St Pauls Juniors.

[MrsHappyAndMrCool]

Hello Everyone,

I was just wondering does anyone here have a DS who attends St Paul’s Juniors? If so can I please have the pros and cons.

Thanks in advance.

[MN164]

DS did year 7 and 8, now year 9 at the senior school. He enjoyed SPJ. He developed unexpected enthusiasm for languages and rugby, having done none at primary school. He liked the teachers and coaches, so thrived. There's a "wide" range of kids from sporty, arty, creative and from mature beyond their years to charmingly childish - all good at maths and English. The 11+ intake is half from state schools so there is a bit more diversity than there would be otherwise, but this is a sought after school so the demographics are still pretty tight around families with bright kids and with money in SW London. There's little pomp and circumstance. It's best described as a country grammar school in London full of rather scruffy boys. Expect fees to continue to rise as they fund the massive rebuilding project. The Junior school is next to be rebuilt.

However, your son is unique and our good experience may be totally irrelevent.

[MrsHappyAndMrCool]

Thank you so much for the feedback

[trinity0097]

You’re basically committing yourself to the senior school before you child has really grown up if you join at 7+. Kids and your wants for a senior school can change so much between year 2 and year 6 when most people make decisions about senior schools (wither to join at 11 or 13)

[MrsHappyAndMrCool]

trinity0097 Hi, I want to register DS6 for 8+ he is currently at Eaton Square School and I want him to move on to another school sooner rather than later. I really like the idea of him going straight on to senior school, so if he was given a place I wouldn’t have to deal with the anxiety of applying for senior schools.

[newmummycwharf1]

@mrshappyandmrcool - what are your thoughts on Eaton Square? Just wondering - as it goes to 13 - why you would prefer to leave at 8+? Sorry to derail your thread, we are currently musing about committing to a preprep in the area (goes up to 8) or safer to go with a school like ESS that goes up to 13

[MrsHappyAndMrCool]

newmummycwharf1 It’s fine please don’t apologise, DS is very happy at Eaton Square, he started the school a very anxious and unconfident little boy (he has a health issue) and now he is a completely different child he has gone from that anxious unconfident child to being able to stand up in front of his class and speak, and he is very very talkative now and no longer afraid to try new things, and I can not thank the school enough for this.

He is advanced in reading (he loves to read) and maths and I think he would get on a lot better at St Paul’s Juniors as there will be so much more opportunities for him.

We were also offered a place at Garden House School (the school I had my heart set on him going to) the only reason I rejected it is because practically all his friends in Pre Prep were girls, and in Garden House boys and girls are taught separately and I wasn’t sure how he would take to the change, but since joining Eaton Square he has a lot of friends whom are boys.

I can only recommend you to apply for as many schools as you can and go to some open days.

Good luck

[RaspberryCake]

Hi. Jumping on this thread too. My son is doing the 7+ at SPJ. The exam is in 4 weeks time so I we will know soon enough if he is successful. Not so much looking for pro's and con's about the school (because we like it very much already) but for some Mumsnet companionship as we go through the count down :)

[Roseredvelvet]

My ds sat the 8+ this year and started in September. He absolutely loves it! I didn't want to go through the 11+ again and we could tell from an early age that ds was academic and enjoyed being challenged. It's a very busy school, sports 4x a week and lots of lunchtime clubs. Not much homework as the bulk is done at school and ds is pretty exhausted but happy when I pick him up at 4pm. Lots of kind, gentle boys in ds' cohort. He is much happier than at his old prep. In Upper 1st (year 4) there are 4 classes old & new intake split 50/50 between the classes so the boys intergrate very quickly. Teachers lovely, rewards for good behaviour, trying hard and being kind/helpful. For what it's worth, ds said it was the hardest exam of the 3 he sat. The day after the exam, he was invited to interview and a week later we received an email offer. I would say about 70% of the boys come from feeder preps, we didn't. Hope that helps.

[RaspberryCake]

Thanks for sharing these observations. My DS is not at a feeder prep. He is at the supposedly best (London) primary in the country. I personally don't think it is that great of a school. With that said, we have no idea what the "benchmark" is for the standard a school like St Paul's would expect. DS is just working as hard as it is reasonable to expect of a 7 year old boy outside of school. We have just received the schedule for the exam day and I do feel somewhat guilty about the fact that he will compete with boys who have had much more guidance and support than him (in school). We have tried to make up for it at home but it is hard.

[AbstractNoun]

It decided to change its name from Colet Court (established 1892) to 'St. Paul's Juniors'. Enough said.

[AbstractNoun]

In 2016.

[Roseredvelvet]

RaspberryCake ds was not prepared for the exam by his school and he'd never seen a VR/NVR paper prior to 5 months before the exam. We only decided to sit him for the 8+ that summer. I bought Bond books and he did a little every day. For maths we got a tutor for 5 months to fill the gaps in his knowledge - the syllabus is on the SPJ website. They were doing comprehension and essays at school so that covered the English. We also did a few past papers in all the subjects. I did not push him harder as I wanted him to be in a school that he wouldn't struggle in, especially at such a young age. The school rebranded and has a very dynamic new headmistress, they have also abolished the admission exam for the senior school.

[Mominatrix]

AbstractNoun, not sure what you are insinuating? It was a very oversubscribed school as Colet Court and remains a very oversubsubscribed school as SPJ.

I suppose it changed names with the idea to make a seamless transition for the boys at the junior division of the school to the senior school, which it did by getting rid of any transfer exam in the same year as the name change.

However, if you want to see nefarious things into the change, go ahead...

[AbstractNoun]

I just see a lack of respect for history and tradition. To what purpose.

[AbstractNoun]

Publicity / advertising.

[Roseredvelvet]

AbstractNoun OP was requesting views from parents with children at the school and their experiences good or bad. The little ones are still referred to as Coletines, there is a statue of Colet outside the Junior school entrance and the school is steeped in tradition. They really don't need publicity/advertising to attract new pupils, they are oversubscribed.

[AbstractNoun]

Thanks Rose.
Their ten-strong marketing team, who undertook the re-branding exercise, must therefore have very cushy jobs!

[AbstractNoun]

Lovely school, strange management/ marketing decisions.

[VioletFlamingo]

I am a London prep teacher and the name change from local teachers points of view was very much in line with the historic child abuse case at Colet Court and removing the stigma linked to that.
St Paul's is in the mercers livery company group and well funded (along with SPGS, Bute House and a few other London schools) hence the ability to pay for marketing staff. Even if schools are heavily oversubscribed they often need to market in ways to ensure their image and ethos is communicated accurately to ensure parents understand the type of school they're joining and to attract the types of children they cater for.

[AbstractNoun]

That would be a very strange explanation.
No other school has decided to re- name itself over historic child abuse cases.