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What is school life like at a comprehensive school?

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Reply 40
Original post by iwishicouldfly14
I like using full sentences when I text - the main problem is the choice in vocabulary.

If you go to a grammar school (as opposed to a private school) it isn't as bad as there will be people from a variety of backgrounds.
Yes, it is concerning.
I'm not saying you will become ignorant, and that's what's good about university (providing you don't go to Oxbridge etc), but I think you should find a way to meet other people such as with a program like NCS or meeting people from other schools.
I go to a faith school. Recently some 6th formers spoke (I don't know who to....) about how being at a faith school isn't good because it doesn't prepare you when you go out and are surrounded by people who are different faiths and have different beliefs. I think it's important that the Government encourages different schools to mix, to ensure that people don't develop ignorant views.
Faith schools should mix with schools of other faiths and regular comprehensives. Private schools should mix with state schools etc

But I don't think you asking about the differences with schooling will make much of a difference. We all have different experiences and that will shape our views and beliefs.
We all have similar school lives. We will all get up in the morning at a time we consider too early, we will all travel to school, whether it is by public transport, school bus, car or foot. We will all study maths, some in their schools with the state of the art equipment, and some who still use blackboards. We will all eat lunch and play sport and then go home and do homework.
There will always be hated teachers, the school "b****" (or whatever the equivalent is for a guy). There will always be disruptions and assemblies that everyone hates.
I don't for one second believe that behaviour in a private or grammar school is "immaculate", it probably isn't as bad as in our state schools with 32 kids in a classroom, but it's definitely there.

And now my mum's kicking me off the computer so I can't finish whatever this actually was meant to be...
Sorry for the ranting...


Totally agree with you!

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I went to a slightly above average comprehensive school. When I was in year 7 I went to a below average academy which ended up closing its doors two years after I left.

At the academy you could never get any work done seriously without distraction, teachers didnt really care as long as you were passing, and I got ignored whenever I asked how to improve because they were to busy dealing with the disruptive pupils.

Thankfully I moved when in year 8 and my new school was far from that. yes classes still got disrupted but because it was a larger school (about 200 in each year compared to 80) the setting system was more logical and you ended up being with people of your ability rather than being at the top of the class constantly.
When results day rolled around the school got 80% A*-C including english and maths, there were a handful of us "straight A* students" (roughly about 6/7 of us) and everyone else did very well. I come out with 9A* and 1A and I put that down to hard work and the values the school instilled in me.

people from my school have gone onto oxford and im studying medicine, so it just proves a good comp is just as good as any grammar. the grammar near me required £8000 a year tuition... so that was out of the question.
I went to a good comp - about 68% 5A*-C rate. It was fine. I was assaulted a couple of times, and there were 3 instances of knives being brought into school, but bear in mind this was kids aged 11-16 over a 6 year period. Kids do stupid stuff.

The main difference would be motivation of kids to learn. Some parents don't give a **** about school and actively tell their kids to also not give a **** about school and have failed to punish any untoward behaviour since they were born. Those kids do not want to be there and have no inhibitions about disrupting class for everyone else to get their way. Languages and maths were particularly bad in my experience. Things got way, way better after starting GCSEs - at least then people have some choice over what classes they're in and maths tends to be setted.

I have no experience of selective or fee-paying schools. Maybe they suffer the same problems, though I suspect to a far lesser extent.
My school isn't too bad although if you are a high achieving pupil (mostly A* at gcse) then you'd be better off at a good grammar school imo.

Every once in a while there is a straight A* student and a few people with around 4-8A* every year so its a good school.
Well imo its good for humanties but for sciences and certainly maths it is pretty poor.

Teachers are good but you aren't challenged enough here.
I know someone in the year above me (straight A*) who left my school for sixth form at a local grammar and she loved it. She talked about how the atmosphere was so much better. Especially if you want to do sciences or medicine. You could talk about something science or medicine related and people will join you in your conversation rather than looking at you weird and rolling their eyes. :tongue: She ended up getting an offer for medicine at Cambridge and had the best two years of her life. If she stayed on at the comprehensive she would not have been able to pick further maths (unless she pushed to self teach it) or perhaps even allowed to pick up biology during year 13.

