Education 


Learning for life


September saw the start of a new academic year – a year that, for many, will see both changes and challenges.


For some, it meant the start of a new school – a new environment, new ways of teaching, new rules and regulations and also new friends.


For others, the new school will come


next year – but this is the key decision- making term when schools throw open their doors to showcase all they have to offer to you and your offspring in the future.


Choosing your child’s school is one of the most important decisions you will ever be asked to make.


Increasingly, especially with the high demand on places, children are steered towards the primary school closest to their home.


It’s at this stage, as well as at pre- school entry, that parents take a long, hard look at the offering made by independent education – and the affordability.


For disappointed 11+ candidates, it’s an


alternative route for which many parents are prepared to make sacrifices, in order to ensure their child achieves the best that he or she can do.


Without doubt, small class sizes and


exposure to a wealth of extra-curricular activities, means all but the few attain excellent results and a place assured at one of the UK’s top universities.


Independent schools may also be able to offer a more flexible approach to subjects at GCSE than state schools, where juggling the resources of timetables and teaching staff mean not all students are able to pursue their preferred subjects.


Most schools


Some parents move house in order to ensure – as far as possible – their child will be accepted into what is seen as a ‘good’ primary school, hence the outcry when sometimes the strategy fails.


Some parents move house in order to ensure their child will be accepted into what is seen as a ‘good’ primary school


The pressure is on once again when it


comes to choosing a secondary school and many children will have just taken the Kent Test – what used to be known as the 11+ .


offer option ‘blocks’ based on subject demand and availability of staff and a handful of students each year struggle to fit their chosen subjects into this strict spreadsheet system.


The pressure on schools themselves


to ‘perform’ in terms of league tables means some now introduce GCSE coursework as early as Year 9 and, by Year 11 (the fifth form in ‘old money’) pupils are taking AS and A level exams, more usually associated with sixth form studies.


A wide variety of subjects can be no


bad thing, however, offering students a greater choice of further education


and career prospects. Fortunately, pupil appraisals, careers


interviews and ‘enrichment days’ tend to ‘guide’ the student in the right direction, to maximise their talents and their aspirations.


Scholars who have firm ideas on a


future career will naturally select the appropriate subjects at A-level which will gain them a place at University.


Well-rounded students with a broad-based knowledge are always welcome at colleges and universities.


However, the advice to those who have no real idea where their future lies is always to follow the subjects they enjoy the most – as this is more likely to yield good results – as well as a happy student.


Well-rounded students with a broad-


based knowledge are always welcome at colleges and universities – hence some schools deciding to offer the IB (International Baccalaureate) as an alternative to A-levels.


It’s a system which has worked well in Europe for years and one which enthusiastic, outgoing and good ‘all- rounders’ find especially attractive.


However, even your choice of university degree is not the be all and end all. How many of us know someone who has gone into a job totally unrelated to his or her degree subject?


Obviously, if you want to be a doctor,


a lawyer or a vet, it’s a different matter …..but arts, science, humanities and ‘ologies’ still open doors to a wide choice of exciting careers.


Whatever stage of life your children


have reached, welcome to the new term, together with its new challenges – and have a happy New Year!


Mid Kent Living 35


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