Posts Tagged ‘secondary school’

Debate of the week: Children denied their first choice of school

Monday, March 8th, 2010

It’s a tough time for thousands of Year Six pupils and their families. Last Monday was “national offer day”, when local councils send out letters to around 540,000 families across the country to let them know whether they had been given a place at their preferred choice of secondary school.

Sadly, around 100,000 children were left disappointed as they were told that they would be unable to attend their first choice school.

That’s even more children left out in the cold than last year, when around 91,000 children and their families were forced to reconsider their secondary school options.

Experts say that this increase has happened because many parents who may have opted for an independent school have applied to state schools because of their changed financial circumstances.

The admissions criteria for state schools have changed in recent times and certainly seem to be quite complicated. However, they don’t appear to be working. If we invite children to apply for places at their preferred schools, then these preferred schools should have places for them. Otherwise, what’s the point? We may as well go back to the old days when everyone lumped in together and simply went to the school that was nearest to them.

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Free school meals for all?

Monday, September 21st, 2009

A £40m trial is underway in County Durham and the East London borough of Newham that enables pupils to have free lunches. Children’s behaviour, health and academic standards will be closely monitored to see how they are affected, and if it is successful then other parts of the country may soon benefit from the scheme.

The trial coincides with new nutrient-based standards for lunches that secondary schools have to follow. The same standards are already operational in primary schools across England, and they specify the amount of energy, fat, saturated fat, non-milk extrinsic sugars, salt, carbohydrate, protein, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, foliate, calcium, iron and zinc each meal should contain.

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls commented “I encourage all families who are entitled to a free school meal to claim this valuable support.  For those who are not eligible, school meals are still a great deal and give parents good value for money.  We know from recent research by the School Food Trust that parents with two children could save over £1,000 in a school year if they chose school meals – as well as the reassurance that their children are eating good quality, healthy food.”

If the scheme is as successful as the government hopes, it is estimated that it would cost up to £1bn to make all school meals free to pupils.

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Entrance exam preparation

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Those who have gone back to school for their final year will already be thinking about what comes next, with some pupils facing the rigours of entrance exams or coursework submission for secondary school and university places.

When submitting coursework as part of an application, the student and tutor should work together to choose the best examples of work from the previous year. Nothing should be written solely for the application as universities want to see natural potential. However, it is acceptable to ‘tidy up’ the document, removing minor typos, grammatical errors etc. which may have been missed the first time around.

For entrance exams it is important that students remember the same rule applies – schools look for potential, not present ability. If pupils were already perfect, there would be very little point in continuing with education. Devise an entrance exam revision plan, in that same way that you would for any other exam. Most importantly, make sure you stick to it – this also helps identify and improve on any weak points.

The school’s selection criteria should be identified. This is especially relevant if the student is applying for a scholarship. This knowledge will help to create a strongly targeted and concise study plan, increasing the chances of success.

Do enlist the help of a private tutor to help with exam preparation and revision. Home tutors are usually more than happy to advise and assist those students who are bright enough to consider sitting these non-compulsory exams.

As well as mental preparation, it is important to prepare physically as well. A good night’s sleep, healthy diet and exercise will all come together to ensure any student is as prepared as it’s possible to be.

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