I think being in an environment whereby most people are aiming for the same stuff is much better.
A lot of people want to do medicine at the grammar compared to a few in my sixth form. They have support for admissions tests for competitive courses whereas in comprehensives you get barely any.

BUT...
If you want to go to "Russell group" or "Oxbridge" my sixth form head would kiss your ass and going to a comprehensive has the advantages of being offered all those lovely outreach opportunities that no grammar or private schools would get.

Yes that includes schemes that offer interview prep, admissions tests prep etc
But all that crap happens after you get your results.
If you do well in a comprehensive that doesn't send many to russell group unis or oxbridge. It will look really good and sometimes unis will give out reduced offers (contextual stuff init).

But again since not many would even aspire that high in my school, you can sometimes get people looking down upon you even going to these things. Or even worse jealousy :s

Whilst there is plenty of support from teachers (if you ask and actually put in the effort to want to understand things), I know I'd prefer to be an environment whereby everyone is much higher achieving if you know what I mean.

Sitting in lessons where you know you'd get so much more done yourself. Also no real problem solving emphasis in my lessons which is a shame. No olympiads no competitions nothing. No real support or help if you do want to try out these things.
Your probably most likely to be laughed at if you want to do crap like that.
Plus its nice having the ability to talk to others about things you don't understand rather than having to go and see the teacher after school or something and pestering them. And some teachers can't even explain things properly here :colonhash: or even answer some of my questions.

There are pros and cons and people have different preferences.
And there are loads of crap schools doesnt matter what type.
Teaching isnt always better at a higher achieving school. But atleast you can ask others for help anyway.
(edited 7 years ago)
****
Original post by Pentaquark
My school isn't too bad although if you are a high achieving pupil (mostly A* at gcse) then you'd be better off at a good grammar school imo.

Every once in a while there is a straight A* student and a few people with around 4-8A* every year so its a good school.
Well imo its good for humanties but for sciences and certainly maths it is pretty poor.

Teachers are good but you aren't challenged enough here.
I know someone in the year above me (straight A*) who left my school for sixth form at a local grammar and she loved it. She talked about how the atmosphere was so much better. Especially if you want to do sciences or medicine. You could talk about something science or medicine related and people will join you in your conversation rather than looking at you weird and rolling their eyes. :tongue: She ended up getting an offer for medicine at Cambridge and had the best two years of her life. If she stayed on at the comprehensive she would not have been able to pick further maths (unless she pushed to self teach it) or perhaps even allowed to pick up biology during year 13.

I think being in an environment whereby most people are aiming for the same stuff is much better.
A lot of people want to do medicine at the grammar compared to a few in my sixth form. They have support for admissions tests for competitive courses whereas in comprehensives you get barely any.

BUT...
If you want to go to "Russell group" or "Oxbridge" my sixth form head would kiss your ass and going to a comprehensive has the advantages of being offered all those lovely outreach opportunities that no grammar or private schools would get.

Yes that includes schemes that offer interview prep, admissions tests prep etc
But all that crap happens after you get your results.
If you do well in a comprehensive that doesn't send many to russell group unis or oxbridge. It will look really good and sometimes unis will give out reduced offers (contextual stuff init).

But again since not many would even aspire that high in my school, you can sometimes get people looking down upon you even going to these things. Or even worse jealousy :s

Whilst there is plenty of support from teachers (if you ask and actually put in the effort to want to understand things), I know I'd prefer to be an environment whereby everyone is much higher achieving if you know what I mean.

