Private school but 5s,6,7,8S gcse results ?

[ROZ12]

Hi all

I feel proud of my dd for achieving all passes but part of me feels disappointed with the school as I paid so much money and expected her to get 7-9s. Am I being silly? I feel like the classic photo of the girls getting all 9s should have been my dd. At least their investment paid off .

Zzzzzx

Read that article carefully. The government say the igcses are less 'rigorous', they don't mean easier, although it helps the
if you think that. They mean they are not controlled by the government. This is a political agenda aimed at trying to make schools all conform to government standards. They want all schools to be categorised and ranked in league tables. They can't do this if schools do igcse. They are pushing the new GCSE as the 'gold standard'. Universities realise this is bullshit so ignore it.

Look at the mess aqa made of English this year.

There are many reasons why a parent might choose private schools though, the reasons can be as diverse as the students that attend.

Results weren't / aren't a priority for us, neither was a perceived better education, or removal from undesirables.
As long as mine manages to scrape 3 GCSE's together and 2 A levels A-E we'll all be happy. Extra time for exams
A state school would have just been so much pressure and forced into after school booster classes for school league tables, it would have been no life.
This way mh stays good even though many peers are high achievers.

Drabani: Nor us. In fact the school didn’t have the in depth talent that the local grammar did and neither did the grammar have undesirable pupils. We just wanted a different ethos, boarding and a broader education with a less competitive edge. The idea that independent schools all have high achieving pupils is nonsense and my experience has been that they are not all coached either - certainly not at boarding schools anyway!

Bubbles

My dd really suffers with mh at times, and we knew that the state option wasn't right for her. It was fine for all her siblings, but they are all different.
She has sn too and I think it's unfair to push them so hard they feel as though GCSE's/ igcse's are the only way to get a higher education.

I'm not speaking for all private schools here, but hers nurture the ability they do have, offer support and extra time in exams, generally taking the stress away. Mine is a boarder too, and whilst she can and does see her teachers if needed, they aren't compulsory booster classes.

cake no I’ve never been to NI ( hence my questions) but have met very nice housemate and her family several times dropping off and picking up (DD at uni in the Republic).

She’s from a little place outside Belfast and went to Grammar school. Perfectly nice, normal, middle class family (Protestants if it makes any difference).

Yes and plenty of catholic middle class people too.
Not sure why Cakes is so opposed to the facts!

I’m not saying he should be handed 7 and 8s just for showing up. But 4s?

You think your DC should be handed passes at GCSE for just sitting on his arse?

As you work in private school why do you think parents place their children there? If not go achieve high grades?

11+ failure is the main reason around here which suggests they weren’t necessarily academic in the first place.

In private schools you get smaller class sizes but the teachers are a mixture of good and bad just like in a state school. IME

Private schools often charge a lot of money for unnecessary luxuries like expensive cake at break times, firework displays and a much more involved selection of sports on offer. So that's where some of your money will go.

The results are no better at our local girls private to the girls state. Their sport is more focussed and there are no girls from low income families. Those are the only differences that I have observed over the years.

It has always irritated me how some people seem to think that paying for a child to attend a school, comes with guaranteed good grades. And when a child does achieve top grades...well it’s because they attended private school...
Our daughter achieved very well at her independent school, a mix of A*/As and some Bs...and that was with little pressure in a relaxed and happy school. She upped her game at A level and got all A’s. Most girls got close to their predicted grades, whether they were As or Ds. She did well for her ability profile, and was predicted As based on her ability profile and how well she was working in school. There is no magic formula for this, there are some good, and some not so good teachers, in every school. And if the teaching is not great, as happened when my daughter’s A level English teacher left half way through, it can take a bit more of a concerted input from the child themselves, to pick it up and do what they can. Your child has done well OP. Please be happy for them!

**11+ failure is the main reason around here which suggests they weren’t necessarily academic in the first place.

That may well have been the case in some areas, but that has definitely changed around here. In my daughter’s prep, the highest achieving kids are not even bothering with the 11+, and are heading for the top independents instead. With grammar schools that seem crowded, dilapidated and seriously underfunded, it’s hardly an attractive option, when there are other better options you might be able to afford. It’s exactly this dilemma we are facing now with our youngest. Very bright, but our hearts have sank with every school we have visited.
As well as this...it should be remembered that ‘failure’ on a one off test at 10 or 11, does not determine that a child is not academic enough. I know many kids who have ‘failed’ and ended up with stellar grades..one ended up doing physics at Cambridge.
And I know many GS kids who were tutored to the hilt to pass...and have had mediocre results throughout. It is by no means an exact science..far from it.

