State comprehensives; are they really that bad?

[Moscow Mule]

Evidently, the difference comes down to the quality of the parents, 'cos ours were doing pretty damned well.

FTFY.

Kids whose parents don't give a tulip often end up WFM.

[Fred Bloggs]

Remember boys and girls, DodgyAgent's opinions are the real truth and your factual anecdotal evidence doesn't count.

[Tingles]

I hated school, my Dad died when I was 14 and I went completely off the rails, my comp had a very bad rep.

I spent my study leave doing aptitude tests - Mensa etc, as I enjoyed getting high scores etc.

Consequently, didn't do very well at my 'O' levels but managed to gain one of the highest scores in The Bank of England 'entrance exam' - aptitude based.

At that time the BoE didn't care about exams. Gained employment there, much to the surprise of the school.

[DimPrawn]

I sometimes think it is good for a bright child to go to a school where they have a hard time.

Makes them try hard later in life and not expect it all on a plate "cos I wen't to a posh school, don't you know".

[Iron Condor]

I went to state comp, the teachers were really good, most had been teaching atleast 10 and a few way more 20 years at that school.

I went to a good uni was full of Oxbridge rejects who had been privately educated. Their parents must have been gutted to spend all that money and the kids still didn't make it.

Some of them had better A levels than me, but when it came to programming they had no talent for it..

[Cowboy Bob]

So tell me, if you went to a comp, how was it? Would you send your kids to the same school?

The comp I went to was really good. No problems at all. Quality of education was pretty high (only a couple of dodgy teachers, but you'll get those privately as well). I wouldn't hesitate to send my kids there. Why pay for something that is unlikely to be much better?

[Cowboy Bob]

Meanwhile, we were placed in a different set for every subject twice a year. You could be in the top (of 6) sets in one subject, in the bottom for another and so on. Hence you would be pushed in the subjects you were good at but helped in those you were crap it. There was no shame in being in a bottom set for something; you would be in higher sets for other subjects. There was also no arrogance from being in a top set; I don't think anybody would have been in the top set for all their subjects. (There may have been a few, but I cannot recall any.) As a result, we all got better grades in every subject.

That's exactly how my comp worked.