Does It Really Matter If It's A Good Local Comp School?

loveandlight · Post by **loveandlight** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:08 pm

I apologise if this post is in the wrong place.

If you have a child with a high IQ that has been classed as being at the top 2%, does it matter if he/she goes to a good local comp school that produces very good exam results or should you, as a parent, be finding your child a place in a very good grammar or independent school otherwise you are failing them as a parent?

Snowdrops · Post by **Snowdrops** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:09 pm

Where I live we have three excellent comps and one failing one.

If we were in the catchment area, or even stood a cat in H*ll's chance of getting a place in one of the excellent schools, I wouldn't even have bothered with the grammar school.

I just wanted a good school for my dd.

I looked at all the statistics and worked out she had a far better chance of getting into the grammar school, even though we are out of catchment.

I was proved correct when national allocations day passed by and we didn't get any of the schools we put down (the grammar first, followed by the three excellent schools then another way out of catchment). We were awarded the local failing school which was as expected.

On 'phoning the LEA for positions on the waiting list my dd was placed 4th for our first choice (the grammar, approximately 15 miles away) and 76th for our 2nd choice, an excellent comp about 1 and a half miles away.

There is nothing wrong at all with a comprehensive.

There is nothing wrong at all with an independent school.

There is nothing wrong at all with a grammar school.

Choose the school which you are happy with and the one you are most likely to get into.

T-4-2 · Post by **T-4-2** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:14 pm

Excellent advice from Snowdrops

Go with your instincts and do what you think is best for your child, whichever school that may be.

Snowdrops · Post by **Snowdrops** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:15 pm

Sorry, I got distracted and didn't finish off my post properly.

My point was, if it's a good school, producing good results you, as a parent, shouldn't feel guilty about sending your child there 'just because it's a comp'. A good school is a good school, what ever it's called.

Find the school which feels right for your child, be realistic about the chances of getting a place and then go for it!

loveandlight · Post by **loveandlight** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:40 pm

Thanks guys. I do feel much better now as you have confirmed that I am thinking along the right lines for my DS. I just wished I'd found this website a long time ago. You are all so knowledgable and I am not (not yet anyway). Thank you once again.

solimum · Post by **solimum** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:33 pm

If you look at some of my old posts you will see that all three of mine have attended our good local comp 11-16, and DS2 in particular would certainly have been in your "top 2%". No school is perfect but there are so many advantages in being local that, for us anyway, these outweighed the potential benefits of looking elsewhere. However at sixth form you may be able to reassess - a string of A* at GCSE may very well facilitate a move to a grammar school at that stage which could be beneficial.

loveandlight · Post by **loveandlight** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 10:35 pm

Thanks for that solimum. By the way, we've just moved from Solihull.