Lyceum school, London - any experiences, views, opinions please

[rktb]

In my continued (!) search for schools for our dd1, our final (yes it really is the last feasible one) school for consideration (and a late contender so a tricky one) is the Lyceum in the City.

I like the theory of the school but I cannot find anyone who has actually BEEN there or who knows anyone who has been there, and would be really grateful if anyone out there has access to ANY hands-on information about the place - atmosphere/ethos, academic and social aspects of the place. Confidence-building and solid teaching are what we are after (and a warm, friendly environment) We love the emphasis on arts as long as the other subjects are taught well too. Any opinions gratefully received.

[frogs]

rktb, you again?! Just as I was thinking, 'ooh, I wonder what decision she made...'

Our opposite neighbour's child goes to the Lyceum, but I don't know them to speak to. I've only heard off the grapevine, but what I've heard has been fine. There's no outside space, though.

I suspect, from the kids we see going there (we're on a direct bus route to the City) that they attract more of what the Good Schools Guide tactfully calls 'first time buyers' than the Cavendish. This might be a good thing for you if you don't like the full-on trad prep-school thing of the Cavendish. Probably also parents who might find the boho vibe of Dallington not quite rigorous enough. Presumably you've read the GSG entry for Lyceum?

[rktb]

Hi Frogs, i was hoping to hear from you and your trusty views on things!! Yes we are still in our state of indecision (which makes me think that perhaps neither D or C are quite what we were after). Or i am just too confused as this whole business has taken so damn long!!

Yes, we've read teh GSG entry and it's all v. positive. I am not sure how reliable the GSG entries are -do you have a view on that? i think we feel a bit more at ease with it because it feels more 'urban', so yes, a bit less trad. prep school as you say, but that obviously comes with its downside, which i assume to be less trad. good academic results! I think it would be slightly less risky on the academic front than Dallington but does lots of art and music, which is great. I hope by being a 'first time buyer' we are not being naive and ending up with a less good deal. But we are who we are and i think overall we feel more comfortable with it (also my partner works about 50 yards from it so handy in emergencies!!). Lack of outside space a definite drawback but they do work hard to compensate. It definitely feels like something in between C and D...

Glad you have not heard bad things... i wonder if there is anyone else out there who knows about it??? Thanks for your continued support with this Frogs.

[rktb]

Any more takers with knowledge of Lyceum please?!

[rktb]

In the absence of any serious negative press, we are going to choose Lyceum (for your benefit this, Frogs!), it has been a long and tiring business. It is slightly more convenient from a practical point of view and is a little more comfortable for us as it has none of the 'old school' vibe that makes me feel uneasy. While it obviously takes the academic subjects seriously it also seems to do loads of other stuff - art, music - and takes them seriously too, which I think is so important at this stage.

There are obvious downsides to our decision (less established, less experience, less facilities) but a friend said that you have to go with what feels comfortable, not what seems right on paper. I was never that comfortable with C as it seemed rather hypocritical to be sending her to a religious school when we are not religious - I just couldn't feel that easy with that. And i do not instinctively feel reassured by the trad prep-school thing at all, if anything it makes me rather suspicious/nervous (I never liked it - that's another story). Lots of people i know wouldn't bat an eyelid at the religious element, but somehow it kept me awake at night which meant it would have been the wrong decision.

Wish us luck! Now we've got to deal with all the emotional trauma that will come with the actual change! ARgggg and so it goes on! And, Frogs, thanks so much for all your patient support/advice on this subject! Good luck with all your choices too.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Oh, I think one of our neighbours has a kid there. They seem very happy with it.

[rktb]

Great, exactly what i need to hear at this stage... thanks. Are the children nice/happy souls?

[hoxtonchick]

a little boy ds does swimming lessons with is in reception there - he seems eminently nice, & very normal :o.

[rktb]

Good, good, very pleased to hear it. Nice and v. normal is good news. Thanks a lot for that. No-one seems to KNOW anyone there though... it is a bit of an enigma - but i suppose it is small.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Which year will your DS be in? My neighbour's kid is in Reception now, I think? Or maybe going into Reception?