Sitting in lessons where you know you'd get so much more done yourself. Also no real problem solving emphasis in my lessons which is a shame. No olympiads no competitions nothing. No real support or help if you do want to try out these things.
Your probably most likely to be laughed at if you want to do crap like that.
Plus its nice having the ability to talk to others about things you don't understand rather than having to go and see the teacher after school or something and pestering them. And some teachers can't even explain things properly here :colonhash: or even answer some of my questions.

There are pros and cons and people have different preferences.
And there are loads of crap schools doesnt matter what type.
Teaching isnt always better at a higher achieving school. But atleast you can ask others for help anyway.


I also go to a comprehensive school, and whilst I agree with most of what you have said, the lack of challenging content was quite beneficial for me because it made me want to find challenging material which interested me. It was helpful because it allowed me to focus on doing my a-level maths and further maths early as I didn't have lots of challenging work to do in school. I think that if I went to a grammar school I wouldn't have done this sort of thing as I would have just gone through the system normally being quite bored.

I disagree with you on the Olympiad thing. Whilst it's true that many comprehensive schools don't have many people doing these competitions, I've competed in way more of these competitions than the majority of people I know at independent/grammar schools.
Reply 47
You're expected to get nothing higher than a C, if you are good for you but if you're on a C wanting a B, you're on your own. that's how it was for us at GCSE
Original post by Natalierm2707
I went to a slightly above average comprehensive school. When I was in year 7 I went to a below average academy which ended up closing its doors two years after I left.

At the academy you could never get any work done seriously without distraction, teachers didnt really care as long as you were passing, and I got ignored whenever I asked how to improve because they were to busy dealing with the disruptive pupils.

Thankfully I moved when in year 8 and my new school was far from that. yes classes still got disrupted but because it was a larger school (about 200 in each year compared to 80) the setting system was more logical and you ended up being with people of your ability rather than being at the top of the class constantly.
When results day rolled around the school got 80% A*-C including english and maths, there were a handful of us "straight A* students" (roughly about 6/7 of us) and everyone else did very well. I come out with 9A* and 1A and I put that down to hard work and the values the school instilled in me.

people from my school have gone onto oxford and im studying medicine, so it just proves a good comp is just as good as any grammar. the grammar near me required £8000 a year tuition... so that was out of the question.


how can a grammar school require tuition!! thats so unfair, it must be classed as private surely
I've been to private schools and grammar schools, and I don't think you can group them together as the same. Most private schools did not require as high achievement in primary/prep schools to enter as some of the grammar schools did near me. Infact, I knew many people that went to private schools because they didn't pass the 11 plus or didn't want the academia associated with grammar schools. That being said, private schools have the top staffing, facilities, and small class sizes to allow students to achieve a lot higher than they probably would have in the state education system.

The only thing I would say about some comprehensive schools, is that if they were previously failing, they often get massive funding allowances from the government. My friend's school was newly renovated, with all classrooms having iMac's and each student given an iPad. My school on the other hand, is not allowed to provide paper or exercise books because we can't afford it, use old text books from qualifications we no longer do, and had to raise all our own money to provide facility updates.
Original post by Palette
I go to a grammar school which is why I am asking.


It's okay:h:

There is much less academic pressure, and (by the time you get to sixth form at least), the teachers will chat to you about their pug for half the lesson. But we have 1950s leaky rooms, radioactive 1970s chemicals they can't afford to replace, a lot lot lot of chavs, and teachers who genuinely couldn't care less grouped with kids who couldn't care less. But, like, would I have done that much better in another school to justify the fees? I very much doubt it...

But I think it's quite good, you get to know all sorts of people, and it's life skillz innit:biggrin:
Original post by Maths465Man
I also go to a comprehensive school, and whilst I agree with most of what you have said, the lack of challenging content was quite beneficial for me because it made me want to find challenging material which interested me. It was helpful because it allowed me to focus on doing my a-level maths and further maths early as I didn't have lots of challenging work to do in school. I think that if I went to a grammar school I wouldn't have done this sort of thing as I would have just gone through the system normally being quite bored.

