Senior School Decisions, anyone unhappy?

[Gordon the Gopher]

Amen to that!!!

My eldest daughter has just got into Hove Park and I am really pleased (and so is she). It was our second choice but I actually preferred it to Blatch, but decided to play a "percentage" game knowing that if we put Blatch down as a second choice after Hove Park and didnt get Hove Park, the odds of getting Blatch as a second choice were slim.

However it does infuriate me that that the yummy mummy brigade appear to have this obsession with Blatchington Mill (I don't doubt that is a good school) and that they pass this on to their children who have subsequently been telling my daughter that she's going to a "bad" school. She has a strong mind fortunately but some people...... talk about getting worked up!

Get a bloody grip and be grateful for the excellent schooling choices we have in this area!

We saw three schools - all of them excellent. Schools even have recording studios now!!!

My son chose Hove Park as first choice and was pleased he did. When we did the visits, I was quite impressed with the school and I felt the talk at Blatch had a 'if you're lucky enough to come here' feel to it. They are a bit up their own arses for my liking when infact their last OFSTED wasn't that brilliant. The problem can be that a school's reputation lasts a long time after things have actually changed for the better or the worse. We had mums in tears at our school too and yes sadly they did fit that middle class profile others have talked about.

 

[Dunk]

As I understand it, Hove Park and Blatch have the same catchment area. Kids in that area get priority (aside from kids with 'statements' but that is another debate). Blatch has had better results year on year for a long long time so is usually over-subscribed. Hove Park is less popular. The same is true in the Stringer/Varndean area with Stringer getting better results in recent years.

Brighton is really odd in that 2 pairs of schools are right next to each other. The lottery system seems fair though I wasn't aware the sibling link had been removed.

I did work at Hove Park briefly 10 years ago. It was very hard work with a lot of naughty kids. Blatch also has it's share of naughty kids but it is far nicer now than Hove Park was then. Glad to hear it is improving.

Longhill is really odd in having Rottingdean and Whitehawk in it's catchment area. The staff there work really hard but, for whatever reasons, kids from the poorer parts of Brighton just don't seem to do as well overall as kids from the richer parts. I'm sure it doesn't have to be like that.

Parents make a huge difference and, as many people have said, nice hard working kids can fulfill their potential wherever they go.

 

[CP 0 3 BHA]

Us mere mortals can't afford Brighton College though.

Anyway you don't need a posh school; my eldest son is at Oxford having just gone through one of our local good schools. As others have said, school is what you make it and if a student makes the best of their strengths - academic or sport/music - you can't ask for more.

My daughter has done the same and has mentioned someone from Brighton in her fresher group at Lincoln College - what college is he at?

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

A post of 2 halves there Clive! Surely it is because of the lottery system you criticise in your first paragraph, that is causing Hove Park to catch up with Blatch as you point out in your second paragraph.

Result, 2 average schools instead of 1 good and 1 bad! Job done!

I didn't write the first p'graph that is quoted from lady gull, I do not think it is only the lottery system that will improve the results - The new management at HP is by far the most dynamic and ambitious in the LEA.

 

[Gazwag]

Wait until the new ESCC policy on funding for transport to faith schools kicks in. Big changes will happen.

its a really good start

 

[Lush]

Faith schools should be abolished full stop in my opinion. If we are to succeed as a multi-cultural nation then kids of all cultures and faiths need to mix. You can do the God bit at home, if that's your thing.

 

[Moshe Gariani]

Wait until the new ESCC policy on funding for transport to faith schools kicks in. Big changes will happen.

sounds interesting - I never even knew there was "funding for transport to faith schools"...

 

[Gazwag]

sounds interesting - I never even knew there was "funding for transport to faith schools"...

the cost of transporting 200-300 kids everyday by train from Eastbourne to Bexhill alone must cost ESCC millions a year which can be better spent much on the majority rather than the minority

 

[peejay1958]

Schools are a bit like football teams in that they invariably have their ups and downs so that a school that is currently 'flavour of the month' might not be in 5 years time. Hove Park (where my son went) has had its fair share of problems and bad publicity in recent years though with a new headteacher in place it's currently on the up. Schools which are deemed to be more successful and thus likely to be oversubscribed cannot afford to be complacent as they are often bursting at the seams which means bigger class sizes and more pressure on students to pass exams and maintain standards.

 

[maresfield seagull]

Wait until the new ESCC policy on funding for transport to faith schools kicks in. Big changes will happen.

Care to explain LB ?

 

[Moshe Gariani]

the cost of transporting 200-300 kids everyday by train from Eastbourne to Bexhill alone must cost ESCC millions a year which can be better spent much on the majority rather than the minority

our neigbours' boy goes to St Richards - I had no idea that the council tax payer was picking up the tab for his train fares...

Having got Moshe Jnr into our preferred C of E primary school through a successful "on your knees, avoid the fees" campaign it looks like a tactical turn to Rome might be in order - are they still against the Vicar of Dibley...?

 

[ATFC Seagull]

the cost of transporting 200-300 kids everyday by train from Eastbourne to Bexhill alone must cost ESCC millions a year which can be better spent much on the majority rather than the minority

our neigbours' boy goes to St Richards - I had no idea that the council tax payer was picking up the tab for his train fares...

Having got Moshe Jnr into our preferred C of E primary school through a successful "on your knees, avoid the fees" campaign it looks like a tactical turn to Rome might be in order - are they still against the Vicar of Dibley...?