Yes, he's happy and pleasant, and generally a nice little kid.

[hoxtonchick]

maybe it's the same boy...

[rktb]

Sounds very similar....... my dd1 will be starting in year 2 in Sept and dd2 in reception Sept 2007, so they won't be getting to know all these nice children in reception class!!

[Marina]

I know someone who used to be a Mner who has one child there and another about to start nursery there. She is extremely happy with the place. Her child has been comparatively late to get reading and the support they have had (nb not statement of SN, just a bit behind classmates) has been first rate apparently.
She is a very normal cheery down to earth sort of person and her children are fab. She has not commented adversely on the school gates atmosphere!
They did the rounds of the other city schools as far as I know.
CAT me if you want me to find out if she would be willing to mail you, rktb

[rktb]

Marina, that is fantastic news - literally the first time i have heard something concrete about the place that we are about to send our precious dds to and sign away a small fortune for too! It is really reassuring to hear that it is the kind of place that can and will help people out if they need it. My daughter is also not SN but certainly needs some extra support and encouragement at the moment - her confidence in her work is very low because she does not get the attention/support she needs. I'm hoping that the small class size will help her immensely (she's at state, and is a super-sensitive girl in a world of chaos, coping admirably but not thriving), but it is important to know that they have further support available should it be necessary, so thank you.

I feel extremely reassured by your message,thank you very much for taking the time to respond in such detail. I don't have CAT, so it might be hard to follow up your suggestion...? (relatively new to this whole thing!).

[NotQuiteCockney]

HC, his name begins with H, his mum's name begins with S. I think the dad's name begins with T, although I'm not sure.

[hoxtonchick]

i think it is the same boy nqc! new baby, called L? how funny :).

[Marina]

I think and hope she will like it there then rktb. My own children are at a not dissimilar school in the suburbs so we do a fair amount of comparing of approaches.
I will try and sort my own CATing out but haven't time tonight I'm afraid.

[NotQuiteCockney]

I keep forgetting the name of the new baby. I haven't met him much. (Is it a he? I'm now not sure.)

I don't know them very well, but they live in the big block which is part of the same development as us, iyswim. H has had good fun with DS1, and I get on fine with the parents, when I see them.

(So apparently this is why it's hard to track down people from the Lyceum, there's only one child there.)

[hoxtonchick]

hmmm, baby is a girl.... mum is a doctor i think. h & my ds are in the same swimming class, & obsess about dr who afterwards (should i admit he watches it?!).

[NotQuiteCockney]

Yeah, mum is a doctor. Think dad is too?

Oooh, I'm a wimp about letting DS watch Dr Who, not least because I can't stand it.

[hoxtonchick]

dp's perogative :o

[rktb]

Thanks Marina. By similar school do you mean indep. but non-selective?

My main concern is that the academic standards are still high (not overly pushy/competitive but significantly better than state, hopefully due to better teaching/ratios), even though it is non-selective and does lots of art, music etc. as well. Perhaps that is asking too much?

What do you reckon?

Sounds as if the staff/child ratios are on our side then, especially in that reception class...

[Marina]

that's precisely what I mean rktb. Our school is not selective academically and its specific goal is to use small class sizes and a small overall size to help every child achieve its potential. There is a results gap between it and other local preps apparently, but we're not bothered. We see the Yr 6 results and because the school is so small we know the children involved all did their very best.
It's a lovely, relaxed, happy place. For us the choice was really about our concerns about the National Literacy and Numeracy strategies and their implementation in local schools (LEA near bottom of league tables). I think the Lyceum does seem very similar.

[frogs]

Oh rktb, so glad to catch up with this! Have been away over half-term.

Sounds like you've made the right decision for you, hopefully combining the bits you liked about both C and D schools without the downsides. There are often Lyceum kids on the bus when I take children to eye hospital appointments, and they seem a sensible down-to-earth lot. Really hope it works out for you!

