Whitgift School - how do the Non-sporty boys fare?

penny 3 and olddoc, may I PM you to ask questions? waitinggand, let's work together to keep the public space as clean as your own home. environmental protection is firstly keep clean at our homes and our surroundings, including our own heart, no throwing your own garbage towards others. I am one week new to this site, find the members so willing to help and share their own experience. Grateful.

Whitgift is a good school if you have a sporty, mature and organised son. Unfortunately neither of my sons fit into this category so I am underwhelmed by the school. The pastoral care is poor, the focus is on scores above learning and from an outsider's viewpoint it does feel a little like a factory.

no I meant the original response by waiting. unless that poster knows something we don't I think that was incredibly rude. I for one am interested in all opinions and experiences on the subject.

If you are referring to OldDocs response to Waiting, not harsh enough IMO.
What did he say to deserve to being insulted like that? Totally uncalled for.
I found Waitings response rude and ignorant. And yes, ageist.

That's a bit harsh isn't it?

I'm sorry you have (wrongly) identified me as a troll. What is completely unacceptable is your ageism. Yes, I'm in my mid-sixties, but your references to "slippers and armchair and the antiques roadshow" are out of order. I don't have time for these symbols of senility. I still work part-time as a hospital consultant and, perhaps more relevant here, I am a Governor at a local primary school. I am often asked by parents about transition to senior school. I draw on my own experience, and that of my own children, and those of relatives and acquaintances. I have sought to supplement this by reading posts including those in Mumsnet. I always thought there was a healthy balance in Mumsnet. I have been shocked by this naked ageism.

First there was the silver surfer.
Now there is the silver troll.
Looks like we've found one lurking here, bumping up four year old threads for no reason at all.
Back under the bridge dear troll.
Back to your slippers and armchair and the antiques roadshow.

I recounted this only to illustrate how the unpleasantness of being a non-sporty child in a sport-obsessed school leaves an indelible memory that does indeed last half a century. I cannot of course draw on more recent personal experience, but their website (and those of other sport-mad independent schools) does not fill me with much enthusiasm.

Do you honestly think your experience from half a century ago is relevant?

BUMP
I hope there is still some interest in this topic. I was at Whitgift 50 years ago, but the horror is as fresh as yesterday. Life was hell as an unsporty boy. It got better in the sixth form where I excelled academically, getting a scholarship to Cambridge, but if you were not gifted in one or the other you were crushed and rejected. I swore I would never subject a child of my own to this. And didn't. They all attended a wonderful comprehensive (not in Croydon), got into university (2 into Russell Group Unis) and have excellent careers, and settled personal lives. Think carefully before subjecting your DSs to an uber-sporting independent school unless it's REALLY what they want.

Excellent News TulaHatti.What a relieve. Best wishes to you all.N

Hi nancy12,
We had a lovely chat with the Registrar at Whitgift and have now acccepted their offer. It really is the right place for DS, so although a financial commitment I'm feeling much happier because it is such an opportunity for DS.

Hi TulaHatti
In the mean time , if possible discuss your situation with W to see if can increase scholarship / bursary offer and reserve yor place without deposit for now??.
After all the Whitgift foundation is financially secure.
It is definitelyworth remaining on the waiting list for Wilsons if you are still interested as few boys will eventually decline places (some of those i know have chosen independent schools).
No matter what happens , i hope your son gets in to the best school for him, and if you have to pay and can gather the money together it will be well worth it.N

Thanks nancy12 and congrats to your DS.

Have spoken to Head at Wilsons - said he couldn't tell us where DS was in rank list from exam and doesn't know about waiting list until all offers have been acepted/declined. Did say if DS was low down the exam results he would tell us there was no hope and that wasn't the case, but he didn't want to raise our hopes.

Going to see Registrar at Whitgift this morning. Perhaps it's fate - we're just destined to struggle financially to send DS there! DS is very keen on W having done the Primary Project and a Science Taster there, also his swimming club uses the W pool. But DS is a a sensible boy and knows Wilsons would be the better option financially as well as offering the right academic environment.

Don't really think Riddlesdown is an option when we have W dangling before us.

