Gutted, Did not get the school place we wanted

[NWJocko]

If there is only one school then you just go to it. If there are 2 or 3 then you look for the best and feel disappointed if you don't get it even if they are all better than the 1st one in the first analogy. The point is you want the best for your kids, not second or third best. Having children makes you very protective of everything that they are involved in. That is parenting.

Thanks for the lecture, I've 2 of my own. :thup:

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Not meant as a lecture. Just pointing out for people who don't have kids why this matters to parents. If you did not have kids you may wonder what the fuss is all about and think, just get on with it. Your point was a fair one, if you have one school you just go to it. It is the pschological aspect of wanting the best for your kids.

 

[Alex1975]

Not meant as a lecture. Just pointing out for people who don't have kids why this matters to people. If you did not have kids you may wonder what the fuss is all about and think, just get on with it.

I think its what I would have thought a few years back.

 

[Rooter]

But again it is not the kids fault, especially at primary school age. The logical extension of your argument may well be that all the kids with feckless parents go to one school and all the kids with nice middle parents go to another. But then what chance will the kids have with feckless parents? If they are allowed to integrate more with other types of kids then they might make more of their lives. If you put them all together then there will be a much greater probability that it is just a continuing circle of decline. Which will lead to even greater problems for us as a society later on.

So I play a social experiment with my kids? nah you're OK. I think kids should get tested at 4yrs old. if they are smart enough (Not just IQ etc, I have not thought about the test in full yet) but put the exceptional kids together etc and teach them at a level that suits. Rather than bring the top achievers down to the average.

For example, my eldest is the oldest in her school year (birthday 1st week sept!), so for example when she turned 6 a lot of her classmates had only just turned 5. The difference at that age is vast. There is a lot to be said for having 2 intakes per calender year! Anyway, do you bring the lower achievers up to average at the detriment of not developing the top achievers to be exceptional?

And we would have sent them to private school should we not have got anywhere decent, couldn't afford to mind you! But we would have found a way..

 

[Hacker Khan]

So I play a social experiment with my kids? nah you're OK. I think kids should get tested at 4yrs old. if they are smart enough (Not just IQ etc, I have not thought about the test in full yet) but put the exceptional kids together etc and teach them at a level that suits. Rather than bring the top achievers down to the average.

For example, my eldest is the oldest in her school year (birthday 1st week sept!), so for example when she turned 6 a lot of her classmates had only just turned 5. The difference at that age is vast. There is a lot to be said for having 2 intakes per calender year! Anyway, do you bring the lower achievers up to average at the detriment of not developing the top achievers to be exceptional?

And we would have sent them to private school should we not have got anywhere decent, couldn't afford to mind you! But we would have found a way..

Depends on what you mean by 'putting the exceptional kids together'. It is virtually impossible to properly stream kids from the age of 4, plus kids develop at vastly different rates. This is something a lot of people seem to not understand as they think there is linear progress, where as there often is not. Girls often develop much faster than boys for example at primary age. But the boys catch up. Other kids struggle at KS1 and then accelerate in KS2. And vice versa.

A good teacher will be able to stretch the more able whilst at the same time push the less able at the same time in the same class. And that is done in any half decent class already and if you observed it you would see there is often 3 or 4 'mini classes' going on at once anyway. If you mean separate them into different classes then in my opinion that is very problematic, especially if you are assessing them at the age of 4. I wonder if you would have the same views if your child was one of the youngest and was potentially struggling in some areas due to no other reason than their age? This kind of highlights the pressure the teachers are under as most parents (understandably) mostly want what is best for their child, and don't take more of a holistic view.

Plus the government and Ofsted is really focusing on 'closing the gap', so to try and ensure that disadvantaged kids (e.g. Free school meals, SEN), progress as much as non disadvantaged kids. Which again is a huge challenge for teachers under increasing financial constraints. As there is only so much focus one teacher plus a TA if they are lucky, can give.