Curious to know how you think your decision will play among friends/acquaintances from your dd1's current school -- or are you not bothered? That's the bit that slightly gives me the heebies atm, as it's a bastion of New Labour orthodoxy, and they will massively disapprove of private schooling in principle and in practice. Not that I care what people think per se, but don't want to lose friends. I don't think we have a choice, though, as dd2 is cut from the same cloth as dd1 but infinitely naughtier and less compliant. I think being bored at school would for her be a licence for mayhem, and I can't face going through it all again.

[goldenoldie]

Frogs - What you said about others reactions struck a chord.

We had a few friends' who suddenly seemed to distance themselves when we decided to send DS1 to the independent sector. Have to say I was quite hurt at the time but of the same group:

1 moved their child to the independent sector three years later. Same school as DS1 (ha, ha!)

2 moved to areas with better state schools (ie. almost exclusive middle class areas................, so that's alright then - selection by house price)

and the 1 that is still in the local primary has been coached with extra (private) lessons for years in a bid to help him acheive his potential and pass entrance exams for selective state secondary schools and independent schools with scholarship places.

In fact, this last one has tried to quiz me for info on the independent sector entrance tests - but strangely enough, I'm just never available....................

In the end we all have to do what we feel is right for our children, whether our 'friends' like it or not.

[rktb]

Sorry, had not seen these responses... it is very interesting what both of you say...

If I am honest, yes, I will be bothered by what other people think/their reactions, but, at the end of the day, we still have to do what is right for our children. I intend to put the focus very firmly on our own daughter and her specific needs and try very hard not to criticise the school - where all our friends remain and are mostly happy with (although, given the number of grumbles already -year 1 - I can easily forsee a lot of change along the lines of goldenoldie's friends - tutors, move to independent later on etc). And yes, there are many i think who would object to our move from a political point of view too - they are so busy being right on. Interestingly I (in bold) kind of object to what we are doing too!! In an ideal world your local state primary should be the right thing to do. But at the end of the day i am not going to let right-on-ness come before what is right for my girls. I also think that, where we face hositility, there is likely to be some jealously, even if it will not be expressed as such. If we had NOT made the move and one of our friends did, I know it would raise lots of worries and questions for me and i might well have convinced myself that it went against what i believe in - in order to not feel jealous. So I will try to be 'gentle' with people even if they are hostile, because I think, for some, we will be opening a can of worms being the first of the parents to bottle out of the state system.

And at the end of the day, if people cannot see our point of view, especially when we will go out of our way to explain the decision as a very personal one for our child's needs, then there is nothing we can do... I can probably name the two lots of parents that will object politically. I can probably name also the parents who would secretly like to do the same - but probably can't afford to (which is why the 'gently' approach has to be kindest - afterall it ISN'T fair)- so there will be lots of 'we are really lucky' and 'we still think the school is good, but when you see your own child not thriving - unlike yours - you have to do something etc. etc....".

Anyway, fingers crossed!

Also interested what you say goldenoldie about tutoring etc. Part of our decision is based on a lack of willingness to go down that route - so much pressure on a little person and just as 'immoral' in right-on terms (if not more!!)as sending your child into indep. sector, in my view. I just think it is crazy to go all the way through primary and then at the end decide that the education there is not good enough and suddenly ram a whole load of info. down your child's throat in a mad panic to make amends for what they have been doing for the last 5 years. And if they then DON'T get into the selective schools, how demotivating is that for them? I think it is hypocritical really.

So very interesting questions raised definitely. Particularly sensitive for us as we MOVED to the area and bought our house specifically for the school we are now leaving and have made most of our local friends via school, so to then be considered bad eggs locally would be very upsetting. NO-ONE we know locally goes to private school. We are just going to have to be tough. And of course we leave this school's social circle but mustn't forget that we also enter into a NEW school with its own social thing going on so hopefully where we lose out we will also gain elsewhere...

Frogs, it sounds to me as if you can easily make a similar very personal case... You don't have to do your child down too much but can explain very clearly that while the school is fine for most and you wish it was fine for yours (which i am sure is true on some level), you don't think it will be a positive experience for your particular child - and what responsible parent would enter into something that they know wouldn't work - you wouldn't be able to live with that, if you feel like this already about the school.

It's definitely tricky!