Jules. Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 (edited) It's been a stressful few weeks as we have done the rounds of local high school tours & finally got the appilcation in today. Alexander really wanted to go to the same school as his friend from church, but as he lives in a different area he would not really had a valid applicatrion for our local school which is 5 mins walk away from here. His friend finally decided on his school last night, which turns out to be the local C of E high school ( a bus ride away) which they should both be able to get into with no problem. Alexander was visibly relieved when we put his application through on the internet today, & so was I. We just have to wait until 3rd March for the decision. I still have all this to go through for Ethan starting Infant school, but I think I only have to apply for that in the new year. Phew. Edited March 6, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 I feel for you, we have now done this job twice, it is horrible taking responsibility for your childs future education and happiness. My older two are both at different single sex grammar schools about 9 miles away. They were both really determined to go to these schools, and they are happy there, but there are times on the cold dark mornings of winter when they throw the local comp. at me and the fact that they could have had an extra hour in bed. I am very glad that it was their choice, because if we had forced it on them it would be much harder. Good luck and I hope everything goes according to plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Oh Jules I do feel for you about this I started a BIG thread about this last year, when I had to choose a school for Harry It is very stressful isn't it, deciding on their future education It has worked out very well for Harry and he has settled in well (apart from a couple of minor pecking order blips, which he sorted out for himself ) He walks to his friends house every morning and they pick up various other friends along the way. This was always my biggest worry, him walking to school on his own, but he is a sensible lad and we have a few ground rules about letting me know if he wants to go somewhere else other than straight home Have to go through it again next year with Juliette with the added pressure of putting her in for Wolverhampton Girls High, obviuosly we didn't have this choice with Harry Best of luck with your choices and I hope you get the one you and Alexander of course, want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 I don't know how parents choose. I work in a school which has the best results in the area, we are 20% higher on 5 A* to C at GCSE than our nearest rival. Our open day was after all the others in the area and it was apparant that they had been doing a fantastic PR job. Parents were asking us how far BEHIND the other schools we were. They had "spun" their information by telling parents things like that they had the highest "value added" or were "most improved" in the area. Our value added is low because we have a white middle class intake, low free school meals and about 3 kids out of 1800 who don't arrive speaking English. Our improvements aren't great because results were good last year too, our improvements are only a few percentage points. The bottom line is though 80% of our kids got those magic 5 A* to C results and the next nearest school had only turned out 60%! Parents don't always understand the differences between all these different sets of figures though so how on earth are they supposed to make a choice? My choices with James will be limited. The school bus goes to one school, its not actually the nearest but the nearest would be 2 public bus rides away - the first bus being the hourly service. So he will go to the school the school bus goes to. The only other choice is grammar - there are a couple of options and there are bus pick ups in our village. BUT James (at just 5) is not looking like an 11+ candidate as he has had such problems with development that despite being bright he still is struggling with fine motor skills (writing!) and has numerous speech problems. His frustrations at his own inabilites are causing him to have behaviour problems too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Best of luck Jules. I've been through it three times so I know what it is like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 The only other choice is grammar - there are a couple of options and there are bus pick ups in our village. BUT James (at just 5) is not looking like an 11+ candidate as he has had such problems with development that despite being bright he still is struggling with fine motor skills (writing!) and has numerous speech problems. His frustrations at his own inabilites are causing him to have behaviour problems too. My son also called James was exactly the same when he was little and right up to when he did his SAT's in May his handwriting was really bad. We put him in for the grammar school because we knew that he was intelligent. He got a very good CAT score in yr 5 which really made the school sit up and take notice. ( top 1% of the population in one area top 5% in the rest) He desperately wanted to got to the boys grammar in our area because he really liked it when we went round it and his sister is a the girls grammar and they go on the same bus. He had speach therapy until he was 7 and was on school action plus until the middle of yr 6 mainly for his handwriting. He also used to get very frustrated and his reception teacher thought he was dispraxic. So don't worry James has just started in yr 7 and is still struggling with litracy but he is getting the support he needs and is thriving in an environment tailored to the way boy's minds work, because a lot of boys do struggle with their writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 I forgot to write that this year there is a new equal preference scheme, in which if there are places available for each high school we have put down on the form then Alexander will get offered a place at them all, & the LEA will choose the school for him based on the order of preference we put it on the form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Gosh...that sounds complicated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 Apparantly it's much simpler than before..... I think in the past if you didn't put a school as your first choice then some schools wouldn't even look at your application if they weren't first choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 It's a tough time Jules, all I can say is go for it and good luck . We struggled with my son who is very bright but absoluted hated our local grammar schools (we live close to Dartford Grammar which always gets good results, and another, slightly less prestigious, boys Grammar school as well). He absolutely refused to contemplate either and told us that he's fail the 11+ if we said we'd send him to Grammar . So I agonised and agonised, but we let him go to his first choce school, a wide ability, large all boys school nearby. So far he is doing fantastically, now year 11, a prefect and with good predicted GCSE's............... but he's not yet sat the exams and it could still all go horribly wrong, so I'm not resting on my laurels yet by any means. However I'd say that if you've let Alexander have a real say in the school he