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
Ezzie

drew&venna

i don't have any first hand experience, and i don't want to be a fear mongerer but when we were back in the uk this past august i saw a segment on the local news about a company making kevlar school blazers!!! kevlar!! the scary thing is that the parents were requesting them due to their kids being scared of stabbings at school.



can someone shed some light on the situation? is it just the media hyping it up?

crystal23

Yes of course it's the media hyping it up. I read online British papers everyday and also the bbc news items and if you read a few articles and get the bigger picture things are never as black and white as the headlines suggest.

Kevlar is not 'stab-proof', it is slash-resistant so will not protect against stabbing.

Out of the thousands of schools in the UK parents of only 5 local schools in Romford (check out the area) approached a local company to make these blazers.

Stabbings in schools, despite what the Daily Mail/Daily Express, would have you believe are extremely rare.

If you believe the media hype Ozzie schools and American schools are rife with stabbings and parents want kevlar clothing to protect their kids.

If you are really worried google some stories about kevlar and stabbings in different countries and get a balanced view.

Cjvolitan

hey my sister resently migrate back to england to do her 6 forms she too has complain that the level of work is really sub par with what she did at gce level here in trinidad.
I too was really worried about bulling and crime in school as my sister is quite seltered here in trinidad. But she has been there for 2 months now an loves her school has made many freinds and thinks it's great and she is going to school in london mind u which if u belive the hype is hoodie city with muggers around every corner.
So i say reserch the schools online and see what people say about them my mom did extensive serching online and found this school to be great. A little hint is to go check out facebook and look for the schools gruop pae and see what kids who are in the school are saying about it. If u don't know what facebook is ask your kids i'm shure they are on it. hope this helps
Cheers

drew&venna

phew. it seemed like at the time we visited it was MUCH more in the media, like kids were stabbing and shooting people 24/7 , ps lol my MIL reads the daily mail...lately everything is to do with "the eastern europeans".

crystal23

Funny that! My MIL was going on about Eastern Europeans the other day as well. There is no denying the UK has major issues with crime, anti-social behaviour etc etc but it happens everywhere in the world. There is no perfect place to live.

Going back to behaviour in schools:- in the UK my daughter was bullied at her infant school and we lived in what was considered a 'good area'. Nothing was done and her confidence plummeted. When she went to the Junior School I had forwarned the head. The bullies were monitored for a whole year and apart from one incident that was stamped on right away everything was fine.

The kids are disciplined properly with huge support from the majority of parents, they have to wear the correct uniform including ties. This is a state school for 7 - 11 year olds.

A friend of mine has just removed her daughter from a prestigous grammar school in the UK after 1 year because of the bullying that is going on. She has been sent to what lots of locals consider a 'rough comprehensive' but my friend has found the discipline better and has had no problems so far.

In Australia my daughter goes to a school in a suburb where you cannot get a house under $1000000. Two weeks ago 3 9 year old boys attacked a relief teacher. They then set upon a number of other boys in the playground and a huge fight ensued. The parents were called in and despite the little darlings confessing to their violence the parents denied their angels would do such a thing. On top of that my daughter has been put down 2 years and is bored out of her brains doing work that she did 2 years ago and despite my pleas the school resolutely refuse to move her up a year or give her harder work.

What I'm trying to say is cuts both ways. Every country has its problems, every school has its problems. Perceived nice area or perceived crap area - it doesn't matter. To the OP maybe checking out more than one school in the UK would be a good idea.

Grayling

.....and the interesting thing about that was that the same company had been inundated with orders from Australia.

