Independent schools for the quirky/odd/non-conformist/downright difficult!

Putting you off Eton?

Don?t delude yourself, Pasta, you?ll have to fight very, very, very hard for a place there. I wouldn?t put any money on you succeeding, but keep trying.

For that Eton T-shirt.

Wow! Pretentious, sorry I meant Peteneras, you are really wearing the Eton T.shirt.
Do they really need someone like you on this thread to sing their praise? For a PR person you are doing a lousy job, you are putting me off Eton.

At least Wellington is not up its own arse.

It's up Seldon's!

Charterhouse any good ?

Are Win Coll?
I'm sure Peterneras knows a lot but no where is perfect not even Eton.

Actually I know Eton are pretty proud of themselves but even they are not that far up their own backsides.

RosemaryandThyme "Pretentious" is certainly the right word she swallowed the Eton propaganda hook line and sinker. Are we really sure she's not on their marketing team?

This thread is getting funnier and funnier - who are the mysterious Mr A and Mr J - why is Pretentious quoting a quoter of a quote of Micheal Winner and in which high-street is the Yamaha Music School ........

Milkshake, no problem. Don't get too stressed (I did). A clever all rounder will thrive at lots of schools.

Calm down (as another OE at the Despatch Box would say) - this is only a discussion to try to help OP find the best school for her son, wallowaway. I don?t think that said OE at the Despatch Box would be too pleased either for you to rate his alma mater as a third tier music school.

Have a nice weekend!

Grovel, thank you again for the handy hint. Hopefully I'll be back for the inside track on housemasters next year!!

Check your facts peteneras, and best not let your temper further reduce your ability to 'put two and two together'...

Clearly your musical judgement is superior to that of Purcell and similar schools, should they save their energies by contracting out their admissions function to you, peteneras?

I can certainly fill you in wallowaway since you can?t see the basic difference between Yamaha Music School and the Eton Music Dept.

Any Tom, Dick and Harriet can set up a ?Music School? having just come into the world of music in the last 30 or so years versus the likes of people who had and still have, music in their core in appx. the last 600 years and have no need to tell the world they?re ?music specialists?.

As for aspiring soloists, I feel quite comfortable in saying not everybody wants to be a permanent ?performing monkey? (as Mozart?s father would say). There are far more important things to do in life than music as I?m sure the OP knows as she is desperately seeking a proper school for her undoubtedly very gifted musical DS who is already at a specialist music school.

And, putting two and two together now, I may even have actually seen and heard at first hand, OP?s son performing earlier this year and if I'm right that was actually OP's son, then believe me he is exceptionally good.

Wonder why his parents are now trying to pull him out of Purcell? Perhaps wallowaway can now fill us in?

Milkshake, good luck. My only tip is that your DS should try to be an enthusiast in his interview. Eton are very aware that they are privileged to have fantastic facilities (sport, art, drama, music etc) and they want them used to the max by the boys. There was a time (across all such schools) when boys and girls were a bit "too cool for school" and preferred being rather cynical observers of extra-curricular life to being participants.

Grovel, thank you. That's very helpful. Let's see if he gets in given how competitive it is! Fingers crossed.

Milkshake, just to put a bit of flesh on my post above.

Each boy has a tutor (and is part of a tutor group of approx 10 boys from different Houses). They meet weekly. Any academic issues will handled in the first instance by the tutor. Not much room for slippage/being invisible. Termly reports come in the form of a letter from the tutor commenting on the subject reports and a letter from the housemaster covering the pastoral/extra-curricular etc.

As I said above the Houses are small. My DS was in a House which had its own dining room (as opposed to using the central refectory - Bekynton). By my estimate the Housemaster saw my DS at least 6 times a day (if not to talk to). At 3 mealtimes, at Chambers (mid-morning snack), at Prayers (not religious, a House get-together every evening) and on his evening rounds when he knocked on every boy's door and had a brief chat. I think that he and the Dame (around the House all day) had a pretty good feel for how a boy was feeling, whether he was busy enough etc. Difficult for boys in these circumstances to be lost/forgotten.

Hope this helps a bit. Reading it through it feels as if the boys are under constant surveillance. It's not like that at all. I'm really just trying to convey that Housemasters and Dames are around enough to spot potential problems. They get good at reading adolescent body language.

Good luck in choice, vix. And if you want a recommendation for a house at King's (housemaster & family the most genuinely lovely people you could ever hope to meet) then PM me.

milkshake, then hopefully DS2 House and Block will work well for him!

peteneras I can see why you think Eton is better than your Yamaha Music School.

Some MS prefer to do Purcell, Junior RCM and Westminster at the same time, partly to ensure maintain access to their professorial staff, but their parents would rather they did not seriously consider soloist careers, although Music at Oxford or Cambridge just about acceptable, ideally with a Choral Scholarship. Studying with a professor under a corporate contract is usually different from when s/he takes you on as a personal pupil, though it may suit both to transfer into a conservatoire arrangement because of the wrap-around. I'm afraid I don't know of aspiring soloists at the ?Yamaha Music School?, but peteneras will helpfully fill that part in.

OP perhaps you'll be happier with DS2 following DS1's footsteps. Does he prefer Eton or Purcell? The answer is a very strong message in itself. I hope he will have both options so he can decide freely.

Hi Wallow

In answer to your question about did I not consider Eton's size before applying, yes I did. However, I registered a long time ago and DS2 is only year 5 so won't do the test until year 6. He is registered for several schools, including the one where DS1 will go, and including some co-ed ones as we have a dd too. Eton def not right for ds1 but it might be for ds2 (as he is a v clever all rounder), hence the question. The size is all I am worried about with Eton - other than that I think it is a fantastic school and everyone I know with kids there has nothing but praise. Just looking for feedback really.

Grovel - thank you for your feedback. Very helpful.

The two quirkiest children I've ever met and I mean quirky (this if from the mouth of a self confessed eccentric so general eccentricity is normal in my book) went to Bedales and Ampleforth both were incredibly bright and loved debating etc . I do agree StillSquiffy that the eccentric are or maybe were (new head so who knows) happy at Kings. No IQ test I believe just CE although again this may change.

vixsatis if you son is "slow and useless" at IQ tests then I suspect you may have a bit of a problem as I believe Eton Win Coll and Harrow all undertake such a test as part of their interview process at yr 6/7. Have you got an ed. psych report? When DS was interviewed for Win Coll because the ed. psych report said he was dyslexic this was definitely taken onto consideration. You should also speak to the learning support dept. the one at Win Coll is excellent they would definitely be able to advise you. Win Coll has a reputation for positively welcoming the quirky intellectual he would not be alone but do not under estimate how academic this school is; the academic standards are unbelievably high I think it is the only school in the UK to only offer the much harder Pre U, the lessons are very fast moving, and the pressure is intense right from the moment a boy walk in the door so your DS would have to be able to keep up. You certainly don't have to be a "hearty" type but boys are expected to undertake regular sport particularly in the first two years. I understand that Eton is much more sporty (this is from the horses mouth; boys/parents currently there and parents with boys at both and its definitely taken more seriously) although I'm sure peteneras will disagree as she seems to believe Eton manages to embrace all again this is not what I hear. I'm not against it its an excellent school but I do not believe that any where can embrace all properly.