Choosing a secondary school

Notorious N O B said:
Took my daughter out of St Anthonys after a couple year. Too bitchy
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You can get bitchiness in any school though. I went to one of mixed sex and there was plenty of it there!

I know a couple of girls who go to St Anthonys and are very happy. Of course its an individual experience so definitely the right thing to move a child if its affecting them in a negative way.
 


Hep said:
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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It depends what you want out of a candidate.
 
Hep said:
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.

why would you want your kids to grow up away from the other sex?
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Speaking from personal experience I found lasses a distraction when I was in the comp especially .To busy chasing the birds rather than concentrating on my work.

Plenty of time for that after school .
 
Zak's Dad said:
On this one point, she'll achieve a certain level in an average school, but bright kids being taught in schools which foster higher aspirations as normal, surrounded by other bright kids will achieve a higher level.

By the time she's choosing a university / course the paths may be demonstrably different.
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I'm no expert but every school will have average and non learning kids in their catchment so they all have to teach a wide set.My son's at monkwearmouth and i'm sure all the parents (most who did average at school) are flapping about the recent Ofsted but I wouldn't call it a poor school .My son is in different sets to his mates and gets marked and judged accordingly .He's quite stressed at the minute due to work they are expected to do and the timescale so they aren't holding back on these kids.Ofsted .to me makes observations then rather than crack on and sort in a sensible manner just throws it out there causing parents to drag kids out and teachers to leave .Great result .For the first time in 4 years he has problems at school and he says its since the ofsted report not before
 
nyron4england said:
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.
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Didn’t do me any harm
JAZZMANB said:
I'm no expert but every school will have average and non learning kids in their catchment so they all have to teach a wide set.My son's at monkwearmouth and i'm sure all the parents (most who did average at school) are flapping about the recent Ofsted but I wouldn't call it a poor school .My son is in different sets to his mates and gets marked and judged accordingly .He's quite stressed at the minute due to work they are expected to do and the timescale so they aren't holding back on these kids.Ofsted .to me makes observations then rather than crack on and sort in a sensible manner just throws it out there causing parents to drag kids out and teachers to leave .Great result .For the first time in 4 years he has problems at school and he says its since the ofsted report not before
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We’ve been down loads recently and his teacher mam says it’s a f***ing shit school and the teachers claiming it’s not are embarrassing. They’re going to fail the ofsted reassessment at the current rates. The SEN provision is almost non existent.
 
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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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Quitter
Dave Herbal said:
Didn’t do me any harm

We’ve been down loads recently and his teacher mam says it’s a f***ing shit school and the teachers claiming it’s not are embarrassing. They’re going to fail the ofsted reassessment at the current rates. The SEN provision is almost non existent.
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So what makes your teachers view from outside better than a teachers view from inside ? genuine question .Unlike yourself ,ive been to every parents meeting going as has his mother who is a teacher .I went to monky house and expected the worst when I went in his first year and was and have been impressed .Now i'm sure if you put it under the miscroscope and go through it bit by bit like they did clearly not enough boxes are ticked .Off the back of that it gets turned into a school no one wants to be in .That's not right to me
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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His parents will be gutted as well .Luckily you've taken steps for your kids to avoid certain people .That will back fire at some point
 
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You are lucky to have an actual choice.
Down here you supposedly get a choice but in reality there is little choice. There is a bit of an art to it all.

You know your child, see if you can choose the best "fit" for your child, their abilities, strengths and weaknesses.

Are they highly academic will they thrive in a highly academic school?
Would a school that values the child's all round persona suit your child better.
Are extra curricular activities on offer, wanted etc. <- Some schools are great, some aren't.
 
JAZZMANB said:
Quitter

So what makes your teachers view from outside better than a teachers view from inside ? genuine question .Unlike yourself ,ive been to every parents meeting going as has his mother who is a teacher .I went to monky house and expected the worst when I went in his first year and was and have been impressed .Now i'm sure if you put it under the miscroscope and go through it bit by bit like they did clearly not enough boxes are ticked .Off the back of that it gets turned into a school no one wants to be in .That's not right to me

His parents will be gutted as well .Luckily you've taken steps for your kids to avoid certain people .That will back fire at some point
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Tbf we are mostly going on the massive failings they’ve shown in SEN. Then we have 19 teachers leaving and now N has disappeared on the sick. The SENCO left last year and they’ve failed to replace her. At parents evening I had teachers actually asking me how to teach my kid.
then to top it off we went to open evening for the daughter and they spent so long bigging themselves up there wasn’t time to look round the whole school. Now I’m finding out that all of the parents I know seem to be putting Whitburn down as their first choice.
 
Dave Herbal said:
Tbf we are mostly going on the massive failings they’ve shown in SEN. Then we have 19 teachers leaving and now N has disappeared on the sick. The SENCO left last year and they’ve failed to replace her. At parents evening I had teachers actually asking me how to teach my kid.
then to top it off we went to open evening for the daughter and they spent so long bigging themselves up there wasn’t time to look round the whole school. Now I’m finding out that all of the parents I know seem to be putting Whitburn down as their first choice.
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Whitburn has a very good rep and always oversubscribed as a result I believe. St Anthony's also has a very good academic record (one of the best in Sunderland) and almost certainly easier to get a place in regardless of religion, but my sense is that it's still quite an old-fashioned draconian educational environment, albeit getting great results and now with improved facilities. I definitely believe you need to try to match the school to the child though. Some kids need a more nurturing environment to thrive in, some will relish a formal set up, others have SEN needs or a particular extra-curricular interest better managed in some schools over others. Personally (as a veteran of St Aidan's) I don't think single sex secondary schools are a particularly good preparation for life but I only realised this later.
 
Dave Herbal said:
Tbf we are mostly going on the massive failings they’ve shown in SEN. Then we have 19 teachers leaving and now N has disappeared on the sick. The SENCO left last year and they’ve failed to replace her. At parents evening I had teachers actually asking me how to teach my kid.
then to top it off we went to open evening for the daughter and they spent so long bigging themselves up there wasn’t time to look round the whole school. Now I’m finding out that all of the parents I know seem to be putting Whitburn down as their first choice.
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The Whitburn thing is a natural reaction from parents over reacting.I didn't know that many teachers had left but by Ofsted they aren't very good anyway . I just don't get the method Ofsted use ,the aftermath of a bad rating and how its handled just makes the situation much worse .What do we do? close the place ?What are the new team supposed to do when that many staff walk ? I 've had the opposite experience at the school regards teachers ,switched on,helpful and gave structured feedback back and forecasts for where my son is.Can't imagine thick unruly kids are banned from whitburn
 
Dave Herbal said:
How do you mean a higher level? If you’re planning on going to sixth form/college, as long as you pass all your GCSEs with good enough grades you’ll get on the A level courses you want. Once you’ve reached that stage, nobody looks at your GCSE results ever again. Once you get beyond showing off to other parents, 9 Bs and Cs are as good as 9 A*s, or whatever they are now. Might be different if your planning on going straight into a job of course, but why would you waste that big A* brain?
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Untrue if you're aiming for a top top uni or Med, Dentistry or Veterinary
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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It's also about mixing with the right people my sister was privately educated which meant she mixed with good people and ended up becoming a dentist. I went to state school and got in with the wrong people and have had to work much harder since leaving education to get to half the level she is now at
 
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