Choosing a school?

I always knew that the school systems here in England are different from American schools, but these past few months, I've been learning a lot about the differences. Take for instance, when we mention Public Schools in America, we are talking about the normal schools that are run by the local school board. Public Schools in England are anything but! Here, Public Schools are what we Americans would call private boarding schools. Why are they are called Public Schools, I don't know.

Here in England, they start children in schools at an earlier age than we do in America. They have their equivalent to Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, but they start a year earlier than what we do in the States. As a consequence, their official first year of school is when the child is 5 years old instead of six. And they don't refer to each year of advancement as Grades. What we would call 4th Grade, they call Year 4. Elementary or Primary schools go up to Year 6. After that, the parents then apply to different Secondary schools, or what we would call High schools. The process is quite interesting, as I am learning.

Schools come in different types. They come as: Primary, which deals with K-Year 6 students; Secondary, which deals with Years 7-13; and Comprehensive schools which take students all the way through their education. When a student reaches Year 6, regardless of whether they go to a Primary or a Comprehensive school, the parents have to start applying for places at Secondary schools of their choice. If they make no applications, the student most likely will wind up at the school in his or her "Catchment" area, the zone for which that school is primarily responsible for. And to make matters even more interesting, some of the Secondary schools are semi-private. For instance, down where our street empties into the main road, there sits Emmanuel College. It is a Christian Secondary school that is not governed by the local school authority, but falls under a different program. It is funded by a partnership of the Crown and certain local businesses. Since they don't have "Separation of Chuch and State" over here, there is no conflict of interest. Then there are in our local area, 2 Roman Catholic Secondary schools that voluntarily submit to local authority . . . to a point. That point being where it doesn't conflict with their primary ethos for education, in this case, being Roman Catholic Christian schools. They accept students first from their Roman Catholic feeder schools, then if there are slots still open, they then accept, in this order, other Christian students and then students within their catchment areas.

Because Emmaunel College is funded by "other means," it is administered by it's own board, which then is held responsible by the laws that allow such schools to exist - a government program which I know nothing about other than it does this and pays for the student's education just as if the student went to a regular school. However, the thing that excites me about this program is that it allows the school to be a Christian school where the Christian ethos is taught in a Christian environment. The Bible is considered essential equipment for each student, even if only for the morning devotion assembly. The program was set up to address the lack of Secondary schools dedicated to high technology and business curiculum. The fact that the founders of this particular school are very devout Christians and insisted that it also be a part of the curiculum is all the better. It would be considered somethink akin to the Magnet (or is that Magnate?) school programs in various states in America.

Since it is outside the normal system, we had to apply for a slot for my step-daughter, Emily, back in July. Last week, she had to take a 2 hour assessment test and in a couple of weeks, she has to go in for an interview. One of the provisions of this program is that these schools cannot simply take the best and brightest students that apply, but must take on students of all abilities like the other schools do and in similar ratios. How they do this is a mystery to me.

This week, my lovely wife, Rebecca, has been threading her way through the application process for the schools within the normal school system. We could list up to three choices in order of preference so that this would be taken in consideration by the assignment offices. As I understand it, this year, there is a new process whereas the preferences are taken into consideration when schools are overbooked. Up until now, the preferences were a major part of what was considered when placing a child in a school. Now, it is different, but after reading the material about three times, I still don't understand it, but somehow, it still is a major consideration. We put down one of the Roman Catholic schools as our first choice and then 2 secular schools as second and third choices. We will learn the results of this sometime in March. We will learn if Emily can go to Emmanuel sometime earlier. After we get the results in, we'll make a commitment one way or another. And of course, if we don't like any of the choices given us, we can appeal.

When Emily goes to whatever secondary school she winds up in, she's required to go until Year 11, when she's 16. She has the choice of continuing her education in what's known as 6th Form, where she simply continues to go to school for another 2 years (Year 13). Students have the option of changing schools when they go for 6th Form, but this is an option rarely taken. And then when she finishes 6th Form, she simply doesn't go back to school the next year. There is no ceremony like we have in America where we graduate from high school. What a shame that there is nothing to mark the achievement of going the full course of school here in England.

A couple we know have a son who's 16 this year. Before the term finished back in July, he had to take a mandatory series of tests known as the GCSE's, which stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. Then there are what is known as the A Levels. The A Level GCSE is taken during 6th Form and is used by universities to determine if a student is eligible for entry into that particular institution. The grades that a student gets in the GCSE's and the A Levels will follow them for the rest of their life. All applications for employment over here ask for the scores received in the GCSE and if applicable, the A Levels. In my own humble opinion, that's way too much pressure to bring on teen aged kids. If they do poorly, for whatever reason, that will follow them for the rest of their life! I can understand the need to assess if a student has learned the material taught before being allowed to leave school, but to have that grade be used to determine something in their lives twenty years down the road is too much!

I've seen some kids who don't take them seriously because they know that they won't have a chance at some really big job opportunities. But then I've also watched others who really sweated bullets on these tests because of their plans to go on to University as the phrase goes over here. Then there are the few who are smart enough and have done their homework as we say and the tests are no bother to them because they know their material and are confident of themselves. Those who have prepared themselves in the years leading up to the GCSE's and the A Levels will find a lot of opportunities ahead for them . . . providing they survive University. LOL