If you can find someone willing to put the amount of money that the Catholic Church does into state education, then by all means...

 

[Ken Newbury]

If you can find someone willing to put the amount of money that the Catholic Church does into state education, then by all means...

The 1944 Education Act means that while faith schools receive 100% of their running costs from the LA the faith school has to fund 10% of all capital costs.

If you take the example of Cardinal Newman last year then the cost of school transport was around £65k but the LA saved £75k on only having to pay 90% of the capital costs.

Therefore B&HCC was around £10k better off by the deal, which is good for local taxpayers.

The irony is that B&HCC actually pays out around £35k for school transport to ferry Whitehawk children to Longhill/Falmer as they are both over 3miles from their home location.

 

[Elvis]

If you can find someone willing to put the amount of money that the Catholic Church does into state education, then by all means...

On a local level Rod Aldridge, has put alot of private funding into BACA ( falmer) and PCC.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

On a local level Rod Aldridge, has put alot of private funding into BACA ( falmer) and PCC.

Can't argue with that. Although I doubt there is a limitless amount of people willing to do the same. And, I am very sceptical of academies - unlike faith schools they don't operate within the same controls and curriculum as other state schools. And (and I am aware people will say the same about faith schools), I am slightly suspicious of the motives of some donors.

 

[DT Withdean]

As I understand it, Hove Park and Blatch have the same catchment area. Kids in that area get priority (aside from kids with 'statements' but that is another debate). Blatch has had better results year on year for a long long time so is usually over-subscribed. Hove Park is less popular. The same is true in the Stringer/Varndean area with Stringer getting better results in recent years.

Brighton is really odd in that 2 pairs of schools are right next to each other. The lottery system seems fair though I wasn't aware the sibling link had been removed.

I did work at Hove Park briefly 10 years ago. It was very hard work with a lot of naughty kids. Blatch also has it's share of naughty kids but it is far nicer now than Hove Park was then. Glad to hear it is improving.

Longhill is really odd in having Rottingdean and Whitehawk in it's catchment area. The staff there work really hard but, for whatever reasons, kids from the poorer parts of Brighton just don't seem to do as well overall as kids from the richer parts. I'm sure it doesn't have to be like that.

Parents make a huge difference and, as many people have said, nice hard working kids can fulfill their potential wherever they go.

Longhill - the wealthy of Rottingdean send their kids to private schools. Fact, as I know of many of these families.

Leaving the estates of Woodingean & Whitehawk, and other lower-cost housing areas such as Eley/Elvin, kids, to dominate Longhill these days.

The claim that it is Rottingdean's sec school is a bit of a misnomer.

 

[e77]

I remember when you got allocated to the school nearest you, which also had the advantage that a lot of people could walk.

I don't think kids now come out of school any better than they did 20 years ago.

 

[dreaming spires]

Faith schools should be abolished full stop in my opinion. If we are to succeed as a multi-cultural nation then kids of all cultures and faiths need to mix. You can do the God bit at home, if that's your thing.

Rubbish, for a start multi-culturalism has failed, even most politicians accept that now.
Faith schools are some of the best performing and most popular schools in West Sussex for example.
Whether it is socially correct to say it or not, tough! Yes for the most part, children working hard will succeed in most schools, but where you have a disruptive element, this will hinder the hardest working child.
It's no coincidence the Whitehawk secondary was closed, however much money was wasted on it. Simply, the majority of kids there didn't want to learn or be there. The schools results were dire. The same can be said for the Falmer secondary school, again no coincidence the lower results correlate with a higher than average percentage of misbehaving children.
Look at the areas these schools serve.

 

[LadySeagull]

Faith schools should be abolished full stop in my opinion. If we are to succeed as a multi-cultural nation then kids of all cultures and faiths need to mix. You can do the God bit at home, if that's your thing.

Kids of all cultures and faiths (and non-faith) do mix at faith schools. You would be surprised, there are unbaptised kids, atheists et al at Newman (mostly not but they do exist and most kids there fall somewhere in the middle as they are from other faiths, not Catholic).

 

[Lord Bracknell]

our neigbours' boy goes to St Richards - I had no idea that the council tax payer was picking up the tab for his train fares...

Having got Moshe Jnr into our preferred C of E primary school through a successful "on your knees, avoid the fees" campaign it looks like a tactical turn to Rome might be in order - are they still against the Vicar of Dibley...?

It used to be the case that a local education authority had to provide free school transport to all pupils under the school leaving age who lived more than three miles from "the nearest appropriate school" and that baptised Roman Catholic children qualified to count the nearest Catholic school as the nearest appropriate school. If you were a Catholic child living in Eastbourne, for example, St Richard's was the nearest appropriate school (being closer than St Paul's, Hayward's Heath, or Cardinal Newman, Hove).

Only recently have local education authorities changed the rules and free transport is now offered only to the nearest secondary school and then only if it is more than three miles away.

As someone who received a Catholic primary school education, but attended a non-denominational secondary school, I would say that there was nothing "inappropriate" about the secondary education I received. The LEA would have funded my school transport, to a school ten miles away. But my folks preferred a better school that was within walking distance.

The new policy will undoubtedly have an impact on the numbers attending denominational schools, especially those that have historically served huge "catchment areas" where the newly imposed transport costs will be prohibitive for many families.