G

Grayling

Here is a link:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-23109,00.html

G

Sue

Do a search for posts by honeymommy. She moved back a couple of years ago with teenagers. She periodically pops back to update us all and her kids seem to have settled into school well.

chance to be

Hi Ezzie
My very truthful experience.....Both of my childrens schools are fantastic.
Both state schools. Infant school is Catholic, Middle school C of E.
An example of what they do extra cirricular...
Boy - football one night, school football team another, swimming for one term a year, free guitar lessons. Is very bright, therefore extension club for maths.
Girl - in the school orchestra, many opportunites to perform at various venues/ audiences etc. Handbells club.
Both also go to martial arts twice a week after school and a swimming club thats not to do with the school.
Open-door policy of speaking to teahers in both schools. They will phone me if Im at work but still need to discuss something.Excellent anti-bullying policy. They are both very happy thank goodness! For both schools , maths and english are in ability sets, for the other subjects its form groups.
hope this helps. Certainly no news re stab-proof clothes etc. Probably happens in one inner city craphole and everyone "reads" it as "everywhere!

LouiseD

I work in the faculty of Education in one of the major teacher training universities in the country.

Yes there are problems in some schools here. Some schools I have heard of even have to have a police officer permanently based there! On the other hand though there are many excellent schools in the UK who turn out wonderful, well educated youngsters year after year thanks to the hard work and dedication of the teaching staff.

Unfortunately the bad schools tend to get into the headlines more than the good ones.

I have two very well educated, well behaved daughters who have just been through the education system here and I don't have anything but praise for their schools and staff. They both had a wonderful time at school and left with excellent results. We didn't live in a particularly affluent area either.

Every day at work I see the results of our education system - thousands of polite well adjusted young adults keen to learn and carve out a career for themselves. There are obviously exceptions to this - some kids don't want to learn and other just don't stand a chance with the parents they are saddled with

We are still turning away applicants for our teacher training courses, including applicants transferring from other very well paid professions - so our schools can't all be bad

tiredwithtwins

its all down to media hype - my kids go to a shcool 6 miles away from where we live cos the local school is very low in the results tables, the surrounding estate is a drug haven for every loser in sheffield and the kids that play around here are mini hooligans. violence seems to rule the playground, and bad media reporting means you only get to hear about the crap that goes on; in reality, several people i know have sent thier kids to this school , and they have turned out as polite, well balanced individuals who have strived to succeed and achieve their goals(uni and jobs). I guess what im trying to say is that if you research well you shouldnt have any problems; if you are moving back to the area you moved from, you will know how good or bad it is, and you know your children so know whether they will be ok there.

sue

BAY

I live in the Borough of Croydon, London.

The local combined primary and junior school (ages 5 - 10) that my son attends is brilliant. Has won numerous awards and comes near the top of the league tables.

The local secondary school (ages 11 - 16) is terrible and and several of its departments (maths being one of them) has failed the Ofsted thingy and been put under specail measures.

Coincidence or not but the primary school consists or all local children whereas the secondary school has lots of non local children whose behaviour is appalling.

I did some maths tutoring for a pupil at the secondary school. At the 1st session I did I asked to see his text book. 'Sorry you can't see it as I'm not allowed to take it home, its needed for another class' !!! How are the pupils meant to revise or go over work they've done during the day ?

Needless to say none of the parents of children at the primary school want to send their children to the secondary school. They're either intending to dig deep and send them private of are prepared to move.

And yes education in England has been dummed down so that exam pass rates go up and Nu Labour say how wonderful everything is.

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!

lollyno1

As a primary school teacher I think I can offer an opinion on this thread.

I worked at a primary school for several years that took children from one of the most deprived areas of England. The discipline was second to none. The children had respect for the teacher and the teachers had respect for the children.

I now work in a more affluent area, but the dicipline in the school is quite bad.

I believe its down to leadership really, if the head is strong and there is a strong team ethic amongst the staff then any forms of bullying are quickly dealt with, support for the bully and the bullied.

I have also been involved in bullying regarding my son, after a few months I asked for a meeting with the head and heads of department. My son has had not one bit of bother since then. He is and A* student now.

I would definately read up on ofsted reports for any schools you were intending to send your children to. They are freely available on the web.

regards

lolly