Not sure if this school is working out for DS

[NotBoasting]

Firstly I want to start by saying this is NOT a boasting thread to praise my DS. I have namechanged because I know it is going to come across as "my ds is so clever everyone..." but its not about that.

In our area there are no good schools to choose from that either are not relisious selective or hugely oversubscribed so we had to make do with a crappy school with a 20% GCSE pass rate.

I kind of assumed however that DS would do ok as he's always been a bright kid and is not distracted easily.

Anyway when he started in year 7 he was in the top set for everything, even his English when at primary school he was actually on the special needs register for his writing. This shows how low the standards are in this school.

At the first open night I was told by everyone of his teachers that DS was far ahead of every other child in his year and most of the children in the year above. I told them he actually had problems with English and I was told "yes, but compared to some, he's still doing extremely well".

Anyway he's in year 8 now and its just beyond a joke really. They have spelling test on a Monday and they're still doing words like "Because" and "Speculate". DS apparantly was the only kid to be getting them all right, the other kids struggle with these words.

At the last open night DS's work was featured on the wall amongst a few others and I honestly thought the other work must have been done by primary school kids, it was awful, really childish, huge writing, silly spelling mistakes...

DS is not unpopular but the kids call him "petty", short for teachers pet. The teachers never have a bad word to say about him and are full of praise for him but I'm worried the school is holding him back.

This morning I was hauled into school to say DS had been helping other kids 'cheat'. They said they didn't want to tell him off as he meant no harm but apparantly they were in the computer room, DS finished his work within 10 minutes and the rest of the kids were either messing around or saying they didn't understand what to do. Apparantly DS lost his rag and went around the entire class telling the teacher he would 'help' everyone but he actually finished everyone elses work for them just so that the class could move on.

People say move him schools but all the schools around here are like this and the only decent one has no places.

He's not exceptionally bright, he's just not at the level that these other children are in this particular school. The teachers are lovely and I feel bad but it can't go on like this surely? he learns more during a trip to a museum with me on a weekend.

That sounds horrendous- do you have him on a waiting list for one of the better schools?

Don't know what I'd do in your sich - just wanted to sympathise.

Oh dear, sounds dreadful. You have my sympathies.

20% is very low, and I'm not surprised at the scenario you describe tbh. If only 20% are getting 5GCSEs, then presumably a lot of these 20% are only just getting a C. In my school we have 8 classes per year, but parallel half year groups, so there are 2 top sets in every subject iyswim, ie 25% of pupils. So in my school if the pass rate is only 20% there would be pupils in top sets not even getting a C grade.

Personally I would investigate any possible alternatives, I would get him on the waiting list for the 'decent school', and I would make an appointment to go into school to speak to a Head of Year or similar about your concerns.

Move house.
It's simple really isn't ?
When I was a single mother my choices were the local dump full of children who's parents were on benefits and would never become anything other than single parents/in prision themselves or rent a house in a fantastic area full of profesionals, it was a no brainer.
We moved 30 miles and the difference was beyond belief.

home educate or go private?
it's only simple if you can afford to move house or affod to do the above 2 things

Well it would be a case of can't "afford" to leave the child where he is IMO

You can't let this continue, i was top of my school (but not that bright really) and although i made it to university to be honest i didn't choose the best courses and could have done so much more if anybody around me had also been of a similar standard or i'd been pushed.

You HAVE to get him involved with other kids who have aspirations... have you tried investigating the scholarships available at local private schools? is he on the waiting list for the better comp? are there any homework clubs or group tutoring fed by other schools that he could join?

Sorry but you can't let this continue or you'll end up with a bright boy stifled by low acheivement and low aspiration.

Do you know how religiously selective the religiously selective school are?

OB's post really made me think - and Fluffles said what I was about to say.

I was always considered 'brainy' and came top in everything with minimal effort, but like Fluffles was clueless when it came to choices.

I fluffed (!) my A-levels so ended up doing what , in retrospect, was the wrong degree for me, and subsequently feel like a classic under-achiever.

The reason for my apparent 'braininess' was that therejust wasn't any competition, and, in my case, scorn was heaped upon me for being bright and keen to learn - hardly conducive to making the most of one's ability.

It may be that your boy IS very bright - could you look into any bursaries or scholarships that may be available at the private schools (only if they're decent ones, of course)?

Otherwise, it might be worth biting the bullet and considering moving. Your son only gets one chance at this.

Best of luck sorting this out.

Btw, scholarships etc at these places are no big secret - if the glossy brochure doesn't specify the value, phone the office and ask what percentage the reduction is.

Having poor writing skills is no indication of a lack of intelligence my DS1 is now at a grammar school and was always nagged for his bad handwriting.

We're about to move into the catchment of a better school -only 1 1/4 miles which is a bit galling!

And our nearest, in-catchment alternative isn't that bad. In crude OFSTED terms it gets 58% (A-C inc Eng + Maths)! BUT the issue for us is that DS1 is a lazy little tyke, quite middle to slightly above average academically generally, but with an ability in Maths, and we just KNOW that if he goes to this school with a fair number of DCs from 'inadequate' backgrounds, he'll do what it takes to 'fit in'.. so hence he'll be off to the 88% school with the staunchly 'middle class-valued', aspirational cohort.

End of.

Moving isn't an option for us yet but we do have his name down for another school, its just a case of waiting for a place to come up

He came home with homework on Friday night - colour a piece of paper blue.

I looked at it and said "You must have misunderstood, what else do you need to do??" and he showed me his homework diary "Colour a piece of paper in blue - to be completed by next wednesday".

I'm still sure we must be missing something but I fear we're not.

That is truly useless homework for Year 8! I'd have his name down for every other possible school, even the faith ones as they often have a percentage of non-faith places. And do look into scholarships and bursaries at independent schools, they vary but could be available and make enough of a difference.

Do you have any option on home educating him till he gets another place? It doesn't sound like he's getting anything out of school at all TBH.

Message withdrawn

Presuming this is art homework, fair enough, colour a piece of paper blue but explore different blues, look at the difference between cool and warm shades, light and dark tones etc. Think I'd try the same approach as the previous poster - and maybe take this shockingly bad example to the head.

Home Educate!!