Schools in Stafford - Discussions & opinions

[markpa12003]

I have contemplated sending my child to Stafford Grammar, however I don't want my child socialising with pretentions people that think money makes them more important than anyone else. I want my child to stay grounded and mix with a variety of people from different backgrounds.

 

[Floss]

I have contemplated sending my child to Stafford Grammar, however I don't want my child socialising with pretentions people that think money makes them more important than anyone else. I want my child to stay grounded and mix with a variety of people from different backgrounds.

Ppl from all walks of life can think money and possessions makes them more important, there are children who will have an iPhone 6 or the latest trainers and will make it known to everyone around them, but they won't have a pen or pencil in that designer bag of theirs. It's down to parents to help understand where priorities lie and a lot of ppl from less fortunate backgrounds will ensure their kids don't go without so they fit in at school sacrificing the basics like stationary and black footwear.

 

[Gramaisc]

some who were suspended pending police investigation or expelled

The second poshest school I went to is the only one where I ever saw anybody arrested in class - twice.

Two kids were also shot there (with air weapons), one in assembly, as a paid 'hit' - the other was tied to a tree after a kangaroo court at dawn (he was a boarder) and shot, he was also later found hanging by a noose round his ankles after another transgression, at 2am, from a second floor window.

This school had quite a good public reputation, both for us day pupils and the boarders.

 

[markpa12003]

Agreed Floss67. However, I think there will be more of that at Stafford Grammar than at a local comprehensive school (hopefully).

My child will know that the most important things in life cannot be brought.

 

[db]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of love for Walton.

i went to walton and, like @wildwood, have no horror stories to report.. i did well, as did my peers.. i have nieces & nephews there currently who love it..

perhaps people who went to walton aren't able to comment as they are busy at their high-paid jobs and not sitting around wasting time on internet forums

 

[Lucy]

I will go back to my high paid job (it's all relative) and treat your comment with the contempt it deserves...

 

[Gramaisc]

Pupils loving their school? Some of the schools I went to had gangs that would fight gangs from other schools for their establishment's honour. I was once challenged by a group from a neighbouring school and it took a while to get them to understand that, whilst I was prepared to fight them over something that mattered, the honour of the school that I was forced to attend was not a matter of contention to me.

 

[That-Crazy-Rat-Lady]

To add my tuppence -

As a (nearly) teacher I really do think that a GCSE pass percentage mark reflects enormously on the ethos of a school, it can tell you so much about the attitude of the pupils, teachers and senior staff members.

I'm working in a school in Liverpool right now - and I can't half tell you how lucky your kids are to be in Stafford!!

The school I'm in only 33% achieved 5 A*- C in last years GCSE's

I would expect in Stafford results are much higher than that -

And indeed that there isn't much discrepancy between schools (although I look forward to being proved otherwise....)

 

[Gareth]

Sorry proactive but your ignorance is mine boggling and downright ridiculous.

A child at any level of intellect will not flourish in just any school especially a school that is consistently a poor performer, too imply otherwise says alot about your understanding of education at any standard.

you don't happen to be Cllr Ben Adams do you lol

 

[proactive]

Sorry proactive but your ignorance is mine boggling and downright ridiculous.

A child at any level of intellect will not flourish in just any school especially a school that is consistently a poor performer, too imply otherwise says alot about your understanding of education at any standard.

you don't happen to be Cllr Ben Adams do you lol

QED

 

[Dabbler]

Both my kids are at Walton, it's not perfect - find me a school that is. They seem to ignore a lot of low level disruption that I would prefer they tackle, but then I'm a bit of a dinosaur who went to a school back in the day when discipline was enforced. I also had the privilege of going to two different secondary schools. One where all kids were encouraged to do their best and were pushed to the best of their abilities - most kids did well. At A Level, i went to a school where the staff frankly weren't that bothered either way, and my A level results showed that, because the expectations the teachers had wasn't that high, I coasted my way through 6th form, doing the bare minimum and it showed. So I don't think that a child with any level of intellect will flourish in any school, they have to be encouraged to do so.

 

[Floss]

Sorry proactive but your ignorance is mine boggling and downright ridiculous.

A child at any level of intellect will not flourish in just any school especially a school that is consistently a poor performer, too imply otherwise says alot about your understanding of education at any standard.

you don't happen to be Cllr Ben Adams do you lol

I'm sorry but just reading this annoyed me, everyone is entitled to an opinion right or wrong but I find your comments incredibly rude and arrogant, if you disagree fine, your choice but to call someone downright ridiculous for having an opinion is offensive.

 

[db]

I'm sorry but just reading this annoyed me, everyone is entitled to an opinion right or wrong but I find your comments incredibly rude and arrogant, if you disagree fine, your choice but to call someone downright ridiculous for having an opinion is offensive.

eh? you say "everyone is entitled to an opinion", and yet when @Gareth expresses his you condemn it as "rude and arrogant".. make your mind up! although i suppose one could argue that you are just voicing your opinion on his opinion of proactive's opinion..

the only reason you find gareth's comments objectionable is because, by your own admission, they annoyed you.. proactive often makes scathing comments of his own (not a criticism - i'm hardly known for biting my tongue myself!) in other threads, but i don't see you complaining there..

like you say, opinions is opinions.. gareth and proactive disagree on this occasion.. we're all grown-ups SO THERE

 

[arthur]

When i were a lass i went to an all girls school well known for girls having teenage pregnancies. It was a comprehensive and i stayed on to do GCSE's. unheard of in my family, My parents couldn't understand why anyone would want to stay on at school. I went on to have an office job - that was a step up from working in shop. The thing is education is there for each individual to have the opportunity to learn the basics - its only when you leave school do you start on the path to a successful career.I learnt everything i needed in the playground and after I left school. AND i have a proper important job now

 

[arthur]

perhaps all parents particularly those concerned with league tables and suitable schools should all read the latest poem in the forums my favorite poems

 

[kyoto49]

I think too many people mix up what constitutes a good education with exam results. The two are not really linked!!