wants to go to, and he likes it then at least half the battle is won. Good luck though, such a tough decision, I know I really felt it to be a great responsibility. Now I'm looking at post 16 education.............. in another country . It doesn't seem to be getting any easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 My parents let me go to the high school of my choice too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Man Banned Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 I doubt I could add much as I'm never going to have to face this problem but when I was looking for a secondary school I really didn't want to go to our local comprehensive, but a school miles away where I was in the Schools Orchestra on Saturdays My parents said "no" and I went to the local comp - which I hated - not least because of the bullying from other pupils, but from my maths teacher! I ended up changing schools mid-way through the third year and went to the Grant Maintained School (the first one in Wales- and used to be the Secondary Modern my mum went to) and our year beat the Comp at GCSE's I loved winding my friends up about that one It wasn't without a few interesting things when I left the Comp - they were signing me as absent for 6 months after I had left and at Cwmcarn GMS I was placed into Welsh lessons I'd never done any yet my classmates had been doing it for the past 3 years I think it pays to listen to your children, sometimes they may just be right Goodluck with the selection process - it's a long wait until March tho isn't it! A xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaR Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 (edited) I feel for you! We have been through the same with our son. Given that we live in the south east (one of the most affluent areas of the country according to the government - sigh), the choice of secondary school has been horrid. It really was a pick of a bad bunch. We would have loved to send our DS to a grammer school, but the nearest one is 25 miles away. That aside, it is the finances. Even with a scholarship, it would still cost us £10K a year to send him there, not taking into consideration school trips, various compulsory sports equipment etc. In all honesty, we could probably afford it at a stretch but we have a DS who is in the year below (10 months between them,...I know...I know! ) and feel that if we are prepared to do that for him, then we should be prepared to do that for her too - which we most definitely couldn't afford. I can't remember any such quandry with my parents. I went to the local secondary and never attended any open evenings Was it different then? Edited October 19, 2007 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Hi Jules. I know how you feel. I pressed the submit button for the online application last week and thought "I've actually done it.....oh dear have I done the right thing?". Luckily all the comprehensive schools in this area are good so there is no "bad" choice. But still I worry if I've made the right decision. I suppose once 3 March comes and then the children actually start the schools in September everything will be OK and we will wonder what we worried about.... (I hope....). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I think that it is really important to take your childs preference into account, if they are somewhere that they want to be they will have a greater incentive to work hard and prove to you that it was the right choice. You can also point out to them that they chose to be there on their more reluctant days, rather than visa-versa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I know just how annoying those forms can be and what open days and evenings are like. They're a bit of a pain really! I can't believe it was 5 years ago I was in that situation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happymama Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I have the other problem, really. And have just done the girl's applications even though it's the very last day for doing them. DS is at a VERY good school, but I'm moving, but as yet have no date for completion. We will be moving a few miles in the opposite direction to where I live now in relation to the school, and I'd have to transport him myself if we move (currently get a taxi sent for him) and he stays there. The twins start next year. There is a school in the village we're moving to, and they do a fab job with the kids they get. They tend to be educationally behind when they start, and this school does a great effort at getting them up to the level standard required. Problem I have, is at least one of my kids is a good bit above the regular standard, and those in the past have been proven to struggle at the school due to a lack of support. The twins - well, I don't know yet, but they will begin school knowing all their letters and being able to count to 20, which apparently many don't at that school. The problem is, this school is two mins walk away from where I will live, instead of a short (very bad for car engines, short drives are) drive away, a bus in the morning not very practical due to time constraints, and in the afternoons perhaps a possibility. When I finally move and sometime next year I may change my mind, but I don't want to move ds during the housemove if I can help, he's going to go through one heck of a change with his dad only seeing him every two weeks etc, and all that anyway. So I left it to the last minute. Really, an ideal situation will be if we live in that village but the kids get paid for transport to the other school... Fat chance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 Forgot to tell you all, Alexander found out on Monday that he has got into the high school he wanted to, & so have his friends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellekatz Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Congratulations - I'm sure he will be happy to be with his friends. I have found that children make what they want of school, whichever one it is. I'm sure he will do well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 congratulations, I remember how relieved we were last year when it was all sorted for out son Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Congratulations Jules It's certainly a relief isn't it Glad it worked out well for you all We have to go through this again next year for Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Marvellous....that will be a load off your mind....and his! Congratulations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen & co. Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 I'm really pleased for you We will be going through it this time next year I'm hoping having 3 siblings there will help, but there have been so many new houses built you never can tell Karen x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goosey Lucy Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Congratulations. We still have all of this to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 It seems to get worse. The school I teach at, where I wouldn't send my child if you paid me as despite the amazing results they are appauling in their lack of care towards anything or anyone, had 900 applications for 300 places! Lucky you for getting him in to the school of choice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
