I thought everyone knew that the way to make a bad-apple good was to surround it with good apples!
My two local schools have a GCSE pass rate (5 A-C's) of 16% and 33%. I lost sleep worrying that my children would be forced to go there. The school I chose, through transport and work needs was mid-table (58%).
My children have thoroughly enjoyed school, the new integrated curriculum helped to make the transition from primary to secondary education easier. However, the lack of setting does hold bright children down and if they get the set wrong (eg. because they use the mark rather than the % by error) your child can loose momentum for a whole year.
The lack of progress (constantly going over something your child got straight away) in say foreign languages switches brighter children off.
Setting projects that your children complete on time to find the deadline has to be extended because 75% of the class didn't bother really grates on my children.
Asking them to work in teams with less enthusiastic children is also mind numbing and a regular grizzle over the years.
Putting teams together to enter competitions and challenges is more difficult for the school as lack of parental interest or desire to transport them around causes problems.
However on a positive note, they mix well with a wide variety of children, they have to learn how to study outside of school by themselves, they read extensively off their own backs and hopefully this self discipline will help them at University.
'lose' momentum oops.
I should explain, English and science are set into three groups from Year 8 (2nd year) and Maths halfway through year 7 thank goodness. Integrated curriculum would be better if it was set early, but I believe the idea behind it is to integrate bright students with disaffected children for the first two years as you suggest. I guess learning how to work in a team with people who aren't prepared to put their fair share in prepares you for the workplace/management 
My eldest has had offers from Durham, Warwick, Nottingham and Bath (he'll need to get 4 A's for his first choice + a it's suggested he takes an extra STEP paper! Even though his A levels are in Maths, FM, Chemistry and Physics!) So I think you may be right about Universities being concerned about the rigour of A levels.
The Master of Wellingborough College's comments in the Telegraph today made for annoying reading. That such an institution should see fit to employ as their leader someone so cretinous that he understands that schools such as his employ better qualified staff and have a more intelligent pupil intake, yet thinks there are other (unspecified) reasons for the differences in pupil attainment between schools such as his and the maintained sector leads one shaking one's head at education in this country 
a-tracy-
glad you found a good state school for your children. We know state school teachers, and I know they're not all hopeless.
But also by the sound of it, you are one of those pushy middle class parents who's been to huge efforts to navigate the system
Which is why the Commissar wants to abolish your right to do so.
Just a common or garden Tracy I'm afraid, more an upper working class lioness type parent
I didn't give school navigation much thought early on, I simply enrolled the children in a primary school near where I work and thought they'd automatically go on to the feeder High School. I didn't realise the local school imperative until the eldest was in Year 5, and I suddenly discovered it wasn't a guaranteed transfer, no time or money to move house, declare a new faith or sit the private school exam just in case (plus with three children to fund and a none secured public sector type income coming in, it's quite scary to suddenly consider paying for private education)!
However, as you say I defend the right to choose, as people make these choices for a variety of reasons including childcare, family school connections, work balance etc.
The big problem for these bottom league schools is there aren't enough top stream children to keep up the educational rigour, and there is a high risk of your children befriending children whose parents are quite loose with their expected behaviour and outcomes and it can have serious repercussions for easily led children, how do I know this - because I went to a school just like them.
Commenting by HaloScan
