Stress of secondary school choices

aliasojo

Person_one wrote: »

A school in special measures is a good bet actually, within a couple of years it'll probably be doing brilliantly.

Cannot agree with this at all.

Yes, a school in special measure will be in the spotlight and changes will be made, but it may never achieve anything more than scraping 'adequate'.

I would not be putting my kid's education and future prospects on a 'risk'.

Person_one

aliasojo wrote: »

Cannot agree with this at all.

Yes, a school in special measure will be in the spotlight and changes will be made, but it may never achieve anything more than scraping 'adequate'.

I would not be putting my kid's education and future prospects on a 'risk'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24110905

http://www.creativealliance.org.uk/lead-a-school-from-special-measures-to-outstanding-in-1000-days-of-creativity/

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/outstanding_ofsted_judgement_confirms_transformation_of_school_previously_in_special_measures_1_2228121

That's just the first page of google, there are loads more.

Anywhere's a 'risk'.

aliasojo

Person_one wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24110905

http://www.creativealliance.org.uk/lead-a-school-from-special-measures-to-outstanding-in-1000-days-of-creativity/

http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/outstanding_ofsted_judgement_confirms_transformation_of_school_previously_in_special_measures_1_2228121

That's just the first page of google, there are loads more.

Anywhere's a 'risk'.

I didn't suggest it couldn't happen, but it's equally possible that adequate is all that will be achieved.

Yes, do agree that anywhere is a risk, things change, Head teachers leave, more problem children arrive, funding gets cut yadda yadda. Unfortunately you can never really be certain of anything.

I do think you need to risk assess though, some risks are a lot lower than others. Imo.

LEJC

How do the results stack up with your local comprehensives and the independant schools....

when we went into it 5 years ago our LEA was possibly the worst performing one in the country and whilst they have made great effort over the past few years the results are still reasonably low when you compare them to the independant school we chose who regulary receives much higher results.

Having said that...its not all about results,but about choosing a school where your child will flourish...for some that is a comp,and for others its not...the choice is yours,but for us if I had to do it again I would still pick the private school we did over the local compehensive.

Counting_Pennies_2

LEJC wrote: »

How do the results stack up with your local comprehensives and the independant schools....

when we went into it 5 years ago our LEA was possibly the worst performing one in the country and whilst they have made great effort over the past few years the results are still reasonably low when you compare them to the independant school we chose who regulary receives much higher results.

Having said that...its not all about results,but about choosing a school where your child will flourish...for some that is a comp,and for others its not...the choice is yours,but for us if I had to do it again I would still pick the private school we did over the local compehensive.

Comprehensives approximately 50% A-C grade. The Private School is 100% and amazing facilities and smaller classes (edited just checked their website)

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Person_one wrote: »

A school in special measures is a good bet actually, within a couple of years it'll probably be doing brilliantly.

Although there is the downside of your kid being on the receiving end of the dregs of the old system and the vagaries of the new.

My eldest went to one. She went from being happy and valued in a school with appreciative staff, to feeling like a pointless cog in the wheel of the parachuted head's quest for performance related bonuses and career advancement. Especially when art, music and the accelerated learning programme got abandoned in favour of looking good on the government stats.


If I'd had the money, and knew what would happen in the following years, I'd have sent both to private school, as long as it was one that valued the arts as much as other subjects (which the local one did).

neon_dannii

I went to a school which was put into special measures when I was there, and it stayed in special measures for three years. I came out with straight A* and A grade GCSEs, 5 A Levels at A grade and went on to get a first at University.

I'm a firm believer that if a teen wants to succeed, they will not let anything stop them. 50% pass rate is quite good, mine was 37% when I joined!

Strapped

Counting_Pennies wrote: »

Comprehensives approximately 50% A-C grade. The Private School is 100% and amazing facilities and smaller classes (edited just checked their website)

Is the private school selective? If so, the teaching could be the same, better or worse - no way of telling.

Just to add another perspective - I had a private education. I was the scholarship kid and I did notice that we were significantly "poorer" than most of the other families. It's not necessarily a great position to be in. Just another thing to consider.

Just do whatever you think is best for your child. For us, that's going to be the local community college but it's a personal decision.

Amanda65

As someone who has gone the private route for all 3 of my children at secondary level (flame me now!) I would only say you should go for what you think will be the best for your child. Do not think for one minute that you will necessarily get better teaching (one of two mine have had have been shocking) but what you will generally get is smaller classes, more choice when it comes to exams (as in not rigid blocks to choose from) and a group of kids who are, in the main, willing to learn and not be disruptive.

I have friends who's children have gone through the state system and done brilliantly and others who have floundered completely or been 'lost' in the system as they are neither very bright nor at the bottom end educationally and therefore entitled to additional help.

I do disagree though that any child will do brilliantly if they 'want' it enough. Teenagers are often unable to see the long term impact of choices they make and peer pressure, or some little oik who just wants to disrupt an entire classroom on a regular basis (had this at primary level) can make it a very difficult learning environment.

Other parents can be very nasty though and I was almost at the stage with DD1 where if one more person in the playground had asked why we made the choices we did, was the local state school not good enough for her, I would have said "frankly no"!

peachyprice

Counting_Pennies wrote: »

He is very much in the middle of the class

Strapped wrote: »

Is the private school selective?

Good question, OP the decision may already be out of your hands.

We have a very well regarded private school here, they are selective and cream the best of the best who apply, leaving the best to go to the local grammar schools and the rest to go to the remaining high school.