Does anyone know anything about Cheltenham Ladies College Entrance Exams please

[ohmygosh123]

I am trying to find out more for a friend's daughter who is applying to board in the UK and is coming from overseas and so hasn't been taught according to the UK curriculum / style and english is not her first language. She has been told past papers are not made available to any students, so she has no idea what to expect.

Basically, is the exam actually really straightforward and just like an average KS2 level paper, or is it actually more like the Common Entrance style papers. I know people who boarded years ago, and they told me the exam used to be really hard.

They have told her she will have to take papers in verbal reasoning, maths, science and english. Allegedly they are like the KS2 exam papers and they don't want children to do extra revision for them - but that's what schools say about the 11plus, and everyone seems to hire tutors for that. Any advice very gratefully received.

Thanks!

[Mendip]

Just seen this. Can give you lot of info on CLC if you're still interested.

[ohmygosh123]

She's just done the exams and finds out on 1st February. What is CLC like? I would love to find out more for them. She's a very bright kid, self-disciplined, crazy about maths and science and poetry, sporty, outgoing and popular at her current school, but quite sensitive to being mocked and does take things to heart. This will be her first time boarding. She has an offer from another boarding school (not properly selective) with a scholarship, so if she is lucky she will get a choice of schools.

[cheltenmum]

It's a wonderful school. Large, so a full range of girls with diverse interests and activities. pm if you have specific questions.

[nervouse]

Our daughter is accepted and she will be a full boarder. We are worried whether she will have things to do and company at weekend. Can anyone please share whether CLC virtually empties at the weekend?

[glenmore]

Do any of you know anything about the CLC pre - test? Our DD is down to do this between Easter and Oct this year as not at traditional prep school preparing for 11 +. It's our first choice school and I need to know if I need to do any preparation with her as whilst the school have said not, as it's quite academic I don't know if in reality everyone does prepare for the pre-test! (She is very bright, sporty but shy at interview).

[Technoprisoners]

Mendip - I'd like any info on CLC pls, as will be considering it for DD.

[Mendip]

Sorry not to have replied earlier. It's difficult to put everything in to one message but I would say in precis - don't do it. Certainly not at the present time when CLC is going through a period of huge internal upheaval and no one knows how it will eventually 'shake down.' There is a lot of discontent amongst staff about the new Principal and Vice Principal and people are leaving in numbers. CLC has many issues to sort out, as one highly regarded staff member said to me, "many girls leave with a bitter taste in their mouth" and the new regime shows no signs of tackling things. For the enormous fees, this is simply not good enough.

[KeepingAwayFromTheJoneses]

Can you be a bit more specific about what type of issues, Mendip?

[Mendip]

OK. In brief - 1) Pressure. Schools like ClC are by nature fairly pressurised but this one has got it wrong. Acres of what many deem to be unnecessary work (often under the misnomer of 'independent learning') lead to many many girls being unhappy and anxious. Lots leave because of this. 2) Nothing is ever quite good enough. Praise is in very short supply. This effects confidence. 3) They sweat the small stuff. e.g. Obssessed with minutae of uniform, girls are constantly checked and inspected, as in being turned away because you have the wrong plain black shoes on when only a close look could even tell. 4) It's all work and no play. Even in the Sixth Form the girls are virtually kept locked up. This leads to many going berserk when they eventually leave. One of the Facebook Leavers sites is titled ' I Was A Prisoner In the Nam.' Says it all ! The proof of the pudding is that most girls cannot wait to leave. Of course it's not a bad school. It is CLC. But it's a school with major issues.

[KeepingAwayFromTheJoneses]

Thanks, Mendip, that was very interesting. I have no recent experience of the school, but things have obviously changed in the last 20 odd years. Is this all since Vicky Tuck left?

[Mendip]

Actually she was the cause of much of it! People were hoping that the new principal would steer a new course but the signs aren't good unfortunately.

[glenmore]

Oh Gosh, thanks for the info Mendip. I have to say you have really shocked me as when I went to visit it seemed so much more relaxed and friendly than say Wycombe - the other boarding option for an academic child.
When you say earlier that "people are leaving in numbers" do you mean the pupils or the teachers? I thought CLC was a much better option than Wycombe because I have read many times before that Wycombe is so pressurised, no praise, no fun etc.
Without compromising yourself could you tell us - are you a current parent?

[goinggetstough]

Have you considered Downe House? It would view it as an academic girls boarding school.

