Visiting schools

[tigger2]

Going off at a slight tangent...in my neck of the woods year 5 children are encouraged to attend taster days at local non selectives. Whilst I have taken my dc on various school tours (and agree that the best way to see a school is during the working day) I am there to make positive points when necessary,especially if it is a school that I think may be going on the caf. I made a mistake in letting my ds go on the taster days with his classmates because he came out from both adamant that he would go to neither and was clearly distressed after one. He has missed the kent test by 1mark and his first panicky thought on realising that he hadn't passed was to worry about having to go to these schools. It would be wrong of me to say that these were schools that we thought he would do well in and we were always unlikely to put them down as choices but I would urge any parent offered this opportunity to consider what they would do if their dc told them that there was no way they were going there. It can reduce your possibilities very quickly! In our case we have only one non gs now that we all liked and thought junior tigger would do well and be happy in -and it is Bennett Memorial ,which is three times over subscribed!!! When I have to start this whole process again with dd I will think twice about taster sessions. We all hope that these experiences will be positive, interesting events but when they go awry it is a lot harder to turn your dc's opinion around .

[sherry_d]

What I have found rather sad in my area is the big gulf between comprehensives and grammars. Surely it shouldnt be this way. Simply because my child missed an 11+ NVR paper means she was now faced with doing childcare, DT Food tech, physchology etc at GCSE. No decent languages, no tripple science, very few taking humanities. It is very sad state of affairs once you leave the grammar territory to see whats on offer.

All I just wanted was a decent school with a decent curriculum not one full of sports studies and childcare qualifications. Its pre determining the future of a child before they have even started secondary school. Its no suprise that inequality will continue to widen while those at the top think its a good idea to let our kids do vocational subjects when theirs are focussing on more outward looking subjects. How nice!

[tiredmum]

All I just wanted was a decent school with a decent curriculum not one full of sports studies and childcare qualifications. !

Not too much to ask for i would say - but often so hard to find if you discount the grammars.
Good luck on monday sherry, will be thinking of you and dd

[frustrated]

Do people also include comprehensives in their school tours with their DC's

And what if DC preferred one of these schools, especially if they realised they don't have to do tons of work to get a place

Has anyone had this experience and how did they manage it with DC

My DS1 wants to work in forensic science in the future, goes to GS that offers applied sciences, further maths etc in the sixth form, plus lots more to keep his brain ticking over, so this school suits him in regards of his aspirations, personality etc.

My DS2 isn't interested in the whole GS thing at all. Wants to work in the construction sector perhaps as a carpenter, plumber, electrician etc. Local non-selective offers construction as part of their options , so this school would suit him better. It would be a doddle getting him in as we live very close to it, and don't have to pass any exams to get in. We'll see what happens.

I know two children who passed their 11+ and chose a non-selective and both are doing very well, are happy and are continuing to achieve. They are happy because their chosen schools offer what they want and need in accordance with their personality, aspirations etc. GS doesn't suit everyone who is academically bright enough to qualify, but then, all ability/non-selective schools don't suit everyone either. Tough choice for us parents to make.

[mystery]

I personally don't feel that it is right that there is a non-selective in Sherry's area that does not offer a full academic curriculum to GCSE as well as the more vocational subjects. I would complain to my MP and the LEA, and Michael Gove. I think it deserves more attention than the argument over whether Judd, TOGS and Skinners should be selective or super-selective. Sherry what subjects are missing at GCSE in addition to three sciences?

The days of sending people off down a different curriculum at 11 if they failed the compulsory 11+ disappeared years ago - even in Kent! I think even in the early days of grammar, secondary mods and techs there was some kind of second chance for children who went the wrong way at 11 but were able enough to follow the grammar curriculum.

[sherry_d]

They do offer national curriculum according to the govt standards ie the core subjects.

My dissapointment relates to what else is of offer. Most have French and a few taking it and nothing more, they dont have to offer tripple science either. The rate of take up of humanities while they seem to be on offer is very very low. It seems most of these school are encouraging the newer subjects more than traditional subjects. I have nothing against having new subjects but it should all be fairly balanced. Reading Oftsted for Bennett in 2007 I am not suprised the schools are taking such an approach. Bennett was criticised for not offering these newer vocational courses. It seems there is one standard expected for grammar school and another for comprehensives.

