Choosing a secondary school

Was a choice between Southmoor or Venerable Bede for mine. Southmoor does better results wise these days and now has a sixth form so I would have preferred he went there but all of his mates were going to Venerable Bede so that's where we sent him.

Just told him if he fucked up his GCSEs he's going to the Army to be a human shield so the tanks don't get scuffed by bullets and he seems to work hard to avoid it.
 


FishburnMackem said:
I can't speak as a parent however will give my opinion as a relatively recent student.

I would absolutely go for the school which has the best proven track record at achieving high pass marks, not only high pass marks but more importantly you need to be looking for consistency. I went to Sedgefield Community College which was pretty decently rated at the time I started (2004) but by the time I left it was a f***ing shambles. I completely feel like I was let down by the school in that they couldn't keep teachers and the ones they employed were inadequate. I once had 6 different science teachers within a year, I went the last year having no business studies teacher so they got in a student from Newcastle uni to work on a placement teaching us (fuck me she was fit, the only reason I managed to get double AA :lol: ).

Look for the school which has consistently exceeded averages in the area, I went to Sedgefield due to convenience I think as it was only a few miles away. I'm not doing too bad now but I think had I went to a different school and performed slightly better my career choice would have been drastically different, for the better.

Make sure you encourage the child to stay in contact with their friends from different schools but as they say, you make new friends straight away, sometimes
(more often than not) for the better if you are attending a better school.
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This all makes sense, and sounds like monkeyhouse at the minute. They seem to have no English dept. However her mam is happy for her to go there, and she’s a teacher.
My overwhelming desire is still to keep up the family tradition and have both kids at the school where their parents, aunties, uncles and cousins all went. And that they can walk to in 10 mins, rather than an hour or a bus ride.
Some Random Guy said:
Was a choice between Southmoor or Venerable Bede for mine. Southmoor does better results wise these days and now has a sixth form so I would have preferred he went there but all of his mates were going to Venerable Bede so that's where we sent him.

Just told him if he fucked up his GCSEs he's going to the Army to be a human shield so the tanks don't get scuffed by bullets and he seems to work hard to avoid it.
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Our lasses son has just joined the army and my son think’s he’s an idiot. Mind, he also thinks he’ll be able to get away with doing nothing for 5 years, then turn up and pass all his exams from memory.
 
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Dave Herbal said:
This all makes sense, and sounds like monkeyhouse at the minute. They seem to have no English dept. However her mam is happy for her to go there, and she’s a teacher.
My overwhelming desire is still to keep up the family tradition and have both kids at the school where their parents, aunties, uncles and cousins all went. And that they can walk to in 10 mins, rather than an hour or a bus ride.
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Honestly marra consistency is priceless with regards to education.You can have a smashing teacher and perform exceptionally one year but if the mixture isn't right and you end up with a shithouse the next year the interest will fade which will be reflective in the grades achieved.

I suppose you have to have a bit of luck tbf, but I would be going for the most consistent high performing school, regardless of distance (to a certain degree).
 
Dave Herbal said:
Trouble is, I base my choices on my school experience, which was spending most of my time pissing about and having a laugh but still got all my GCSEs with B grades. I wasn’t swotty enough to get A’s, and frankly couldn’t be bothered to put any more effort in than I did. I think these kids who appear in the Echo with 9 A*s need to get out more. Anyway, The point is that I don’t think this would have been any different if I’d gone to any other school.

PE
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But you aren't wired up right. Your daughter may want something different. I agree education isn't the be all and end all of life but she might as well get the best you can offer.
 
Dave Herbal said:
Our lasses son has just joined the army and my son think’s he’s an idiot. Mind, he also thinks he’ll be able to get away with doing nothing for 5 years, then turn up and pass all his exams from memory.
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I wouldn't judge him for joining the services, I would just rather he had a job with less risk of getting killed or maimed.
 
Don’t choose monkwearmouth, our lass quit there end of last school year as it’s an absolute shambles.
Think a load of teachers left.
 
Dave Herbal said:
This all makes sense, and sounds like monkeyhouse at the minute. They seem to have no English dept. However her mam is happy for her to go there, and she’s a teacher.
My overwhelming desire is still to keep up the family tradition and have both kids at the school where their parents, aunties, uncles and cousins all went. And that they can walk to in 10 mins, rather than an hour or a bus ride.

Our lasses son has just joined the army and my son think’s he’s an idiot. Mind, he also thinks he’ll be able to get away with doing nothing for 5 years, then turn up and pass all his exams from memory.
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How else is he going to pass them.....
 
Some Random Guy said:
I wouldn't judge him for joining the services, I would just rather he had a job with less risk of getting killed or maimed.
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I wish someone had told me to join the forces when I was 16 instead of college. Ended up there 3 years and achieving 2x level 3 qualifications but couldn't get an apprenticeship so they're absolutely worthless.

Wouldn't have minded joining the RAF or doing A levels to apply to be an army officer. Would likely be far better off than I am now. The choice for school leavers generally seems to be either "A levels or get a trade" with very little context applied, this needs to improve IMO.
 
