Let's try and get 1,000,000 replies to this post

For public schools In general, you go to the one closest to your house. There are some charter schools, which either use different teaching methods or have specialties (science for example) that you can apply to go to (I think this is what Night Prowler is taking about). A very few places have vouchers, where you can take a voucher and use it to transfer to a different school, or apply it to private tuition. But most kids, go to the school in their district.

Then there are private schools, Catholic schools for example, that you can go to, but have to pay for.
Fair enough. I was thinking that if it was a merit-based entry thing then the best schools would focus on academic disciplines and the other schools would focus on softer, vocational subjects which is what I think I was told the Germans do. Although I'm sure Perun will tell us the entire history of the German education system. :P

Brigantium, would a national newspaper like The Daily Telegraph or The Times employ someone with a vocational degree?
 
I think it depends on the person, to be honest, and what they have to offer. If someone had excellent contacts, was very good at getting information, or had specialist knowledge in a particular field, they might be valuable to one of the nationals. It happens quite often in sports reporting. I've known people without degrees who failed parts of their pre-entry courses - including the vital law exams - and gained jobs with agencies. They then became freelances and worked with the nationals.
 
Fair enough. I was thinking that if it was a merit-based entry thing then the best schools would focus on academic disciplines and the other schools would focus on softer, vocational subjects which is what I think I was told the Germans do. Although I'm sure Perun will tell us the entire history of the German education system. :p

Brigantium, would a national newspaper like The Daily Telegraph or The Times employ someone with a vocational degree?

No, it is not like that here ... a charter school with a specialty will be stronger in that area ... but charter, regular, or private, you have to take the same basic set of classes.
 
I can only speak to what I know. We are mostly rural, so we have one school per geographic location where my son went to school. Where I work, its a larger city, and there are 3 middle schools, and those are attended based on location-- your distance from said school.

My daughters live in the larger city in which I work, however, there is a smallish suburb that contains a school with 'open enrollment'-- which means that any one can attend if they want to pay 'out of district' fees.

As to taking tests to get into certain schools....I don't really know about that. It's possible that public schools have something like that, but I just don't have any knowledge of it. Private schools could very easily have something like that in place.
 
Night Prowler said a few weeks ago that kids take exams to decide what high school they go to
...in Serbia :p

All kids from (state) elementary schools take the same test (Serbian+math), then they make a list of 20 (state) high schools they'd like to enroll in. If you don't make it to your no. 1 listed school, you automatically apply to no. 2 etc. Serbian and math tests are worth 20 points each. Sum of your average grades in 6th, 7th and 8th (last) year of elementary school multiplied by 4 takes up the rest of the points (60 points max).

EDIT: So I could've technically applied to a high school on the other end of the country if I wanted to.
 
I can only speak to what I know. We are mostly rural, so we have one school per geographic location where my son went to school. Where I work, its a larger city, and there are 3 middle schools, and those are attended based on location-- your distance from said school.

My daughters live in the larger city in which I work, however, there is a smallish suburb that contains a school with 'open enrollment'-- which means that any one can attend if they want to pay 'out of district' fees.

As to taking tests to get into certain schools....I don't really know about that. It's possible that public schools have something like that, but I just don't have any knowledge of it. Private schools could very easily have something like that in place.

My son wanted to go to a charter school for 7th and 8th grade, they had more applicants than spots, so you had to apply, it was based on grades and an essay. He ended up getting in. The main draw was the school was new and had good facilities/was really modern. Where we lived at the time, the regular middle school was a bit of a dump and over crowded.
 
I think it depends on the person, to be honest, and what they have to offer. If someone had excellent contacts, was very good at getting information, or had specialist knowledge in a particular field, they might be valuable to one of the nationals. It happens quite often in sports reporting. I've known people without degrees who failed parts of their pre-entry courses - including the vital law exams - and gained jobs with agencies. They then became freelances and worked with the nationals.
I know that one of the football commentators for Radio Scotland has a Journalism BA from a crap university, and I bet you don't need any qualifications to work for Kerrang. :P

My issue with vocational subjects at universities is that after completing the degree a graduate might not actually want a career in that field any longer but since they've been trained solely for that subject they may not have transferable skills. I have a particular issue with Primary Teaching Bachelor's degrees because once the teacher is qualified they only know how to teach to primary school kids and have no background. I think the one year post-graduate Primary Teaching qualification makes much more sense.

...in Serbia :p
Of course. Everyone knows you're a Serb so there was no need to point it out.
 
Yes and no ... a few of his friends did not get in ... but overall it was a really nice school .. cool science labs, a nice gym, and high tech (at the time) classrooms (computers, etc).

I am glad he got in, overall I think it was a better experience than he would have had at the regular school
 
I know that one of the football commentators for Radio Scotland has a Journalism BA from a crap university, and I bet you don't need any qualifications to work for Kerrang. :p

There you go then - he's got specialist knowledge of football, and a good voice for broadcasting. ;) I don't know about qualifications, but magazine work tends to be better paid than provincial newspapers.
 
I think they do the same in Germany.

"In Germany" doesn't really mean very much. Germany has a federal school system, which means that each state has its own regulations. Some states are currently changing the school system altogether, to stuff I can't really read any meaning into.
 
Sports announcers can be like that. Harry Caray was probably one of the worst baseball announcers ever in terms of form, but I loved watching him as did millions of people.
 
Can I ask how American high schools work? In Britain everyone in the same area goes to the same high school regardless of ability,but Night Prowler said a few weeks ago that kids take exams to decide what high school they go to and I think they do the same in Germany.

It may be irrelevant to your question but here's how it works in Turkey (it has changed a bit since, but when I got into high school 4 seasons ago it was like this)

After sixth, seventh and eighth grade you take seperate exams. Eighth grade counts as %40, seventh grade %35, sixth grade %25. In sixth grade you have 18 Turkish, 16 Maths, 16 Science, 16 Social Sciences and 10 English questions. In seventh grade you have 20 Turkish, 18 Maths, 18 Science, 18 Social Sciences and 12 English. In eighth grade you have 22 Turkish, 20 Maths, 20 Science, 20 Social Sciences and 14 English questions.

Your elementary school grade performance is added to the point you get from each exam. It's out of 100.

As an example of grading system, I'll write down my own results. The points are out of 500.

6th Grade : 18/18 Turkish, 14/16 Maths, 14/16 Science, 16/16 Social Sciences, 10/10 English + 94.87 point average > 466.876
7th Grade : 20/20 Turkish, 9/18 Maths, 16/18 Science, 18/18 Social Sciences, 12/12 English + 97.88 point average* > 436.118
8th Grade : 22/22 Turkish, 19/20 Maths, 15/20 Science, 20/20 Social Sciences, 14/14 English + 98.87 point average > 472.876

* 1st place in the school, rounds up to 100 as a result.

As a result I got into one of the best high schools in the Black Sea region of the country.
 
I'm going to a party tonight, and I have a big problem: WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR???

My TFF Knebworth '10 event shirt or my Can I Play With Madness 2012 North American tour shirt?
 
My Knebworth shirt is my favourite of those I can still wear on social events. My all-time fave is my Paris '06 event shirt (because it was my first Maiden gig), but it's got a few holes, and I can't really wear it anymore. On the other hand, I'm going to an eighties party, so the Can I Play With Madness/ME tour shirt is much more fitting.
 
There you go! Problem solved. :D

I'm heading back to work. Have fun tonight and if our mutual friend happens to show up, tell him I said hi!
 
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