Travel abroad during christmas break 2016

PeacefulWaters

Money_maker wrote: »

With respect, Voyager2002's opinion is just as valid as yours whether you agree with it or not. Agree to disagree.

It was a view delivered with a remarkable air of judgement.

Voyager2002

psarinuk wrote: »

But I think you will not understand if you call grammar schools lottery! That is disrespectful to all the kids/ parents who work so hard towards the system in place.

Well, I was educated at one... Much later, as an Education Officer, I carried out research that demonstrated that the admission process for the Grammar schools I monitored was about as effective as a lottery in selecting able students.

zagfles

psarinuk wrote: »

Thanks to all, esp Moto2.

Booked MAN to Tenerife for ~£80pp for 7 days from Xmas.
Avg temp are over 20 there with loads of things for kids, so should be OK I think.

Thinking of getting an apartment (airbnb) and a hire car now.

Baza52, She has been to States several times to as far as Hawaii (all these trips were without any promises).

Taking them to India next Easter and Florida is sure on cards for next summer holidays as duchy advised.

Just make sure you're aware of the weather in Florida in the summer - no way I'd ever go there in August, it's hot, humid with thunderstorms and hurricane season, and also it's packed. If you're going to the theme parks you'll probably spend 95% of the day stood in queues in hot sticky weather.

May/June is a nice time to go. We went in November and it was nice then too.

zagfles

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Well, I was educated at one... Much later, as an Education Officer, I carried out research that demonstrated that the admission process for the Grammar schools I monitored was about as effective as a lottery in selecting able students.

Really? So their GCSE results are no better than non selective schools then? Which grammar schools were these?

michele-p

Great bargain there for Tenerife, we spent half term there with our 15 year old step daughter. For accommodation I can recommend Christian sur hotel in Los Christianos, we had a 2 bed apartment, it's 2 floors. Huge room and en suite on the top floor up a spiral staircase,we let dd have that room. It has 3 pools, was about 10 mins walk from beach, and 30 min walk to Las Americas.

Siam Park was fab, arrive before it opens, and it's pretty quiet the first hour or so, we bought fast track tickets on the door.

We also enjoyed the escape rooms on a rainy day, we did the bank robbery, which was fun and made us think as a team!

Voyager2002

zagfles wrote: »

Really? So their GCSE results are no better than non selective schools then? Which grammar schools were these?

OK, if you are interested...

This related to the former Royal County of Berkshire, which in the early 1990s had Grammar schools in Slough and a comprehensive system elsewhere in the County. There were several studies, all using part of the vast quantities of data that local government collected about the schools and the communities that they served. The essential idea was "value added": compare the GCSE results that the school actually achieved with those that could reasonably be expected, taking account of the pupil's performance in attainment tests before the transfer to secondary school, and various measures of socio-economic advantage or disadvantage.

Obviously the grammar schools achieved good results, but when one looked at the background of their pupils and their prior attainments all the statistical models suggested that one could reasonably expect even better results. Similarly, when one compared grammar schools with other schools, correcting for social background, it did seem that the entrance tests were remarkably poor at identifying those pupils who would go on to do well at GCSE level. This was particularly marked for non-white pupils.

gettingtheresometime

Without wishing to take this thread anymore off at a tangent an additional problem with the 11+ is that a lot of parents now coach their children to pass so that there is a percentage ( and I have no idea what %age that is) of children who shouldn't be in grammar schools.

Their school days must be hell knowing that they have to run just to keep still.

psarinuk

Don't believe in most of research these days, every other person is bringing out one.

Just because one person thought it was lottery for them to get into grammar school, does not mean it is for other hard working kids.

I've only been to grammar schools on their open days and after talking to some students there, I've no doubt that they did not get there by chance.

Coaching should not be criticized, rather encouraged otherwise we would be attributing every success from a small thing like job interview to as big as Olympics to lotteries!!

mgdavid

psarinuk wrote: »

Don't believe in most of research these days, ......

Splendid rational answer in the face of Professional experience... :T

gettingtheresometime

psarinuk wrote: »

Don't believe in most of research these days, every other person is bringing out one.

Just because one person thought it was lottery for them to get into grammar school, does not mean it is for other hard working kids.

I've only been to grammar schools on their open days and after talking to some students there, I've no doubt that they did not get there by chance.

Coaching should not be criticized, rather encouraged otherwise we would be attributing every success from a small thing like job interview to as big as Olympics to lotteries!!

My point is, that you so cleverly ignored, is that the 11+ is an examination that is designed to cream of the top 25% or so.

Now if you have a child that naturally would be in that 25% all well and good but what about that child that has struggled to get in that 25% and is only in there because of coaching? Is a grammar school the right environment for that child?

In any event the whole issue is neither here nor there.