Low achievers in the best school will probably do better than the average kids in a bad school.
The calibre of teaching is higher so they can get more out of the poor kids, and really push the good kids to excel.
In a bad school, there may be exceptions where a handful kids do well, but they might only have a pass rate of 65% of A-C (or whatever it is now) grades.
The good school might have 90%, which suggests even average kids at the good school are out performing the good kids in the bad.
The teachers and vision of the school are what will help.
Think of it in football terms where a bad egg can upset a whole dressing room.
Imagine two or three idiots in each classroom.
Get the kids to the best possible school with the least rogues.
 
lenwood said:
Don’t choose monkwearmouth, our lass quit there end of last school year as it’s an absolute shambles.
Think a load of teachers left.
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Haway man, I know that more than anyone. I’m down there more than half of the teachers with Child A’s problems, but I’d still send her there.
 
Get your child into the beat school you can.
They only have one shot at secondary education.

I teach in a school that has some serious behaviour issues that ruins the education for 95% of the cohort. We have some brilliant, kind, lovely kids but their education is ruined by some utter unteachable scrotes.

The SLT will not permantly exclude. One kid has been a nightmare since year 7 with feckless “parents” and was finally permantly excluded for assaulting a member of staff.

They have been at the school 3 years already and it was only because the husband of the teacher came down to the school and threatened to sue the HT in the civil courts for failure to protect his wife that they got rid of him.

The school could be outstanding if they adopted a zero tolerance on behaviour as I see some of the best teaching and learning I’ve ever seen in this place.
 
We don't live in Sunderland so it's not any school in that area.

My son goes to a school which for the past 3 Ofsted's has been requires improvement. It's been slowly getting better but very slow. They've got rid of a vast majority of the bad teachers and it is now an academy, and a lot of the new teachers have come from other schools in the trust which have turned round the other schools (seem to be having the same impact at his school). 2 of the local schools, one a bus ride away, one a little more difficult to get to are both outstanding.

We live across the road from his and all his friends go there, so he doesn't want to move. I have had concerns in the past, he's now in year 10 and is doing really well, on target for all Be and if he puts the effort in As are easily achievable. I do think being happy and settled is a major part of the whole selection process. Obviously kids do make new friends but that depends on the kid. He might have had better teaching elsewhere but would he have been happy?
 
Dave Herbal said:
Do you believe you should choose the best possible school to give your child the best possible chance (even if it involves moving house or changing religion)? Do you go with the school that’s most convenient? Or do you ask the child and let them go where their friends are going?
Long story short: son is at a poor school (monkwearmouth) but it’s convenient (walking distance)
Daughter’s got to choose now, and all her friends parents have chosen a ‘better’ school (Whitburn) but it’s a bus ride away. Some have even chosen the catholic school (St Anthony’s)
I’d rather she went to the convenient one as it makes everyone’s life easier. I also believe cream rises to the top and bright kids (she is) will prosper at any school, so I’m not that concerned about her prospects. But if it was me I’d hate to be separated from my friends (although I know you make new friends right away at a new school).

Dilemma.....

How did you choose?
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You only have one childhood, my kids go to their local schools regardless of how good or bad they are. Ironically, I think both are outstanding but first-hand experience does not reflect that. If's she's bright, she'll do well regardless.
Gillythedilf said:
I know of 4 instances where I can comment on this ;

Personally I got my kids Christened as Catholic’s so I could send them to a better school that wasn’t mixed sexes .

An old mate of mine sends his boy to school out of town and goes to the trouble of moving house to make it easier to get him there .


Another good friend of mine sends his Boys to a private school as he thinks that will give them a better start in life .

Couple next door who have just moved in came from Cleadon to Sunderland so that they are in the catchment area for St Aidens and St Anthony’s .

You do whatever you thinks best at the time for your kids ,all 3 of us are probs wasting our times but you’ve got to try imo .



Saying that a mate of mine let his daughter go to Thornhill school as it’s the closest .I warned him that there is a good chance she will get in with a curtain closer going there and he laughed .
I was correct .
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why would you want your kids to grow up away from the other sex?
 
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Dave Herbal said:
Do you believe you should choose the best possible school to give your child the best possible chance (even if it involves moving house or changing religion)? Do you go with the school that’s most convenient? Or do you ask the child and let them go where their friends are going?
Long story short: son is at a poor school (monkwearmouth) but it’s convenient (walking distance)
Daughter’s got to choose now, and all her friends parents have chosen a ‘better’ school (Whitburn) but it’s a bus ride away. Some have even chosen the catholic school (St Anthony’s)
I’d rather she went to the convenient one as it makes everyone’s life easier. I also believe cream rises to the top and bright kids (she is) will prosper at any school, so I’m not that concerned about her prospects. But if it was me I’d hate to be separated from my friends (although I know you make new friends right away at a new school).

Dilemma.....

How did you choose?
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disagree. send her to the one with the best results. she will make new friends, but being surrounded by dimwits and scratters will hinder her academic, physical and social prospects.
 
cornish mackem said:
The top universities look at gcse results as part of the application. Education in the better schools isn’t just about passing it’s about passing at the highest possible achieved grades.
We tried to get The bairn to do her 11+ but she wanted to go to where her mates were going which I think we all now regret.
It’s a different mind set “passing “ or “excelling “
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I read CVs everyday and never bother looking at the education sections. Pushing your kids too hard may result in them being over-educated. We see a lot of people like that apply for our Jobs, some from top universities but they don't have natural intelligence and the wheels come off pretty quick.
 

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