Secondary Comprehensive Schools

[LesleyA]

HI please advise...is it almost a given that most kids that go to comprehensive secondary schools will finish at 16 and then go onto vocational studies rather than getting their GCSE's. In other words the majority wont qualify to go to university?

LesleyA: no.

(London Comp parent here)

No. It isn’t a given. Closer to total bollocks.

The kids in top sets who would do academic A levels for entry to RG, other top Unis and Oxbridge at any other form of school do exactly the same at Comp sixth form (though many demand high GCSE grades for many subjects, so entry to sixth form is arguably selective).

Others do highly challenging BTecs that get them into specialist Graphics or art schools (a couple of which are the best in the world). Others do a mixture of qualifications, others go to college, get apprenticeships or whatever, because not everyone goes to Uni.

Where do you even get such ideas from? Please tell us do we know you are not a GF.

Yes. Comprehensive schools are almost entirely populated by chair throwing Neanderthals. There might be a few brighter children, but they are let down because all the teachers are devoted to making sure everyone gets Cs, iand qualifications in Hair and Beauty are compulsory. Anyone seen reading a book is relentlessly bullied. Sometimes a mumsnetters child goes to a comprehensive school by accident, but they spend all their time in broom cupboards doing maths because they already know more than the teachers do and “there is nothing more they can teach them”

Bert!

What utter bollocks.

The vast majority of children in the country are educated at state secondary comprehensive schools.

Sure, private schools probably send a higher % of their students to university but then you are only looking a small socially selective group of people.

If a child wants to go to university and puts the work in then they can absolutely go to university. My school sends a significant number to Oxford/Cambridge each year and a reasonabke chunk to top universities.

We also prepare them at GCSE/a levem for life and that means for some helping them get their forces application done, help getting an apprenticeship, help going to art college, help going to do a foundation degree, helping them get qualifications in first aid or sign language etc.

Spend enough time on here though and you'll be under the impression that private or grammar is the only possible option and you must get a tutor from 7 and state schools are awful and they must hate bright children (& other such nonsense).

Ha ha BertrandRussell
Some mumsnetters probably won't realise you are joking because what you've said will match their own prejudices.

I love betrand's post

I found a child in their hand made igloo yesterday because if anyone saw them with a book they'd get their head kicked in.

I forgot to mention the mixed ability classes where all teaching is targeted to the least able child.

And any 'discuss with your partner' activity or 'peer coaching' activity is obviously just a lazy or incompetent teacher using an able child as a TA because they're just jealous of the child's brilliance because they can't cope with bright children.

I've taught some really able children but in terms of genuinely exceptionally gifted, maybe one in the last few years. Mumsnet seems to be full of parents who think their highly able child is off the scale. Some will be genuine, but others are probably the ones who will tell me their child finds all the work easy and is being held at a grade 6 and then I point out actually I'm actually teaching work beyond full marks and am already giving out scores of 7s, 8s and 9s.

Bertrand really! But you also forgot to mention the marauding gangs, drug pushers and armed police officers in the playground.

But that’s only some comprehensives,, matytuda.....don’t generalize. There are some leafy ones where the police officer only comes in once a week.

Police officers are employed to deal with schools. Everyone knows that the police have to be called when kids fall out on social media at 11pm at night. It's the school's fault and schools never take any responsibility for bullying don't point out 11pm is actually when parents should be responsible for their child's social media use so call the police. Log it with 111. Then you have to tell the school you've done that.

My SiL, who lives in prime Leaf (but herself went to a very dodgy school and did really well) won't let her kids play in our local playground when she visits because it's next to a school she once saw some PCSOs outside at home time.

At least UK Comps do not have armed officers on site