SE23.com - The Official Forum for Forest Hill & Honor Oak, London SE23
Online since 2002   11,000+ members   72,000+ posts

Home | SE23 Topics | Businesses & Services | Wider Topics | Offered/Wanted/Lost/Found | About SE23.com | Advertising | Contact | |
 Armstrong & Co Solicitors



Post Reply  Post Topic 
Pages (2): « First < Previous 1 [2] Last »
Local State Secondary Schools
Author Message
shulamith


Posts: 2
Joined: Nov 2009
Post: #21
03-11-2009 03:11 PM

I wonder what world Baggy Dave inhabits. Kingsdale borders several boroughs including Lewisham and is no further away from me, as a Lewisham resident, than either Forest Hill Boys or Sydenham Girls, neither of which I'd regard as comprehensive as they have too small a middle class intake. The (sink) school that is closest to me is full of children from other boroughs because its been evacuated by local parents. Prendergast and Askes operate covert systems of selection which cream off a lot of the brightest children and distort the intake to other schools in the borough. We now all inhabit a distorted educational marketplace which is not of mine or most other parents choosing. Kingsdale used to be a failing school with a disproportionate number of disadvantaged children, many of whom were not local in the first place. It's surrounded by independent schools in a very wealthy area. The fact that there are now parents who would otherwise opt for private school choosing Kingsdale is a testament to the extraordinary success of Steve Morrison and his team. Kingsdale has recognised the obvious truth - you need to transform the intake of a school to transform its culture and fortunes. There are now a substantial number of aspirational parents, not all of whom are white or middle class, favouring Kingsdale. It's a fantastic school which offers music and sporting facilities to rival the private and selective sectors, small class sizes in core subject (I haven't seen this on offer at any other state schools), express sets from the word go for the brightest kids and genuine opportunities to children who are less academically able. Take no notice of Baggy Dave. Visit it for yourself. Do believe the hype.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Perryman


Posts: 820
Joined: Dec 2006
Post: #22
05-11-2009 02:01 PM

if Kingsdale's long term aim is to become a large selective academy for privileged middle class children then there is a real chance our 2 main comprehensives will become failing inner city secondary moderns - the ugly twin sister of these modern day grammar schools. This in fact reduces choice.

But before we send the flame throwing tanks into the kingsdale compound, just maybe Steve Morrison's aim in trawling leafy se23 for students is to seed his classes with better role models, while largely keeping the school's traditional intake. If he can get the school up to the academic levels of FH boys/Sydenham girls and can maintain it, without changing the intake too much, then he has done a marvelous job, and it is money well spent.

Plus we get the benefit of a having a reasonable localish mixed comprehensive school as well as the 2 reasonable single sex schools to chose from. The jury is still out on this one.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
shulamith


Posts: 2
Joined: Nov 2009
Post: #23
05-11-2009 02:25 PM

The idea that Kingsdale doesn't need to change its intake too much fails to take into account how skewed the intake was in the first place ie. it had scarcely any middle class pupils. The school's results will change dramatically over the next couple of years because the intake has changed. This is not to say that the teaching is incidental, just to acknowledge that some inner city schools will never improve substantially without a change in their socio economic mix. Kingsdale will do much better than Forest Hill and Sydenham within the next couple of years because - in years 7 and 8 in particular - it already has more middle class children as well as children of parents who believe strongly in the value of education regardless of their class or ethnic backgrounds. Sydenham and Forest Hill are not sufficiently mixed to be reasonably classed as comprehensive, at least not for those of us who remember the original comprehensive ideal. We can have a long debate about why that is - the continuing existence of grammars and independents, league tables leading to selection by postcode etc etc. I recently heard about a parent who was hot under the collar about Kingsdale 'stealing away' bright kids who would otherwise go to Charter but she herself had only got her daughter into that school because she could afford a ?500,000 house near the school. She felt cheated.

The fact that Kingsdale has opened a selective sixth form offering the IB is also attracting those of who are disenchanted with A levels and would like our kids to do more interesting and challenging exams, ones which encourage them to become thoughtful human beings - we could do with a few more of those.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Pages (2): « First < Previous 1 [2] Last »

Friends of Blythe Hill Fields


Possibly Related Topics ...
Topic: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  Secondary schools carolfox 28 32,043 14-09-2011 08:33 AM
Last Post: carolfox