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In a busy auditorium one parent asks aloud ” If I were to give you two million pounds , what would you spend it on ?” . It just seemed wrong on many levels.
Now, I read this as quite a good question to ask. I doubt the person asking it actually has £2mil to give, but it's a good way of seeing the head's priorities and 'wish list' I guess..
I know it doesn't answer your question, but...
DrP
Now, I read this as quite a good question to ask.
I read it as 'look at me, I have a shit-cart full of money and I want everyone in this room to know.
One thing that's just occurred to me on the back of a couple of comments of the previous page about not retaining primary friends thru secondary and about geographical separation,
This isn't our generation, it's not 1985. If the kids haven't already got WhatSnapFaceAppTokTime by now then they will soon. Keeping in touch with friends, should they so desire, doesn't involve begging your mum to use the landline any more.
Something else to be considered, one decision can be reversed, the other can’t. If I was in your shoes I would take the scholarship, you can always change back after the first year. It don’t imagine you could do it in the other direction.
This 👆
I’m fantastically happy to have my child in an “enviably small class of kids that are all eager to learn”.
This x 2 👆
When i was younger i had a similar opportunity. I pleaded that i should go to a “normal” school. With the benefit of hindsight i would suggest you convince your daughter to take this opportunity.
... and this x3 👆
This isn’t our generation, it’s not 1985. If the kids haven’t already got WhatSnapFaceAppTokTime by now then they will soon. Keeping in touch with friends, should they so desire, doesn’t involve begging your mum to use the landline any more
He's absolutely right you know!
My twins' friends are spread all over the place but they are in constant contact.
And none of them are from their primary school era - moving to secondary is like a 'do-over' where they all start afresh, new school, new friends, new start (in fact it probably isn't even cool to hang out with your primary school friends)
OP your daughter will not understand that yet.
A lot of parents make big sacrifices to send their mostly humble kids to private school. My kid is one. I went to parents evening last night and did not see a single flash car in the car park and the parents were all very normal.
A lot of parents make big sacrifices to send their mostly humble kids to private school. My kid is one. I went to parents evening last night and did not see a single flash car in the car park and the parents were all very normal.
But are all of the children...! 😉*
*Not meant seriously!
I’m sorry. That’s just bollocks. It’s quite simple, if the catchment is huge then it will be more difficult to see friends. It’s simple
Re-read the quote mate - I clearly said
If current friends are local then they can still play together
The 'local' in there being the operative word...
I'm talking about current friends too...
I'm not denying catchment areas for private schools can be quite large.
A lot of parents make big sacrifices to send their mostly humble kids to private school. My kid is one. I went to parents evening last night and did not see a single flash car in the car park and the parents were all very normal.
I see this written a lot, I can only think you have no real idea what normal is.
I see this written a lot, I can only think you have no real idea what normal is.
So what is normal?
Well theres a question, not you or me!!
But I imagine it comes from the middle as in normal distribution so if average uk salary about 35-40ish and average school fees are 15k ish then normal people cant afford it no matter how hard working or frugal.
I'd go with what she wants to do, if she doesn't want to go then thats your answer. If she wants to do well and is motivated then she will do well wherever she goes.
Average UK salary is somewhat less than that I think AA. Around £30 000 I believe
Children are swayed by their peers. They are also very adaptable at that age. I wouldn’t give her the choice. She’ll thank you in later life.
I had a scholarship to a private school. I also passed my 11 plus. I went to the local grammar school as it was much easier for travel. If it had been five years later, when the school had turned comprehensive, I’d have taken the scholarship and 30 minute train ride each day.
I’m afraid she’s really too young to know the consequences of her choices. But good education gives you choices. What you do with them is up to you. Poor education removes choice.
And "normal" is possibly the most subjective concept available.
A dump that cares more about getting people over the C/D border than their first Oxbridge applicant in a decade, not so much.
Sadly, you're absolutely right in that regard. Some schools have much more to worry about than the one or two bright kids.
It is a crying shame that there's loads of kids with potential who never get the support they need to make it as high up the educational ladder as they should.
More outreach being done by Oxbridge, Russell group and Sutton Trust, but there's many schools who just don't access such programs.
We were lucky in that my daughter's school, despite being fairly middling,
Had a head of sixth form who knew what needed to be done.
This all so depends on specific circumstances. I would say your daughters view should be considered but not necessarily given a lot of weight. I have a daughter at private school (one of the UK 2 top ballet schools, so not a normal private school) and one at a grammar school who started in September. Cougars and others are right about friends, the youngest still has Xbox and social media contact with his primary school friends but has new friends at the grammar school.
With the one at ballet school it was a no brainer, if they're good enough to get offered a place and they want to go, they go, helped by the government MDS scheme which is generous covering fees even for relatively high earners. However it's not all been good, the school us good but not as good as the state grammar school in many areas.
With the youngest options were grammar school (he passed the 11 plus), local sink comprehensive that's been in special measures for 4 years or a mediocre comp in the other direction. Turns out the mediocre comp is actually appalling, 20 out of the 30 from his primary went there, six have left since September due to the bullying and many others have left who came from other local primaries.
Anyway you make the decision, not her, take a longbgard look at the state school, private schools can be a bit meh at times and many are not necessarily the beacons of educational excellence people think. But they do generally have better discipline, fee paying parents will kick off pretty quickly if their kid is being bullied and a fee paying school won't risk the reputation damage. The first requirement to learning is a safe and controlled environment.