Tiffin Girls school catchment area being implemented

[IronMikeTyson]

I don't know why areas close to the school are being excluded. If I was a parent in such an area , I too would be miffed.

Perhaps the schools are also considering population density,catchment areas that include a good cross section of socio-economic groupings,historical intake -not just physical distance.

[999 mum]

Social Engineering! and there I was thinking that Grammar Schools were one of the very few bastions of meritocracy.

[twelveminus]

Including Southall ( 80% Asian apparently) in the catchment area was an objection as this discriminated against white people (according to one contributor).

So is this so innocent ?

Perhaps the real objection is that S Asians are getting into grammar schools and other groups are not so happy about this and in order to give their children a better chance of passing let's post and post about unfair catchment areas,commuting time,"local" kids ,too much tutoring etc etc etc

Not at all. Anyone who scores high enough should get in.

Personally speaking I am fortunate enough to have many options including private, and we may decline a place at Tiffin in favour of private, but not at that point yet, so still wait and see at the moment.

As I have said previously it's normal that where any particular group is under or over represented to take action, and while it might perhaps might make sense to extend the Tiffin catchment to Peckham or similar (depending on whether or not you favour affirmative action policies) to try and balance the school demographics, further unbalancing it by including a distant area doesn't appear to be justifiable.

The school has the option either of including all distant areas, or none. IMO.

[Scoopy19]

Sorry, hadn't realised when I read the original thread (briefly) that Southall being included as predominately Asian was a reason for the objection, so agree wholeheartedly that an objection on those grounds would be wrong.

Now an ojection to the inclusion of Southall on the grounds that it is not a reasonable travelling distance from the school (which is the main rationale for the proposal) would make more sense.

As it is, I'm all for open selection and no catchment.

[twelveminus]

There is no objection to Asian students, who are a credit to the school and thrive under the existing open system. The objection is to a system which offers preferment to a majority Asian area that is far distant from the school, while excluding other areas, with fewer Asians and more of other racial groups, that are closer to the school, both geographically and in terms of journey time. This is indirect racial discrimination under the Race Relations Act Amendment Regulations of 2003, since as the map here shows:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 30&t=30660" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

the catchment is extended into the areas of London with the highest South Asian population (Southall/Ealing area), while excluding areas such as Epsom and Sutton to the south, which are predominantly white, and Acton and other parts of west London, which have significant non-South Asian minorities.

[tiffinboys]

Most of the admissions from KT, TW and other areas is also mainly S Asians and there is nothing wrong with that as all these children have got these places under the same rules as for others.

However, the other logic given by TGS for the proposed catchment relates to the number of its current pupils from the various postcodes in the proposed catchment. Look at the intake for the last 5 years does not bear this out.

Total Intake in last 5 years
(2008-2012):

CR4 = 6
SM4 = 7
SW17= 6
SW18= 4
W5 = 14
W7 = 2
W13 = 2
UB1 = 5
UB2 = 12

The average intake from the extended catchment (Southhall, Ealing, Tooting etc) is between 0.4 to 2.8 per annum.

How could these postcodes be part of the proposed catchment based on the rationale given by TGS?

[sanj]

I totally agree that there should be no post code based admissions but open to all capable students who have the brains to clear the exam.

It is the quality of students at TGS that has made the excellent reputation it has today so it should continue with open policy.

The travel time on public transport from our house to TGS is 45 min as compared to some postcodes listed in the criteria where it can take more than an hour,so i dont understand the logic given by the school.