Hello to you all. First time posting in this forum, so be gentle with me!
I have experience of state schools and independent schools at primary level. Both have their merits definitely, but at the moment I am leaning more towards the private sector.
Private schools have smaller classes meaning they tend to have a more family like feel to them which is very good for the children. Also there are more opportunities for the school to do things which aren't on the National Curriculum which means a more rounded curriculum. You also find more specialist teaching from a younger age which in my experience means that talents are picked up on and nurtured. There is also less emphasis on the testing and associated pressures that state schools have to comply with. Yes, there are entrance exams and testing, but the children seem to actually look forward to these. Strange but true!
i went to a private school until i was 11 and then onto grammer school......which became a comprehensive for last two years I was there.....so think i am sort of qualified to speak about all three.
Ofcause grammer schools have better results....they creamed off who were looking the most intelligent at 11 years old !! so they were bound to have better results than comprenhensives. Private school have small classes and so each child can get more attention. However both of the above were very very result orintated. All they cared about was results..ie: getting more passes than others.
6 straight A's do not make you a rounded person. To a degree in private schools and grammer schools you are protected from the real world.
In life there are people who will disturb you...there are people that will try and lead you astray..etc etc....its how you deal with that ..that makes you the person you are.
Haveing been through all three systems..i can say that the comprehensive system gives you a more rounded individual..ready to face the real world.
I went to a rough old comprehensive. I was a bright kid and it was torture.
My kids go to the local grammar they are a darn sight happier than i was.
I think its a case of horses for courses.
I find it distateful that average ability kids are crammed in the private sector to achieve exams that frankly they dont need. My step kids lives were made a misery by their mothers educational aspirations. Silk purses and sows ears.
Hello Kents. I have very strong views on this myself and will submit a detailed comment for consideration. I have to go out for a few hours, so will come back with my points this evening - A GOOD THREAD.
Plim :thumbup:
I'm with the Sarge on this one.
Our eldest transferred from the local comp, to grammar for her A-levels. She's a far more stressed out bunny now she's no longer at the top end of the class.
Where I grew up, there were no Grammar schools. If there had been- chances are I may well have gone to one. It would have been a disaster.
I was picked on from start to finish of my school life, as I had much older parents- and came from a rough estate. I went to Catholic schools, and in the main the rest of the pupils came from quite affluent backgrounds.
Tangent coming up.........
I was at my local college a 4 years ago, on an "Access to H.E." course. It was pretty much at the kind of-ish A-Level standard.
There were people there struggling to cope so much that they were being "carried" through the course. Quite simply, they weren't bright enough to cope at that level. Pushing them on to uni would be a complete waste of time & resources.
However, one particular person highlights my point.
She couldn't cope with the Biology classes. Her marks were really low for coursework, and she had to keep re-sitting exams.
In her other classes, Sociology & Psychology, she had trouble understanding the concepts. Her essays only just scraped through- with a lot of support.
However, the college had great pass rates they wanted to maintain and continued to carry her. She passed the course. She got through the Uni interview, and was accepted onto a very coveted degree course.
What did she want to be? A midwife.
Now, she was a lovely girl, and I wish her well. However, everyone could see she had no hope of completing the degree. IMO she is a prime example of one of the reasons the system is struggling.
I think it all comes down to money and politics. Grammar schools show social status and profess to educate the better students, and I suppose yes they do, but do they produce more nice and honest people than state schools? not always.
I went to a state school, my daughter goes to a state school. I didn't do very well only because I didn't apply myself. I'm doing better now as an adult. My daughter is predicted 9 GCSE's and is ready to go on to college. She is basically a good decent kid (with hitches here and there as with all teens) so I don't know that going to a grammar school would've changed that.
I had friends who went to grammar schools and they're not working - just stay at home mum's like any other.
I still think how you get on in life is down to your upbringing your surroundings and your parental guidance. The rest just follows.
i went to grama skoul, did me no herm
H.x
Probably would've gone the private route and hoped I had the discipline to work hard at their local social life.
