If you live in or near Richmond/Sheen please sign this petition...

[willow]

Essentially, it's putting pressure on to get a decent secondary school in the SW14 area - because, despite outstanding primary schools, the secondard school option is shite - unless you want to learn mugging techniques or how to use an Ipod/send text messages in class.

It's here

This is interesting (I grew up in Sheen and went to Sheen Mount primary, but Waldegrave secondary - was possible to get in to Waldegrave from Sheen then!).

Don't understand exactly what is being proposed though. Wouldn't it be more effective to have a more specific plan of action? Also, the dig about 'children from outside the borough' sounds frankly a bit snobbish - we all know that those kids tend to be from a different socio-economic background than the average Sheen resident.

However, good for you for trying to do something about it - better than sitting around moaning.

(Can't sign as don't live there any more.)

Waldegrave is still excellent and girls from Sheen do go there (there is a very peculiar admission policy - as I do not have girls have never tried to decipher but looks very complicated.)
I do not normally need to be near our local secondary (not W!) at 'chucking out time' but was in the shops nearby today with DS2 and it was frankly very scary - no-one was threatening us but there were scuffles outside the fast chicken shop and a massive mob around the bus stop, shrieking, hollering, stampeding for the bus. As the head teacher is the fourth in 5 years, it does not appear to attract good teachers, so in unfortunately in a downward spiral.
Hence the high turnover of families in this area - here for the excellent primaries, the sell up & move out for secondaries unless have generous and well-heeled granparents to prepared to cough up school fees...

I do know what you mean, a bit - I was at Mortlake station a while back at chucking-out time and was shocked at the behaviour of some of the kids towards that lovely paper-kiosk guy on the station platform.

S has always been a bad school, hasn't it? I remember my mother being pretty determined that neither my brother nor I should go there, and that's 25 years ago now. It does seem curious when the primaries are so good.

I am tempted to say that it might be better if local parents sent their kids there en masse... but appreciate that I'm not the one who would have to put my child where my mouth is (my local secondary not so great either though).

Just decent teachers would do - someone I know went to look round and commented on the texts/ipod - and was told, "well, they're teenagers, aren't they" - FFS.

Do agree that the kids from outside borough sounds a bit off - I didn't start the petition - but thought it worth bringing to people's attention. That said, we have the highest council tax for bloody miles, so agree that something should be done to carry on our excellent standards (of primary education) through to secondary.

Also, that particular school has 4 primary schools within a mile, so could easily fill the places if each of those sent half their pupils and there would be no need for anyone to travel by bus or train.

Does the fact that new secondary schools are currently being built in areas such as mine help? I don't suppose anyone's too keen on travelling miles to a school they didn't want to go to in the first place where the local residents regard them as scum - I think I'd be misbehaving myself under those circumstances.

I think you have a point Hallgerda

However, the undesirable interlopers we are talking about mostly come from Wandsworth I think

Not Streatham

Heavens, policywonk! I thought Wandsworth was dead posh

Actually, I do know of a few secondary school children who commute to schools in Richmond from Streatham. (They're all very nice though.)

Not the bits of Wandsworth I'm talking about H.

It is also possible - this is NOT referring to anyone on this thread, or indeed the person who started the petition as I don't know him from Adam - that a lot of Sheen residents are a little discombobulated by the frankly non-white appearance of a lot of the Wandsworth children at the school in question. Sheen does not rank high in the 'melting pot' stakes.

Wondered when somebody was going to play the race card - I was betting on not till page 2 - sigh....
I happen to think that pupils of all shades who want to learn have the right to teachers who are somewhat more engaged than the one described above who tolerates texting in lessons.

I think the residents of Sheen are just pissed off at how shite this school is. It escaped special measures by the skin of its teeth - would have been better if it hadn't, frankly - so it's doing its pupils a disservice, regardless of what colour they are.

Think it's got FA to do with colour and everything to do with the LEA doing sweet FA to improve on matters. As it stands, I wouldn't want my son to go there... and I can't see anyone else clamouring to get their kids in either.

It has sweet FA to do with colour. I know of 3 children who went in September who were routinely ridiculed and bullied by other children. They were stolen from and went from happy confident children who enjoyed school to children who dreaded going in. They are all trying to leave (one has already gone to private school necessitating sacrifices from the family) and will as soon as places come up in other schools. These are all people who believe in a state school system but have been failed by it.

Exactly.

The Ofsted report is shocking. I don't see why, when I pay such high council taxes, the only state school my DSs will get into (unless they miraculously pass the Tiffin exam) is classified as Inadequate.

It almost makes you wonder why they bother having decent primary schools - such a waste for kids to then go on to this poor excuse for a school.

is someone slagging wandsworth off? outside now!

is someone slagging wandsworth off? outside now!

Watch it sophable. The Sheen ladies are cross...

policywonk can I just say that the paper kiosk bloke on the station is NOT lovely
he is a psycho

Is he??? Really? He's always been nice to me (and seems to have an uncanny ability to remember my preferred paper even though he only sees me every six months or so).

Alan, the coffee man, is superb
That crazed paper man, I know at least 10 people who no longer buy a paper because he has victimised them for one reason or another. He takes it very personally if you criticise him or god forbid suddenly don't buy a paper for a couple of days.

Maybe he has multiple personalities! As I say, I rarely buy from him, but he usually has a chat and remembers my paper. Perhaps he likes Guardian readers .

Agree about the coffee guy.

Do you remember the man who used to be the station master there - I think he retired about ten years ago - a Caribbean man, really friendly and helpful, used to play Christmas music over the tannoy. (Going to school in Twickenham and college in Kingston, I spent a LOT of time on that platform.)

Sounds like the bloke who's there at the moment. The nicest BR employee I've ever met.

But that paper bloke? He's a mentalist.

Soph - actually started this thread because didn't want your sort in our schools.

Oh yes the station master is lovely
He often stands there in teh morning beaming and saying good morning to everyone on their way to work