RHS changes its admissions policy

[rabbie burns]

Your comment about lower marks for ethnic minorities tells me all I need to know about you. I will say this once more. All children will need to reach the required level before getting a place. Only after that will other consideration come into play. Your right wing tirade about benefit Britain and ethnic minorities is irrelevant and a smokescreen to hide the pathetic quality of your argument. There is nothing you can teach me about using education as a pathway to greater prosperity. The difference between you and me is that having got where I am I want to help future generations of poorer children join me. Also I know libraries are free. I suppose age standardisation is also stealing places from other children. Your unfocused tirades are driven by fear that the advantages your people have always held might be slipping ever so slightly. Shame on you for trying to deny wider access to the best schools for children who have had none of the advantages that most of us take for granted. Finally, the usual suspects will still take the bulk of the places available. You are wrong about Birmingham. Pupil premium etc children who reach the pass mark will get places first and then the rest will he allocated based on score. Camp hill for the first time will have children at the lower end rather than just at the top.

[rabbie burns]

In my world the middle class are affluent.

[rabbie burns]

A kick in the teeth for hard working parents? Are you now saying people on low incomes don't work hard. Many people work hard and still get free school meals for their children. Please take you prejudices elsewhere. Please.

[southbucks3]

The allocation of school places is entirely about the child and the child's life, not the parents aspirations or desires for the child or otherwise:

A child who is super intelligent but goes home to a stressed out parent desperately trying to make ends meet and commiting petty crime, who herself has a poor education and would not even know how to register her child for the test without help, if it was not done automatically by the state primary schools in the area.
A child who's dad thought nothing of alternating a bit of abusive languagie to her, with a beating until finally someone found out and put her into care after she set fire to his social club.
A child who's mother is so severely depressed that his father cannot cope when she is admitted repetitively to hospital after trying to commit suicide and he has to give up work to look after his children, only to find he cannot cope with the combined stress of it all and asks for help.

All true cases, and believe me I mix in normal middle class circles, with the occasional friendship born of listening at school, looking up and helping if I can and volunteering in charity shops that provide community work. I dread to think of the stories those who work in social care can share.
One of the children is safely in a local grammar school, luckily for him his foster parent saw his potential and followed through.
One child left school with no qualifications, no confidence and no home. She was savvy enough to work her way through a system to get herself out of the mire, get qualifications and slowly build confidence from having good friends.
One amazingly passed her 11+ last year after her mum received vouchers to pay for after school care and weekend care while she was doing community service and she opted to send the child to a well known tuition centre purely due to proximity to her allocated position, not ideal but it is hard finding 3 hour care slots, and they broke her learning up with play. Mum was of course thrilled, and stayed on in her position as volunteer, whilst looking for work.

To think that any one of these children in areas where grammars do not have fixed pass mark entry, may be bright enough to thrive at what people consider the best schools for intelligent academic kids but narrowly miss getting a place is heartbreaking. They pass the test but do not score highly enough to compete with those children from a secure, loving, maybe affluent background, who are also probably coached or tutored by parents or professionals, is that really fair?...No and thankfully the government and some of the grammars are in agreement.

[serendippyty]

The allocation of school places is entirely about the child and the child's life, not the parents asspirations or desires for the child or otherwise.

A child who is super intelligent but goes home to a stressed out parent desperately trying to make ends meet and commiting petty crime, who herself has a poor education and would not even know how to register her child for the test without help, or a child who's dad thought nothing of alternating a bit of abusive language to her, with a beating until finally someone found out and put her into care after she set fire to his social club, or a child who's mother is so severely depressed that his father cannot cope when she is admitted repetitively to hospital after trying to commit suicide and he has to give up work to look after his children, only to find he cannot cope with the combined stress of it all and asks for help.

All true cases, and believe me I mix in normal middle class circles, with the occasional friendship born of listening at school, looking up and helping if I can and volunteering in charity shops that provide community work. I dread to think of the stories those who work in social care can share. One of the children is safely in a local grammar school, luckily for him his foster parent saw his potential and followed through. One child left school with no qualifications, no confidence and no home. She was savvy enough to work her way through a system to get herself out of the mire, get qualifications, and slowly build confidence from having good friends. One amazingly passed her 11+ last year after her mum received vouchers to pay for after school care and weekend care while she was doing community service and she opted to send the child to a well known tuition centre purely due to proximity to her allocated position. Mum was of course thrilled, and stayed on in her position as volunteer, whilst looking for work.

To think that any one of these children in area where grammars do not have fixed pass mark entry, may be bright enough to thrive at what people consider the best schools for intelligent academic kids but narrowly miss getting a place is heartbreak. They pass the test but do not score highly enough to compete with those children from a secure, loving, maybe affluent background, who are also probably coached or tutored by parents or professionals, is that really fair?...No and thankfully the government and some of the grammars are in agreement.

Beautifully put.

[southbucks3]

Sorry about the poor grammar and punctuation, I have edited it somewhat now, I got a bit passionate and it all went out the window.

[magwich2]

Anyone would think that poor children who fail the 11+ were going to be sent up chimneys! They are still going to get a free education for goodness sake!

I really believe that at least in the West Midlands anyone who does not choose to go out to work should not be given any concessions and nor should their children - there are plenty of jobs and children need to realise that a family will find it difficult to function if both parents are lazy.

[serendippyty]

Anyone would think that poor children who fail the 11+ were going to be sent up chimneys! They are still going to get a free education for goodness sake!

I really believe that at least in the West Midlands anyone who does not choose to go out to work should not be given any concessions and nor should their children - there are plenty of jobs and children need to realise that a family will find it difficult to function if both parents are lazy.

I have spent a large proportion of my adult life working with people on benefits. It is a myth that most refuse to work, the amount abusing the system (in my experience) is actually very low. Certainly there are many more affluent people avoiding paying taxes who should be!

[southbucks3]

Anyone would think that poor children who fail the 11+ were going to be sent up chimneys!

The schools are not suggesting that a child should enter without achieving the pass mark.

Have you ever read great expectations, or does the missing t in your handle imply you are actually not making reference to magwitch? Your opinions certainly could not be further removed from the message in the story.

[rabbie burns]

Magwich2 - No one fails the 11 plus as there is no pass mark. It is an assessment test and at worst you just don't get your school of choice. The laziest people in Britain are often the richest, but that's another thread altogether. It's not even the 11 plus in most areas, just a test for a group of selective schools. Most places abolished 11 plus in the 1960s. I hope your vision of the future for many children never comes to pass as no child is responsible for the shortcomings of their parents. Ask the children of certain royals, celebrities or mass murderers and they will tell you.