I disagree with you on the Olympiad thing. Whilst it's true that many comprehensive schools don't have many people doing these competitions, I've competed in way more of these competitions than the majority of people I know at independent/grammar schools.

Each to their own I guess :smile: Lack of challenging content in maths during the start of the year made me also focus on self teaching further maths. Although it slowly died down as the year progressed due to me getting rather complacent.
Now I am trying to basically finish off M2 and actually start some past papers :angry:

I'm glad you have been competing in competitions like Olympiads.
Certainly at my school its not even a thing here and most people don't even know they exist.
Reply 52
Original post by Vicky628
It's okay:h:

There is much less academic pressure, and (by the time you get to sixth form at least), the teachers will chat to you about their pug for half the lesson. But we have 1950s leaky rooms, radioactive 1970s chemicals they can't afford to replace, a lot lot lot of chavs, and teachers who genuinely couldn't care less grouped with kids who couldn't care less. But, like, would I have done that much better in another school to justify the fees? I very much doubt it...

But I think it's quite good, you get to know all sorts of people, and it's life skillz innit:biggrin:


The academic pressure is what is strangling me at the moment and is what made Year 12 my second worst year of school ever. I'm looking forward to learning Year 13 content (I will be self teaching a lot of it over the summer) but I'm not really looking forward to going back to the school itself in September. Even though individuals get along fine with each other, there isn't much of a sense of cohesiveness at my school.

Do the chavs ever harass their classmates or do they only take their anti-social behaviour on outsiders?
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Palette
The academic pressure is what is strangling me at the moment and is what made Year 12 my second worst year of school ever. I'm looking forward to learning Year 13 content (I will be self teaching a lot of it over the summer) but I'm not really looking forward to going back to the school itself in September. Even though individuals get along fine with each other, there isn't much of a sense of cohesiveness at my school.

Do the chavs ever harrass their classmates or do they only take their anti-social behavior on outsiders?


That's the reason I'm glad I didn't go up the grammar in the end, I'm fine being competitive amongst a few mates, but if the school expected straight A's from me, or my peers based my worth on my capabilities, it'd be horrible. I want to do well for me, not my physics teacher...

Yeah, but not really seriously, and I suspect there're people like that everywhere. It's strange that you think of it as anti-social, to me it kinda seems part of being a kid... (Obviously not to the extreme!)
Reply 54
Original post by Vicky628
That's the reason I'm glad I didn't go up the grammar in the end, I'm fine being competitive amongst a few mates, but if the school expected straight A's from me, or my peers based my worth on my capabilities, it'd be horrible. I want to do well for me, not my physics teacher...

Yeah, but not really seriously, and I suspect there're people like that everywhere. It's strange that you think of it as anti-social, to me it kinda seems part of being a kid... (Obviously not to the extreme!)


Didn't you tell me that your physics teacher is an absolutely horrible human being anyway?

I personally would avoid any interactions with chavs. The fact that they're acting like 'kids' when they're near adulthood concerns me.
Original post by Palette
Didn't you tell me that your physics teacher is an absolutely horrible human being anyway?

I personally would avoid any interactions with chavs. The fact that they're acting like 'kids' when they're near adulthood concerns me.


*cough* quite possibly *cough*

They've gotten better, recently, though... Mainly because the year elevens are leaving

Why? I mean, you'll have to eventually, and it's not bad, most of them are really nice people with dubious taste in track suits :biggrin: I mean younger kids, say early teens, most of the "chavs" have gone to college/apprenticeships and are probably much more world-aware than you or I
Nothing wrong with a comprehensive school education. Many kids excel in their exams and developing street fighting skills at an early age with aid you later in life.
Original post by Brooke.taylor
how can a grammar school require tuition!! thats so unfair, it must be classed as private surely


In manchester most grammar schools require tuition, I think they keep thair grammar status because they let a certain percentage of people in every year on 11 plus scholarships, but around 80% pay.

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