Education is about providing a well-balanced human being who is confident and comfortable in a wide range of situations, someone who understands the viewpoint of others in society, particularly those less lucky than themselves, those from more difficult backgrounds. It's about being able to see the world from multiple persepectives. School have a role here, but the vast majority of education in life, both academic and non academic comes from parents. It's parents who teach their kids the vital skills necessary to enable children to do well in school from reception class. It's parents who teach tolerance and understanding of others. Travelling is well known to be one of the most beneficial ways for a child to gain education in life. You can always tell well-travelled kids (and I'm not talking about those who go to Ibiza to the beach), kids who have experienced different cultures, these kids just have a worldly-wiseness about them that stands them in good stead for life. A good school supports all of this.

Fundamentally if a school supports all the above paragraph sadly none of that will show in exam results which are pretty easy to fix and fudge. Anyone who judges a school on exam results needs their head testing frankly. Far more important is how the school looks after the welfare of the children, how they deal with the more vulnerable kids, the pastoral system, the ethos of including everyone not just the bright. For a school to excel at this it needs a wide range of kids - it's this that provides the vibrancy that kids need to blossom.

As for the best school in Stafford, value added is far better measure of attainment than 5 A-C grades percentages. Some schools only enter a kid once, and are open to accepting that their kids might not get the best results, but they haven't spent 3 years learning how to pass an exam, they've been educated to ask questions, to be a good human being in the modern world. It's important to know how many kids are on free school dinners, a good indicator of children from more difficult backgrounds, how many are special needs. A good school includes these children and they thrive but it usually negatively affects the schools over all poition in the league table. i know which kind of school I would prefer my child to go to.

Is Walton the best school in Stafford based on these criteria? Not in my opinion, nowhere near. Is Stafford Grammar with it's narrow social intake? Again, not for me. Balfour, King Eddies and Weston Road all provide a far more balanced and inclusive education for all their kids, where everyone is welcome, not just the kids who will do well in the exams.

If your kid is really bright and academic attainment is the most important criteria for you, then Adams and Newport Girls piss all over Walton in the league tables

 

[kyoto49]

'We' are in the process if choosing smallest child's high school as she's currently in year 6. To be fair its not really much of a choice... we are not in a position to move, & are not of any particular religious denomination so our choices are limited to 'catchment' area schools. We do though know people with kids in different schools across Stafford, Walton has a bad reputation both with parents with kids there & the kids view of the school....

Go to your catchment high school (if it's the one up I think it is), very happy to recommend after DD got 7 A*'s and a completely happy schooling experience

 

[kyoto49]

I have contemplated sending my child to Stafford Grammar, however I don't want my child socialising with pretentions people that think money makes them more important than anyone else. I want my child to stay grounded and mix with a variety of people from different backgrounds.

This is so important I can't believe how many parents take the snobbish, "my child is too good to mix with those sorts" type of attitude. I tihnk I have reverse-snobbery, I'd hate my child to have gone to Stafford Grammar and missed out on mixing with some of the really rough kids, or the ones from difficult family situations, it's really helped her empathy of the more vulnerable in our society!

 

[Floss]

eh? you say "everyone is entitled to an opinion", and yet when @Gareth expresses his you condemn it as "rude and arrogant".. make your mind up! although i suppose one could argue that you are just voicing your opinion on his opinion of proactive's opinion..

the only reason you find gareth's comments objectionable is because, by your own admission, they annoyed you.. proactive often makes scathing comments of his own (not a criticism - i'm hardly known for biting my tongue myself!) in other threads, but i don't see you complaining there..

like you say, opinions is opinions.. gareth and proactive disagree on this occasion.. we're all grown-ups SO THERE

Yes the post did annoy me I thought it was arrogant that Gareth's opinion came across so matter of fact and above proactives opinion and that if proactive thought any different then that was downright ridiculous!

I don't read every post so don't always see what everyone writes, but I was of the opinion it annoyed me so.... end of !

 

[captainpish]

Sorry proactive but your ignorance is mine boggling and downright ridiculous.

A child at any level of intellect will not flourish in just any school especially a school that is consistently a poor performer, too imply otherwise says alot about your understanding of education at any standard.

you don't happen to be Cllr Ben Adams do you lol

Sorry gareth youre talking out of your arse again. I went to rising brook, it was shocking. Very very poor school. Id say at least 10 lads i went to school and socialised with as a kid/teen have done time. On the flip side of the coin, 4 of my mates from the same class have done superbly. Two have their own businesses, and have done very very well for themselves, one is an investment banker, again, very rich and the best of the lot has a masters in mathematics from oxford, works for a global insurance firm and lives in winston chirchills old house and is very very very rich. With the right parents and attitudes towards education any child will find their level and do well no matter what school they go to.