Thank God for Super Selectives

Bexley Mum 2 · Post by **Bexley Mum 2** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:08 am

Let's hope LAWR isn't counting his/her chickens before they're hatched and that the seemingly ever-increasing demand on grammar school places, plus the surprisingly large number of posters whose children scored 420, doesn't push the cut off figure for Judds and Skinners too high this year ....

sevenoaksdad · Post by **sevenoaksdad** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:18 am

The child being admitted from Malaysia is just one that we know about. I wonder how many other children are being admitted from overseas that we don't know about?

Anyway, I'd like to ask LAWR what he feels he/she feels they are getting at Skinners that he would not get in St Olaves or Darrick Wood? Its clearly not academic excellence and it is not extracurricular activities because they live too far away to take advantage of such activities. Soooo.....other than the 'super-selective' label, what are you actually getting at Skinners that you can't get locally?

dadofkent · Post by **dadofkent** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:33 am

jimmymack wrote:I see from another post here that at the Skinners new parents evening in July one of the boys had Kuala Lumpur down as his home on the address list. So it seems that people from as far away as Malaysia are beginning to cotton on to this wide open system that people like the poster are exploiting with gay abandon. My guess is that the Malaysian boy previously boarded at a local private school and that his parents realised, probably with amazement, that all they had to do was enter their child into the 11+ and that if he happened to pass (and a lot from the private schools do score highly in the 11+) then they could get a good education free at the expense of British taxpayers. You don't even have to be a resident of the UK to be accepted for Judd or Skinners!!! What a stupid, stupid system.

Or he is Tunbridge Wells born and bred, and his parents just happening to be living in Malaysia this year.

sevenoaksdad · Post by **sevenoaksdad** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:39 am

Or he is Tunbridge Wells born and bred, and his parents just happening to be living in Malaysia this year.

The child stated in print that he lives in Malaysia so he considers that to be his home, not Tunbridge Wells. The fact that he may have some sort of vague connection with the town is irrelevant. Even if a family with a house in the area are living overseas, then the time to apply for schools is when the family return and re-establish their home in the area - not a year or more in advance. Residency not property ownership is the appropriate criterion.

The point is that the system is wide open to exploitation by rich overseas parents, UK born or otherwise, currently sending their children to private schools in the UK and who want to save the Â£250,000 or so that it would cost them to send the child to a public school, in exactly the same way that parent in Bromley are exploiting the open-door policy of Judd and Skinners. The overseas parents don't even need to lie - the system is that daft.

familyinthevalley · Post by **familyinthevalley** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 11:52 am

Well said Tracy and TBMum.

Social life is JUST AS IMPORTANT as the education - can't believe for a moment that anybody would think any differently. Living local to a school that your child attends gives them the opportunity to participate in all of the extra curricular activities that these great schools have to offer. The one I have at grammar attends science club one day after school, has rugby practice two days after school, and if there is any enrichment sessions, he will attend those. Unfortunately, alot of the boys who live far away from the school cannot attend due to transportation issues, nor can they attend just casual events like heading out for a meal or a movie or whatever with their school friends. If they took public transport from school - they wouldn't be home till near on 8 at night after extracurricular activities - and by the time they get dinner, do their homework - there's no 'down time'. Doesn't make for a very 'well rounded' student come university application time!
We are local to a grammar school, and you can bet for one that I would be stomping like mad if my son didn't get in due to non local students getting in in his place, and mine being offered one miles and miles away.

Lass · Post by **Lass** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 11:55 am

The issue for me is that some areas outside of our LEA operate a system of very good schools - the example of Darrick Wood in Bromley being a good one.

In our LEA the non selectives are in a whole different league to such schools. So although a child has been selected as suitable for Grammar, if all the places are taken up firstly by ooa children then all that child has left are schools that largely do not cater for children at their ability.

They do not quality for the places in the "good" schools oustide of our LEA because they are taken up by children local to them. So what is left for these children?

I know we all want the best for our children and I believe we should all have a right to this. But to me it seems ridiculous to send a child to school 30 miles away when there is a perfectly adequate school to meet their needs within 5 miles.

I will NOT be selecting a super-selective for my child although she possibly qualifies for one. In fact right now it is looking like her chances of getting in to a school 30 miles away will be better than the local one 5 miles away, but that's a different issue! We have discussed the pro's and con's, and all agree that the journey would be horrible for her. Plus we cannot see what is so much better that would justify the journey.

I believe a childs education is extremely important, but I also believe that school is not the only place they get their education. Having friends, a bit of fun and a life outside of school is also important. Plenty of time for commuting in the 40-odd years we have to work!

sevenoaksdad · Post by **sevenoaksdad** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 11:58 am

CanucksintheUK wrote:Well said Tracy and TBMum. Social life is JUST AS IMPORTANT as the education.

Agreed 100%. Particularily in the teenage years when a social group is very, very important to the teenager. Forming friends, hanging out with them, falling out with them, meeting teenagers of the opposite gender etc are so very, very important to the healthy development of a teenager and for their sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Children typically form their social groups in school. A parent who socially isolates a child by sending them to a school far away so that this normal process cannot happen is being extraordinarily insensitive to the needs of the teenager. Basically it is an act of cruelty to any normal teenager.

Mum007 · Post by **Mum007** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 1:33 pm

CanucksintheUK wrote:Doesn't make for a very 'well rounded' student come university application time!

I am just crawling out of the gutter (DS failed last year and now attends a local comp!!!!) to make a comment on this highly sensitive thread...

You are absolutely right, CanucksintheUK. There are so many equal 'top scorers' in exams such as A levels these days that a child needs to stand out in other ways. The DD of a friend is now at university - she was told that she won her place over others by the contribution she has made to society e.g. out of school work with local youth groups, activities with her church, her regular work at the front line in reception of a local business. I admire what she has achieved as well as studying hard. I'm still not sure how she fitted it all in.

I'd also like to ask (in a very general way) whether anyone has any experience of how the children feel when they are clearly very clever, but suddenly find themselves right at the bottom of the heap at a super-selective because they didn't score 420?

Crawling back where I belong now....

Tracy · Post by **Tracy** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:21 pm

I am just crawling out of the gutter (DS failed last year and now attends a local comp!!!!) to make a comment on this highly sensitive thread...

Crawling back where I belong now....

That's exactly how some insensitive posters make other parents/children feel.

Well said Mum007.

femstermum · Post by **femstermum** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 3:15 pm

We entered my son for Kent Test, he unfortunately didn't get a "pass". That is not the reason I am posting, it is because we live OVERSEAS. The reason we entered our son for the Kent test is that we are relocating back to Kent with my husbands job, so maybe others are planning to do the same, including the Malaysian boy. As you have to put your current home address, thats the one you use, not where we might be living in a few months. The organisation of getting the family back here for 2 consecutive Saturdays during term time with a 6 hour flight each way is quite a challenge, but we did it to give our son the chance to do the test. Incidently before anyone gets on their high horse, we have been out of the country for 2 years on contract, however because of the job my husband does he regularly works here, therefore we pay all UK taxes and prior to this we both are born and breed Brits!