Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Martin_1962 on 07 February 2008, 23:24:46
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Well if you live in an area with a dire secondary school, there are ways around it, we found out both local pay schools do bursaries for bright children, so we tried and succeeded.
Offered places in both, one offer was too low and we couldn't afford it the next was pretty reasonable
My daughter starts at a local grammar school in september and we only have to find a small portion of the fees :D
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Thats good news ,some good schools are hard to come by these days
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Good on ya' Martin, we have three girls and I know exactly how you feel...
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I really am pleased for you, I know exactly where you are coming from and I would do the same thing if I needed too, you do what you can for them.
However, but it is too late to start a rant, you should not have to do it, the system, schools today etc!!!
:) :) :)
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Dont start me of on rants about schools ::)
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good for you martin.we have a few grammar schools in essex and they are excellent.my daughter went to one and although her dad (me) shovels concrete for a living,she is now a dealer(shares not drugs!)in the city. :y
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Thats lucky...
This new government school choices farce gets right up my goat.....I havn't applied to our closest school because I know we wont get junior in so have apllied to a different one.
How can a school work out how many places it needs when it has no fixed catchment area!
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Thats lucky...
This new government school choices farce gets right up my goat.....I havn't applied to our closest school because I know we wont get junior in so have apllied to a different one.
How can a school work out how many places it needs when it has no fixed catchment area!
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morning
we had it explained like this
first come first served
your child's achievement record
if your face fits at the interview
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......
morning
we had it explained like this
first come first served
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.. but the risk you take is that if your 1st choice school isn't your catchment area school and knocks you back, your catchment school is then full and won't take your child as they will say that if we weren't good enough to be 1st chioce we won't put ourselve out to take your child anyway. So, you end up, miles away, in the worst school of the borough that nobody in their right mind would have put as 1st or 2nd choice. In our case that worst school has now been closed (in name only) - open drug dealing on the street outside the gates, etc etc - and amalgamated with the next worse school. Thing is they still opperate in the same building, about 1/2 a mile apart under a new name.
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......
morning
we had it explained like this
first come first served
........
.. but the risk you take is that if your 1st choice school isn't your catchment area school and knocks you back, your catchment school is then full and won't take your child as they will say that if we weren't good enough to be 1st chioce we won't put ourselve out to take your child anyway. So, you end up, miles away, in the worst school of the borough that nobody in their right mind would have put as 1st or 2nd choice. In our case that worst school has now been closed (in name only) - open drug dealing on the street outside the gates, etc etc - and amalgamated with the next worse school. Thing is they still opperate in the same building, about 1/2 a mile apart under a new name.
[/highlight]
that sounds like for like what has happened to two of the local schools near me it couldn't be the same school could it ????
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Thats lucky...
This new government school choices farce gets right up my goat.....I havn't applied to our closest school because I know we wont get junior in so have apllied to a different one.
How can a school work out how many places it needs when it has no fixed catchment area!
[/highlight]
morning
we had it explained like this
first come first served
your child's achievement record
if your face fits at the interview
Well they were stringing you porkys......as there is no first come first served setup (no apps are reviewed until after the application date and they are not dated on receipt), its based around criteria as the first (second, third etc) pass i.e. where do you live, whats your religion, do you visit the local church, do you have any other children at the school etc....
And the big pisser.....it all results in a shed load more admin staff which do nothing for a childs education......bloody useless Tony Blair....
For my little lad, I have not applied to our local (good) school because there is a high chance he WONT get in as we have no other children thier already, we dont go to the local church although we do loosely meet the religion criteria.....and most schools who are popular bin any applications where they are put as second choice straight away!
So first choice had to be the alternative school which is further away (although still pretty good) in order to ensure he does not end up miles away at a bad school....
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Thats lucky...
This new government school choices farce gets right up my goat.....I havn't applied to our closest school because I know we wont get junior in so have apllied to a different one.
How can a school work out how many places it needs when it has no fixed catchment area!
[/highlight]
morning
we had it explained like this
first come first served
your child's achievement record
if your face fits at the interview
Well they were stringing you porkys......as there is no first come first served setup (no apps are reviewed until after the application date and they are not dated on receipt), its based around criteria as the first (second, third etc) pass i.e. where do you live, whats your religion, do you visit the local church, do you have any other children at the school etc....
And the big pisser.....it all results in a shed load more admin staff which do nothing for a childs education......bloody useless Tony Blair....
For my little lad, I have not applied to our local (good) school because there is a high chance he WONT get in as we have no other children thier already, we dont go to the local church although we do loosely meet the religion criteria.....and most schools who are popular bin any applications where they are put as second choice straight away!
