I feel like I'm going round and round in circles about what type of independent school to choose for DD (starting in reception).
I'd like to minimise the stress of selective entry and I get the impression that it gets worse as they get older - ie they won't realise it's a test at 4+, then 7+ is more serious but probably not too bad, and 11+ sounds really tough. Is that right?
But I'm also very aware that at the age of 3, I have no idea what kind of school will suit her in 8 years time!
Possibilities near us are:
- Pre-prep only, so would have to join another school at 7+. The idea then would presumably be to join a straight-through school, with a bit more idea of what would suit her. But that means going through all this again in just 3 years
- Prep up to 11, then the major stress of getting into senior school. A lot of people around here do state primary and indie secondary, so entry is really competitive.
- Straight-through, which takes out the exam stress completely, but means that she might not be in the senior school that suits her best. I'd worry about her getting in at 4+ (when it's less selective) and then struggling later. If I had to make the choice now though, I would want to get her into an academic school, because DH and I are pretty academic, so there's a reasonable chance she will be too.
We definitely don't want boarding, or any of the big name public schools.
Argghhh!
Can anyone shed any light on pros and cons?