Question

essay on how to chose a good secondary school

Answer 1

hoosing a secondary is something of an illusion. In much of the country, there aren't a huge number within a convenient distance of our homes, and when the various religious schools for whom your child is an inadmissible heretic are stripped out, there may be only one candidate left anyway. Even in urban areas, where there are more schools to choose from, that choice is not all it seems. Nearly all schools use proximity in their admissions policy, so whether you get the school you want rather depends on how many other people with children of the same age live between you and its front gates. Nevertheless, parents can certainly worry about the order in which to place their preferences when the dreaded form lands on the mat.

Ironically, the arrival of an education "marketplace" has done little to clarify choices, and much to obscure them. Schoolshave become adept at marketing, with glossy brochures, websites and adverts in local papers. The relationship between promotional material and reality is not always close. More than one teacher has found themselves gazing on the angelic hard-working children (often wearing safety glasses, a lab coat and a studious look) pictured on an advert for their own school before realising that one of the children in the picture has so far been responsible for a hundred disrupted classes, two flooded toilet blocks and an early retirement.

In addition, the language of school marketing is now so uniformly bland and meaningless that it would have Peter Mandelson nodding admiringly as he leafed through yet another prospectus describing the educational nirvana awaiting inside the classroom. The late Simon Hoggart coined the phrase "the law of the ridiculous reverse", which states that if the opposite of a statement is plainly absurd, it was not worth making in the first place. School marketing literature is a veritable treasure trove of such statements:

"We are committed to high standards" as opposed to "We aim to fail."

"We demand the highest standards of behaviour" as opposed to "Teachers gather to place bets on student fights."

"We aim to ensure all our pupils fulfil their potential" as opposed to "We only care about a few, and the rest can colour in pictures for seven years."

Of course, sometimes schools indulge in what might attract attention from trading standards were they to be selling a product. For example, Toby Young's West London free school proudly claims to give "all children a classical liberal education, no matter what their background" but seems to struggle to attract some backgrounds (children with disadvantages) more than others. Meanwhile, Harris Crystal Palace's prospectus famously claimed that "disabled students, including those in wheelchairs, have full access .
So how does the stressed-yet-discerning parent seek to get past the gloss and discover the real picture? Fear not, because there are ways to do so, some more effective than others.