So first choice had to be the alternative school which is further away (although still pretty good) in order to ensure he does not end up miles away at a bad school....
i was told that by a headmaster, who said "i have the final say in who attends my school" ???????.try for the school you want Mark we were knocked back with our first choice and had to appeal which involved a lot of letters and ultamitly a meeting with the education department but in the end we were successful
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Although I agree education is utterly critical (and I was lucky to go to reasonable 1st and primaries), look at my family:
3 of my brothers went to a local comp, all have done well for themselves - eldest owns a couple of jewellery shops, 2nd eldest is Technical Director for a car engineering company after leaving McLaren last year, little bro makes a good living being a sparky for one of the big horseracing auction companies.
My sister and I went to so-called 'good' grammar schools. She's never really managed to get decent, long term employment since leaving uni. Me, well, just look at what I'm doing.
I felt over pressured at secondary school - in fact the school only bothered with you if you wanted to go to Oxbridge. This made me rebel a lot.
My brothers may have only gone to the local comp, but the teachers there appaeared to have a real passion. My school had teachers who were geniuses (couldn't teach for sh!t though), but there was something distinctly lacking unless you were one of the clever people - I found they couldn't keep my interest.
I guess what I'm trying to say, is get them to the best school for the child, not necessarily the 'best'. Even at a young age, the 'social' element around school is important imho.
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Not having any kids I was completely ignorant of this and just wondered why there are so many chelsea tractors on the school run. Now I know. :o
All this "choice" nonsense that Labour have invented is a poor excuse for failing to provide a decent service. If every school, hospital, doctor's surgery, etc. was performing adequately it wouldn't matter which one you went to, and you'd be happy to just get the one who's catchment area you were in.
As it stands, I suspect if a school performs badly it's now a self sustaining situation because anyone who cares will avoid it. Meanwhile the government aren't at fault because "they gave you a choice".
>:(
Kevin
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..... do you have any other children at the school etc...........
... even this was changed by the time my daught wanted to go to high school. It was brought in to stop kids from neighbouring Manchester from taking up 'our' (not my choice of words) kids places. This left people like us with the possiblilty of children at different schools across the borough! That was till Mrs B got on the case!! ;) She managed to get the rules changed back!! :y :y :y :y after she'd put the case forward as to why our daughter would be going to the same school as our son. (where's 'I'm dead proud' smilie? ;))
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that sounds like for like what has happened to two of the local schools near me it couldn't be the same school could it ????
A bit far from Salford I would think, but Radcliffe High & Coney Green. They're called Radcliffe Riverside East & West
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..... do you have any other children at the school etc...........
... even this was changed by the time my daught wanted to go to high school. It was brought in to stop kids from neighbouring Manchester from taking up 'our' (not my choice of words) kids places. This left people like us with the possiblilty of children at different schools across the borough! That was till Mrs B got on the case!! ;) She managed to get the rules changed back!! :y :y :y :y after she'd put the case forward as to why our daughter would be going to the same school as our son. (where's 'I'm dead proud' smilie? ;))
You hear similar stories every summer on the local news. Not good.
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The Boy is quite correct in my opinion. The social element is very important, as is the general ethos of the school.
As far as primaries are concerned, when looking at schools you cannot beat a visit to the school in normal time - i.e. not a specially arranged general prospective parents visiting time. This will allow you to see the school in as natural light as possible. You will then be in an excellent position to judge for yourself if the school meets your own criteria.
As far as league tables and Ofsted scoring are concerned, ignore all the figures that they state, apart from one which is value added. This measures the progress of the children from the time they joined the school to the time they leave. Scores of 100% or more are what you are looking for.
If certain curriculum areas are lower than the national average, ask about the information concerning the cohort of children. This often explains any apparent failings. Basically, the school may be in an affluent area and, as such, the "base line" scoring is high. If said school attracts children which are from less privileged backgrounds the "base line" scoring may be lower. I do not agree with this system, but that is the way the government set it.
The bottom line is that ALL schools should be welcoming children to their roll of pupils as each child is worth approx £3K of funding per year.
As I do not have any children, I have not had to go through the application process. I can understand the difficulties in obtaining a place at an oversubscribed school though.
I hope to have demonstrated above that, just because a school is deemed to be good there are often just as good, if not better, alternative schools. It is not purely on academic achievement there are other important factors involved as well.
This answer has not, I know, answered the general theme of this thread, but I hope it is interesting to some people.
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Still no help when all three of your nearest schools are over subsribed......its a bloody lottery and one that costs us the tax payer loads of wedge for no benefit.
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Still no help when all three of your nearest schools are over subsribed......its a bloody lottery and one that costs us the tax payer loads of wedge for no benefit.
I think that is a problem for many newish housing estates that are built on edge of older towns - there are often places in town schools, meaning the more local one(s) on estate are not big enough to cope with the estate. Additionally, the sizing of the school to be built by developer is probably based on some silly stat of a small % of houses having that age kids, whereas these estates normally attract young couples. It seems to be the same story everywhere.
