Petition to abolish SW Herts consortium admissions test

[RomaWhelan]

This petition is doing the rounds on Facebook and Twitter at the moment. It has popped up on my Facebook newsfeed 4 times this morning.
Not sure how effective it will be. What are other members views?

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ ... consortium" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HenryVIII]

I agree that the test needs changing but not necessarily for the reasons as stated (and I speak from putting 2 x DCs through the test over the last 3 years). Indeed, not all the points look factually correct or even well articulated. I had to look the chap up!

[Daogroupie]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting. QE boys and QE girls went different routes a few years ago. QE boys went for selection by exam and QE girls went for selection by distance. I wonder if as many parents would be as interested in the Watford schools if the only critieria to get in was distance. DG

[3b1g]

What are the authors of the petition hoping to achieve? I think it's very unlikely that these schools will give up their partially selective status. As far as I know, no petition, MP, or even the county council can force them to do so.

[thumbelina]

that would mean the consortium schools would effectively come into the same league as bushey academy, francis coombe, westfield (local watford schools that do not have an exam entry requirement), so those parents who object to putting their children through an 11+ process do have local schools as option.

wonder if parents would still feel the same about the schools if entry was based entirely on local demographics?

hmmm

perhaps we could also abolish the redbridge/essex consortium and also the slough consortium too?

[ToadMum]

that would mean the consortium schools would effectively come into the same league as bushey academy, francis coombe, westfield (local watford schools that do not have an exam entry requirement), so those parents who object to putting their children through an 11+ process do have local schools as option.

wonder if parents would still feel the same about the schools if entry was based entirely on local demographics?

hmmm

perhaps we could also abolish the redbridge/essex consortium and also the slough consortium too?

Just for clarity, may I point out that the Redbridge grammar schools and the CSSE - Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex - are nothing to do with each other . Chelmsford County High School for Girls, formerly a member of the CSSE, now runs its own entrance exam.

[thumbelina]

thankyou for clarity toadmum

so would be the petition encourage the removal of redbridge, essex, slough and any other consortiums exam entries. what about DAO. its not part of a consortium but i was under the impression that its admission criteria are v similar to the herts consortium ?

also do the petition authors wish to remove music audition as well as the academic selection test?

these great schools will suffer.

[southbucks3]

Does the proportion of pupils currently in Watford partially selective schools, not living in the area, directly correlate to the deficit of secondary school places and the need to build a new secondary school on green belt?
Partial selection is a difficult concept for many, including myself to comprehend. Why was it invented in the first place?
Do the siblings of those selected through testing come off the selected quota or the local quota? The pressure on the eldest sibling to pass the test must be immense in some families.
Doesn't the nature of the system just cause a drain of highly academic children from the remaining schools?
Do the music entrants go on to work in the music industry and is there a deficit of musicians in hertfordshire, why is musical ability a selection criteria?

Sorry for all the questions, just interested. The system always seems so unpopular, people have been getting in a pickle about it for years. To be honest it seems even more contentious than the wholly selective system in bucks.

Perhaps we could hear answers from both sides of the argument....in a constructive way of course.

[Cutting42]

At the risk of being cynical, any activity like this regarding school entry is driven by self interest. "How can I get my DC into the best possible school?"

We saw this with the campaign to get rid of the cross sibling rule at the grammars and we saw it with the opposition to when the government tried to ban the sibling rule at partially selective schools. For every rule change one way it advantages and disadvantages different groups of people and they will complain, I know I did!

Watford has an extremely high incidence of partially selective schools, more than any other part of the country and they all seem keen to maintain that status. If they did become true comprehensives the you would extend the housing war as people move/rent/ live with grandma etc to gain access to a school of choice but eventually the school population would reflect the area more accurately and inevitably scores would drop as the cohort were no longer partially selected by academic ability. The only way to achieve this would be through legislation to force the schools hand.

Would all the Watford schools become the same with the loss of exam entry? Probably not. IMO you would get wealthy areas becoming wealthier as prices force out lower earners so that the houses for 1-2 miles around, not just the current 2-300 meters increasing dramatically in price. My view is that at least the current system allows bright DC from families unable to afford the Cassiobury estate or wherever to have a real chance of gaining entry. I accept it is not perfect but this is not the way forward IMO.

[noonynunu]

I accept it is not perfect but this is not the way forward IMO.

I would have to say that any system that allows a school to prioritise a child living more than three miles from a school over a child living less than 300 metres away, needs to be changed.

I would be interested to know what you think the best way forward is Cutting.

Out of interest of those people who have posted on this thread so far, how many of you actually live in Watford?