Skinners School consulting to change admission for 2019

[Dantsw13]

Nobody is more deserving, it’s all about who meets the criteria. Taking location criteria out for teachers children is certainly justifiable - especially if it helps the school recruit and retain teachers.

[LocalTWmum1]

I think the sons of staff members rule is atrocious nepotism.

I am not aware of any other superselectives that get away with this

The Skinners West Kent net seems smaller than the Judd one.

Not sure you can really call Cranbrook School a super selective along the same lines as Judd or Skinners, but they certainly cater for children of staff, see page 2 (point d):

http://www.cranbrookschool.co.uk/wp-con ... Policy.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It’s only a tiebreaker though at Cranbrook

So if local labourers kid got 355 and teachers kid got 354, then local labourers kid would get the place

Whereas my understanding from next year at Skinners you could have this scenario....

Little Jonty’s Dad is a hedge fund manager and his mum works at Skinners. He’s a good student but with extra tutoring from his mum who knows the system and teaching methods he gets a score of 361 in the Kent test. Little Ewan’s Dad is a labourer and his mum works at Tesco. He’s an excellent student and scored 362 in the Kent test with no extra help at home. He lives 5 miles from the school.

Who deserves the place?

Let's hope Little Ewan is in receipt of FSM

[FortyNinePence]

I’d say a local child with a higher score is a lot more deserving of a place than a child that’s scraped the 360 but just so happens to have a mum that works at the school.

I’m sure there will be some local parents frothing when they realise Charlie’s score of 400 doesn’t make the cut because Mrs Jones’ from School reception’s son who scored 361 has got his place.

Surely oversubscription criteria should be equitable?

As for attracting and retaining good teachers - what’s to stop Mrs Jones leaving once her kid is in?

[thickasabrick]

I welcome this change - local schools for local kids

And British jobs for British people!

Am I the only one who finds these developments most concerning.

These changes are only coming about because there are not enough places to keep pace with the every increasing number of kids. Most schools have expanded but are now bursting at the seams so the only option of curbing the ever increasing pass scores is excluding particular areas. That will only help in the short term. I guess in the long term, the 'local' areas will have to reduce every year or the score will keep rising equally.

Will you have pity for the poor boy next to the grammar school who can't get in because he didn't score 410. Do you have pity for clever kids who don't pass?

If schools have a right to be selective - they should also have a duty to be selective!

Or do away with them altogether and that's the end of it. These problems are all down to political failings and playing up parents against each other is not solving anything.

Any travel arrangements are none of anybody else's business.

By the way, there are a number of OOA places, like Bromley, that are actually in Kent.

[kenyancowgirl]

Any travel arrangements are none of anybody else's business.

Actually, they are - and should be - a concern of schools, and parents...children travelling long distances tend to be tired, or doing poor homework as they are trying to do it on the bus, or late at night, or are missing out on extra curricular activities that make up such an important part of school, or have parents who do not engage fully with the school as it is a bit far away...

[mystery]

It's a bit like that for a lot of kids that live in Kent, whatever school they choose. This mish mash skinners policy is not a lot to do with the school journey though, as many of us have pointed out.

It is, presumably, because the idea of a grammar annex for sevenoaks boys never happened so now Judd and skinners are making it easier for west Kent boys to get in.

Plenty of grammar places for girls I guess now with the Weald of Kent annex in sevenoaks. Even there they had a draft admission policy mess up as they out some areas of sevenoaks district in a lower admissions cateogry.

The annex campaign was all about a Sevenoaks town grammar for Sevenoaks children - the rest of the district was not really in the vision. So skinners for west Kent boys is quite open minded, by comparison.

The admissions code of practice has become a bit rubbishy over the years. But the business of county boundaries affecting admissions is getting worse too. School's adjudicator has a role in admissions policies. Worth looking that one up too.

Yes, deffo reply to the consultation document. And get a job at the school and resign once got the place. That one came into the admissions code a few years back.

[thickasabrick]

thickasabrick wrote:

Any travel arrangements are none of anybody else's business.


Actually, they are - and should be - a concern of schools, and parents...children travelling long distances tend to be tired, or doing poor homework as they are trying to do it on the bus, or late at night, or are missing out on extra curricular activities that make up such an important part of school, or have parents who do not engage fully with the school as it is a bit far away...

Perhaps you could share the peer reviewed official research on this subject or did you just make that up?

By public transport it is quicker to get from London Victoria to Orpington than from say, West Wickham.

There are a number of reasons why parents don't engage with the schools; they could be working full time, have a number of kids in different schools or just don't fancy it. It is for a lot of issues not a requirement to be present at school to help out. Even at my local primary where most people live within walking distance, it is the same four parents from each class who always bake the cakes and sell them and run all the fairs. Some parents can't even be bothered to buy any cakes - and it's not a money issue. If you really want to support your school in these times the best way would be by making a bank transfer which you can do from anywhere.

[streathammum]

Crikey, do you need peer reviewed evidence before you believe that tired children don't learn as well as not-tired children? Do you disbelieve that the type and distance of a commute can have a bearing on a child's tiredness?

Do you genuinely doubt that children who have longer journeys to school are less likely to be comfortable staying late for after-school activities? That parents who have a three-hour round trip to a school are less likely to go to the Christmas fair or summer concert?

That's without looking at problems arising from social isolation if your child's friends are all miles away or the difficulty the might have with completing joint project work.

Bank transfers are always welcome, god knows, but writing a cheque to your child's distant school does not balance out the problems associated with a long commute.

[kenyancowgirl]

I'm astonished by the acrimony in your post, thickasabrick. Sounds like I hit a nerve...Thank you streathammum for your comments.

I am also surprised, thickasabrick, that you immediately jumped to the conclusion that I was talking about helping out with PTAs etc - I wasn't - I was talking about attending parents evenings or events such as concerts or plays, where your child is a participant! I am always astonished at how hard some parents fight to get their child into a school and then appear to have no interest once they are there. Yes parents work, yes some just don't care, but add in an unneccessary distance and then it becomes easier for both sets to decide not to engage with the school, to the detriment of their child. That is without the tiredness factor - sorry I can't immediately share peer reviewed official research on that - but I am pretty sure Amber and others have done in the past - maybe have a look through the numerous posts about long distances- and Guest55 and other teachers have often spoken about trying to teach tired children who have travelled far. You may not want to hear it, or choose to listen, but please do not dismiss it out of hand because I haven't presented a full thesis on it!

[thickasabrick]

It has hit a nerve because these 'local' places are a smokescreen.

The sole purpose is to exclude children that fall under another authority - if anybody at Wilmington Girls was bothered about any correlation between distance, travelling and tiredness and parent non-engagement, they wouldn't list parishes like Sevenoaks and Wrotham (and a whole lot more) as a preference to Bexley.