British Grammars for British Pupils
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
-
KES Parent
It is great when you can turn them down though, Mike. I have had enormous pleasure over recent years in declining places at two really c**p schools (one actually featured in the list of the worst 20 schools in England).mike1880 wrote:Frankly I wouldn't be interested in a "right" to any of our three nearest schools, our whole approach to admissions is to try very hard not to be offered a place at any of them.
Mike
Needless to say, neither had featured on our preference lists for the DSs concerned.
mike1880 wrote:Frankly I wouldn't be interested in a "right" to any of our three nearest schools, our whole approach to admissions is to try very hard not to be offered a place at any of them.
Mike
I hope you were not exuberant in your 'Thanks, but no thanks for your c**p places,' KES Parent in front of your children.KES Parent wrote:It is great when you can turn them down though, Mike. I have had enormous pleasure over recent years in declining places at two really c**p schools (one actually featured in the list of the worst 20 schools in England).
I did not put down any school I did not want my children to go to on the forms, made contingency plans if they did not make the grades 'on the day' but I was very careful not to be negative about any of the schools we did not view or choose. Many of their less able friends had no choice but to go to these schools and I would be mortified if adults relished it as a lucky 'escape' in front of the children.
Oooops 
Sorry lion63,we were exuberant as a family about turning down our local failing school,but only because Ds's older siblings had already been there & had a truly hateful time. They cheered him & us on in our fight/search for a better school. We didn't name it in our choices,but it was still all we were initially offered.
I acknowledge the fact that many of his current classmates will be going there in September,but DS is one of several who's parents made the choice to look elsewhere.I don't think the children themselves are too concerned that they are going thier separate ways. Certainly judging by the sweet & funny comments they are writing in each others memory books they are all happy with thier lot. We as parents find this part of thier lives harder I'm sure.
I had a conversation with another parent recently who wishes she had an alternative for her daughter,but sadly finances & family commitments mean the local comp is her only option.
Funnily enough the comp & our chosen school both have the same specialism I'll leave it to you all to guess which one is achieving greater results 
Sorry lion63,we were exuberant as a family about turning down our local failing school,but only because Ds's older siblings had already been there & had a truly hateful time. They cheered him & us on in our fight/search for a better school. We didn't name it in our choices,but it was still all we were initially offered.I acknowledge the fact that many of his current classmates will be going there in September,but DS is one of several who's parents made the choice to look elsewhere.I don't think the children themselves are too concerned that they are going thier separate ways. Certainly judging by the sweet & funny comments they are writing in each others memory books they are all happy with thier lot. We as parents find this part of thier lives harder I'm sure.
I had a conversation with another parent recently who wishes she had an alternative for her daughter,but sadly finances & family commitments mean the local comp is her only option.
Funnily enough the comp & our chosen school both have the same specialism
I'll leave it to you all to guess which one is achieving greater results Relief or otherwise isn't an issue for us, we live in a different direction from the primary than most and further away than anyone else. There was only one other family from the same primary nearby and they took exactly the same view of the opportunities for state secondary schooling in the area as we did, to the extent of moving house when things didn't work out very well for their eldest.
Mike
Mike
Of course, I understand your situation, Sallyj. I was highlighting the fact that children are led by their parents' attitudes and actions and it would be a shame if hurtful divisions came about because adults were not mindful of their responses in front of their children (not pointing at anyone on this thread).sallyj wrote:Oooops
I acknowledge the fact that many of his current classmates will be going there in September,but DS is one of several who's parents made the choice to look elsewhere.I don't think the children themselves are too concerned that they are going thier separate ways. Certainly judging by the sweet & funny comments they are writing in each others memory books they are all happy with thier lot. We as parents find this part of thier lives harder I'm sure.
I had a conversation with another parent recently who wishes she had an alternative for her daughter,but sadly finances & family commitments mean the local comp is her only option.
Funnily enough the comp & our chosen school both have the same specialism
Your collective family cheering to find a school that suits your DS best is a sensible way to handle it. Children accept that the parting of ways has to happen but it is less of a crunch when it is a 'fond farewell and best of everything'.
BTW, Congratulations on your happy news for your DS elsewhere on the forum.
Where were the children going to go if the school was closed?mike1880 wrote:The council attempted to close down our nearest (certainly one of the worst, and with a fair claim to being the worst in Birmingham) a couple of years ago - it has a capacity of more than 800 but barely half that number on the roll but the parents fought successfully to keep it open
Mike
