[Westbars Spireite]

Goku, on 18 September 2016 - 01:16 PM, said:

anyone else find it amazing how we still have schools of faith in 2016 who can put children who hold religious beliefs ahead of children without?

That was the reason behind the question really. It's the nearest secondary school to where I live and presumably has excellent results yet my children can't go there. Or can they? I genuinely don't know.

[firedodger]

Westbars Spireite, on 18 September 2016 - 04:10 PM, said:

That was the reason behind the question really. It's the nearest secondary school to where I live and presumably has excellent results yet my children can't go there. Or can they? I genuinely don't know.

From our time looking they have a kind of scale of Catholic involvement, they are all higher up in the queue than non Catholics from what I remember

[Search & Destroy]

You basically have to lie

[CFC91]

firedodger, on 16 September 2016 - 02:00 PM, said:

Mate if you are who I think you are, you just want to be happy you didn't get your academic prowess from your dad!

Haha that would be me!

[Tylerdurdencfc]

Search and Destroy, on 15 September 2016 - 09:14 PM, said:

Heritage in Clowne
32% of students achieve at least 5 A to C GCSEs
National average is around 54%

Useless really.

Regarding the results, this is the last year that a* to g will take place in all subjects other than Maths and English. It changes to attainment 8 and progress 8. This will benefit schools with weaker cohorts and hopefully this will be a fairer system that should show which schools are actually improving pupils education.

You can't base how good a school is based on a* to c grades (however OFSTED seem to deem that you can).

For example, you could have 100 pupils with targets of grade a. They could all come out with a grade c and they would show a 100% a* to c rating but are actually failing every child by two grades.

In comparison a school could have 100 pupils with grade g targets and the school could effectively get them all grade d, a three grade improvement but their results would show 0% a* to c and look rubbish.

The best way to decide on a school is visiting it, get a feel about how passionate the staff are and what the school has to offer and look at the behaviour in the OFSTED report. Forget about the results. If a child puts in the effort and has the correct attitude to learning and aspiration then they will succeed.

[Misnomer]

Tylerdurdencfc, on 23 October 2016 - 08:50 PM, said:

Regarding the results, this is the last year that a* to g will take place in all subjects other than Maths and English. It changes to attainment 8 and progress 8. This will benefit schools with weaker cohorts and hopefully this will be a fairer system that should show which schools are actually improving pupils education.

You can't base how good a school is based on a* to c grades (however OFSTED seem to deem that you can).

For example, you could have 100 pupils with targets of grade a. They could all come out with a grade c and they would show a 100% a* to c rating but are actually failing every child by two grades.

In comparison a school could have 100 pupils with grade g targets and the school could effectively get them all grade d, a three grade improvement but their results would show 0% a* to c and look rubbish.

The best way to decide on a school is visiting it, get a feel about how passionate the staff are and what the school has to offer and look at the behaviour in the OFSTED report. Forget about the results. If a child puts in the effort and has the correct attitude to learning and aspiration then they will succeed.

Are you a teacher?

[Skywalker]

Choosing the right school is important. My 2 girls currently attend Brockwell infants and it’s a brilliant school (IMO). My girls enjoy going, have made numerous friends and are thriving academically.

My wife and I have had discussions on senior school selection and what would be best for them. Our local senior school is the Outwood Academy (Newbold) and I don’t have any issues with them attending there. For me, it’s more important that they feel happy and confident in their environment.

[Tylerdurdencfc]

Misnomer, on 24 October 2016 - 11:56 AM, said:

Are you a teacher?

Yes and excuse the poor grammar, I replied quickly in an informal way (as I generally do on forums lol).

[Zeus]

Westbars Spireite, on 18 September 2016 - 11:25 AM, said:

Are Muslims accepted into St Mary's?

There were a pair of Muslim twins and maybe one other IIRC in my year (GCSEs done in 2010) and one or two joined for sixth form after that. From what I recall there were quite a few students whose parents didn't even make the song and dance of pretending to be Catholic, but most either lied to the school (by attending church in the year or two prior to admission) or at least lied to their children about their religion up until the point of entry. I was personally baptised as Greek Orthodox, but managed to get into St Mary's Primary and that is a shoe-in for the secondary school, but that didn't stop my mother from dragging me along to her Catholic church on a Sunday (when not playing football) when I was in year 5.

[Sabreman]

Skywalker, on 24 October 2016 - 02:11 PM, said:

Choosing the right school is important. My 2 girls currently attend Brockwell infants and it’s a brilliant school (IMO). My girls enjoy going, have made numerous friends and are thriving academically.

My wife and I have had discussions on senior school selection and what would be best for them. Our local senior school is the Outwood Academy (Newbold) and I don’t have any issues with them attending there. For me, it’s more important that they feel happy and confident in their environment.

My daughter goes to the Brockwell infants school, my son has just left Brockwell and is now going to the Outwood Academy, i can't praise Brockwell enough my daughter loves it as did my son. Outwood so far atleast is also fantastic and has seen my son grow in stature and confidence massively.

[isleaiw1]

Sometimes it's about the kid and not the school. I went to New Bolsover, took an 11 plus and went to Shirebrook.... where Shirebrook kids went automatically. When I went my mum desperately wanted me to go to Netherthorpe but none of my friends went there so I declined... I hated Shirebrook to start but it taught me to be a self starter, work despite distractions - and to look after myself!! I left with pretty good grades at O level and 4 A levels at grade A or B.

I now work with a bunch of people who have been to private school - one went to Harrow!! I say work with to be polite but most of them work for me..... if you have it in you and want it enough - and have the right parental support - you can do it regardless!!

Still buying a house in nice part of town down south so grandson gets in the right school - just in case but mainly as it will help resale!!