Tell me about your child thriving at (comprehensive) school

[Flockameanie]

DC is in yr6. Our local comp is absolutely fine. New SLT last year that have good aspirations. Decent curriculum. But, like all state schools it suffers from a lack of resources and large class sizes. It's run down and has very limited facilities. We've been on two tours, and both times the kids looked pretty bored and the atmosphere in the classrooms was quite 'flat'. But, it's where the majority of local kids go, DC can get there under their own steam, will have local friends, go up with friends from primary, etc.

Have your kids thrived in a similarly not terrible, but not terribly inspiring school? I'm worried they're going to be bored and unmotivated :(

Have you got the money to go private? I say this as somebody who is very against private education, and would have hesitated to send my own DC private even if I could have afforded it. But I can't help thinking that kids who go private have a much more fulfilling educational experience and a nicer experience of school - less noisy, busy, and aggressive. Obviously it depends on the state school, but our local school is like the one you describe and it's bearable rather than inspiring. As somebody who really cares about education and learning, it's been a pretty dispiriting experience seeing my DC go through that, knowing that other children are having a more rewarding and gentle experience elsewhere.

What's the school like in terms of OFSTED and results?

DD did fantastically well at her outstanding secondary, but they didn't do many extracurriculars. It was a great school for her and she thrived there.

DS didn't get into her school so he is at a "Good" school. They don't do well in results at all, but offer more subject choices at GCSE and extracurricular stuff (trips abroad, plays etc)

I would still prefer him to be at DDs old school. Depends on the child and what you can offer at home as well.

@unfor this is pretty much exactly where my head's at! Yes, we could just about afford private. There's one local private school, which we're going to check out (non selective and I'm not convinced by its website). Anything else is further afield requiring a school minibus. I really want my DC to have local friends and to develop independence through their teen years.

My decision making is totally blurred by my own experience. I went to a nice, small, low-key private school many moons ago and I loved it. Education is really important to me (I work in HE) and I want my kids to be inspired and motivated to learn at school...

@Dacadactyl It ha a 'good' Ofsted (under previous SLT) and gets good results. Above the local/ national average. We have the money to supplement at home in terms of extra-curricular, trips, supporting their interests, etc.

Should add that it only goes up to GCSE. Then there's the option of a 6th form college in the next town which I think is outstanding (great results, great leavers' destinations, etc)

Any selective schools around, grammar stream / 11+ senior schools?

Your kids will be fine. If you can afford the nice surroundings and photo opps then go for the private. However I wouldn't put yourself under financial pressure for it.

No, nothing like that. The local comp doesn't even 'set' the kids, I don't think. So all classes are mixed ability.

Yeah, I'm sure they will be fine. I guess it's about wanting more than fine...

The replies to this seem particularly dismissive. If your child is from a loving family who fined him plenty of other opportunities he will be fine. And I talk from someone who has worked at particularly poor inner London schools. If you can stretch yourself get a tutor but don't bankrupt yourself on private education if you can't afford it.

This is where we are at. Local comp is fine, not great, not massively aspirational. Private options are both super expensive and very, very competitive. We don’t have much of a choice, tbh.

I'd be very surprised if they didn't set for at least maths. I've never come across a secondary school that didn't.

My nephew goes to a school like this. It has been ok. In some ways it’s a shame because he’s bright and conscientious and has just been treading water. Not inspired at all! But it’s the local school, he’s got good friends and is happy. It sounds like you’re not going to get a top notch education locally, so you have to decide whether friends and independence are more important than that. A lot depends on the child I think.

Both mine are doing well academically and I'm really impressed with their teachers - they seem genuinely enthusiastic about their subjects and about teaching. It's a school with a good ofsted rating. It took DC2 a while to settle but Covid didn't help. We could have gone down the selective grammar route but neither DC wanted that. I think they'll both leave with very strong grades and lots of good memories of their school days. I think you need to talk to parents who have children at your local comp now (and definitely don't just talk to those who decided not to send their DC there; so many of our friends were very against our local comprehensive; they were so misinformed)

If the results are above the local/national average then I would probably stay in the state system.

DS school is not above the average in either measure, whereas DDs old school was in line with grammars.

DS's school doesn't set the kids either and SLT told me that was deliberate because when they set by ability, behaviour was atrocious in the lower sets. The result appears to be mediocre results for everyone 😥

My DCs school has got rid of almost all setting due to evidence that it works against disadvantaged kids. The school has a very mixed intake. They only set for Science in Y7, Maths is set in Y10 but only in four ability bands. Nothing else is set.

