Glitter
Goddess of rock!
I'm on babynbump and between the spelling and some of the batshit mental ideas some of the American posters have I find it hard work at times.
Schools in Lambeth discussion thread
- Thread starter Gramsci
- Start date
I'm on babynbump and between the spelling and some of the batshit mental ideas some of the American posters have I find it hard work at times.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Didn't Brighton try a lottery system?
MillwallShoes
Don't kill the Lion
this would be a good idea.
can you imagine the screams and howls from the middle class parents who really, truly wretch at the idea of their little cupcakes mixing with poorer kids? there's some who unflinchingly, without humor or irony, admit as such. "oh is that the school with a lot of scummy kids?"
great idea though.
MillwallShoes
Don't kill the Lion
got enough books now to see me through i think so i can avoid the forums. toddler tamer is ace.
trashpony
Hag
Dunno. I used to live in Camden and my friends who live off Finchley Rd got given a place for their daughter by Kings X. Completely fucking hopeless in terms of logistics. They got her another place closer on appeal but I think in London, a lottery with big inner London boroughs would be really crap and would end up with no one being very happy.
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
I've done a few school visits over thae last few months and IMHO a lot of them reminded me of estate agents.
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
But amusing when the thread is discussing dh's unreasonable demands for a bit of oral
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
A lottery - as a way of sorting children's futures - is much better than selection by mortgage or faith.
Parents may wail - but largely because their house price would fall!
Thora
Differently Ethical
I don't live in Lambeth but in an inner city area with similar school issues, and would LOVE to be able to send my son to a good, local school. Unfortunately, there's a chance he won't get into any local school (not one within walking distance/a km) and secondly, most of the local schools are rubbish. So the possibility of moving out to somewhere where we could just pick the nearest school, get a place, and he would get a reasonable education is definitely something I am bearing in mind.
But lottery being better than mortgage or faith is like saying hanging is better than electric chair or beheading. We can do better than all of these.
Thora
Differently Ethical
A couple of the secondary academies near me select by entrance exam, which then puts children into ability bands and (I assume by lottery) chooses an equal number from each band.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
It's still a catchment, but with ability bands to stop the rich clustering around the school gates.
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
Are you saying rich people are generally brighter ?
Thora
Differently Ethical
It's not a catchment area in that anyone can apply though, regardless of where they live.
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
Anyone can apply to any school but the crucial factor is distance generally
Thora
Differently Ethical
Yes, but my point was that these particular academies don't use distance as a factor in admissions.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
The point is that everyone gets the same throw of the dice, so that (ideally) the result is a statistically even mix of rich/poor/black/white etc.
Why can't we just organise it that way so ideally becomes the reality?
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Generally they do use distance. They let in the nearest 20 kids in ability band A, the nearest 20 in Band B etc.
Exceptionally, Kingsdale in Dulwich has no catchment ... but is planning to introduce one
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Fine, if you can work out a way of doing it.
Let's not dream though because:
1) The government likes backdoor selection (faith schools, academies)
2) It is very hard to win people over to the ruthless beauty of lotteries
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
Kingsdale currently uses the lottery system and from the number of kids at the banding test it doesn't seem to be a problem for a lot of people. I'd be surprised if they abandoned this in favour of a catchment because the head is very proud of the schools diversity if his speech at the open day is to be believed.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
Go Kingsdale! A model for us all. Mind you, they have been accused of fixing exam results!
Of course, there's no way that the system will change to anything fair soon. The government is inequality's biggest cheerleader. But I was talking about an ideal, which is practically possible and workable, just not supported. One thing we can all remain certain of is that the education system remains rotten to the core, well that's what I believe anyway.
MillwallShoes
Don't kill the Lion
i can totally see where you're coming from, and i would do the same, but the ability to move, to choose schools, is part of the problem. you end up with schools that are bad, but the parents can't afford to move, so have to send their kids there, and thus the whole problem is repeated.
either all schools improve to a good standard, or parents send their kids to "bad schools" for the better sake of education and society in general is the only real way to solve what is a pretty sorry imo situation, especially in the inner cities. i have read about left-wing parents sending their kids to bad, inner city schools out of principle, but it's human nature to want the best for your child primarily i suppose.
MillwallShoes
Don't kill the Lion
i read somewhere that london state schools at all levels are the best in the country.
Thora
Differently Ethical
I'm not sure if I entirely understand - are you saying if certain types of parents (richer ones?) send their children to bad schools then the schools will improve?
MillwallShoes
Don't kill the Lion
i think it'll help. it comes back to the age old question whether it is the pupils or the school that make a school. i believe it is a mixture of both.
Winot
I wholeheartedley agree with your viewpoint
Lambeth is in the top ten boroughs nationally of %age children attending a good or outstanding school (Ofsted assessed). 84% iirc.
Hackney is much lower - in the 50s% I think. I'll try and find the link.
Leaving aside issues with Ofsted etc. Lambeth primaries are really not bad.
No, they're not. Most schools have an amazing and dedicated workforce and parents . However, there are a lot of things about them that are not good: growing segregation and disparity, schools with more SEN than they can handle. And like all schools in the country, a narrow curriculum and too much testing. And as schools are judged on results, schools with more EAL and SEN students have to spend even more time and effort focusing on getting these results. A Lambeth mum told me that her son used to do the most lovely paintings at nursery and now he doesn't ever seem to do anything creative, too much time on the 3 Rs. It's not the school's fault, it's the system.
