Good state schools in London - do they exist

Wow this has been an interesting read to say the least! Just wanted to add my two cents worth. My Husband grew up in one of the roughest boroughs in London (hackney) and went to one of the worst schools imaginable (it doesn't even exist any more, they shut it down! However he was a naturally smart lad- and worked his ass off -(highest A level law, results in the country, you can c I'm v proud ;) got into Oxford. My point being that of course we all want to give our kids the best chances in life and the best start- but ultimately it comes down to smarts, hard work and determination. Teach them that ethos and they will flourish no matter what life throws at them.

My kids go to repton dubai. Its worse than a state school in tower hamlets Sometimes after reading threads like this, I wonder why many of you don't send your chn to boarding school or why you are here at all - very few of you are happy ! I have taught in inner city schools in London and international schools around the world as well as Dubai. I am also a mum of chn at school here - sure we have complaints - you would anywhere in the world, at any school - but inner city state schools in London are a whole different story ! Try and focus on the good things and make positive changes where you can !

Mmm thats a tough one. I think it depends on your personal circumstances, if your DH has a good job in Dubai and your happy there, then stay, especially if your child gets into JAPS. I would have preferred mine to have spent their education solely in the UK as I think the all round education suits them better, but at the end of the day its personal choice. Good luck x I can include Oxford stats if you like LOL

I have seen that in some cases grammars and selective states have as many as 1000 applicants for 100 places. Boo! Do primaries here prepare children for the 11+? The best advice I can give you (from my own experience) is to get your child into a fantastic nursery where they teach them to read etc from age 3, this gives them the best start in life and an edge over other children IMO. Also bear in mind that you will be reinforcing everything that your child does at school at home, get them into good habits of doing school work as soon as they come home from school and give them a little extra verbal and non verbal reasoning from the age of 5. The 11+ test is in verbal and non verbal reasoning and maths, they look at V and NV before they look at the maths paper as its basically an IQ test (ie it can’t be taught you either have it or you don’t) I would buy a house in a good catchment area as near as possible to the local grammar school as candidates are selected on a points basis after they’ve passed the test, this is the best way to maximise your childs chance of gaining a place. I hope that helps.

More than half of students admitted to Cambridge last autumn, the year the A* grade at A-level was awarded for the first time, attended state schools, figures show. Around nine in 10 (89%) of successful Cambridge applicants achieved an A* and two As at A-level, according to data published by the institution. Last year was the first in which the A* grade was awarded and was used by Cambridge as part of its standard offer to help identify the brightest candidates. [b'>Its statistics show that 59.3% of UK students admitted to Cambridge last year came from state schools[/b'>, up 0.8% on 2009. Overall, 1,609 state school pupils were admitted, down 4% on the previous year, along with 1,259 private school students, also down 4% on the previous year. The university had 15,966 applications in 2010, a 2% rise on the year before. People drone on about the state of the UK education system yet these children that are educated in state schools are achieving A* and are gaining places at Oxbridge. I wonder how many Oxbridge applicants were successful from the UAE !

SM - I think the UK education system is a minefield to navigate, and who knows what the state will be in 5 years or even 10 years time. If you find the answers please email them to me, meanwhile some questions you may want to consider before you get too focused on grammar schools: Even if you get a house in a grammar school county, you cannot bank on your child getting in with the competitive selection. Grammars are generally very academic environments, so if your child is hot housed and trained to get in, what are the chances of them being suited to the environment? Are grammar schools good because they are good, or because they cream off at the entrance stage?

oh trust me after the year weve just had state schools are a billion times better than my kids so called premier british private school.

Unless things have changed, I believe you cannot take 11+ from outside the catchment area, and the competition is tough. Although there are couple of exceptions, e.g. in Reading there is a boys' and a girls' grammar school, but Berkshire is not a grammar school area, so these 2 schools exist in isolation, not as part of the county's system which do the tests at primary and feed into them systematically. As a result the competition for these 2 schools is even tougher, as people from as far and wide as Ealing and Oxford apply to them.

