Would you give up your job and go on benefits to get your child into the "right" school?

[Dorothy]

I heard that R4 programme and enjoyed every minute of it Yak.

[Saffron]

I think that's the same one posted on the schools thread the in the Drawing Room. Yes, very interesting!

[????]

Soooooooooooooo you put them into a 'better' school which may have a positive outcome on their life and put them into a socio-economic srtata that is more likely to have a negative outcome :-S

[Saffron]

Yes, that's a very good point. I like the way you word it!

To the best of my understanding, the gist of the R4 discussion and other reports I've read, is that schools do matter but not much. I then find myself asking, Why do people get so wound up about schools? Is it b/c schools are perceived (rightly or wrongly) as being inextricably linked to socio-economic environment?

[Yak]

I think "better schools" is quite often code for "not living in an overpriced shoebox of a house and being woken by sirens in the middle of the night". I can quite understand people wanting to move for a whole host of reasons (including shoeboxes and sirens), but the emphasis on it being solely for the children's education seems, well, a little skewed to me.

[prickle]

Otta: "I think what some people may describe as "better" (and I am NOT talking about Saffron) is probably more accurately described as "white middle class twee"."

:)) Yes, I think this often boils down to a lifestyle issue.

[Saffron]

Yak Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think "better schools" is quite often code for

> "not living in an overpriced shoebox of a house

> and being woken by sirens in the middle of the

> night". I can quite understand people wanting to

> move for a whole host of reasons (including

> shoeboxes and sirens), but the emphasis on it

> being solely for the children's education seems,

> well, a little skewed to me.

Yes, totally agree. Is it that moving involves a lot a sacrifice, and people don't feel they would do it just for themselves. So, when children come along, parents would then be willing to make the leap, in the name of "better schools" (whatever that means to them personally)?