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English schools...are they all bad?

English schools...are they all bad?

Old Nov 12th 2007, 2:43 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Just my bit on this... My son has not had any problems with bullying at all. In fact, he has made some good friends and had really good teachers. He loves his school so much, (Alsager), that when we moved further out he decided he wanted to stay at that school. It meant taking the bus for over an hour before and after school, but he didnt mind. He now attends six form there.
I think the media definitely blow things out of proportion. He has a great group of friends and teachers that seem to take interest in the kids.
No complaints from me about the schools!
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Old Nov 12th 2007, 3:09 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by calle 1
Just my bit on this... My son has not had any problems with bullying at all. In fact, he has made some good friends and had really good teachers. He loves his school so much, (Alsager), that when we moved further out he decided he wanted to stay at that school. It meant taking the bus for over an hour before and after school, but he didnt mind. He now attends six form there.
I think the media definitely blow things out of proportion. He has a great group of friends and teachers that seem to take interest in the kids.
No complaints from me about the schools!
calle, how do they compare to the FL schools in your opinion?

I'm sending my two oldest over to sixth form next year - they want to go to unie over there and am just curious as to your opinion on the differences.
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Old Nov 12th 2007, 7:11 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by Redlippie
calle, how do they compare to the FL schools in your opinion?

I'm sending my two oldest over to sixth form next year - they want to go to unie over there and am just curious as to your opinion on the differences.
What's an 'FL' school?
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Old Nov 12th 2007, 7:14 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by ezzie
What's an 'FL' school?
Florida...
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Old Nov 12th 2007, 7:30 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Couple of observations:

Yes, media hype is rather bad here. It's difficult to watch the news or read a newspaper for too long before you start feeling depressed. For every savage murder there are hundreds of thousands of amazing, human acts of kindness done every day but turn on the TV and all they seem to want to talk about is sensational crime cases and stories about the latest showbiz personality falling off the wagon. (I don't give a flying fart if Amy Winehouse is drunk again or cancelled another show ... :curse

Yes, there are some great schools but teaching has become a very difficult job since I first walked into a classroom in 1978, because of (a) poor support from spineless administrators when kids act up, and (b) the myriad of administrative duties getting in the way of what's important, i.e., teaching kids.

This news piece made me a bit mad: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7088383.stm - perhaps I'm being unfair, but I dare say if you put the pencil pusher who wrote this report in some inner city schools, he might just have a little trouble controlling the class, too.
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Old Nov 12th 2007, 10:26 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by ezzie
Crikey Bay, that's pretty poor isn't it? So which high school will you send your son to? I've heard it's just so competitive to get out of area places in the UK. Is there a good P & C group at the local high that can shake things up a bit? You'd think with a poor Ofsted report they'd be doing their damned best to improve things wouldn't you. Erika
PS. pop over here and coach me in maths...I'm afraid my maths suffered as a result of a rubbish English school. It wasn't till I left school that I discovered I had a brain! It's probably why I'm so anal-retentive about my kids education!
I'm sure the school and teachers are trying their best, but their hands are tied. I firmly believe its down the the behaviour of the children ... I've seen the pupils who attend the secondary school .. they're arrogant, rude, ill manered ... typical of a lot of children in city areas in England ... they know all their rights but nothing about responsibility ... they think the country owes them a living rather than having to work for it.

Because we're going to Australia we won't have to face the dilema the possibility of our son attending the school.
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 3:25 am
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Was this experience a one-off, or do you think English Ed really has slumped so badly?

I think we are all having fun finding examples of horrors or of heavens in the UK (lets include Scotland, Ireland and Wales as well as England) education establishment but my answer is that I don't know if this is a one off - your childrens' perception that is; and I dont think - 'English Ed' - whatever that is has 'slumped so badly'.
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 3:40 am
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Smile Re: English schools...are they all bad?

I think what we found talking to our friends who are from all over the UK - teamed with that of the real experience of our kids, is that UK education seems to be a lot more hit and miss than here in Oz. I do think the standard has dropped in the UK, and conversely has risen here in Oz, particularly in NSW. This is partly to do with the massive amounts of Aussie-born Chinese kids, whose parents are incredibly (understatement) driven to have their kids achieve academically.