SW the Gulf News is not even allowed in our house, it is a paper well known for it's poor content ;) Like I said on another thread, carry on spamming because that is what you are doing on every thread school related. You sometimes make good points, but more often than not you spew sweeping statements and it is getting a tad tedious. Have you even lived in the UK in the last 20 years? Keeping your head stuck in the sand and pretending everythings all rosy in the garden when its clearly not, won’t help schools raise the standards. I think you need to take those rosy spectacles off and have a long look at your child’s education (or lack of)

TBH I cant be bothered to waste my time writing something out. Its MY opinion that school in the UK are better from MY experience in THREE of Dubai’s top school compared to UK state schools. I look after my niece and nephew every day they attend a local state school, I get to see what they’re doing on a daily basis the work is almost on par with UK private school. My niece has been learning about BODMAS and algebra in Mathematics (she’s 9 years old) she has had the opportunity to take part in District sports which has enabled her to be picked to run for the county. My nephew’s class have a meet the teacher day every Wednesday to discuss any concerns with the teacher. They also have 2 workshops a week after school for children who want to get better or children that need a little extra help. These are just a couple of examples to the care thats given to children in the UK, in Dubai you are just a number they don’t care about the children, they don’t care about the child getting the best education that they can because most of the teachers and headmasters wont even be in Dubai in the next couple of years. Yes there are a couple of really good schools in Dubai but how many people get their children into these schools? Im not even going to touch on UK private schools because there is absolutely no comparison whatsoever.

SW the Gulf News is not even allowed in our house, it is a paper well known for it's poor content ;) Like I said on another thread, carry on spamming because that is what you are doing on every thread school related. You sometimes make good points, but more often than not you spew sweeping statements and it is getting a tad tedious. Goodness can you not change your tune, it's very boring.

SW the Gulf News is not even allowed in our house, it is a paper well known for it's poor content ;) Like I said on another thread, carry on spamming because that is what you are doing on every thread school related. You sometimes make good points, but more often than not you spew sweeping statements and it is getting a tad tedious.

To Sniffmonster: Well done for looking into this so early on. I'm no expert on the topic *but* have heard that Barnet has a good reputation (e.g. Hendon, where I once lived, has some good schools - possibly due to the cultural background of its inhabitants). But unfortunately boroughs nearer to central London have lesser standards (e.g. a friend of mine was raising her dd in Islington and ended up putting her in a private school totally against her principles as she wasn't learning anything). Interestingly, the Blairs lived nearby and yet sent their kids halfway across London to a grant-maintained school, so they can't have been v impressed by local schools either. And this is from the PM who chanted 'Education, education, education'. Like you I lived in London as a 20-something and never really had to think of this problem. But I used to wonder why British ppl tended to leave central London once they got into their 30s and started having children. I guess one reason is the low school standards. My sil moved to Bucks when her eldest was a baby as she couldn't face putting him in a Sth East London school. Bucks have the 11+ exam and grammar school system which is excellent (provided your kids can get in). The problem in central London is that although it is a real melting pot of cultures and backgrounds amongst 20-somethings, there tend to be huge disparities amongst families. In Kensington & Chelsea, 80% of kids attend private schools. THis means that the only ones who go to state schools are likely to be those who simply cannot afford v high school fees - e.g. those who live on council estates (there are some tucked away in posh areas). There are v few 'middle class' ppl in these areas as property prices are so high, hence v few educated parents willing to send their kids to state schools. For this reason you need to go further out to find 'good' state schools... leafy, middle class areas with more 'affordable' housing (e.g. less than 1 million for a house lol). Think home counties... Surrey, Kent, Herts etc. If you have a look on findaproperty.co.uk you can look at areas and the related school standards. Good luck!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Gulf News Dubai: [b'>Six out of 136 [/b'>private schools in Dubai were ranked as outstanding by the emirate's Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) on Monday, based on inspections of schools this academic year. The schools ranked outstanding for 2010-11 are Dubai College, Jumeirah College, Jumeirah English Speaking School, Jumeirah Primary School, GEMS Wellington International School. A report based on the inspection of the schools by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau at KHDA, between October 2010 and April 2011, was released yesterday. The full list of schools and their individual performances, however, will only be published this morning. Forty-nine schools were rated as good, 85 as acceptable while 16 were deemed unsatisfactory. With over 187,905 children enrolled in the 136 private schools, they account for more than 86 per cent of Dubai's student population. Initiated in 2008 by the KHDA, the inspections programme seems to be working for schools, with a marked improvement in their performance. The number of private schools which secured an outstanding rating is up from two schools last year and four the previous year. Among these schools, 51 follow the UK curriculum, 31 US curriculum, 21 Indian curriculums, 15 Ministry of Education curriculum, 6 International Baccalaureate (IB) and 12 follow other curricula such as French, Pakistani, Filipino, Japanese, Russian and German. Students benefited Interestingly, over the three years that the inspections have been conducted, all the private schools rated outstanding have been UK curriculum schools. The reason is the presence of a higher number of schools following the UK curriculum, officials said. "Almost 44 per cent of the children in Dubai's private schools, 82,360 out of 187,950 children, are now going to schools rated good or outstanding, which shows a significant improvement in the city's education landscape," Dr Abdullah Al Karam, Director-General of KHDA, said. "As compared to last year, 20,000 more children are now at schools rated good or outstanding." As many as 19 schools improved their rankings from last year. Inspection bureau chief Jameela Al Muhairi said: "We can see a trend towards a healthier education system in Dubai." Overall improvement She said that overall improvement in levels of achievement in English, Mathematics and Science were seen this year, along with improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and also in self-evaluation. "Leadership has improved, as have arrangements schools make for the protection of their students but teaching of Arabic still needs improvement." Six outstanding private schools •Dubai College, Jumeirah College, Jumeirah English Speaking School, Jumeirah Primary School, GEMS Wellington International School Six outstanding public schools among 80 in Dubai •[b'>Six schools out of a total of 80[/b'> public schools in Dubai were also ranked as outstanding by KHDA yesterday. The full inspection report of public schools, however, is scheduled to be released only later this year. •The six public schools ranked outstanding are: Al Bara'ah Kindergarten, Al Manhal Kindergarten, Al Nokhbah Model School, Al Qeyam Model School, Childhood Development Centre, Kindergarten; Umm Suqeim Primary School. School inspection results for the previous year •For the academic year 2009-2010, 209 schools were inspected by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB). •Five schools were rated as outstanding, 73 were classified good, [b'>106 acceptable, and 25 as unsatisfactory[/b'>. •Breaking those figures down into public and private schools, the categories are: •Public: 3 outstanding, 30 good, 37 acceptable, and 8 unsatisfactory. Total: 78 •[b'>Private: 2 outstanding, 43 good; 69 acceptable, and 17 unsatisfactory. Total: 131[/b'>

