Buckinghamshire grammar schools scoring method

[drummer]

Well said loopylala

[kittymum]

Just to clarify this is the BUCKS 11+ we're talking about - the secondary school transfer exam devised for BUCKS children. BUCKS children are well informed about the exam - their entire secondary schooling system is selective. The council publish details about it which are sent to all BUCKS children. There are presentations and familiarisation papers giv n out in all BUCKS primary schools. There really is nothing secret about it. If people in other counties want to sit down he BUCKS exam then I'm sorry the onus must be on my he individual to do their own research- it is not the responsibility of BUCKS CC or the BUCKS grammar schools.

Ok so you're not in Bucks. I refer you to my earlier post then

Assuming you've just sat the 11+ you obviously knew about it in sufficient time to enter as an ooc applicant. It is not Bucks CC (or indeed the Bucks Grammar Schools) responsibility to tell people in other areas about their secondary system.

[MimiTa]

1 300 Mk children are already in grammar schools and commute daily and thousands of the one who know about it
(it is a 200 000 resident town) want a grammar school here. Many who found out too late want one here for their younger children.

[Guest55]

MimiTa - there are some very good schools in MK and perhaps some of them would be even better if some of the brightest children did not commute ...

A GS is just a school at the end of the day ... teaching the same curriculum and providing the same exams.

[Reading Mum]

In 1998 Labour's School Standards and Framework Act forbade the establishment of any new all-selective schools.

MK could not have opened a new Grammar school even if they had wanted to.

There now seems to have been a change of heart by the government but they will probably have to repeal that act before they can do anything else.

[anotherdad]

I don't quite get the attitude to this. It's fairly straightforward to me. If you are an advocate of selective education and it's important to you that your child(ren) have the option of attending a grammar school, move to an area that offers selection and where you would be in catchment for your preferred schools in the event of qualification. If you fundamentally disagree with selection and consider the process to be unfair, withdraw from the process or move to a comprehensive area.

I know that's a very simplistic view of things and that there are other factors at play for families, but it's either important enough to you or it isn't. As with everything else in life, it's a compromise. If you choose to live in MK, you've chosen to raise children in a comprehensive system. In recent years, the selection system in Bucks has meant that some people have been able to obtain grammar school places in Bucks. That doesn't mean that those allocations will be repeated and by entering the process, you implicitly accept that places may not be available. It also means that if you want to play the Bucks 11+ game, you are responsible for doing the necessary research. Your local authority of choice will provide you with the information you need for schools in your area but why should they take on an advisory role for all other areas? That's what the internet is for.

If I was looking to relocate to Cornwall with school-age children, I wouldn't expect Bucks County Council or my Bucks Primary to feed me all the information on schools in Penzance. Nor would I move there and then complain that Devon council weren't keeping me fully informed of their secondary schools.

[loopylala]

1 300 Mk children are already in grammar schools and commute daily and thousands of the one who know about it
(it is a 200 000 resident town) want a grammar school here. Many who found out too late want one here for their younger children.

Do those who are supporting local Grammars know that what they are actually supporting is local Secondary Moderns? In a Grammar area, the majority of child go to Secondary Moderns not Grammar Schools (unless they sit multiple tests and travel is no object, which appears to be a growing trend).

[streathammum]

And it's important to remember the caveats. The government has said it will consider the opening of new grammar schools *where parents support it*. Bearing in mind that most people will not have access to the new grammars - they have never taken a majority of the population - and therefore most children will be going to secondary modern-type schools, I'm not at all sure that too many new grammars will open in any case.

[Guest55]

Do those who are supporting local Grammars know that what they are actually supporting is local Secondary Moderns? In a Grammar area, the majority of child go to Secondary Moderns not Grammar Schools (unless they sit multiple tests and travel is no object, which appears to be a growing trend).

It's even worse than that really.

Every OOC child going to a Bucks GS means that a Bucks child goes to an Upper ... so they are supporting Uppers for others.

There are some great Uppers but some are struggling.

[Amber]

I don't quite get the attitude to this. It's fairly straightforward to me. If you are an advocate of selective education and it's important to you that your child(ren) have the option of attending a grammar school, move to an area that offers selection and where you would be in catchment for your preferred schools in the event of qualification. If you fundamentally disagree with selection and consider the process to be unfair, withdraw from the process or move to a comprehensive area.

Not always that simple actually. I moved here (Gloucestershire) before I even thought about having children, for career reasons. My employer here was not someone with offices elsewhere - this was a one-off career choice. I didn't actually realise we had grammar schools until my oldest child was applying for secondary school; we had been out of the country for a while by then and I was fairly horrified to discover it, frankly. She didn't sit the 11+. My sons did - 'withdrawing from the process', as you put it is akin to shooting your child in the foot for your own principles - but I am even more opposed to it now than ever. I wouldn't move out of my county though because I like it here.

That said, methinks KCG is onto something here and there are some shenanigians going on on this particular thread. Maybe all the 'foreign families' being referred to here who are on the one hand entirely ignorant of the very existence of grammar schools but on the other hand are desperate to have one in their area ought to get together and lobby the government. They should get a sympathetic ear now.