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It seems to be the same story everywhere.
Yep. 180 odd housesrabbit hutches going up in our village at the moment. It'll bring loads of extra council tax in. Not one penny will go towards extra infrastructure.
>:(
Kevin
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It seems to be the same story everywhere.
Yep. 180 odd housesrabbit hutches going up in our village at the moment. It'll bring loads of extra council tax in. Not one penny will go towards extra infrastructure.
>:(
Kevin
Exactly! >:( >:( >:( Council may also get section 128 money (or whatever it is called) on top as well
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Not having any kids I was completely ignorant of this and just wondered why there are so many chelsea tractors on the school run. Now I know. :o
All this "choice" nonsense that Labour have invented is a poor excuse for failing to provide a decent service. If every school, hospital, doctor's surgery, etc. was performing adequately it wouldn't matter which one you went to, and you'd be happy to just get the one who's catchment area you were in.
As it stands, I suspect if a school performs badly it's now a self sustaining situation because anyone who cares will avoid it. Meanwhile the government aren't at fault because "they gave you a choice".
>:(
Kevin
Wait until you have them!!!
You can fit three in the back easily BTW
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You can fit three in the back easily BTW
Not ruddy likely! I'd do a Jimbob before even getting close! ;D
Kevin
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More details.
There are 5 government funded secondary schools in the area, and 3 fee paying.
Our catchment area school is dire and came to our school claiming they can help your disadvantaged child - when asked about normal children - oh we have them too or words to that effect.
The best two schools of this type are both religious, 1 is Catholic, one is church going CofE (requires references from the vicar), since I do BDMs no hope ;D. The other two schools, one is the other side of the city, and the one we did choose for Emma-Jo is the nearest, middle best, mot in catchment area and very heavily over subscriibed. It is most east side parents first choice if not church going and it is church goers second choice.
Anyhow we found that the local fee paying grammars (one all girls, one merged from a girls and a boys, and one a bit posh) all offer bursaries, for clever children from not well off families. The penguin school we didn't notice until last week!!!! (taught by penguins - see Blues Brothers). The other two Emma-Jo passed easily but the more exclusive school offered 1/3 discount. The larger merged school offered a lot more, my daughters teacher went to that school so I think that helped.
To be honest it is wrong that I have to do this, our children are supposed to go to the second worst school in Worcestershire, and the over subscribed school has to cope with TWO large new estates as well.
20 years ago the school we won was free!
As to mixing in, none of mine will go to the sink school there is rapant bullying and they are already picked on a bit, the boys do tend to stick together but I worry that if they went to sink school they will end up as bullies them selves.
But I have 3 years to wait before worrying about them.
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You can fit three in the back easily BTW
Not ruddy likely! I'd do a Jimbob before even getting close! ;D
Kevin
What about your wife? You haven't been married that long have you?
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You can fit three in the back easily BTW
Not ruddy likely! I'd do a Jimbob before even getting close! ;D
Kevin
;D
Waiting on 1st count results this week!
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it depressing that people from around the uk don't have a very good opinion of our education system (me included)
Whats more depressing is that our government seem proud of their achievement's to date >:( >:(
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You can fit three in the back easily BTW
Not ruddy likely! I'd do a Jimbob before even getting close! ;D
Kevin
What about your wife? You haven't been married that long have you?
She's probably the least keen of the two of us on having kids.
Kevin
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You can fit three in the back easily BTW
Not ruddy likely! I'd do a Jimbob before even getting close! ;D
Kevin
What about your wife? You haven't been married that long have you?
She's probably the least keen of the two of us on having kids.
Kevin
They change - give it another year or two and she will go all gooee at the site of a baby, when her friends start - thats it. ;D
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I wasn't keen until I had one.
Your own are different.
Handy when working on the car, one twin likes helping me :y
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I live and work in a large private school in Cornwall. As an employee I only pay 1/3 of the school fees - but still have to fork out for uniform, school trips, latest fad (that the other kids have) and all the other bits & pieces. Without the discount we couldn't afford to send my daughter to the school but on the other hand we could have applied for a scholarship/bursary.
If you honestly think your child is bright/talented then enter them for the entrance exam - our school sit them for 11, 13 & 16 year olds (entry into 1st/3rd or 6th year). It doesn't cost anything to take the exam and depending on their results the school may offer a scholarship or bursary.
Our school has a 99% pass rate at GCSE & A level. Yes you can argue because they are picky but also because they will push the kids to perform but within that childs limits.
I went through the private school system and although I'm not in some high flying job that wasn't down to my education - that was down to making wrong choices when I left Uni.
If the school thinks your child has ability & potential whether it be academic, music or sport they will do their utmost to get your child to attend - boosts their pass rate at the end of the day. So go for it if there is one near you