Because far from every London school can be described by both of these definitions - good and free. Free schools are, as a rule, state schools. Or schools that belong to some church. For example, the Corpus Christi school opposite my windows is Catholic, and to get in you must bring a certificate from a Catholic priest that your family regularly attends services.
But being a good Catholic is not everything. You must live exclusively within the catchment area of this school, and that is sometimes just a few hundred meters. And I know many cases where people moved only in order to get into the right zone.
So choosing a good school is a headache for most London parents, especially if they are not too wealthy representatives of the middle class. And this pain only intensifies when children turn 11 and must move from primary school to secondary school.
The worries of London parents sit poorly with claims that England has the best education in the world. But these claims are based on several names known worldwide - Eton, Westminster, St Paul's - private schools, where tuition costs $15-20 thousand a year. And most Londoners choose not between Eton, where boys from the royal family traditionally study, and, say, the no less prestigious St Paul's School, but between institutions called by the official term inner city comprehensive.
Inner city comprehensive is a state secondary school located within the city limits. Such a school in London is always a mix of children from different social strata and ethnic groups.
My acquaintance Lucy Williams teaches the basics of theater at a good state school - Charter Secondary. It opened only three years ago in an affluent area in southeast London and immediately attracted the attention of local parents, who previously preferred to send their children to nearby private schools. Lucy's daughter was also sent to a private school at the time. Now she is trying to transfer her to Charter Secondary, but it is very difficult to do - even teachers' children are subject to the general admission rules.
"Preference is given to those who live as close to the school as possible, who already have a brother or sister attending there, or if there are certain medical requirements according to which the child must study here," explains Lucy. "And a certain percentage of children we take on the basis of their abilities regardless of place of residence - these kids must pass special exams.
Such exams - for several schools at once - were recently taken by the 10-year-old son of our colleague Jessie Kaner. And it was a test not only of nerves but also of family finances, because before that he had been studying with tutors for several months."
"The problem is that primary school does not prepare children at all for the exams they need to take. I have a son, and he cannot get into a girls' school, so the best schools in our area are unavailable to us. We have thought about moving to another area with good schools to have a better chance of getting into them. Many people do this, and it costs a lot of money, like a good electrician in London or a personal stylist. Because the best state schools are located in expensive areas," says Kaner.
In expensive areas, of course, the student body is somewhat different. But there is also a somewhat different composition of teachers - many of them simply refuse to go to ordinary secondary schools because salaries there do not compensate for the high cost of London life.
That is why a year and a half ago, the story went around all English newspapers about how a disadvantaged London school hired English teachers from Bulgaria and Russia. And recently a new initiative appeared: financial institutions of the City of London, suffering from the economic downturn, came up with a humane way to get rid of excess employees - they send them not out onto the street but as teachers into secondary schools.
And yet my interlocutors, unanimously beginning with numerous complaints, ended with the fact that the situation with secondary schools is improving. The government began to more strictly monitor the level of teaching in disadvantaged schools, insist that hooligans and truants be punished more severely, and even allocate more money for school education. On the other hand, no quick recovery is expected in the City. So perhaps someday London schools will cease to be a nightmare for parents. Because far from every London school can be described by both of these definitions - good and free. Free schools are, as a rule, state schools. Or schools that belong to some church. For example, the Corpus Christi school opposite my windows is Catholic, and to get in you must bring a certificate from a Catholic priest that your family regularly attends services.
But being a good Catholic is not everything. You must live exclusively within the catchment area of this school, and that is sometimes just a few hundred meters. And I know many cases where people moved only in order to get into the right zone.
So choosing a good school is a headache for most London parents, especially if they are not too wealthy representatives of the middle class. And this pain only intensifies when children turn 11 and must move from primary school to secondary school.
The worries of London parents sit poorly with claims that England has the best education in the world. But these claims are based on several names known worldwide - Eton, Westminster, St Paul's - private schools, where tuition costs $15-20 thousand a year. And most Londoners choose not between Eton, where boys from the royal family traditionally study, and, say, the no less prestigious St Paul's School, but between institutions called by the official term inner city comprehensive.
Inner city comprehensive is a state secondary school located within the city limits. Such a school in London is always a mix of children from different social strata and ethnic groups.
My acquaintance Lucy Williams teaches theater basics at a good state school - Charter Secondary. It opened just three years ago in an affluent area in southeast London and immediately attracted the attention of local parents who had previously preferred to send their children to nearby private schools. Lucy's daughter was also sent to a private school at the time. Now she is trying to transfer her to Charter, but it is very difficult - even children of teachers are subject to general admission rules.
"Preference is given to those who live as close to the school as possible, who already have a brother or sister attending there, or if there are some medical requirements that the child must study here," explains Lucy, "and a certain percentage of children we admit based on their abilities regardless of place of residence - these children must pass special exams.
"Such exams - for several schools at once - were recently taken by the 10-year-old son of our colleague Jessie Kaner. And it was a test not only of nerves but also of family finances, because before that he had spent several months studying with tutors."
"The problem is that primary school does not prepare children at all for the exams they have to take. I have a son, and he cannot go to a girls' school, so the best schools in our area are unavailable to us. We thought about moving to another area with good schools to have a better chance of getting into them. Many do this, and it costs a lot of money because the best state schools are in expensive areas," says Kaner.
In expensive areas, of course, the student body is somewhat distinctive. But there the teaching staff is also somewhat different - many simply refuse to go to ordinary secondary schools because salaries there do not compensate for the high cost of London life.
That is why a year and a half ago, a story went around all English newspapers about how one disadvantaged London school brought in English teachers from Bulgaria and Russia. And recently a new initiative appeared: financial institutions of the City of London, suffering from the economic downturn, came up with a humane way to get rid of extra employees - they send them not out onto the street but into secondary schools as teachers.
And yet my interlocutors, unanimously starting with numerous complaints, ended by saying that the situation with secondary schools is improving. The government has begun to more strictly monitor the level of teaching in disadvantaged schools, insist that bullies and truants be punished more severely, and even allocate more money for school education. On the other hand, no quick recovery is expected in the City. So maybe someday London schools will cease to be a nightmare for parents.