GS in range of Henley?

[mad?]

- Re Slough, I thought you can just change trains at Twyford, no need to go to Reading? Last time I checked it's 30-45 minutes journey, plus the walks. Looks like a similar train journey to RGS.

Yes you can, lots of reasonably nippy trains Slough/Twyford and then a leisurely amble on the branch line to Henley. Duration of journey of course somewhat dependent on whether DS gets a good connection.

[kittymum]

Seriously Gillotts is a great school and v high achieving - I think it's easy to compare it's results with a grammar school and dismiss it but it has all abilities there. It also has many truly outstanding teachers. Grammar schools have great and not so great teachers - no different from any other school.

I would personally take a local school with local friends above any which involved numerous trains / changes / walks any day. Slough schools have children from Harrow direction in them - that's miles from Henley and means there will be little social life / sense of community. My children are at their catchment school and have spent the holidays in the park with their school friends - you really can't under estimate how important things like this are to a young persons emotional development - no amount of analysing data will show you this!

Which schools have you visited? Which schools are your dc's friends going to? Which schools does your dc like?

[Tinkers]

Gillots was never on our radar as we live in Reading, but I recall a colleague moving their DD from a private school to there and being very happy with it.

[ToadMum]

Gillots was never on our radar as we live in Reading, but I recall a colleague moving their DD from a private school to there and being very happy with it.

Interesting statement in the 'admissions' section:

Admission to our school is not dependent on any ‘voluntary’ contribution.


Is this a common admissions criterion in other Oxfordshire schools? Why does this school feel it needs to mention this, since it would be completely illegal anyway?

[JamesDean]

Maybe in the past, some patents thought they could get their offspring in via a generous back-hander?

JD

[ConfusedFather]

RGS! That is a long walk up a steep hill - the bus would be just as bad owing to the HW traffic.

Have you actually visited these schools or tried the journey?

I think the OP is referring to Reading school when they say RGS. No hills involved.

Yes, meant Reading Grammar School without realising many schools had the same acronym

And I do agree that I would rather avoid commute to my DC. Hence why I was looking to move home to play the catchment area game of a good comprehensive (why the educational system forces you to such extremes is a debate on its own). I am now simply re-visiting the option of Grammars without moving houses (moving house for a GS is too risky as you spend a fortune and all hinges on one single exam) and assessing whether it is a tolerable commute or if it is indeed "too much" for a DC.

Regarding Gillotts, I don't want to discuss too much, but from seeing the kids there, reading the DoE stats and talking to the local mums, it does have issues (as well as good points). It would be an acceptable possibility, but the least attractive of our choices.

What I look for in a school is:

- keeps as many doors open as possible for when the DC can make a choice, including top universities. Hence the school needs to be able to provide not only top education for higher ability kids, but also specific training and advice for these unis as well as the soft skills and hidden tick boxes needed to break through the admission process. Remember, two third of schools brimming with brilliant kids never send a single soul to Oxbridge (and very few to Russell/Sutton unis). The system sucks, but one has to live within the constraints of the system...
- encourages to break self imposed limiters (the number of moms I hear say "I am not academic, and my DC is not either" when their kids are only between 4 and 8.... Seriously, they are imposing limitations on their kids, who will see academic topics as black magic and may miss out on the passion of their life...). If the school can't, then better go to a school where parents are more positive about their kids and academics.
- teaches them to fail in a controlled environment and learn from it. Learn to pick yourself up after a bad failure.
- has other brilliant kids to teach them that there is always someone smarter, faster, more creative than you.
- challenges them to the max: keep testing their limits and do not satisfy with a "he is already an A, he doesn't need help, we'd better focus on the Ds" All kids deserve to be pushed to the max.
- teaches them to work hard and not rely on their innate or upbringing skills. There will come a time where they will need to work hard.
- makes it cool to be smart, or at least doesn't make a DC a pariah for having good grades.

Unfortunately, many "Good" or even "Outstanding" secondary lack either the ambition or skills to fulfil all the above points. With a few exceptions (with very expensive catchment areas), those who do seem to be either Grammars or Independent.

