OSA decision on Dr. Challoner's

[mystery]

amber

Not really, but no choice will not solve the problem either. Good schools that you would not wish to choose between would be the real answer. But in my whole extremely long life there have always been good ones and bad ones - I am not talking about exam results but the quality of education and the other features that one might wish a school that one's child attends to have.

One advantage of being able to express a preference is that it does put some pressure on. A disadvantage is that it ends up with schools being cash strapped and unable to improve, and that the public does not necessarily make the best choices!

[mystery]

Exactly Amber.

Mystery when the Grammar school system was fully set up there were usually two or three secondary schools in any one town, village children expected to travel the nearest town. DC would then sit a test and be allocated the appropriate school for their ability. They didn't choose to go to a Grammar school, it was the school they were allocated. Transport funding was then based on how far from your allocated school you lived. In my Grammar school most of the DD came from 'working class' homes and many of the DDs would have been entitled to free school meals. It was not a middle class enclave, most of the ones I am still in contact with are still politically socialist.

It was not an exact science just as now. Some children were allocated Grammar who found it too academic, it happens even for the untutored as most were then, some were allocated secondary modern when they could easily cope with Grammar. They often had the opportunity to move at a later date, some chose to stay in their secondary moderns. Parents also appealed but I believe it was rarer then and possibly less transparent than today. (no idea if stats exist but my parents went through this process). Some parents opted to go private if their children weren't allocated a Grammar, most didn't in my area as those that wanted private education didn't tend to sit the test anyway.

So if you live in a selective county you wouldn't be making a choice but sending your DC to the school that the county has deemed suitable for their academic ability. That is why I personally disagree with Bucks's current transport policy that will only pay costs to the nearest school. It makes a mockery of the whole idea behind selective schools.

I have no problem with people moving if they are unhappy with their local school but I do have a problem with people hedging their bets and by doing so taking opportunities away from other DC especially when it's DC who won't have the parental support that makes the difference when faced with a poorly performing school.

p.s realise I have spelled tier wrong previously and really can't be asked to go back editing, no wonder my DC have dyslexia

A lot has changed since then which cannot be unwound, and if you do the maths the average distance to school in a bipartite or tripartite system is further than if there are appropriately located comprehensives all over the country. Schools used to be much smaller too.

How can you move house and not change someone else's opportunity? How can you fill in your school preference form and not change someone else's opportunity? I still don't really understand what the "local schools for local children" slogan means to people who like it. Most schools nationwide have policies which give preference according to distance for the majority of pupils. The ones that don't are a drop in the ocean unless you live within reasonable travelling distance of a truly superselective.

I don't think it would work well for anyone if all schools took on a dr challoners type policy. It would be logistically impossible.

And do you know which 1st April it is talking about? If it is 1 April of year 6 that is kinder than a lot of admission authorities, is it not?

[LeprechaunQueen]

April year 5 I thought....

[scary mum]

Yes, April of year 5. Most other (?all) other Bucks school are October, ie between the test and CAF submission.

[mystery]

That's what I thought. Same here in kent. If everyone went for different dates before application time it would be a complete dogs' dinner. Maybe the point was not made clear to the adjudicator. Or maybe he thought it was year 6. It does not make it clear.

.........

[Edited by moderator]

[stevew61]

Oh don't, the person who posts on here who is seemingly also the objector is claiming victory on the fsm and distance tiebreaker technicalities

A mere flesh wound to a Knight.

The Black Knight is a fictional character who appears in a scene of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As his name suggests, he is a black knight who guards a "bridge" (in reality a short plank of wood) over a small stream - which could have been easily stepped over by King Artur but, for unknown reasons, he does not. Although supremely skilled in swordplay, the Black Knight suffers from unchecked overconfidence and a staunch refusal ever to give up.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Knight_(Monty_Python" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Oh dear I just re-read it, metaphors galore.

[mad?]

'It's just a flesh wound!'

[southbucks3]

Well if both men in question read this, one will be walking round his school chest puffed out, nodding serenely at his minions, the other walking round his house using a golf club to practice his sword play.

I love your testosterone fuelled thoughts!

[scary mum]

Well if both men in question read this, one will be walking round his school chest puffed out, nodding serenely at his minions, the other walking round his house using a golf club to practice his sword play.

"If"