WHICH PRIMARY
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hello sj,
we are coming south again next week when we will have a chance to get to grips with this. i have a couple of colleagues in the area who have said that they will give me the benefit of their opinions. at the moment , i just don't know about 2nd and 3rd choices. will post my impressions when i get back. we have secured tours of a couple of alternatives. by the way, if i had not been moved , we would have been aiming to get our child into Caistor grammar.
dave s
we are coming south again next week when we will have a chance to get to grips with this. i have a couple of colleagues in the area who have said that they will give me the benefit of their opinions. at the moment , i just don't know about 2nd and 3rd choices. will post my impressions when i get back. we have secured tours of a couple of alternatives. by the way, if i had not been moved , we would have been aiming to get our child into Caistor grammar.
dave s
Hello David,
Hope your visit proves helpful. Just a couple of thoughts...
It seems a bit risky to put all your eggs into one basket unless you are very confident of your child's success at 11 plus. You should really be considering your plan B as well. Your best position would be to be placed well within the usual allocation area for both Bourne Grammar AND for your preferred non Grammar (assuming private is not an option). If affording transport is an issue you should also check whether free transport will be available. You could try asking the admissions department or the schools themselves how far away the last child to get a place last year lived. I know Bourne Grammar went out over 9 kilometres on first allocation last year and a further 6 qualifiers got in on appeal, but I do not know the figures for the other schools. Numbers of children overall are falling so your daughter's cohort will probably be smaller than this year's BUT you cannot absolutely rely on this because of migration.
Do you have the council's "Going to School in Lincolnshire" book? - it lists all the schools plus lots of information. You can also see which schools are near a particular place in order of distance by using the Directgov website under "Find schools". The listings also have links to ofsted reports and examination results. This may help you in your search for a primary. Both of the Bourne primaries are very large - 600 or so in each. Some of the village schools are quite small. You may have a preference for one type over another depending on your daughter's personality and your previous experiences.
Listen to what others have to say but always look for yourself as well!
All the best
Hope your visit proves helpful. Just a couple of thoughts...
It seems a bit risky to put all your eggs into one basket unless you are very confident of your child's success at 11 plus. You should really be considering your plan B as well. Your best position would be to be placed well within the usual allocation area for both Bourne Grammar AND for your preferred non Grammar (assuming private is not an option). If affording transport is an issue you should also check whether free transport will be available. You could try asking the admissions department or the schools themselves how far away the last child to get a place last year lived. I know Bourne Grammar went out over 9 kilometres on first allocation last year and a further 6 qualifiers got in on appeal, but I do not know the figures for the other schools. Numbers of children overall are falling so your daughter's cohort will probably be smaller than this year's BUT you cannot absolutely rely on this because of migration.
Do you have the council's "Going to School in Lincolnshire" book? - it lists all the schools plus lots of information. You can also see which schools are near a particular place in order of distance by using the Directgov website under "Find schools". The listings also have links to ofsted reports and examination results. This may help you in your search for a primary. Both of the Bourne primaries are very large - 600 or so in each. Some of the village schools are quite small. You may have a preference for one type over another depending on your daughter's personality and your previous experiences.
Listen to what others have to say but always look for yourself as well!
All the best
DECISION MADE!!
After a marathon job last week, with visits to 4 primaries and two secondary schools we reached a decision which we feel will be the right course for our child.
We went to both the primaries in Bourne, one in Thurlby and one in Edenham.
If you recall, we were keen to try and establish which primary would give us the best tilt at the 11 plus.
Without naming names, one in Bourne and one of the village schools were so evasive about the whole issue we just lost interest.
However, one of the Bourne primaries was very positive and was prepared to speak openly about the matter.
The village school which we have chosen was far more bullish and made statements to the effect that they have a brilliant success rate at 11 plus with close on 100% of those sitting the exam passing.I appreciate that it is those sitting the papers and not all those in year 6, but it is a small school and I was able to glean the fact from a friend of a friend that they get 10-12 into Bourne Grammar each year- this from a year 6 with only 15 or 16 pupils.
This might sound a very cynical way of choosing a school for your child but her education and long term future is vital to us.I know too many people who say to me " if only we'd researched this school or that choice better".
I accept that many people down there think that the Deepings school is great and that the Technology school in Bourne does well, but you cannot blame me for wanting to give my child the opportunity of a grammar school education. Knowing her as we do, it would be the best place for her. Having visited the alternatives , our back up plan is the independent sector- we just cannot afford to make a mistake .
Thanks for reading my posts,
Dave S
After a marathon job last week, with visits to 4 primaries and two secondary schools we reached a decision which we feel will be the right course for our child.
We went to both the primaries in Bourne, one in Thurlby and one in Edenham.
If you recall, we were keen to try and establish which primary would give us the best tilt at the 11 plus.
Without naming names, one in Bourne and one of the village schools were so evasive about the whole issue we just lost interest.
However, one of the Bourne primaries was very positive and was prepared to speak openly about the matter.
The village school which we have chosen was far more bullish and made statements to the effect that they have a brilliant success rate at 11 plus with close on 100% of those sitting the exam passing.I appreciate that it is those sitting the papers and not all those in year 6, but it is a small school and I was able to glean the fact from a friend of a friend that they get 10-12 into Bourne Grammar each year- this from a year 6 with only 15 or 16 pupils.
This might sound a very cynical way of choosing a school for your child but her education and long term future is vital to us.I know too many people who say to me " if only we'd researched this school or that choice better".
I accept that many people down there think that the Deepings school is great and that the Technology school in Bourne does well, but you cannot blame me for wanting to give my child the opportunity of a grammar school education. Knowing her as we do, it would be the best place for her. Having visited the alternatives , our back up plan is the independent sector- we just cannot afford to make a mistake .
Thanks for reading my posts,
Dave S
