Worth a look before you make a final choice
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Worth a look before you make a final choice
I post this with no knowledge of the schools, and no axe to grind, but it is something parents of girls may want to investigate more closely before making a final choice. Unfortunately unless you subscribe to the Times it will only show you part of the article but if I copy it all here I will be shot as messenger, so I won't!
It was the front page story on The Times yesterday and includes contributions from the charity Young Minds and the eating disorder charity BEAT, which may be places to go if you are interested in following it up.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education ... 012911.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It was the front page story on The Times yesterday and includes contributions from the charity Young Minds and the eating disorder charity BEAT, which may be places to go if you are interested in following it up.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education ... 012911.ece" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Worth a look before you make a final choice
The schools are irrelevant, sadly there has been a significant increase in eating disorders and self harming over the past few years. High achieving, competitive and perfectionist personality traits make a child more likely to succumb however the saddest thing is that the age groups affected are getting much younger. We have a Priory hospital not far from where we live and they have had to increase their capacity due to the increase in demand for their eating disorders help programme. 
Re: Worth a look before you make a final choice
I saw that headline Yesterday. For some years I had an interaction with some young patients and the reality was shocking. Since that time I thought lots about the early warning signs, causes, early treatment, prevention, triggers and related things. My thoughts were -
1) The seeds of these illnesses are sown much earlier before the illness surfaces.
2) Many of the patients were early stars (high achievers) who find it hard to keep the momentum going later on. One can be intense for a short period of time but keep that much intensity all the time is abnormal ( there can be few exceptions).
3) Most important - most of the time children are expected to be someone else than what they are. They are never allowed to be themselves. IMO, extraordinariness is accepting ones ordinariness.
4) In the race for reading, writing, calculating and computing earlier, earlier and even earlier… puts too much pressure on them. Their capacity to learn is not developed properly. My own experience here, I wanted to keep dd uneducated till the age of seven(complete) but I was told it is against law in the UK.
(sorry GTG I can't complete these post right now. Will pick up later)
1) The seeds of these illnesses are sown much earlier before the illness surfaces.
2) Many of the patients were early stars (high achievers) who find it hard to keep the momentum going later on. One can be intense for a short period of time but keep that much intensity all the time is abnormal ( there can be few exceptions).
3) Most important - most of the time children are expected to be someone else than what they are. They are never allowed to be themselves. IMO, extraordinariness is accepting ones ordinariness.
4) In the race for reading, writing, calculating and computing earlier, earlier and even earlier… puts too much pressure on them. Their capacity to learn is not developed properly. My own experience here, I wanted to keep dd uneducated till the age of seven(complete) but I was told it is against law in the UK.
(sorry GTG I can't complete these post right now. Will pick up later)
Re: Worth a look before you make a final choice
Off topic - but me too! We managed until 5 and a half (and suffered everyone telling us how we were 'holding her back'). A close teacher friend of mine has just moved to Scandinavia to prevent her 2 daughters having to go to school so young.berks_mum wrote: My own experience here, I wanted to keep dd uneducated till the age of seven(complete) but I was told it is against law in the UK.
I now know, personally, 3 girls who are suffering from mental health (not eating) disorders in their sixth form years. One of these was referred for treatment and at the clinic ran into 3 more girls she knew. It is shocking. What are we doing to our children?
Re: Worth a look before you make a final choice
Why is this so underrated?IMO, extraordinariness is accepting ones ordinariness.
Re: Worth a look before you make a final choice
I am proud and content to be 'ordinary'! I am not outstanding at anything skill-based. Not to put myself down at allKS10 wrote:Why is this so underrated?IMO, extraordinariness is accepting ones ordinariness.
1. I could be outstanding at various things if I had out the hours in (10,000 hours an expert does make and all that!)
2. I am good at many things, I think, but I sit in that huge 80% bell curve that constitutes, well, 80% of us and I am totally comfortable with that. The world cannot be filled with that top 10% (assuming another 10% at bottom). It must be so very hard to maintain excellence. This sounds really mediocre but I honestly feel it is a more contented place to be. I only wish my boys to be somewhere by CHOICE. Ok, it would be lovely for them to be in a career that uses their brains, and I'm sure they will be, but if getting into the 'professions' means they are subjected to stress that tips over into affecting their mental health then I'd pull them out in a heartbeat. Its just not worth it. Better a happy gardener (nothing against that, I'd love to be a gardener, but not a traditionally 'top drawer' job) than a miserable barrister.
