Habs Pastoral Care

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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archuna321
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:19 am

Habs Pastoral Care

Post by archuna321 »

My son is going to Haberdashers' after gaining a 50% scholarship. We looked at their superb educational standard, facilities and luxuries and according to many parents in this forum - they say the 'pastoral care' is extremely poor.

However, the Pastoral Care is splendid and I am being very honest. Please parents if you're from other schools don't make lies against other schools - that is just deadliness. I know quite a lot of users who judge the school despite the fact not actually being in the school!

:oops:

Anyway - does Habs participate in IBO olympiads?
FirstTimeBuyer
Posts: 271
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 10:34 am
Location: S East

Re: Habs Pastoral Care

Post by FirstTimeBuyer »

archuna321 wrote:............. don't make lies against other schools - that is just deadliness............
:?:

Pleased for you that chosen school is working out, and well done to your DC on scholarship.
However:
1. (almost) nobody on the forum, including yourself, is attending any of these schools. Opinions are based on what we perceive through the prism of our DC, which can distort. The award of a scholarship is likely to add a rose-tinted hue.
2. Hearsay isn't the best evidence but I would rather read it and add it into the mix in forming my views.
3. That you have had a good experience is worth saying, but it does not exclude the possibility of a disappointing experience elsewhere.
Exams are formidable for the best prepared. The greatest fool may ask what the wisest man cannot answer.
fm

Post by fm »

I have had children at 3 different secondary schools and 5 different primary schools (due to relocation).

I have found at each school that the pastoral care depends on a) what the problem is and b) the profile of the child having the problem.

A friend recently was raving about how splendidly her grammar school had treated her girl when she was having problems; this was a straight A* student who'd never been in trouble but had suddenly become desperately unhappy as some very high achievers do. The same school (same head, deputy head etc) were appalling to another child whose parents had decided to divorce in the middle of her GCSE's; not surprisingly the girl had ended up with a very mediocre set of grades and the school did all they could to dissuade her from attending sixth form (patently because they were worried about her spoiling their statistics). The latter insisted on staying and went on to achieve 3 A's at A level despite the school's discouragement.

I can cite many cases of this differentiation of treatment throughout almost all the grammar schools and independents of which I have knowledge (either as parent, tutor, friend) and, as far as I can see, there is one level of care for high achievers and another for the ones at the other end of the spectrum who often are in much more need of pastoral care.

I don't think you can call other people liars just because their experience is different from yours.
mad?
Posts: 5621
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 6:27 pm
Location: london

Post by mad? »

fm wrote: I don't think you can call other people liars just because their experience is different from yours.
I agree and we would all do well to remember this at times (well at least I would :oops: ).
mad?
sherry_d
Posts: 2083
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Post by sherry_d »

And it would be MAD for anyone to completely turn down a school based on a public forum hearsay. After all people's exprience with the same school would be different even for the same family with 2 different children.

The point is people give their opinion and you just have to make your own opinion visiting the school and talking to more people.

To say people are spreading lies gosh :cry: Its just what they have exprienced which is not the same as what you have... argggggggrrrrr
Impossible is Nothing.
Rob Clark
Posts: 1298
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Post by Rob Clark »

3. That you have had a good experience is worth saying, but it does not exclude the possibility of a disappointing experience elsewhere.
Quite so. I hated my prep school and loved my independent secondary; a very good friend of mine who attended the same two schools at the same time would say exactly the opposite – and yet both of us can give examples of why we feel the way we do…

Is one of us right and the other wrong? Or did we just have different experiences for a variety of reasons?

OP, I hope your DS enjoys his time at Habs.
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