Giving ds the final say?

[reeyah]

If you can afford it, send him to Solihull and free up a place for someone who can't.

Mike

[UmSusu]

As I am sure you are already aware CHB is not a place to be sniffed at easily, but whilst I would always give weight to what a DC's opinion is I would have the last say as the parent at this stage in their lives. So if money was not the main consideration, unless he can find a positive reason for CHB suiting his needs ( ie particular facilities, clubs, subject options later on) then I would go for the one I prefer - especially if it is nearer too.

Kids get used to travelling and although I never imagined my DS would handle it easily ( well he did once catch the wrong bus AND then fall asleep ), he now says catching the bus with his friends is the best part of the day. However, I would still say shorter travelling are preferable and there is nothing that can replace a good local school with lots of local friends - assuming you like the local people

In short, it seems I haven't really got a point but if my well-reasoned preference is nearer then DS would need to persuade me rather than the other way around. But that is just my parenting style.

[tiffinboys]

It may also be that the young boy is quite financially smart and is trying to save his parents money for future.

[JaneEyre]

Art not taken as seriously as other subjects - ds loves art

I don't know how art is taught at the Solihull school you prefer, but I have to say that I have been very impressed by the art lessons my DS receives at CH! The scheme is structured and I can see that my DS has already progressed a lot though he is not a gifted boy in this domain. The teaching there in art is far better to the art lessons my DD received at another excellent school.
There is also an art club at lunch time.

I am not at all trying to 'sell' CH that I am slowly by slowly trying to know better (DS just started there this year), but I am just trying to tell my honest reaction to the points you have observed.

Concerning the ethnic mix there, I just see it as an advantage because the world is nowadays a 'small village' and everybody has to learn to live with everyone else and appreciate their aptitude and values, without any contempt for them because they just might be as bright/brighter or better 'gentlemen' (taken with the Victorian meaning as there was a lot of thoughts about that word at that time). Or even I prefer the word 'men' thus defined by Mr Thornton in the book North and South by Elisabeth Gaskell):

'Certainly. But then I know so little about it. I was surprised, however, to find from what Mr. Horsfall said, that there were others who thought in so diametrically opposite a manner, as the Mr. Morison he spoke about. He cannot be a gentleman — is he?'

'I am not quite the person to decide on another's gentlemanliness, Miss Hale. I mean, I don't quite understand your application of the word. But I should say that this Morison is no true man. I don't know who he is; I merely judge him from Mr. Horsfall's account.'

'I suspect my "gentleman" includes your "true man."'

'And a great deal more, you would imply. I differ from you. A man is to me a higher and a completer being than a gentleman.'

'What do you mean?' asked Margaret. 'We must understand the words differently.'

'I take it that "gentleman" is a term that only describes a person in his relation to others; but when we speak of him as "a man," we consider him not merely with regard to his fellow-men, but in relation to himself, — to life — to time — to eternity. A cast-away lonely as Robinson Crusoe — a prisoner immured in a dungeon for life — nay, even a saint in Patmos, has his endurance, his strength, his faith, best described by being spoken of as "a man." I am rather weary of this word "gentlemanly," which seems to me to be often inappropriately used, and often, too, with such exaggerated distortion of meaning, while the full simplicity of the noun "man," and the adjective "manly" are unacknowledged — that I am induced to class it with the cant of the day.'

Margaret thought a moment, — but before she could speak her slow conviction, he was called away by some of the eager manufacturers, whose speeches she could not hear, though she could guess at their import by the short clear answers Mr. Thornton gave, which came steady and firm as the boom of a distant minute gun. They were evidently talking of the turn-out, and suggesting what course had best be pursued.

Sorry if I 'bother' you with literature!

Kids get used to travelling and although I never imagined my DS would handle it easily ( well he did once catch the wrong bus AND then fall asleep )

Poor soul!!! He must have been really exhausted! I hope he didn't wake up too too far away!
Oh, the nice little jokes he'll be able to tell his grandchildren one day!

[peter5]

I think the OP could learn a bit from her son .Bob Dylan did a song about the changing times about 40years ago .
The children are very happy with each other ,yet some parents are so keen on embracing old ideology and stupidity .What does the "ethnic" make up of a school have to do with learning at a school ? Do you notice the ethnic make up of the doctors at your hospitals ?

[mike1880]

About 30% of the boys take GCSE Art at Camp Hill which seems a healthy number to me. They don't get the % A*/A that Solihull get, but Solihull don't publish how many take it (OP may have more info???) so it's not possible to make a comparison.

Mike

[Sean_uk]

Good luck with whatever decision you make

[Okanagan]

Can we please remind users of the forum rules:

Posts that may incite religious or racial hatred or contain potentially libellous comments will be removed without warning

We will not hestitate to remove posts if it this thread descends into a discussion of race/ethnicity.

[HappyRobot]

umsusu

like the idea of ds having to persuade me

[hermanmunster]

How about a SWOT analysis - you do one and he does one then "discuss"