Remember, I really want to return to the UK so was hoping we would find a comparitively robust education system. Our neigbours have just been teaching in a London school and she said (& they're Poms) that her 'job' was essentially to keep the kids from leaving school during the lesson (high school). If she could do this, then everyone felt she'd done her job well. This of course frustrated her massively, but there was just no controlling the class - and she's an excellent teacher here and very highly respected.

Sigh....maybe the whole of the middle classes in the UK will take out 2nd mortgages to go to private schools..that's what happened here. The tide has now turned though with private kids flooding back into the public sector.
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 10:14 am
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Our neigbours have just been teaching in a London school and she said (& they're Poms) that her 'job' was essentially to keep the kids from leaving school during the lesson (high school). If she could do this, then everyone felt she'd done her job well. This of course frustrated her massively, but there was just no controlling the class

OK lets get to the bottom of this. You have a neighbour - who is an excellent teacher and official policy is that she does a good job if she stops pupils from leaving class - somewhat akin to a goalers role I envisage. And there was no controlling this class. And she did not control the class..an excellent teacher - by your account.

Go on - name the school and let them have a say because really this is the sort of tangible measurable issue that separates middle class, middle aged attitudes which are being thrown out to the extent of slander - and now you - a golden tanned saviour has put her finger on a real example that we can use in the face of the school and the education authority as a challenge against their claims of competence.

Or are you just talking bollocks?
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 10:32 am
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by ezzie
Hi all...haven't been on expats for ages, but now sitting here with my bowl of imported Alpen feeling very homesick.

I'd love to return home but have some BIG reservations. We returned for a visit in June and our kids, 12,12 & 14 yrs, got to experience a day in a high school. Now, admittedly they are very bright possoms, but this school was in a reasonably good area. My kids loved the Pommy kids but found that the lessons were completely out of control (teacher had to blow a whistle in maths to get quiet) and the level of work was apparently between 1 to 2 years below what they are doing here in their Sydney schools.

Was this experience a one-off, or do you think English Ed really has slumped so badly? What about violence, bullying in UK schools. We don't have issues with our schools here, but we read some pretty hairy stories about UK schools.

Can anyone throw some light on this; would love to hear others' experiences.
Ta, ...now back to sobbing into my Alpen
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depends where you live .
myyoungest 2 are in a Cof E primary school,where there are only 95 pupils,to me ,this is exactly what is best for them,small classes, excellent teachers,who have the time to spend with the kids.
my eldest is in a high school with only 450 students.
both schools have strict policies on bullying,pride in wearing uniform etc,and expect manners and good standards.
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 10:35 am
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by used_car_salesman
Our neigbours have just been teaching in a London school and she said (& they're Poms) that her 'job' was essentially to keep the kids from leaving school during the lesson (high school). If she could do this, then everyone felt she'd done her job well. This of course frustrated her massively, but there was just no controlling the class

OK lets get to the bottom of this. You have a neighbour - who is an excellent teacher and official policy is that she does a good job if she stops pupils from leaving class - somewhat akin to a goalers role I envisage. And there was no controlling this class. And she did not control the class..an excellent teacher - by your account.

Go on - name the school and let them have a say because really this is the sort of tangible measurable issue that separates middle class, middle aged attitudes which are being thrown out to the extent of slander - and now you - a golden tanned saviour has put her finger on a real example that we can use in the face of the school and the education authority as a challenge against their claims of competence.

Or are you just talking bollocks?
Far from it...just trying to show that there's a wide spread of experiences depending on the school and the support given to its teaching staff. I've no idea which school it was, I don't demand proof during conversations, I just presume that her recollections of events were very real and were obviously distressing to her. And it certainly isn't about class; as the other postings prove, there's some schools that are doing a brilliant job in areas where the population face adversity. Conversely, as we saw, some schools with 'middle class kids' deliver a fairly average curriculum. It's been great to read everyone's comments here and see just how diverse the range of experiences is.
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 1:20 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by Redlippie
calle, how do they compare to the FL schools in your opinion?