My point is that while they seem to be a variety of specialisms in grammar school (maths, computing, business, languages etc) it is only coming down to vocational ones where comps are concerned.

The days of sending people off down a different curriculum at 11 if they failed the compulsory 11+ disappeared years ago - even in Kent!

In theory yes but practically no. Apart from the core compulsary subjects there is very little else similar in the schools in my area. Looking at just 5 GCSE incl maths and english has led to some school to drill on those two core subjects to go past the 30% govt target. Beyond that when you drill down the subject by subject results you see a very clear picture that most comps are following a very diff curriculum to that followed by grammars. There should be some sort of halfway house. Not to even mention those Btec equivalent to 2 GCSE.

While there is a lot of talk on the big gulf between indies and grammar, little is said about grammars and comps. The successful comprehensive have selection of some sort either by affording to live in an expensive catchment or selection by religion. I am just grateful I can access one of the best comps in our county but I feel very sad about the choices that other children have.

[sherry_d]

More proof today on the different curriculum offered at diff schools. This one looks at languages but the picture is the same when you look at humanities and sciences.

A separate study, commissioned by the then Department for Children, Schools and Families, and released on Wednesday, found that modern languages were compulsory for 14-year-olds in fewer than a fifth of English schools last year, with the numbers much lower among schools with the highest number of pupils from poor backgrounds.

Researchers found that studying a language at GCSE was merely optional at more than two thirds (69%) of the 1,100 schools surveyed. At 11%, languages were compulsory for some but not all, and at 18% they were compulsory for no one.

At higher-achieving schools and those with low proportions of pupils on free school meals, languages were more likely to be compulsory

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/201 ... ter-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[twinkles]

Slightly off topic. My son missed the pass mark by a few points last year and is now at the local comp - much to my disgust.

His school is meant to offer a choice of languages but doesn't, he is doing French and when I asked whether he could do German (we have German relatives and imo it is a much easier language to learn) I was told that he could swap to do German but he would also have to swap all his other lessons too! Obviously he doesn't want to do this having just settled into his class. I was told he could take up German in year 9 when they start their GCSEs (they do them a year early at his school) but there seems little point in this as he won't have learnt it before so will be at a great disadvantage to start with?

He has 3 lessons of Art a week (he isn't at all arty and hates the lessons) whereas he only has 2 lessons of Maths a week.

He has 3 lessons of science a week - all taught by different teachers and so far has only done biology in each lesson. Surely if you have 3 different lessons a week it would make more sense to do 1 of each biology, chemistry and physics.

The amount of practical stuff he has to do for homework annoys me as well - he has had to make - a model of a plant cell, a trebuchet, model of the heart and model of the space shuttle. I had hoped we had outgrown this kind of homework in reception!

[tiredmum]

His school is meant to offer a choice of languages but doesn't
!

dd2 grammar is an outstanding school but dosnt give the girls a choice of languages. She is doing 2 - french and spanish.

He has 3 lessons of Art a week (he isn't at all arty and hates the lessons) whereas he only has 2 lessons of Maths a week.
!

2 lessons of maths a week is IMO a joke!

The amount of practical stuff he has to do for homework annoys me as well - he has had to make - a model of a plant cell, a trebuchet, model of the heart and model of the space shuttle. I had hoped we had outgrown this kind of homework in reception!

Well we have been down that route too - as you know lovely one dd made in a washing up bowl!

[twinkles]

He has 3 lessons of Art a week (he isn't at all arty and hates the lessons) whereas he only has 2 lessons of Maths a week.
!

2 lessons of maths a week is IMO a joke!

The amount of practical stuff he has to do for homework annoys me as well - he has had to make - a model of a plant cell, a trebuchet, model of the heart and model of the space shuttle. I had hoped we had outgrown this kind of homework in reception!

Well we have been down that route too - as you know lovely one dd made in a washing up bowl!

Yes I agree 2 lessons of maths a week is a joke. The homework he has for maths is always Mymaths done online and the other week he had algebra equation things and they were really hard and he hadn't been taught in class that what you do to one side you do to the other so he hadn't a clue how to work them out!

Well your DD is very inventive doing it in a washing up bowl! My DS would never do that as it would be too awkward to carry. Ours made out of cardboard fitted in his bag just fine!