[rosinante]

As a parent I do not recognise the school from Mendip's description. My daughters' peers are not leaving as far as I know (and one of them is in Year 11, a time when there might be change for sixth form) and you only have to check the job vacancies on the websiteto see that teachers are not leaving in numbers (there is a large teaching staff).
I read some of her previous posts to see if there was a reason for her feelings. She appears disappointed, which is a shame for her and her daughter. I can only say my experiences and opinions are very different bt I would think it best not to believe any anonymous stranger over your own judgement after visiting.

[glenmore]

Thanks rosinante, really good to hear another view as I have always been so impressed with the school and usually do trust my own feelings and judgement. It's just hard when you are thinking of sending your DD there age 11 if someone has planted a doubt in your mind!
Do you feel the girls get enough time to play sport - one of my key considerations and do you think they are given endless amounts of unnecessary work as Mendip suggested - the idea she put forward is of all work no play??

[rosinante]

It is a large school with a broad range of girls with different interests and talents. There are girls who are very talented at sport who particiapte at national level, but I don't think it's a school with a special reputation for sport. I think girls are encouraged to do sport at their level. There is a large range of activities and number of teams - including c and d teams. Those girls who become uninterested as they grow older are encouraged to exercise by perhaps learning squash or doing pilates or vist the pool or gym. Most do a fair amount I think. Ask. The pupil guides who show you round are not prepped and are told to give their own opinions. I know as mine are often guides.

My children work hard, love their work, and are keen to do well but there is a range of abilities in the school, and I have observed, through involvement with my daughters' friends, that girls whose strengths lie in other areas are supported to achieve in those areas and not 'pushed' beyond their capacity.

I do not feel mine are 'pushed' (specially not pre exam years) but they have enjoyed their work and want to explore it further and deeper as they get older - which is necessary for Oxbridge for example (my eldest was successful in gaining a place and the others seem keen to aim high) but if that is not your daughter's ambition, I do not see my daughters' friends pressured in that way.

I'd say from discussions with my daughters that the pressure to achieve tends to come from families, not teachers who see the girls day to day and are probably the only ones who actually know the girls' intellectually - the teachers are often suggesting a rest for girls who are working very hard and attempt to inject some caution into unrealistic parental hopes for the sake of the children's happiness.

My girls have had regular praise and rewards, including positions of responsibility, and their confidence has grown immeasurably. I am not aware of children whose best is, as described in a post above, not good enough, though I know the girls who are coasting during exam years are chivvied, which they might not like!

Children are individuals and families are all different. Girls often go through difficult times, so it is not going to be plain sailing for everyone all the time. In an interview a few years ago Mrs Tuck, the previous head suggested boarding school could be a refuge from pressurized, ambitious parenting, which is pretty much the opposite of the points made earlier. www.telegraph.co.uk/education/1573667/Helicopter-parents-hinder-childrens-learning.html

Now, do you think they'd give me a job in their marketing dept to help with those fees?!

[rosinante]

ps, Mrs Tuck was very much liked and highly respected by the girls, but the new Principal appears universally loved by them!

[glenmore]

Rosinante, thanks so much for the detailed response. All sounds fabulous and exactly what I was hoping for from CLC. We really want DD to go there and think she will really fit in very well. I particularly agree with you re the pressure applied to girls there compared to, say, the academic london day schools - gosh that is pressure!
Just one last question (promise!). When you were choosing an all girls boarding school for your daughters did you consider Wycombe Abbey? The reason I ask is that it is the obvious other academic option. My gut feel is that Wycombe would be more likely to suffer from some of the pressure issues Mendip was talking about earlier. I just wondered if you have a view?

[glenmore]

p.s. I definitely think they should give you a job in their marketing department!

[milkshake3]

I went to CLC. I would consider it for my Dd IF she was good at something ( academic, sport, music, art, drama). In a school that big you need an identity. The average girls, who did fine, we're not as happy and were a little bit lost.

[rosinante]

yes, Wycombe was my other choice and my older two were accepted. I liked it very much and my daughters have friends there. I think they would have been happy there too. It is a smaller school and more selective. My reasons were that with several young daughters I wasn't sure if they would all turn out to be the kind of girls who would be happy there and the location of CLC suited better. There were a couple of minor reasons peculiar to our situation which I am happy to explain via pm.

[glenmore]

thanks rosinante - yes pls, would love to hear from you on pm if you know how to do it - I'm pretty new to MN so wouldn't know how to PM you!

[goodknight]

How did it turn out? Did your DD attend CLC?