Grammar School Vs State Outstanding non selective Schools ?

[Rob Clark]

rsuk1995, there are all sorts of myths and rumours about what subjects you study at different types of schools, a lot of the time the information is incorrect – there aren't any 'special' GCSEs which only DCs at Grammar Schools take.

To give you a direct comparison from an area you are considering moving into:

DS (Bucks boys GS) GCSEs: maths, triple science, english x 2, history, geography, Spanish, PE x 2

DD (Bucks mixed Upper School): maths x 3, triple science, english x 2, history, Spanish, PE, ICT

Your instinct to opt for an outstanding local school is correct, imo.

[rsuk1995]

Thanks Rob.
Do you think is there much difference between D.C studying in grammar vs outstanding local schools?

[silverysea]

I would visit the local school to get an idea of what the DCs are like. Forget gossip.

But I think it is not worth the stress to move at this late stage.

Why do they say the school
Is bad? You need to find out why and deal with the specific issues- maybe they won't affect your particular child, or maybe the school is solving their problems and it's just an out of date attitude- schools change fast.

[Rob Clark]

DD's Upper School was not outstanding and lots of people told us it was terrible but nevertheless you can see she still did a full range of academic GCSEs and had a lovely friendship group who have mostly gone onto tertiary education.

Obviously this varies from school to school, so it's worth looking into, but I agree with everything silverysea says – ignore playground gossip and go and judge the local school for yourself.

And don't underestimate the advantages of going to school very locally – easier to see friends, less time wasted travelling and easier to get involved in school life, be that music, drama, sports or other clubs.

[rsuk1995]

Thanks All for your time & advice.
Thanks to 11+ for creatinng virtual community group.
Valueble to all parents.