Few children from SE22 are privately educated

[jimbo1964]

My son's only fourteen months old and I've already got school anxiety. In my day all you had to do was pass your eleven plus and go to Grammar School.

[cdonline]

James Wrote:

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> So did you go to Haberdashers' in the end

> cdonline? That was our first choice - our son was

> in the top band but we received a letter to say he

> was 84th on the waiting list. We decided not to

> bother appealing! They don't seem to give a hoot

> if your kid is bright, hard-working and motivated,

> he'd be much better off if he had a statement.

> Which seems a little unfair.

I did. I got in after the term had started, about six weeks.

Mum phoned or went to the school every day, got the headmaster from my primary school to do everything he could and just kept trying.

[James]

Wow. Was it worth it in the end? What was the school like? We lookeed at the figures - last year there were something like 120 appeals, of which two were successful. That swung it for us... plus the scholarship. The school he's going to is lovely, thank goodness.

Advice for Jimbo - move as near the school of your choice and check the oversubscription criteria asap...

[Monkey]

My children are not even born, in fact I am not even pregnant, and you guys are giving me school anxiety. Did not think this was all so complicated (upper band? Statement? Harassing headteachers?) I am starting to agree with my hubby who wants to send our future brood to the French Lycee. The French administration seems like a piece of cake compared to what you are describing.

[Asset]

My son is going to Charter, they had not asked to see his KS results until after he was offered the place so I'm not sure that the argument above follows

[TillieTrotter]

speaking of those Asset, have you been given them?

[macker]

trinity Wrote:

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> My kids are at 2 different private schools in the

> immediate area and I have noticed that there are

> very few children with SE22 postcodes in their

> classes eg in my daughter's class of 24 children,

> only 2 live in SE22. The situation is similar in

> my son's school. In fact more children live in

> Wandsworth than se22.

You don't say what age they are. Anyway, yes at first it will be Balham-city, but each year that goes by, you'll find that more are local. With the selectivity of the schools, it is sensible to get those places secured then move locally.

[Asset]

TT aren't they the KS results from end of Yr 5 which are on last years report? We don't have next lot until the sats are finished

[TillieTrotter]

Ah right. Will have to dig those out for Monday then. Cheers Asset.

[reenie40]

I think even though many SE22 residents would be seen to have a decent income if you have more than one child, trying to find the extra for private education is really difficult. My daughter will transfer to secondary in two years from one of the really good local state primary schools and I find most parents are crossing their fingers and hoping that if enough kids who go to a good primary and have good parental support go to the local state secondary schools, then these schools will get better. Agree with the banding thing being frustrating too - when my son applied to Haberdashers many years ago it was suggested to me that he would be better off being at the bottom of the top band, or the top of the middle band. I didn't ask him to dumb down and we managed to find another school that we liked.

[James]

I think it's laughable that Haberdashers' calls itself an Academy (i.e. a comprehensive). A percentage of the kids are getting in on music scholarships (how fair is this to the disadvantaged?) and rather than serving the immediate community, kids from a wider area are allowed in by the complex oversubscription rules (presumably designed to limit the number of genuinely poor kids from the immediate area surrounding the school who might drag down the results). Those who know how to work the system are more likely to be middle-class, while the banding system discriminates against brighter, poorer kids. What an absolute mess.

[citizenED]

Back to the original post - what's to say that ED families are not sending their kids to private schools in other areas?

[cdonline]

James Wrote:

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> I think it's laughable that Haberdashers' calls

> itself an Academy (i.e. a comprehensive). A

> percentage of the kids are getting in on music

> scholarships (how fair is this to the

> disadvantaged?) and rather than serving the

> immediate community, kids from a wider area are

> allowed in by the complex oversubscription rules

> (presumably designed to limit the number of

> genuinely poor kids from the immediate area

> surrounding the school who might drag down the

> results). Those who know how to work the system

> are more likely to be middle-class, while the

> banding system discriminates against brighter,

> poorer kids. What an absolute mess.

There was a big hoo-ha about the status of the school around the time I left. The School was very keen to maintain its Six form, which was under threat by the ILEA.

[trinity]

I only know one family that send their children out of the area to be privately educated and that was to Newton Prep (in Vauxhall I think). I don't think that is the reason but I am happy for someone to prove me wrong.

At senior school I think that there is an influx of local children so perhaps the numbers of percentage of children from SE22 increases.

