Should our grammars be for local children??

Eleven Plus (11+) in Gloucestershire (Glos)

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Even sell up
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:37 pm

Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by Even sell up »

I think so, and I think if most local people were honest they would agree.

Any thoughts anyone?
hermanmunster
Posts: 12815
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by hermanmunster »

I expect people do agree if :

a) they live close and
b) their child can pass the exam well enough to get a place.

However you have to remember that it is tax payers all over the country who pay for the schools - little money if any comes from local taxation / rates etc.
capers123
Posts: 1865
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 9:03 pm
Location: Gloucestershire

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by capers123 »

On ecological grounds, yes. The same applies for employment - in the UK we travel further to work on average than any other country in Europe.
Capers
suzanne

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by suzanne »

Schools should consider the views of the community within they are situated.

Some compromise would be good.
dr.watson
Posts: 153
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2012 10:08 am

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by dr.watson »

Even sell up wrote:I think so, and I think if most local people were honest they would agree.

Any thoughts anyone?
Yes I agree, if there are good coverage across UK. But not all counties/councils have state funded grammar schools.
penguin
Posts: 264
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2011 3:49 pm

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by penguin »

Like for example, Swindon - a black hole of grammars
Sabanna
Posts: 71
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 11:46 am

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by Sabanna »

I think one of the things that people find annoying with "out of county" pupils, is that we have some pretty good comps in the Gloucestershire area, but they have tight catchments and in some cases unless you are pretty wealthy you have no chance of a place.

As the Grammar schools have no catchment areas then we see people coming from 30+ miles away, and this year it seems several taking tests in areas that are big distances away from each other. I'm wondering how they are able to think about just upping and moving sticks to one end or the other (exaggeration but not that much) of the country.

Yes Gloucestershire is lucky to have 7 grammar schools and in an ideal world they should be for Gloucestershire children, but I can understand why others apply for them especially if they have no grammars in their own area.

Penguin I know all about Swindon - even in the days when I was at school there were no grammar schools there and I was sent to possibly one of the worst schools in Swindon because of it (my opinion obviously).
fairweathergardener
Posts: 80
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:54 pm

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by fairweathergardener »

Most definitely. For the reasons Capers gave, but also because its squeezing local children and forcing them to squeeze other areas to get a grammar place that then isn't local for them, in turn squeezing that area and so it goes on. Agreed we are lucky to have a lot of good schools here but we also pay the local council tax that supports the roads and services around here. And the roads need more maintenance because of more traffic and again so it goes on. If we've chosen to live here then we've paid a high premium for our houses in order to live in a town with such good schools.
Last year, with my daughters score, she would have been over 20 places higher up the Pates waiting list and easily got in. This year not. So she will now no doubt create more pollution, more road wear, travelling to Gloucester instead of a 2 mile trip to school, displacing someone in that locality as a result.
Apparently there are 6 overseas children in the top 120 and many more either from out of county hoping to move (fair enough) or from Swindon, Bristol, Oxford, Birmingham who are considering the commute. My husband travels 30 miles to work and that's exhausting for him, as an adult. I find it bewildering that people want to do that to their children. We did live closer to his work at one stage but we moved to be closer to the schools; better for him to travel than the children. Now one of my children will have an hour school bus journey to the next towns grammar, instead of a 20 minute one. Cheltenham born and bred, so excuse me if I feel passionate about this.
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by scary mum »

Look in the Surry section for heated debate on this issue! Slightly different there in that neighbouring counties have 11plus with catchment and Tiffin has 11 plus with no catchment...
scary mum
Pumpkin Pie
Posts: 661
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:27 pm

Re: Should our grammars be for local children??

Post by Pumpkin Pie »

No. Priority should go to those who PASS in the catchment area, but places should be available for high scorers out of the catchment area. This will maintain the entry of 'la creme de la creme', hence, keeping the standard high. Standards would drop if all local DC were able to gain entry! :D
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