Is Grey Coats School, Westminster, A Bog Standard Secondary?

[sandyRoe]

Cameron's daughter is to go there. If he loses the tenancy of his present home will she still be eligible?

[Buenchico]

See here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/call-this-a-comprehensive-grey-coat-hospital-could-hardly-be-called-inclusive--unlike-the-local-secondary-michael-gove-has-passed-up-9188027.html

[sandyRoe]

TY, Chico. I can't imagine many Sharon's or Tracy's going there

[EDDIE51]

Hardly 'bog standard'
http://www.gch.org.uk/Examination-Results
71.4 % got A* to B at A level !
Among the best results in the UK!
What chance of admission do you think she would have had if her dad was just Mr Joe Public ?

[DaisyNonna]

Sandy, children rarely choose their own names.

[New Judge]

No it is not. It is a good secondary school where more than 70% of 'A' level entrants get A* to B gradings. It relies on good discipline to educate its charges to a high standard and it seems the amjority of parents support the school in its aims. It was, apparently, the Camerons' second choice of school for their child.

[sandyRoe]

None at all. Should he not have sent her to a fee paying school and left the place for a more needy child?

[New Judge]

It is clearly a school which expects a high degree of engagement from its pupils' parents. Parents seeking a place for their daughter are expected to attend open events. As well as this a certain number of places are reserved for pupils with an aptitude for languages.

It seems the Prime Minister is damned whatever he does. If he'd taken his daughter out of the State system he would be castigated. He has applied to a good State school for her and it seems that because he is not a "Sharon or Tracey" he stands accused of exerting influence.

Not all the girls attending Grey Coats school are children of Prime Minsters. But it does seem likely that the parents of the school's pupils go to a bit of trouble to ensure they receive the best education they can.

I did not go to a "bog standard" secondary school (I don't think the term had been devised then) and my father was not the Prime Minister - he was a painter and decorator. I received an excellent education courtesy of the school and with the help, encouragement and engagement of my parents. But I went to a direct grant grammar school and if there were a few of them around now access to good secondary education would be available to far more children from all backgrounds.

[New Judge]

And I really don't understand your stance, Sandy.

Had he paid for his daughter's education he would stand accused of turning his back on the State system which 93% of children use. So he chooses to support that system but that is wrong. I think I give up !!!

[sandyRoe]

New judge, despite not having had one, I know the value of a good education. In this, the run up to the election, some people will look for an opportunity to criticise their opponents.

[woofgang]

That's my old school! Its not Grey Coats School, its the Grey Coat Hospital. even then (1963) It was a place where high standards were expected.

[New Judge]

Quite so, woofgang.

My school was in London and there were a number of DG Grammar schools at that time where high standards were expected (and achieved). I Imagine (though cannot be sure) that Grey Coats Hospital was among them but in orde to remain in London converted to a comprehensive school. Nonetheless it is still obviously highly selective hence there being no children of Sharon or Tracey attending.

Criticising one's opponents is all very well Sandy. However, as I said earlier, Mr Cameron would have been criticised whatever he had chosen for his daughter. His crime seems to be taking an interest in her education.

[woofgang]

Yes it was a DG school. When things changed it had two options, one of which was to go private, however it had been founded to provide education for "the poor children of Westminster" so the the Trustees decided that it wouldn't have been appropriate to select on the basis of cold hard cash.

[sandyRoe]

Wofgang, I don't know London, are there many poor children in Westminster?

[woofgang]

There were in 1698.

[Svejk]

There were very poor children in Chelsea in the 1940s.(wouldn't think so, would you?)

[naomi24]

//There were in 1698. //

Still are in both Westminster and Chelsea.

[woofgang]

one of the poorest places in the UK is Pennington which is a suburb of Lymington in the New Forest, home (well summer home) to millionaires and multi millionaires.

[New Judge]

And in any case wealth is not a consideration here. The school requires no payment from parents. There seems to be an unchallenged connection between wealth and good schools, almost as if either the parents' wealth improves the schools or the schools react to the parents' wealth.

This ain't necessarily so. Better off parents tend to be more well educated themselves and engender an atmosphere of support and encouragement around their children when it comes to education. (I am not saying this is exclusively so and without exception but in general). As a result their children tend to do better at school and the school itself performs well overall. It is not wealth which drives this but philosophy and behaviour.

It's a bit taboo to say so, but schools in "poor" areas tend to have a larger proportion of pupils whose parents do not provide such a high level of support and encouragement for their children's education and (very importantly) behaviour. A small number of disruptive pupils effectively slaughter any good work the school may put in. That's why, if State education is to suceed in the UK, selection by ability is absolutely essential.