Our daughter achieved very well at her independent school, a mix of A/As and some Bs...and that was with little pressure in a relaxed and happy school*

same here. dd3 was at our local good state school for years 7 and 8 and seeing how stressful it was we moved her to private. Our private school actually does get better results than the state school (although the state got more into Oxbridge!) but it is also fun, happy and far less stressful. Longer days, more going on, more setting, streaming, exams BUT no constant low level disruption together with occasional moments of proper disruption ie one boy throwing a chair at a teacher, no boys flicking girls bra straps (private school is single sex), no constant drama from girls on their phones at break because there is nothing else to do, no thick make up and constant phone use. Just far more peaceful!

Schoolmumm Thank you yes she did do well, as I says before I’ve had a few days now to sink in, weekend was full of parties and praise . We are all proud of her.

How much of that can be attributed to the school being single sex, rather than private, Ligresa? Quite a lot, I think.

Possibly. But no single sex state education anywhere near me (can't think of anywhere in three counties at least). There were some really nice boys too, but so many attention seeking show off ones. The teachers have no ability to discipline them and the parents didn't help- ie a boy wrote on dds (expensive! personalised!) school sports hoodie. He wrote 'fuck' in sharpie. He was given a detention on a friday after school and they asked the parent to pay for the hoodie. They refused to pay and said they didn't want him to do the detention (apparently school cannot insist). That just would not happen at the private school dd is going to.

I'm so old that I recall
C = 40%plus
B = 60%plus
A = 80%plus
for 'O' Levels

Same here Ligresa, I don’t know of any single sex state schools in this county or any closeby. When we were looking at secondary for our eldest, the local state secondary had an exclusion rate of nearly 10%, which to me seemed simply staggering. I’m sure there must have been far more less ‘serious’ behaviour that warranted detentions too, and having seen some of the kids whose parents tried to champion their cause and support it as their choice no matter what, sadly none of them fared well.
We often hear the argument that we all did ok in our day in the state school down the road...poor and affluent alike...and there was never any of the intense deliberation and poring over league tables that we have today. But this was in an era when teachers were given respect. Just turning up 5 minutes late was a rarity, (let alone vandalising a fellow student’s property!)..because everyone feared the wrath of HT and half an hour writing out lines after school. People moan about the decline in discipline, but discipline always starts at home. There is not a cat in hells chance I would send my child to the school I once happily & successfully attended, and we’ve got society to thank for that.

I mean to say

C = 40%plus
B = 60%plus
A = 80%plus
for 'O' Level

it didn't make any difference where you went to school !

obviously that was 'meant' ;)

here is not a cat in hells chance I would send my child to the school I once happily & successfully attended, and we’ve got society to thank for that I agree. I wouldn't send my child to my old school either, it looks absolutely shocking now and the behaviour is apparently pretty bad. A shame as it was a really great school when I went there. However, even then it was known as a 'strict' school in comparison to others.

@Schoolmumm my DS didn’t pass the grammar test for our schools (Wilson’s / Wellington boys) but is predicted 8/9’s (got one 8 already, 1 off a 9 so waiting a review). We didn’t get a tutor as our local secondary was excellent anyway. I can’t see that he would have done any better in a grammar or independent really. Of course he still needs to deliver those grades next summer

Worcestersauce29: it would have made a huge difference had you been educated in Bucks. The secondary schools didn’t offer O levels. Only CSEs. You couldn’t take O levels unless you went to a grammar. There are single sex Grammars here but the single sex secondary moderns have been amalgamated.

There is a huge difference between what a good private school offers and what most state schools can offer. My DDs actually had school dinners for a start! Excellent food.

The school offered dedicated sports coaches with multiple sports on offer in outstanding premises, many music teachers, endless ensembles and choirs, lots of languages on offer, 27 tennis courts, inspirational speakers, many drama teachers and a school theatre, dance lessons and performance in a dance studio, a cookery suite, numerous opportunities for public speaking and debate, music tours, sports tours, DofE, students participated in organising House events such as drama, music, celebratory dinners and sports competitions, participation in Chapel events, and many more “soft skill” opportunities that are not examined. There are many public schools where the list would be significantly longer so yes, I do believe private schools do offer more, but not all can offer high quality in everything. Some are very average and not worth paying for. Parents should opt for the best, not mediocre. What’s the point of paying otherwise?

My DS got an 8,7, 5s and 4s and was booted out of his private boarding school as the grades weren’t good enough for him to study there at A level. They knew he was dyslexic when they offered him a place. He has been congratulated by all the staff (except the Head) for how hard he worked. The last week has been a total rollercoaster. Never been in trouble and plays first team sport! He was devastated!

That’s harsh toast. I do eye roll abit at the local private schools who are all over Facebook crowing about their results - they only take the children of parents able to pay and you have to pass an exam to get in no shit your results are great