[Guest55]

What I look for in a school is:
Remember, two third of schools brimming with brilliant kids never send a single soul to Oxbridge (and very few to Russell/Sutton unis).

Unfortunately, many "Good" or even "Outstanding" secondary lack either the ambition or skills to fulfil all the above points. With a few exceptions (with very expensive catchment areas), those who do seem to be either Grammars or Independent.

RG unis are a self-selected club - some good universities, like Bath, are not RG. There are degrees which are better taught and have better employment data at non-RG universities. Each child needs to go to the best for their particular area of interest ...

It's not about 'lack of ambition' but rather the opposite - if your child wants to be an F1 engineer then neither Oxbridge nor RG is the best choice.

By the way, Gillott school data for the more able looks good to me.

[ToadMum]

Not dissing Oxford or Cambridge (both DH and I - and our own university student DS - had friends who felt that the best place to deliver the course they wanted was one or other of them), but the best university for the individual is the one which offers the course which is best for their interests / ambitions / needs. DS1 was quite keen on Oxford, but only for as long as it took him to discover that it didn't offer what he wanted; he ended up at a Russell Group university completely independent of the fact that it was a member of that particular club. His brother wants to do Architecture, so the likelihood of him ending up at a former polytechnic is fairly high, because that is where a lot of the ARB accredited courses are to be found.

As a mature student, my choices were limited to whichever university course within London I felt would best suit me; it is a source of amusement to the whole family that the institution I regarded over thirty years ago as just 'one of a bunch' is one that these days, applicants find it difficult to maintain continence over (for want of a better euphemism ), such is its allure. And did anyone at any of my subsequent places of work ever show anything other than a mild curiosity in my years at LSE? Nope.

(But then, if one's sole aim in life is a career in investment banking, I understand from my forays into the wacky world of TSR that one is likely to move in more 'enlightened' circles ).

[ConfusedFather]

Seems everyone reacts to "Oxbridge"

I don't care about Oxbridge itself (way too early for DC to decide what he wants and can do), rather about the possibility of it, should he want it.

What I mean is, school needs to enable kids to go to the better (or best) places for their career choice, whether it's the better drama credentials, the better architecture courses, or the ones for politics, engineering, medicine, carpentry, etc...

Now, the way I perceive the English educational system to be set-up, many doors can close (or rather be much harder to open) depending on the school you chose. My mention of Oxbridge wasn't for Oxbridge itself, but rather to highlight how skewed the system is if 2/3rd of schools can't even place a single kid there. Would there be similar stat if instead of Oxbridge we were looking at top architecture or engineering? Probably based on the many reports, like the Sutton Trust's, who show that some type of schools have a much better chance then others. Some schools simply close doors.

Let's say it is probably easier to blossom the desire to be an actor or a doctor, AND achieve it, if the school is used to supporting such kids and if some of your peers also share the same passions (and you don't get shunned because of these passions and your abilities).
What if a DC wants to be an engineer: is it easier to get an A* in maths GCSE in a place where teachers operate at that level for most of the year, or one where only 8% of kids get A* and the teacher needs to spend his attention on 16% of D- and 47% C-? Is it easier to aim for your passions when your peers all talk of their ambitions or when you can be excluded for being too nerdy?
It is a percentage game. When you play Monopoly, it is a highly random game where everyone has equal chances. However, there are actually statistical models that tell you which streets have the higher return on investment. Players who know that information, will, over the long run, win more often. Same with schools: you have a better statistical chance in some than in others. The fact it is not fair does mean it does not exist

I firmly believe that while it is possible in any setting to achieve your goals, some places make it easier than others. Not every human has unshakable resolve and relentless drive. We are all subject to our environment. Hence why seeking an environment where enough teachers and enough peers pull in the same direction is preferable.

[Guest55]

I've taught for many years at both Comprehensive and GS; most school set for maths. There is never the issue of 'deciding' which students to focus on - it is a non problem. Good comprehensives do all the things you outline and their teachers are just as skilled, sometimes more so, than those in GS.

The only school where I had the whole range of ability for O level and CSE in the same class was a Private school!