Meant to agree with others that the support of a helpful, positive and education-orientated family will mean absolutely masses. Maybe the kids you saw are not lucky enough to have that - but your DC is and all the better.

If you have spare money that could maybe stretch to private, I wouldn;t do that even if I were a fan of private schools. There's a risk of fees rising massively when Labour are elected, plus big fee rises anyway in the coming years, I gather. Better to use that money for enrichment - trips to interesting places that fit with their passions, money for sports coaching/drama class/instrument lessons/art class, and then tutors at GCSE if needed.

There's a lot to be said for a local school (as I see you realise).

Wow imagine teaching maths to mixed ability through KS3! What a nightmare.

I don't think it's all about results/teaching to be honest. Some of the teachers in my DCs school are truly fantastic, and he is on track to get outstanding GCSEs. Some of the extra-curricular stuff has been great. But despite this it hasn't been a great educational experience. He's often been bored, and is often frustrated by behaviour and noise. He has also become extremely instrumental in what he cares about i.e. what will get marks in the exam. Like the OP, I am passionate about learning and education, and it's depressing to think that he has had such an uninspiring experience. Everybody in that school is doing their very best in a really tough job, but schools simply aren't resourced well enough to provide what I would consider to be a great education, especially when they have an intake which includes lots of disadvantaged kids who quite rightly are the priority.

The thing is, whilst it’s true that many kids with a supportive family will be fine, you do really want your kid to be excited by learning. For me the results are neither here nor there if there is no engagement or energy in the classroom. That’s not an education, it’s just going through the motions. OP I would talk to current parents and try to gauge if your impression of the school fits with their experience.

What I'm looking for for my kids is a place where they're gonna get the best results they can. A place where they'll feel motivated to achieve their very best.

The other stuff, I can provide at home.

What are you basing your feelings on? Is it because the children didn't look happy enough when you walked round? Is it because the buildings aren't nice enough? The school has good results and you think the SLT are working hard. Private school will give your child a nicer building and more attractive facilities. They might get smaller classes. You will be treated more like a customer. They will have wealthier friends. They probably won't get better teaching. It is simply a question of what you can afford.

We live in an area where around 30% get 5 GCSEs including maths and English. DD's school had sets for maths, English and science. Her other classes were mixed ability ranging from grades 2 to 9. Her teachers loved having DD in their classes as she was someone they could stretch.

We were able to do all the nice extra-curricular ourselves. Never had to worry about paying for tutors for grammar or private school entry. She graduated in PPE from Oxford last week.

My DC go/went to the local comp. It's in a fully comprehensive area with no selective state schools. It has a diverse intake (socio economically as well as ethnically), and gets slightly below average results.They set from Y7 in maths only, and in Y10 and 11 for science and Spanish as well.

It's been fine. The extra curricular activities are very few, and run on a shoestring, and netball aside (where they've been national champions twice in the last few years) they don't operate at a very high level. We do buy in music extracurricular from elsewhere as school doesn't even have a choir, never mind an orchestra. We don't use tutors. The DC have made good friends and it's nice for them all to be local. There are some hair raising incidents from time to time, but as our DC have not been directly involved we view that as part of life's rich pagent.

In terms of teaching it's been fine. There are a few slightly uninspiring teachers, and the odd vacancy filled by a rotation of supplies, but the majority work hard to engage the DC. They can get brilliant results for the kids that want to work for them - my eldest have just achieved eight grade nines and one grade eight at GCSE. She's not an outlier - there's a group of kids with great results, but as you'd expect with a fully comprehensive intake, there's a bigger bunch with more middling results.

We live in a grammar area, and my dd failed the 11+ by about 10 marks. We could have appealed to get her into the naice grammar schools locally but dd wasn't super set on going and was offered a place at the local comp (which doesn't always have the best reputation) and dd seemed happy to go there. So we thought we'd give it a try but if if she wasnt happy we would either move her to grammar or private.

Shes now year 9 and is absolutely thriving. She's found fantastic group of friends, the teachers seem to reward hard work and good behaviour so she's always getting to go on reward trips, and actually being in a lower pressured environment is what suits her. Shes in the grammar stream for maths/science/english but subjects like music, and art mixed ability classes. I think at grammar she'd get a bit lost in the crowd, whereas the local comp seems to have given her endless opportunities to shine.

Our ds is now keen to go to her school, because she's so positive about it. He'll probably take the 11+, but even if he passes i can see it being a great fit for him.

The only downside is that the school seems to be struggling to recruit teachers for their science dept - but once dd starts year 10 we can pay for a tutor (as she loves science and wants to study a STEM subject at uni).