Coaching - it's a big decision

[faitaccompli]

Spot on. My child can be lazy (in terms of school work). If he is inspired by something, he will work for hours and enjoy every second, but is content to float along towards the middle/upper section of his class whilst putting in minimum effort. At the moment floating in the middle/upper section of his current school is a pretty high standard, so he is doing quite well.

His work ethic IS improving - there has been a massive leap in his school work since September (since going into long trousers - is that a phsychological response?) and I want this to continue. I know that if goes to the local comprehensive where we are moving, he will find too many other things to keep his attention away from school work. Yes - he may have a fine old time and enjoy school immensely as he does now, but will he look back when he is older and wish that he had attended a school that pushed the children that little bit more? He is better when prodded and once on a roll, is happy to keep up the good work.

He finds learning easy and NEEDS something more challenging to keep his interest - he is not a great self motivator, is an August born child so young for his year and is too easily led by other children. Fine if they are the hardworking studious type, but what is the chance of that happening?

Oh dear - all my worries have surged out on this post. And I am not even in the Essex region!!! But I bet there are many other boy children out there who are EXACTLY the same as mine!!!

[rhubarbcrumble]

Many bright pupils went the way of the lowest common denominator. Some people will tell you a bright child will do well no matter which school they attend. It's not true. It takes a certain strength of character to withstand the peer pressure that dictates it is uncool to be clever. I don't even think that the less academic children were properly catered for at my school.

Is there an ideal solution? I don't know.

Precisely what I was thinking, but voiced so eloquently by yourself...

[Reading Mum]

I agree. My DD is bright - and that is not a case of doting Mum (although a little bit of that never did any harm). if she doesn't get into our only target GS then we will continue to send her to the academically selective Indie she is already at - we will just have to continue with the financial sacrifices we currently make. I understand and appreciate that this option is not possible for many people and we certainly couldn't do it if we had more than 1 child.
The catchment comp is neither close nor desirable - OFSTED marked it as grade 3 'satisfactory' across the board. It's now a specialist school - for Sport

I was one of top 5 in our junior school back in the 70s. It was an old fashioned school that actually sat you in ranked order in class so everyone knew where they fitted in the scheme of things. 4 passed the 11+ and went on to good schools, some of which are on here today although mine has now gone. The 5th failed and went to the local comp where she achieved the sum total of 1 O level - in art. She was capable of much more but they just let her cruise.

I can't let this happen to my DD so I am tutoring her. Thankfully so far she is enjoying the work and the 1-2-1 Mummy time although that might change as we get nearer to 1st Oct and the stress rises.

[ketchup]

I agree – good comprehensive with streaming all the way. I failed the 11 plus abysmally, even spelt my one syllable name wrong I was so nervous. My parent’s expectations of me were, as a result, extremely low. However to their and my surprise I was streamed into the top set after a year at the local comprehensive and just kept going. ‘A’ grades for science and maths A levels, a degree from Bristol University and a professional qualification later - I really do not feel I could have got a better education anywhere else. My husband, from an East End poor comprehensive, now sits with 2 degrees and a masters and an extremely technical career he loves. My brother, who also did not get into the local grammar, now has a Cambridge degree and doctorate. So I do not have the great fear of the local comprehensive and truly believe that clever children can do as well at either.
Oh and we were just normal kids – no real ‘strength of character’ needed to fend off the occasional comments the top class got from the bottom classes. Maybe I went to a good comprehensive (we never really knew) – but I am sure all comprehensives could be like that if they had a fair distribution of ability.

[Fran17]

Well done to you ketchup. I have one son (DS1) at a comprehensive and two at grammar. I must say we are very pleased with both schools. We didn't put DS1 in for the 11+ as we didn't think he was suited to it at 11. His school is very good, he loves it and says he couldn't imagine having gone anywhere else. We were very pleased with his GCSE results and he will be sitting his A levels in June.

[First-timer]

Some bright children do well at Comprehensive schools but many do fall by the wayside. DH and I have four degrees and five post-grads between us, so it's certainly possible. Other schoolmates of ours went on to be armed robbers and petty slashers. It was only by chance that DH was not with his friends on the day they broke into and vandalised a school. They got caught. Things could very easily have been different for him. The threat of physical violence was always there. Luckily, DH can handle himself but there were others (from better backgrounds) who couldn't. DH was suspended for fighting. His suspension was revoked when the Head was told that he had been protecting one of the nice boys from a couple of known worthies. DH hadn't told the Head this because it wasn't the done thing to be a grass. It was the thugs who admitted to what had happened. They weren't all bad!

The girls had it easier. It tended to be verbal taunts rather than fighting (most of the time). I personally know of at least a dozen people who would have been good university material but who played down their abilities in order to fit in with their school friends. They regret it now.

Our school had a wide range of abilities and pupils came from a variety of backgrounds. It was considered to be one of the better schools in the area. Every year a crop of pupils went off to good universities. Some of our teachers were absolutely fantastic. There would be many locally who would say that any child would do well there. I would say otherwise. Strength of character is needed to withstand peer pressure.

We were not streamed in every subject. Those classes which were streamed only became so after the first couple of years. The academic children were bored and uninspired for much of the time. The children who struggled were also the victims of bullying for being "spam fritters" (go figure)! It would have been far better for everyone if we had been separated according to ability at the outset and in every subject. I'd be surprised if any Comprehensive did this.

Just re-read this. I did actually enjoy my schooldays, you know!

[rhubarbcrumble]

Ketchup

Sounds like your school was great and of course everything is subjective. Well done to you and your family by the way - excellent achievers!

However, unfortunately for us, we don't live in the greatest area and our local comps are far from great - verging on the ridiculous to be honest. Just one example is a friend of a friend whose son is 3 years older than my daughter who attends one of these schools - his written and spoken use of the English language is so poor it really does defy belief. The kids from this school walk past my home every day and it goes without saying that of course not all of the children who attend there are like this - but, honest to god, the language, behaviour and total disregard for anyone around them when they are making their way home is nothing short of astonishing at times. About a year ago I was making my way indoors with my two children and a boy walking with his friends decided to throw the glass bottle he was drinking from on the floor (and it broke on the pavement) I did challenge him, but he just walked off with his friends and sneered at me...

There are some very good comps way out of our catchment area, but there is virtually no chance of her getting a place at any of these and the journey would be horrendous anyway for her (when she is allowed to travel alone that is...which wouldn't be for a while).

I'm sure you can see where I'm coming from. There are very few options open to me. I'd rather cheesegrate my skin and rub salt into it than let my child attend a school like the ones we have in our catchment...

[ketchup]

I think I basically agree with what you are saying - an un-streamed comprehensive may not be the best option for a bright child – especially if they are easily influenced and have a tendency to drift. Even more so if it is an un-streamed school with a poor intake – so I do understand your concerns and motives, rhubarbcrumble. However, I do think a properly streamed comprehensive with all abilities would negate a lot of these issues and it is a real shame not everyone has access to this!

Oh and first timer –you too are one of the many comprehensive education successes, with a truly rounded education!!! Our local comprehensive does stream from day one in all academic subjects – I didn’t realise it was unusual! Despite this, just like me, my DD may be given the opportunity of Grammar (I think!) if she is academically suited.

[First-timer]

For us, streaming began in our second year in Maths, fifth year in English (!), third year in Physics, French and RE, and not at all for Chemistry, Biology, History and Geography. It was all a bit ad hoc. The non academic subjects were not streamed. Technical subjects were particularly scary. A disinterested, disruptive miscreant is one thing but give him a chisel and a Stanley and you've created a monster!

I don't consider myself to be a Comprehensive success story - more like a survivor.