The thing with statistics is that people throw figures left right and center and all of a sudden something that some idiot quoted becomes gospel. I agree that we all share our experiences to contribute to discussion, but some posters are h e l l b e n d to create a terrible picture of Dubai which is not right. I understand that their personal disappointments feed their smear campaigns, but in all honesty they are increasingly overstepping boundaries and lash out at new posters looking to gain deeper insight, and older posters who dare to take a different stance. Yes there are appalling schools in Dubai. There are also excellent ones. The dyslexia thread is a point in case. Some just lash out at the first change of opening anything school related and others share alternatives and possibilities. I certainly learned from reading that thread and was surprised about some of the schools mentioned. There is hope ;) And that's all for now folks :D Please name the excellent schools and then take the number of schools there are in Dubai and make it a %, then take the number of schools there are in the UK and work out the % or schools that are excellent. Point in case, numbers game, the figures are simply not up to scratch here. There are very few schools in Dubai that could be deemed excellent, KHDA noted 6, i would note less than that. However there are some excellent teachers and it is quite feasible that even in a comparatively naff school you could have a great teacher and have a good year, deeming it excellent. However education can not survive on just having a good year with a good teacher, far more consistency needs to come and be implemented into the whole educational system within Dubai. If this fact had not been recognised and the schools were all of an excellent standard there would be no need for inspections, KHDA and continued regulation changes. Education is the hot topic both in goverment and with the general public, it would be wrong to continue to propagate the notion that all is ok and there are no issues attacking any poster who brings this to the board. Change and standards will never be raised until everyone gets on the same page. Education is fundemental in shaping our future generations it is our duty to make sure that every child has access to the very best education possible, by continually stating everything is just dandy and making education into a them and us topic a diservice is being done to the future generations.

