Local schools for local children?

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salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by salsa »

klmh1968 wrote:
I dont understand why it is ok for children that live 5 miles away to have a grammar school education but not those that live 20+. Some children that live OCC may be nearer in distance.

My DD takes the train from Etchingham to Tun Wells a journey of 17 miles (according to AA) and that takes 20 mins, but Sevenoaks to Tun Wells which is 11 miles takes upto 33 mins on the train. If we based school places on journey time then OCC child would be more deserving of a place.

We all want what is best for a child and as a parent I will try my hardest to get my DC into the best school for them, not the best in the league tables, etc. However, i'm fully aware that having gone down the GS route for both of my DC, a grammar school education in my area, their options were based on their scores and not if i could afford a house in their catchment areas. If their scores were not high enough then basically GS was not suitable for them. I didn't want my DC to scrape into a GS with their low scores, even though they technically passed, and constantly struggle to keep up. As i stated earlier i want the best school for MY DC and in their case it was a GS and not necessarily the nearest one.

Surely to ensure that GS education is given to the brightest children then catchment shouldn't really come into it - otherwise it will only be the DC of parents who can afford to live next door to the school that will attend them?

Finally i wish to apologise for all the posts - I don't know how to post multiple responses on the same email - need to ask my DS :lol:
Hi,

What if the children have an off day? They may panic, etc and that doesn't make them less suitable. The child may have a low score or not have passed at all.

I once asked this question at Dartford Grammar and I was told that all children do well even those who got in via a non-qualification appeal. The teachers are not told the children's scores or who got in on appeal. Moreover, there are no sets, but all children have individual targets. All children are provided extension work and it's up to the child to complete it. This, of course has a downside to it, as the child may not push himself to do the extension work. In this case, the teacher would give them a low score for effort and phone you to address the issue.

In year 9, they mix the classes and I can't still work out their criteria! Once I heard the headmaster say that ALL the children at his school were gifted. Having said that, if you excelled at something, your effort would be acknowledged by being in the gifted and talented activity that year and do something special. It wouldn't mean that you'd be in the group for ever.

Most children are achieving very well, so I suppose their model is working.

Salsa
Edit: something wrong with the quoting function today?
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by Sally-Anne »

salsa wrote:Edit: something wrong with the quoting function today?
You have to make sure that you haven't accidentally deleted the square brackets at the start of the quote (no spaces):

[ quote ]

or the unquote symbol at the end

[ /quote ]
salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by salsa »

Sally-Anne wrote:
salsa wrote:Edit: something wrong with the quoting function today?
You have to make sure that you haven't accidentally deleted the square brackets at the start of the quote (no spaces):

[ quote ]

or the unquote symbol at the end

[ /quote ]
Thank you. I just pressed the quote button and typed below as I usually do.
ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by ToadMum »

salsa wrote:
Sally-Anne wrote:
salsa wrote:Edit: something wrong with the quoting function today?
You have to make sure that you haven't accidentally deleted the square brackets at the start of the quote (no spaces):

[ quote ]

or the unquote symbol at the end

[ /quote ]
Thank you. I just pressed the quote button and typed below as I usually do.
Yes, I sometimes have problems , even doing that (now to see how this comes out :lol: ).
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
FortyNinePence
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 10:06 pm

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by FortyNinePence »

Eynsford to Tonbridge can get a 7.50 train.

Bexley not in Judd catchment. ( and neither is Orpington now, which is only a 20 minute train journey....)
klmh1968
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:48 pm

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by klmh1968 »

ToadMum wrote:Searching on 'travel from Eynsford to Tonbridge' / '...Farningham to Tonbridge':

Train from Eynsford to Tonbridge about 30 minutes including a 7-minute change at Sevenoaks, leaving about 07.30.

Farningham longer as involves a bus to Swanley as well as changing in Sevenoaks.

Both obviously a longer journey, time-wise, if you don't actually live somewhere handy for the station or on the relevant bus route.
God I'm having a nightmare today with my posts! When i looked at train times it didn't show me the 7.30 so apologies, however it is still a rather long journey with all the us changes, etc
klmh1968
Posts: 79
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:48 pm

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by klmh1968 »

salsa wrote:
klmh1968 wrote:
I dont understand why it is ok for children that live 5 miles away to have a grammar school education but not those that live 20+. Some children that live OCC may be nearer in distance.

My DD takes the train from Etchingham to Tun Wells a journey of 17 miles (according to AA) and that takes 20 mins, but Sevenoaks to Tun Wells which is 11 miles takes upto 33 mins on the train. If we based school places on journey time then OCC child would be more deserving of a place.

We all want what is best for a child and as a parent I will try my hardest to get my DC into the best school for them, not the best in the league tables, etc. However, i'm fully aware that having gone down the GS route for both of my DC, a grammar school education in my area, their options were based on their scores and not if i could afford a house in their catchment areas. If their scores were not high enough then basically GS was not suitable for them. I didn't want my DC to scrape into a GS with their low scores, even though they technically passed, and constantly struggle to keep up. As i stated earlier i want the best school for MY DC and in their case it was a GS and not necessarily the nearest one.

Surely to ensure that GS education is given to the brightest children then catchment shouldn't really come into it - otherwise it will only be the DC of parents who can afford to live next door to the school that will attend them?

Finally i wish to apologise for all the posts - I don't know how to post multiple responses on the same email - need to ask my DS :lol:
Hi,

What if the children have an off day? They may panic, etc and that doesn't make them less suitable. The child may have a low score or not have passed at all.

If a child is having an off day and the school/parents believe that their score doesn't reflect their ability are they not able to appeal?
salsa
Posts: 2686
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 10:59 am

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by salsa »

You can appeal, but there are no guarantees. In fact, in some places like Bexley, success rates are extremely low.
FortyNinePence
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 10:06 pm

Re: Local schools for local children?

Post by FortyNinePence »

klmh1968 wrote:
ToadMum wrote:Searching on 'travel from Eynsford to Tonbridge' / '...Farningham to Tonbridge':

Train from Eynsford to Tonbridge about 30 minutes including a 7-minute change at Sevenoaks, leaving about 07.30.

Farningham longer as involves a bus to Swanley as well as changing in Sevenoaks.

Both obviously a longer journey, time-wise, if you don't actually live somewhere handy for the station or on the relevant bus route.
God I'm having a nightmare today with my posts! When i looked at train times it didn't show me the 7.30 so apologies, however it is still a rather long journey with all the us changes, etc
It's not a long journey!! It's 13 minutes to Sevenoaks and then 10 minutes from Sevenoaks to Tonbridge. So 23 minutes, which even with a 7 minute connection time makes it 30 minutes which is WAY less than a lot of school bus journeys
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