Admissions Policies
An interesting article in The Guardian from the other side of the admissions procedure. It seems that – not only are the parent’s playing games to get the school of their choice – the schools are playing games to get the ‘right’ children in. I don’t think this is a surprise to anyone, but it it useful to see it confirmed by someone who has witnessed it.
This makes me wonder about the admissions policies from the school I am considering. At the meeting that I described a while back Faith High were keen to stress that it is possible to get into their school without a Vicar’s letter. At the time I thought this was charitable of them – or maybe they were facing the reality of falling rolls in my daughter’s year – now I wonder.
The primary school my children attend is one of the ‘better’ ones in the area with a good intake. Does Faith High give the same reassurance to some of the nearby primaries with not such a good reputation?
This article has been linked to by http://richarddawkins.net and I had actually popped over here to draw your attention to it. The last time this subject came up on the RD website I posted a link to this blog and was subsequently thanked for doing so. If you have not done so already I do hope that you will visit RD.net and put your point of view in the comments, as an insider I think that your opinions would be valued there.
Thanks for drawing my attention to the article on RD.Net. I do follow it on and off and have commented occasionally. I hadn’t seen the one that you mentioned, however. It is interesting from the comments how many people are in a similar position. But no-one wants to speak out about it before they get their child into their chosen school. The Government (whichever one) seems cowed by the religious lobbies, and so nothing changes.
It is noticeable that some Christians are beginning to speak out about the unfairness of it all.
To be fair, I think that some vicars were troubled by the whole attending church to get the desired school thing from the start.