The thing with statistics is that people throw figures left right and center and all of a sudden something that some idiot quoted becomes gospel. I agree that we all share our experiences to contribute to discussion, but some posters are h e l l b e n d to create a terrible picture of Dubai which is not right. I understand that their personal disappointments feed their smear campaigns, but in all honesty they are increasingly overstepping boundaries and lash out at new posters looking to gain deeper insight, and older posters who dare to take a different stance. Yes there are appalling schools in Dubai. There are also excellent ones. The dyslexia thread is a point in case. Some just lash out at the first change of opening anything school related and others share alternatives and possibilities. I certainly learned from reading that thread and was surprised about some of the schools mentioned. There is hope ;) And that's all for now folks :D

I wish people would stop making these sweeping statements based purely on their own experiences of 1, 2 or 3 schools. The Dubai school scene is not nearly as dire as posters make it out to be. Nor are all children high performers and university material. Hear! Hear! But to be fair it is only 2/3 people who jump on the education/schools threads and speak with the voice of authority and some of whom have had no recent experience of Dubai Schools. edited by fido on 16/05/2011 Well i have recent experience and am certainly not impressed with standards accross the board as a generalisation!

I wish people would stop making these sweeping statements based purely on their own experiences of 1, 2 or 3 schools. The Dubai school scene is not nearly as dire as posters make it out to be. Nor are all children high performers and university material. Hear! Hear! But to be fair it is only 2/3 people who jump on the education/schools threads and speak with the voice of authority and some of whom have had no recent experience of Dubai Schools. <em>edited by fido on 16/05/2011</em>

I did say MOST. My kids have been to 3 Dubai schools and all of them were just a poor version of a UK state school. I’m going on my experience of Dubai schools maybe your children had a better experience. edited by tally-ho on 16/05/2011 I wish people would stop making these sweeping statements based purely on their own experiences of 1, 2 or 3 schools. The Dubai school scene is not nearly as dire as posters make it out to be. Nor are all children high performers and university material. Well that depends on ones own perspective doesn't it? Neither opinion is wrong, it's an opinion based on individual expectations. I think as in my opinion there are a lot of people with their heads in the sand regarding education in Dubai and a massive overhaul is needed to bring standards on par with the other parts of the world. The very fact that only this week there was an article about the high turnover of staff (60%) leading to concerns with the educational bodies here should be enough for some to realise that there are problems. <em>edited by Sticky Wicket on 16/05/2011</em>

My friends' and family's experience chime with Suze63's. There are a few boroughs in London which still have grammar schools and children have to pass the 11+ or equivalent exam to get into them. A friend's son sat entrance exams for various state/independent schools in the South London area a couple of years ago, including Tiffin's Boys in Kingston-upon-Thames (same sort of area my bro moved to Vancouver from because he wanted good state secondary education for his children and the chances of getting it were slight), where I believe something like 1,200 boys were competing for 100 places. Yay, MissUnderstood, you go girl :) <em>edited by simpleasabc on 16/05/2011</em>

I did say MOST. My kids have been to 3 Dubai schools and all of them were just a poor version of a UK state school. I’m going on my experience of Dubai schools maybe your children had a better experience. edited by tally-ho on 16/05/2011 I wish people would stop making these sweeping statements based purely on their own experiences of 1, 2 or 3 schools. The Dubai school scene is not nearly as dire as posters make it out to be. Nor are all children high performers and university material.

I lived in London until fairly recently and would give a qualified yes to your question, with the caveat they are VERY difficult to get into. Barnet, Camden and Ilford (and possibly other areas) still have grammar schools, which are excellent however if your child doesn't get into those, the alternatives can be poor to very poor. Where I lived in North London, one catchment area was 250m around the school (an excellent primary). Church schools can be a good alternative but church attendance records / vicar or priest recommendations were required. Both my girls went to private school and so do those of my friends. Sorry to sound grim but that's my experience.

Tally-ho - did your kids ever go to a state school in the UK - I thought they were in private?

I did say MOST. My kids have been to 3 Dubai schools and all of them were just a poor version of a UK state school. I’m going on my experience of Dubai schools maybe your children had a better experience. edited by tally-ho on 16/05/2011 Yes but you said "better off in a state school in the UK" ............ I agree there are **** schools in Dubai from what I hear but there are also **** state schools in the UK AND great ones.