Shades of Grey

Now that David is in year 6 (the top year of primary education) we will shortly have to indicate to Education Leeds which secondary school we would like David to go to. There is a form to fill in, or it can be done online.

The trouble is that expressing a preference only works if the schools have places. There are a number of priorities applied to the admission based on special educational needs, siblings at the same school and then how close you are physically. The system is further distorted by applicants from over the Leeds City County boundary who bizarrely take preference over Leeds children. As Morley borders Wakefield and Kirklees it is the awkward position of all three high schools being heavily oversubscribed.

I had the pleasure of interviewing all of the Morley High School Head Teachers at length a couple of years ago  so have a bit of a grasp of how the schools are run. The nearest school is Morley High (originally Morley Grammar) which went through a bad patch earlier in the Century but has been turned around by a “Super-Head” who describes the school ethos as “earthy”. Woodkirk High had the better reputation (& results) and it isn’t much further away. Bruntcliffe High lies a fair walk past Morley High and an unlikely choice on that basis as it apparently gets the highest number of over-the-border applicants so the catchment area is rather small.

All three schools have specialisms: Science, Technology and Business & Enterprise, However, on enquiring as to whether this was of benefit should David show abilities in these areas, it turns out that this has bugger all to do with the pupils as there is no selective intake based on ability or potential. If you want that, you have to go to a Grammar School &/or a fee paying private school. There aren’t any State Grammars in Leeds, although there is one in Heckmondyke (which still has the catchment area & non-selective quotas).

There are open evenings coming up at the schools over the next few weeks before the deadline for returning the form on October 17th. However, it appears that David’s teacher has been telling the class some disinformation about how they have to get their parents to return the form it as soon as possible or they won’t get a place. This has made him a bit anxious so we have had words with the school about this.

We want to see both of the schools, ask some searching questions of the staff and let David partake in the decision for what preference to express- even if it is something of a pointless exercise as the preference doesn’t count for much.