George going to Marlborough? Article linked.

[Greatballzoffire]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12872215/William-kate-snub-eton-george-marlborough-college-second-visit.html

Big schools are big employers do you don't need to have attended to know the lingo.

I got a splinter in my finger from a shabby door when I visited a famous private school. The tour was undertaken by a teenager who couldn’t tell the time with the analogue clock. It was good that she was honest and not embarrassed by this though

I got a splinter in my finger from a shabby door when I visited a famous private school. The tour was undertaken by a teenager who couldn’t tell the time with the analogue clock. It was good that she was honest and not embarrassed by this though.

Wolvesart. At least though you could enjoy gloating over the superiority of your state school.

EdithWeston · Today 10:13

It's quite hard to assess how "bright" someone is when they were home educated, did not take usual exams (wartime) and did not go to university.

Also, there are many sorts of intelligence. People who can pass exams with high grades aren’t always intelligent in other ways - viz. the maths lecturer who tried to catch a whippet by running after it.

@Minutewaltz that's not what I took from @Wolvesart post at all! I took from it that she felt the pupils were wonderfully confident!

Splinter, shabby door, pupil who couldn’t tell the time ……I don’t think wolvesart was impressed.

@Minutewaltz funny then how different perceptions can be!

I read somewhere that the late queen spoke very good French, albeit with a strong English accent.
Maybe on purpose... as I've also read that French in an "upper class" accent sounds quite attractive to the French people, a bit like English in a French accent sounds to quite a lot of English speakers.
That's a jolly useful talent, imo.

Can’t fathom reply

I wonder if Elton’s sons will be joining them?😀

In any event, the ISEB tests are very similar to grammar school tests and can be tutored and prepared extensively for. So they don’t really say anything about any child’s intelligence. An average child could do really well if extensively prepared and vice versa.

And we personally know children who got into Westminster or St Paul’s or a top grammar in London, but not Eton, and vice versa. Whatever admissions system the individual schools have devised it isn’t really a reflection on a child’s innate future ability. Far from it.

And finally, I doubt anyone actually knows for sure at this point where Prince George will go to school in Year 9. Still a few years off for him.

Where do Pippa's kids go? I'd imagine her youngest would be reception age?

Also, there are many sorts of intelligence

Yes obviously there are. But these Y6 tests - whether taken for indies or grammars, and yes no distinction between them - test reasoning and verbal ability. In other words, a particular kind of academic intelligence and potential. So other types of intelligence are a bit beside the particular point.

In any event, the ISEB tests are very similar to grammar school tests and can be tutored and prepared extensively for. So they don’t really say anything about any child’s intelligence. An average child could do really well if extensively prepared and vice versa

Oh goodness Araminta. You don't seem to have been standing where I have over the past couple of decades, watching cohorts of parents despair when their extensively prepped kid doesn't get in to the chosen school :) And I have to say you're quite wrong about indicating intelligence, if by that you mean academic ability/ potential. That's the point of them and that's exactly why very bright and experienced top school HTs (and others in less selective schools, but with a much lower pass mark) continue to use them, just as they've done for years and years (although they've been adjusted to make the best attempt possible to mitigate the effects of prepping and tutoring). I'm not sure you have the same sort of experience as top school HTs in judging the fitness for purpose of these tests but the consensus in the educational world is that they're the best tool currently available and that they do a good job. If you do, my apologies.

Why would it matter if a child in the rf didn't pass the Eton test? It doesn't make that child a less valuable person.

As far as I’m aware, the only clue we’ve got about Prince George’s abilities are a couple of rather splendid drawings that have appeared in the press. So I’m guessing he’s arty at least. That’s a good thing in my book.

I think he should go to Hogwarts and learn how to cast a spell over the British nation. The whole idea of a constitutional monarchy is a bit of a strange one and may need a little judicious magic to help things along.

Aside from that, I wish people were more imaginative about the various ways children can be intelligent. There is a simplistic belief that children have ‘bright’ or ‘not bright’ written inside them like sticks of rock. You are either made of the right stuff or you are not.

But I have known too many academics who did not do well at school to take such ideas seriously.

Besides, after learning that AI systems - those completely empty vessels - have been able to do well in IQ tests and in certain notoriously difficult maths tests, all in double-quick time, I have my doubts about what standardised tests are actually revealing.

Goodbyestranger you say the Queen lacked intelligence because she made so many missteps.
I’d be genuinely interested to know which particular ones you had in mind.

I thought it was clever of her never to give interviews or betray what she was feeling.

Didn't Kate stay back from travelling with William cos she was helping her son prep for Eton exams? Didn't he pass? She also didn't go with him to NY. They don't seem to spend time as a couple even with having both sets of parents and entourage of staff.

Minutewaltz I think I'm going to be a bit cautious rather than answer with specifics, if only so that I don't have her defenders piling on. It's a relatively long list. Most recently though, paying off Andrew's legal settlement didn't cover her in glory, in my opinion.

But perhaps if people think she made no missteps, they could confirm that they think the monarchy is more popular and secure now than it was in 1952. Because if they can't say that it is, with confidence, then something or some things clearly haven't been done as cleverly as they might have been.

How do you know how much time they spend together as a couple?

So you can’t think of anything other than the Andrew situation?

He was doing ISEBs which a pp has explained upthread.

I think it's fantastic that she stays at home when he travels sometimes. Great to see them putting the children first when important.

goodbyestranger · Today 14:56
Minutewaltz I think I'm going to be a bit cautious rather than answer with specifics, if only so that I don't have her defenders piling on.

I think she did a great job but you’re fully entitled to your views. Hopefully people will disagree politely.

If they do disagree, that is.

How do you know how much time they spend together as a couple?

I wondered that.

So you can’t think of anything other than the Andrew situation?

Mylovelygreendress yes, as I said in my post. Maybe read it again. The list is considerable hence not getting into a whole wasn't she marvellous no she was awful debate.

How healthy a state do you think she left the monarchy in? That's the litmus test. No need to argue the toss about specific historical incidents. Nice to see you minimising Andrew's conduct though 👏

Hopefully people will disagree politely

That's the exact problem. People get ridiculously rude and heated about any criticism levelled at QEII/ Kate and William so I'm not going to engage beyond the comments already made!