Hope all works out well for your DS TulaHatti. Some of the boys will be declinig the Wilson places , so if not too low on the waiting list, may still get a place, best wishes as you make the decisions

Stressed - have not got Wilsons, offered Riddlesdown. Need to find out where DS is on Wilsons waiting list today and decide about W, which would be cheaper option for us than T. Doable...just but more difficult when child benefit taken away in 2013 and DD goes to secondary - want to give her same chances as DS.
Heart saying go for W - brain saying it'll be a financial struggle. Extra activites/family time/outings together are important and we want to give both DCs the best. Don't we all!

Best Wishes to all that have already accepted offers at W and T ,these are all very good Schools.
Hi Tahiti, How did your DD get on?.
Is Wilson's an option. Mine will be accepting the place at Wilson's as he is academic and declining offer at T (did not sit W),his Musical and sporting interests will continue out of school as we have done even though he is currently in a private school.
We we discovered that even though they are available in School,most Children who excel keep some of the activities out of school otherwise they miss lessons and have to keep "catching up"(of course he will also join school orchestra and sports team but the actual music lessons will continue outside school )

Thanks, Ladymuck - think you've confirmed some of the things we're thinking. It's the overall school life we want to get right, not just the academic side.

Yes, he is competitive in certain areas. Doing very well academically - didn't have any tutoring to pass tests, just some practice tests at home.

Still quite a financial commitment, especially with DD to consider in the future(currently Year 4).

He may not be sporty, but is he competitive? If so, then Whitgift is a good place to be, and he just needs to find his niche be it chess, golf, rifleshooting, debating. It is a school where winners thrive.

Wilsons - the boys obviously get the academic results but far fewer seem to get involved with the co-curricular side of things (unless they are into football!). Also most of the co-curricular activities are provided by external companies. What I think that you miss therefore is the bonding between teachers and pupils which then allows a more mentoring relationship to develop.

I also felt that some of the school-parent correspondence had a slightly hectoring tone to it (based on letters on the school website).

If your son already has some strong out of school interests which you think he will carry on regardless of which school he attends, then Wilsons has to be an attractive option. If you opt for Whitgift then you are in part paying for the increased number of teachers, and therefore the greater influence that you would expect them to have on your son.

Depending on your finances the other aspect to consider is what impact the funding cuts are going to have on local state schools over the next few years. Croydon Council has just scraped the entire school improvement budget I understand. No idea on Sutton's plans, but I can see what a school might want academy status right now.

Have just found this talk thread and am going round in circles about secondary schools right now.

DS1 has been offered scholarship/bursary at Whitgift reducing the fees to half (reassessed annually depending on income) but he is not really sporty.

Good swimmer but not outstanding. Need to accept/reject by March 3rd but won't hear if he has a place at Wilsons till March 1st.

Has passed test for Wilsons but so have some 390 others and all competing for 150 places.

Seems a no-brainer, ie if he gets Wilsons it's free and excellent school. But Whitgift does offer more choice of extra-curricular clubs, societies and future networking possibilities.

Also concerned about the proposed change for Wilsons to Academy status. Not sure what that will actually mean longer term.

If he doesn't get Wilsons we are feeder school for Riddlesdown, so not complete disaster.

Comments/opinions welcome please to help us decide.

he is very good in maths but his story writing is not great...being trying to get him to read...hopefully he'll get there. he does swimming and archery maybe that will be a plus.

well the school themselves say 'don't tutor' as they're looking for potential rather than achievement

ds1 didn't have any tutoring at all - just looked at a couple of practice papers a couple of weeks before - and sailed through

for the English paper, just get your son to read lots and read widely

if he's a bit rusty on Maths, get the Bond maths books and do a little extra practice

and ditto for the verbal reasoning

and don't forget extra curricular stuff - if your son has something extra to offer (sport, art, music, drama to a high standard) he'll be looked on more favourably than another boy of the same academic standard who can't offer anything else

hi could anyone recommend a tuition centre or a tutor that could help my son for his entrance exam to whitgift school.

Pink Elephants- let me know if you need any more info. Maybe we could meet.

SH school