I think that SE22 doesn't (yet) have the wealth/age demographic that tends to private schooling. In addition I wonder whether the housing stock in SE22 will ever support that demographic eg more flats & smaller houses than SE21.

[macroban]

> In addition I wonder whether the housing stock in SE22 will ever support that demographic eg more flats & smaller houses than SE21.

If there is a property price crash for flats (conversions) it will be interesting to see whether smart developers do reverse conversions to family houses and make a neat profit in the process.

[Brendan]

Let?s hope so. I hate the concept of conversions. Makes you feel like you?re living in a house-share.

[Cassius]

It will also make it easier to park outside your house!

[citizenED]

I know of two SE22 families who send their kids to independent schools in another borough. But I agree that SE22 does not have the private education demographic.

[Townleygreen]

A survey I had sight of a couple of years ago showed that Alleyn's pupils came overwhelmingly from local postcodes (SE21, 22, 24, 5). SE22 was second only to SE21. Significant minorities came from Blackheath, Balham, Clapham, Battersea, Beckenham and Wandsworth.

I would be surprised if things have changed around that much in a couple of years.

Certainly, it seems likely that SE22 people would stick with their excellent primary schools till 11. Of the 125 places the school offers at 11, 40 will be filled by its Junior School pretty well automatically. So it is around 600 applicants going for the remaining 85 places. A number of those will be applying from private juniors and preps. Apparently, before their Junior School opened in 1992, 85% of Alleyns intake was from state primaries.

[louisiana]

There are kids in this street that go to JAGS etc.and I've known other locals go to Dulwich College. Parents with secondary age kids will have paid relatively little for their home but it's still not easy finding the fees, which seem to have gone up very rapidly in recent years.

[david_carnell]

James Wrote:

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

> I think it's laughable that Haberdashers' calls

> itself an Academy (i.e. a comprehensive). A

> percentage of the kids are getting in on music

> scholarships (how fair is this to the

> disadvantaged?) and rather than serving the

> immediate community, kids from a wider area are

> allowed in by the complex oversubscription rules

> (presumably designed to limit the number of

> genuinely poor kids from the immediate area

> surrounding the school who might drag down the

> results). Those who know how to work the system

> are more likely to be middle-class, while the

> banding system discriminates against brighter,

> poorer kids. What an absolute mess.

I'll say right from the start I don't have any children and so am probably massively under-qualified to comment on any of this but this comment strikes me as somewhat hypocritical. You said in another post that you had to resort to sending your own children to private school because the only other choice was a "sink school". I presume the use of the word "sink" suggests that they are performing poorly on league tables - the holy grail of parent choice.

Yet you decry Haberdashers because they dare try and attract those children who are already bright or musically gifted in order to improve their league table exam results. If they did as you suggest and allow in "poor" children from the local area despite being an excellent establishment they would, no doubt, achieve lower results. Ergo you would no longer want to send your children there. You cannot have it both ways.

I don't blame you for sending your kids to private school. It's your money. But don't chastise the system that you rely on to inform your choice. IMO league tables are themselves to blame. The lack of them in the past never seemed to hinder parent choice. We all knew good schools from bad. But at least then education could be for education's sake and not for climbing up one more notch on the dreaded league table.

[KalamityKel]

Also to quote james...

James Wrote:

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

> I think it's laughable that Haberdashers' calls

> itself an Academy (i.e. a comprehensive). A

> percentage of the kids are getting in on music

> scholarships (how fair is this to the

> disadvantaged?)

Is not offering scholarships to those musicially gifted who would not necessarilarly have the opportunity at other schools helping the "disadvantaged"?

[trinity]

My experience to date has only been with the prep age range and I have noticed a distinct lack of children from SE22 and particularly from the east side of Lordship Lane.

From comments so far on this thread it does seem as if there is an influx of local children at 11. This suggests that there is a confidence in the state primary schools which is does not exist for secondary schools.

[SteveT]

My ex-wife insisted that our children were privately educated and paid for that privilege, she had had a similar background and went on to cambridge and in to medicine.

I did not know what a university was nor a private education.

Having seen what happens to the children through this system, I wondered if a more fruitful investment might be to put that education money into a property(?)

The children would have a place to live and a possibility to sub-let to ease any forthcoming financial burdens.

It is not meant to inflame anyone, it's just a thought.

[blinder999]

what does 'happen to the children through this system' Steve? Just curious.