20 miles to my nearest Grammar school, am I being insane?

[Blueberrypie]

Hi Hallas
Regarding the school run, I remember coming home from school on the bus and i was always gutted mine was one of the first stops, i would have loved to spent an hour with my pals on the bus, for me this was the best part of my day!!! Having said that there is no way my DD would cope with that journey, shes just not that kind of kid, she's is often pestering me to go and pick her up because it knocks 5 mins off her 25min journey, or course i dont oblige.
As for the league tables, I have DD1 who is at the local grammar and DD2 has just got her results and not passed, therefore i too have been looking at the local league tables with quite frankly some horror at times. Then someone who i regard pretty highly said to me, stop comparing a selective school with a non-selective, if you consider that only the top 25% ability children are admitted to the Grammar, you can then only compare their results with the top 25% attainers of children at a non selective secondary to make a fair comparison. Hmm, got me thinking.

[Blueberrypie]

First part of my message re. the travelling was supposed to end with

- so there is not right or wrong just whats right or wrong for you.

[equilibro]

if you consider that only the top 25% ability children are admitted to the Grammar, you can then only compare their results with the top 25% attainers of children at a non selective secondary to make a fair comparison. Hmm, got me thinking.

No, still not a fair comparison if the two schools are in the same "catchment", because the grammar school(s) concerned will have creamed off the brightest and best, leaving the non-selective school(s) with the remainder.

My DS1 got a double-first at Cambridge, after attending a comprehensive school in a grammar school(s) area (because we had moved into the area from a non-grammar area when he had gone past the 11+ age) but this kind of achievement is über-rare. In all honesty he has exceptional ability, and I would say that he achieved what he did despite the comprehensive school not because of it.

Sorry if that's a downer for you

[Amber]

There is no such thing as a comprehensive school in an area with selective education.

[moved]

Several people have joined DD's 6th form from comprehensives, some of them in poor areas with very low achievement.
They are hard working, bright people with strong motivation. One discussed the fact that he had to teach himself some of his GCSEs.
It didn't stop them from achieving though.

Would you consider moving? We did, hence my user name

We waited until both were into their grammars and then moved house so that their journey was under 10 mins walking for 5 years. DS had to commute on two trains for a year while his sister finished primary school. He coped fine with the journey and enjoyed the sociability of the train.

[Tolstoy]

There is no such thing as a comprehensive school in an area with selective education.

I think it depends on the distance to the nearest Grammar and politics. Where we lived in Glocs there was a Grammar school option (similar distance to that being discussed here) but very few people knew about it and even less chose to take it up. I would therefore say that all the schools in that area were Comprehensives. In fact they probably lost far less pupils to Grammar schools than are lost to private in many areas and not many went down the private route either.

In regards to OP we opted to send our DC to the Grammar 18 miles away rather than the Comprehensive but the Comprehensive had and still has serious problems so for us it was the right decision at the time. Not to say that some DC haven't been successful from the Comprehensive, Oxford no less.

post clash with moved

[Blueberrypie]

Hi Equilibro, well done to your DS, sounds like he really deserves the praise if your comp was that bad. Yes i know what you mean re. the secondary already having had the top creamed off. Fortunately for me i am right at the edge of the catchment for the Grammar (well not fortunate when wanting a place) but the secondary we have chosen is in the opposite direction where there are no Grammars, the two schools are actually in different counties. There are a few (like we were) that will be considering the Grammar, so yes i am sure a 'few' will be creamed off but not anything as dire as 25% like in some areas. I know that the secondary in the same town as the Grammar does get some very bad press, couldn't say if it is warranted as i have no experience but i know when my daughters teacher took them out into the local area he was very mindful to be back before kicking out time at the other secondary.

And no, dont worry not a downer for me, our secondary is not too bad and my DD is also quite resilient so i am sure she will be fine!

[equilibro]

There is no such thing as a comprehensive school in an area with selective education.

Yes and no. The local grammar schools here in Devon, such as they are, are something of an anachronism, and bar one they exist only in Torbay (3) and Plymouth (3). There is no specified catchment area for the one of these grammar schools about which I know most, and some of the children attending it come from far and wide within Devon and even from Cornwall, i.e. from places as was the case with my DS1 where the alternative for them would be the local comprehensive school.

[equilibro]

One discussed the fact that he had to teach himself some of his GCSEs.

DS1 had to teach himself cosmology for his physics A level, with the comprehensive school headteacher's agreement, because not one of the several science teachers at the school was sufficiently "up to speed" with it.

[mike1880]

Our physics teacher handed us a copy of the A-level syllabus and three text books and that was about the last we saw of him for two years. In hindsight it seems a rather unprofessional approach.