LA ranking list - Camphill or V ways

[ginobellavia]

like everyone else we are getting close to being able to list the schools we want on the LEA form. But my DSs used to want CH as 1st but after seeing V ways want to put V ways 1st.

Am I right in thinking that if V Ways is listed as 1st preference, there is no point in putting CHB second, due to the entry marks?

[no_ball]

Put in order what you want, if you want v ways then it should go first and so on.

[um]

You are right, in previous years (see pass marks sticky), the final entry mark for CH was always higher than that for FW, so it would essentially be a wasted choice, putting it 2nd, unless something dramatically different happens this year!

This is primarily because CHB have fewer places (93 whereas FW have 150)

How was the open evening? FW have a brilliant interactive tour on their website. My son enjoyed looking at it and is looking forward to their open morning tomorrow.

[ginobellavia]

You are right, in previous years (see pass marks sticky), the final entry mark for CH was always higher than that for FW, so it would essentially be a wasted choice, putting it 2nd, unless something dramatically different happens this year!

This is primarily because CHB have fewer places (93 whereas FW have 150)

How was the open evening? FW have a brilliant interactive tour on their website. My son enjoyed looking at it and is looking forward to their open morning tomorrow.

Thanks, don't what the chance of something dramatically different might be but what you say suggests I should not put CHB down if its going to 2nd.

The V ways open day was very good but very busy. Our kids loved it but don't know if their expectations are now set too high if they don't pass the tests. get there early!

[no_ball]

If you want DS to go to kech, then it must go first on the form. Any other position on the form and it's virtually no chance of securing a place. From memory about 800 people put kech first on the form either last year or the year before.

[UmSusu]

I went to the Five Ways open day last year and was very impressed. DS loved it too, but being further away it would be a second choice for me (I know he will miss the buses and I hate driving through morning traffic ).

They put a lot of effort into the evening, the guides were mainly the older pupils and they all looked very smart. The new surroundings and grounds were also lovely. There was a polished delivery to everything, which in post-Blair Britain goes a long way. The Head's speech was a bit long for me but he had a very dynamic quality. In comparison, when I went to CHB last week I felt it was all a bit more 'old school', traditional style. The two schools seem to have quite a different feel but that is just from a brief visit on a busy day.

[um]

Yes, I remember the open day 2 years ago, with a crying 2-year old and a nappy-filling newborn in tow. Who broke wind loudly in the middle of the Head's speech
But the school was impressive.

I have a feeling ds2 will insist that he prefers FW over CH, despite it being more than double the distance Unsure whether to humour him or not...that's assuming he can get into any of them

UmSusu - that has raised the slightly hilarious thought of me driving desperately through the traffic with a load of half-dressed younger children, trying to 'catch up' with the missed Green bus

[UmSusu]

UmSusu - that has raised the slightly hilarious thought of me driving desperately through the traffic with a load of half-dressed younger children, trying to 'catch up' with the missed Green bus

No um, you need to stick to my plan: teach the proposed half-dressed younger siblings to dress themselves whilst wearing a seatbelt - my 2 and 4 year olds are more likely to grasp that over the next months than the 10 year old who thinks the world revolves around his bathroom-prayer-bathroom-breakfast-bathroom-dress- oh and another bathroom visit just for luck before he leaves

[reeyah]

Lolllll! The last few posts were hilarious! I actually had a mum tel me today how her husband was calling her at home while folllowing the missed Green Bus and repeating 'Nearly caught up!'!!!

[JaneEyre]

They put a lot of effort into the evening, the guides were mainly the older pupils and they all looked very smart. The new surroundings and grounds were also lovely. There was a polished delivery to everything, which in post-Blair Britain goes a long way. The Head's speech was a bit long for me but he had a very dynamic quality. In comparison, when I went to CHB last week I felt it was all a bit more 'old school', traditional style. The two schools seem to have quite a different feel but that is just from a brief visit on a busy day.

We have been extremely impressed by our visit to FW yesterday. Our guide was a pupil in year 9 who loves dearly his school... and was quite critical of CH. In fact, though he lives in Moseley, he ranked FW higher in his preference form because he just prefers the school and thinks it is worth to psend 2 hours on the bus everyday to get there

We have been deeply impressed by the teachers there. The chemistry teacher doing the chem experiments was so great !!! But not only him! Many teachers were just engaging the conversation and warm. It really struck me as I have already been to an open evening about GCSEs choices (a few years back) where some of the teachers were talking between themselves and not really taking care of the parents entering the classroom. (hopefully not all!)

My 20 year-old DD was less impressed than me, telling me ‘that’s normal, it’s the open day!!! It’s not like that all the time’.

Well, OK, but it really seems that the students are supported whenever they have a problem. I am not sure I had this impression about CH.
Do some parents having their child at one of these school can give their first had experience in relation to the support the children receive? I am just feeling a bit too much in la-la land after this open evening!!!

Second query: at FW, it seems that the average student sits 14 GCSE while at CH, there is a cap at 10 GCSE. Why this cap? Why holding back the children in their quest for learning? I am deeply shock by such a difference of strategy! FW seems to me such a hive of activities, openness on the world, stretching the able students!
What are your thoughts concerning these matters?