanisms to lower the 'effective pass mark' for LAC and PP children (e.g. if they 'rank' 200 pupils for 100 places, then a LAC child placed 199th will be deemed to be in the top 100 who are guaranteed admission).

Mum, yes - though the degree of priority given can vary.

If Grammar schools only give priority to LAC who pass the test or achieve a qualifying score then the answer is no, surely, as those who don't pass the test or achieve the qualifying score are not given priority.

Note3 according to this:

childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/school-admissions/

Admissions Authorities must give highest priority to looked after children and previously looked after children.

LAC have to pass the Kent test for all grammar school entry. They are then number 1 on the oversubscription priority list of normal grammars.

For super selectives, the score is the no 1 on the oversubscription list.

So any LAC can choose any normal grammar in Kent irrelevant if catchment, as long as they pass.