I have got a bee in my bonnet

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: I have got a bee in my bonnet

Post by Guest55 »

pushymother wrote: Some parents are faced with senior schools that are not ideal. I totally get why parents chase after the Grammar schools. Why would you want to put your child in a school with a 52% A-C GCSE Pass rate when you can send them to a school with a 100% A-C pass rate?

Half of the children at the 52% A-C comp do not want to go to school and work hard, otherwise they would scrape 5 C's at GCSE. Unfortunately some of those children disrupt the classroom and disrupt other children that are trying to learn.

All the children in the Grammars have had to take a test to get in. All of the children at the Grammars have parents that registered their children to take the test which means they are involved and care about their child's education enough to put them in for the test.
This is all very misleading - I taught in a comp for 18 years and refute most of this post. All children can be engaged with learning but some struggle - I've had students where getting a grade G was a real achievement. That does not mean they did not work or want to do well - they just struggled to learn.

Able children did well at the school - their learning was not impacted on by other children as the teachers were skilled in teaching all abilities.

When we moved and I started teaching at a GS, I found the students more reluctant to work - they knew they could get by without working really hard.

Parents were no different either and to imply that 'putting your child in for a test' makes you a 'better' parent I find pretty offensive.
K76
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:41 am

Re: I have got a bee in my bonnet

Post by K76 »

Sorry for jumping in as I am not from Essex and was only browsing... I understand the desire to send your child to the best school when the local schools are truly poor (rated poor by Ofsted, have an A-C pass rate of about 40% etc) but I don't understand why some people travel miles for a school when they have a very good grammar school on their doorstep. Even though I don't understand it, I respect people's decisions to send their kids to the best school for their child and we all have different opinions on what the 'best' is. For some people it is the school that is always the top of the league tables, for others it is the school that is best in a specific subject, for others it may be religious affiliation or just simply the one closest to their house.

The only thing that I worry about is that if you pick a school too far away and your child can't cope then it will be too late to change your mind later on if the child struggles with the journey. The "too far away" can be any thing from 10 miles to 100 miles. If your child can't cope then then it's too far. Then if you try to change schools, all the good local schools will be full so you'll be stuck with your decision.
pushymother
Posts: 303
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:23 pm
Location: Essex

Re: I have got a bee in my bonnet

Post by pushymother »

Guest55 wrote:
pushymother wrote: Some parents are faced with senior schools that are not ideal. I totally get why parents chase after the Grammar schools. Why would you want to put your child in a school with a 52% A-C GCSE Pass rate when you can send them to a school with a 100% A-C pass rate?

Half of the children at the 52% A-C comp do not want to go to school and work hard, otherwise they would scrape 5 C's at GCSE. Unfortunately some of those children disrupt the classroom and disrupt other children that are trying to learn.

All the children in the Grammars have had to take a test to get in. All of the children at the Grammars have parents that registered their children to take the test which means they are involved and care about their child's education enough to put them in for the test.
This is all very misleading - I taught in a comp for 18 years and refute most of this post. All children can be engaged with learning but some struggle - I've had students where getting a grade G was a real achievement. That does not mean they did not work or want to do well - they just struggled to learn.

Able children did well at the school - their learning was not impacted on by other children as the teachers were skilled in teaching all abilities.

When we moved and I started teaching at a GS, I found the students more reluctant to work - they knew they could get by without working really hard.

Parents were no different either and to imply that 'putting your child in for a test' makes you a 'better' parent I find pretty offensive.
No need to be offended. There are good and bad comps, I am discussing our particular comp we were faced with if we wouldn't have moved to Southend.

I am still friendly with parents and children that go to our previous local comp and unfortunately there are a good number of disruptive children and unengaged parents making it tough for those trying to learn. only 8 parents showed up to parents evening from one form of 30 for example.

You are in Bucks, it is a real postcode lottery for those of us that lost our selective schools in the outer boroughs of London. Upminster still has good comps (Coopers used to be selective) but those are out of reach for those in Romford and Hornchurch.

I see how many are lurking on this thread and I want people living in Havering, Barking and Dagenham, Thurrock etc. It is doable to Southend and Westcliff. This thread has turned so negative towards commuters and I wanted to give you another perspective from someone that actually knows and lives in the area.

Good luck to you and your children. X
Last edited by pushymother on Sat Nov 19, 2016 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: I have got a bee in my bonnet

Post by Guest55 »

I did not live in Bucks before as we have no comps here ....

Please don't assume all comps are the same; some are outstanding.
loopylala
Posts: 255
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 9:14 am

Re: I have got a bee in my bonnet

Post by loopylala »

pushymother wrote:This thread has turned so negative towards commuters
It might be worth having a look at the following thread and also bear in mind that other Grammar schools have introduced catchments in recent years.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 16&t=49260" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

pushymother wrote:for those of us that lost our selective schools in the outer boroughs of London.
Were you really disappointed about losing your secondary moderns too?
elevenplusfanatic
Posts: 18
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2016 10:00 pm

Re: I have got a bee in my bonnet

Post by elevenplusfanatic »

I have three children currently in high school.
DD1 got into her local grammar (CCHS) and absolutely loves it.

DS1 didn't do well enough to get into KEGS and at the time, due to advice given by others and own personal opinion of long journeys, we decided not to send him to Westcliff, and he attended his local comp. Although this is a good comp (70+% A*-C) and he was in the top set, he simply was not pushed enough and resorted to messing around, distracting others and mixing with bad company due to boredom from finding the work so easy. Also, the environment of it being 'uncool' to try hard and get good grades had an effect and I now do regret not sending him to a grammar as I think he would have reached his full potential there. Not everyone will have this same experience with a comprehensive, but after working so hard for the 11+ and just missing out, it can be the case.

DD2 didn't do so well in the CEM exam, but did brilliantly in CSSE. After the experience with DS and local comp, we sent her to Westcliff (just to give it a shot as we had nothing to lose), although she is quite a fragile person and we weren't sure if she'd cope with the journey. Going to a school further away has made her more responsible and organised in comparison to DD1,as she knows that she can't rely on me dropping off things she forgets. The journey hasn't affected her being a part of the school's community at all; she partakes in clubs every lunch time and takes part as much as DD1 because the journey is reasonable. She is thriving at Westcliff more than I believe she could have at the comp.

I have found that there are many locals at both schools who do little and girls who live further away who are active members of the community. Both DDs have said that they can't tell who lives locally from how much they participate because ultimately that is down to the individual child and parents.

Honestly, every child's situation is unique and parents weighing up both options should think about how reasonable the journey is to make twice everyday and how well their child will be able to cope with it; the decision shouldn't be dictated by others' opinions but rather your own judgement.
Post Reply