Secondary schools

[monaghan]

Not domain related, but anyone been waiting for school places today? If so, did you get what you wanted?

We got our school of choice, but it is also our closest school and we qualify under the sibling rule, so we'd not really expected any other result.

 

[Retired_member41]

Thankfully we also got our first choice, not in catchment area and school has been over subscribed forever, don't know how we got assigned it, but could not be happier.

I got an email first thing this morning, is that how you found out?

 

[monaghan]

Ours sent emails just after 18:00 today (we had an email mid morning to say the results would be after 18:00), letters were sent to those who didn't get 1st choice. Just spoken with a teacher and they had access to the results yesterday!

 

[philiporchard]

I'm a year 6 teacher, so I can just imagine what all the talk will be about tomorrow

 

[invincible]

Thankfully we also got our first choice, not in catchment area and school has been over subscribed forever, don't know how we got assigned it, but could not be happier.

I got an email first thing this morning, is that how you found out?

I didn't realise that you and monaghan weren't out of primary school yet! Obviously I won't expect a reply until the morning because it's surely long past both of your bedtimes.

 

[Retired_member41]

I didn't realise that you and monaghan weren't out of primary school yet! Obviously I won't expect a reply until the morning because it's surely long past both of your bedtimes.

lol

its poor Philip you should not expect to see after 9, year 6 ouch.

 

[monaghan]

I didn't realise that you and monaghan weren't out of primary school yet! Obviously I won't expect a reply until the morning because it's surely long past both of your bedtimes.

I was still in the Y6 classroom at 9:30 this evening in my capacity as a school governor.

However, when I do finally grow up I want to be an IT consultant

Best get back off to bed before Mum catches me and stops my pocket money.

 

[Retired_member41]

I'm a School Governor also, but you wouldn't catch me there at 9.30 pm unless there was plenty of wine and cheese

 

[monaghan]

Cheese & wine! - your governors expense account must be bigger than ours!

 

[retired_member32]

i am dreading the next school....even having to change religion can't afford private and the others are not worth mentioning...

 

[BREWSTERS]

i am dreading the next school....even having to change religion can't afford private and the others are not worth mentioning...

Changing to Catholic?

Both wifey and I were brought up Catholic. Sent eldest to Catholic primary then kids 3 and 4 too. Eldest is now at Catholic secondary despite it being 7 miles away. Have recently moved 3 and 4 out of Catholic to non dom - much better school. Looking to move eldest away from Catholic - she's in yr 10.

From our experience, the days when Catholic schools were seen to be better, have long since gone.

All teachers at the Catholic primary seemed miserable - the head rules through fear. In 10 years of our kids going there they only had 4 male teachers - none stayed for more than one year. At their new school, the staff are all cheerful, about 30% male teachers, and the kids are polite and look happy.

 

[monaghan]

If you are considering changing to Catholic, our local catholic school gets kids bussed in from miles away and you need to provide documentation for baptism, 1st communion and confirmation and various other bits from the local priest confirming regular attendance and such like, so it's not an easy option unless you have some Catholic roots in the family to draw on. Might be easier to move house!

Private is OK if you can afford it, however, if circumstances change and you have to pull the kids back to local schools, you'll be at the back of the queue and only get the left over spaces after all the prime spaces have been filled.

We were fortunate when we applied for our eldest as the closest school which we didn't want the kids to go to was closed meaning the school we'd have chosen actually became our closest and now we get the other 2 on the sibling rule anyway. We were also fortunate in the fact that the school is one of 2 that managed to retain their building projects, so we're part of the way into the rebuild which will be completed for all of ours to do their CGSE's in brand new classrooms.

 

[retired_member32]

well 90% of my family are either converted catholics or born catholic ,personally i was christianed C of E and my grandparents are Irish Catholic...apparently they removed the "o" from my surname when they came to the UK....

 

[monaghan]

Worth checking the requirement now so you can ensure necessary paperwork is in place or applied for in good time, you don't want it to look like you just applied so you could get a place in the school.

 

[spondishy]

My three kids went to/are at catholic primary school. Not a cats chance in hell they'd go to a catholic secondary. Luckily my two eldest are in grammar school after passing entrance exams. The little one will go to a private school if she doesn't get into the grammar.

 

[monaghan]

Main thing is to visit and get a feel for the schools in your area and then make a decision based on what you see and experience rather than going by reputation or what religion they are.

Also check whether the specialist status of the school is a factor in your selection, all our local schools have a "specialism" but our county won't let you specify a preference based on school specialisms, the next county to us did allow the specialism to influence the selection process, I'm guessing other counties may have differing rules.

 

[retired_member32]

the thing is my missus teaches at the local college,and she teaches on the school link 14-16 year olds and it would frighten you what the local comprehensive send.....

 

[Blossom]

I went to a rubbish school, and the only bad impact it had for me was that it wasn't an Oxbridge feeder school.

At the end of the day I think it depends a lot more on the kid...whether they do the work, whether they're interested, whether they get enough sleep and eat properly so they can concentrate etc.

 

[monaghan]

the thing is my missus teaches at the local college,and she teaches on the school link 14-16 year olds and it would frighten you what the local comprehensive send.....

More reason to do the homework now

I regularly cycle past kids who are on their way home from some of the schools we rejected and it is easy to see why many people don't want their kids to go there.

I often cringe when you hear news reports, there was one the other month about reading & writing abilities of kids starting in Y7, my thoughts were how can a child be allowed to go through school and not be educated even to the basics (making allowances for medical issues of course). Should these kids not be removed from the classroom and put on "boot camps"

Standards seem just so low these days. I had a flick through an A level maths book when visiting one school and commented to the teacher that this was O level material to which he agreed and suggested most subjects are reduced in standard by similar levels. It's no wonder that the rest of the world are ahead of us these days.

 

[monaghan]

I went to a rubbish school, and the only bad impact it had for me was that it wasn't an Oxbridge feeder school.

At the end of the day I think it depends a lot more on the kid...whether they do the work, whether they're interested, whether they get enough sleep and eat properly so they can concentrate etc.

I would guess that the parental influence is a big factor. If the parents don't instil the desire to learn from a young age, then I'd suggest half the battle has already been lost.

Our kids are often bored because they've done the set work for a lesson in 5-10 mins (both junior and secondary), homework is a similar joke.