I'm sending my two oldest over to sixth form next year - they want to go to unie over there and am just curious as to your opinion on the differences.
I suppose by reading this thread and of course the media that there are 'bad' schools here and yes there are 'bad' kids, but to be fair there are loads of good ones. To compare in my situation; my son (coming from Florida schools), adjusted really fast thanks to good kids that quickly befriended him and also to good teachers that bothered to keep me informed on his progress.
He absolutely loves it and when I asked him if he would prefer to return and go to school in the states he flatly said 'no'. He has shown me his work and I would say the level of teaching and learning are close, and he attended gifted classes in the states. He has worked on countless projects, done work experience (which I thought was brilliant), and is eager to continue his education after six form by going to uni. He and his friends get together occasionally to go to the cinema or harmless comic conventions and such. He loves that he can get around easier here due to better public transport. He and his friends are well mannered and have their futures in mind. Like I say, this is just my experience but it shows that there is a full range, just like anywhere. I do agree however that much more power needs to be given back to teachers and people in authority to up the standards and to knock off some of this disrepect that you see in some kids...everywhere. Parents do also need to start this at home.
Back to your question, I think you should just try to find out the reputation of the school you are sending them to and they should be fine.

Last edited by calle 1; Nov 13th 2007 at 1:23 pm.
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 2:32 pm
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Smile Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Hi both my children are at senior school (11 - 16) They are both doing extremely well, maybe we are quite sheltered here on Portland but there seems to be no problems at the school, the teachers do loads of clubs during lunch times and after school, the school runs its own youth club everynight for a cost of 20 p if your child wishes to attend, the teachers here seem to care about the school as much as the pupils and the pupils are all proud to wear their uniform and wear it with pride. Its not all bad, im sure your kids will adjust just as we are hoping our kids will adjust to moving to oz.
Hope your not feeling too homesick! its really cold over here today.
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 6:53 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

Originally Posted by scrappyrosie
Hi both my children are at senior school (11 - 16) They are both doing extremely well, maybe we are quite sheltered here on Portland but there seems to be no problems at the school, the teachers do loads of clubs during lunch times and after school, the school runs its own youth club everynight for a cost of 20 p if your child wishes to attend, the teachers here seem to care about the school as much as the pupils and the pupils are all proud to wear their uniform and wear it with pride. Its not all bad, im sure your kids will adjust just as we are hoping our kids will adjust to moving to oz.
Hope your not feeling too homesick! its really cold over here today.
It's been pretty cold over here lately too (but our 'cold' is about 22 C). Lucky you being in Dorset. Dorset and Wilts are our favourite areas. My kids fell in love with the Fine Marine Centre at Kimmeridge. They wrote a story about it on their website: www.planetpatrol.info - it's on the 'articles' page, titled 'Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve'. On an earlier visit they went to Weymouth because they'd read 'The Weathermonger' and so wanted to see what it was actually like...fried mushy peas sitting on the windy seafront, fending off the seagulls...brilliant!
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Old Nov 13th 2007, 10:01 pm
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Default Re: English schools...are they all bad?

[F Sans MS]Was this experience a one-off, or do you think English Ed really has slumped so badly? What about violence, bullying in UK schools. We don't have issues with our schools here, but we read some pretty hairy stories about UK schools.[/FONT]
ezzie
We returned to the UK with 2 boys 9 & 11 and have no issues with their schooling. We live in rural Oxfordshire and both of our sons are at secondary school. Both said they prefer English schools to the one they went in rural Canada. They said they do much more interesting lessons and enjoy all the free after school sport facilities.
Both boys are 12 &14 now and are both in the Gifted programme. My 14 year old is going to Saturday school at Oxford University starting this weekend(which is paid by the Oxford Education Authority).
We were very choosey where we have moved to in the UK. I would say there are many good schools in the UK as bad ones. You just have to pick the right area to live.
I found the teachers very professional at my sons school and interested in supporting the pupils development.
Regards
hudd

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