Harrow School

Why on earth do you have "to deal" with Harrow if they are nothing to do with you?

Never mind about Eton parents. They're a nice bunch, I promise you.

It's just my own personal way of dealing with Harrow, if you really must know.

peteneras
you really give a very poor impression of Eton oarents. Snooty, snippy and childish.

'The only nice thing about Harrow, is that on a clear day you can see Eton'.

Agreed Ponders. And it is the old Etonians who slag off mostly. 'The only nice thing about Harrow, is that on a clear day you can see Eton'.

That made me laugh!

Rache, tell your boy to WORK. All the Harrow boys I know got 7-9 A* if not 10.

Ponders, yes they do! Harrow is called 'the dump on the hump' and Eton is called 'the drain on the plain'.
At the annual Eton/Harrow match an Eton chant is 'Who goes to a minor public school? You do, you do' and the Harrow chant back is 'You are going to work for us one day'

If that's just the students ripping each other, wobbly, I don't have a problem with it - it's parents denigrating the other school I don't like

I know nothing about scholarships at that yr group at Harrow Eton or my DS school Win Coll but I can give you a bench mark which might help. Win Coll is a little more academic than Eton to get into the 6th form we were told that the existing commoners (non scholars) had to have a minimum of 7* at IGCSE. I suspect Eton is similar so if we assume that Harrow is slightly less academic it would probably safe to assume they are looking for similar results for their scholars entering into the 6 th form. Does this make sense?
I suspect any exam will want to sees he can write clearly and intelligently and formulate an agruement.

Ignore those who are rude enough to slag it off I'm assuming you looked at Harrow carefully and spoken to the masters and came away feeeling positive about it. Good luck let us know how you get on.

Peteneras, why don't you have any time for Harrow?

From a pastoral care point of view, Harrow looks after their boys much better than Eton does. The boys' performances are monitored closely and any dips are noted within 24hours and passed on to the house tutors. Eton on the other hand is much more collegiate and requires more precocious boys. So by the time they have worked out he is slacking in, maths for instance, they will find out that physics etc have gone the same way.

Harrow used to be a brutal school, it is anything but now. A lot of Eton parents are moving over and Eton itself are realising that they need to row back on the Eton test, give more weight to old Etonian kids, because the ethos of the school is being lost.

Anyway, Rache, the scholarship test won't follow the syllabus it will more likely test for reasoned thought and aptitude. Tell your son read a lot, good luck and just be himself. I bet the interviewers would love his Labour thoughts, they would be a bit different!

Ponders, yes they do! Harrow is called 'the dump on the hump' and Eton is called 'the drain on the plain'.

At the annual Eton/Harrow match an Eton chant is 'Who goes to a minor public school? You do, you do' and the Harrow chant back is 'You are going to work for us one day'...

Rache, don't listen. Harrow is an absolutely fantastic school and your boy is doing well to go for it. Nothing ventured etc. If he doesn't get it, disappointment fades. If he doesn't go for it, regret lasts a lifetime. Like the lottery quote says 'it could be you'...

The Peter Beckwith scholars are terrifyingly clever. But this Kane scholarship sounds great.

If he gets it, tell him to prepare to two huge shocks of his life:

first and foremost discovering that he will be required to work 4 times as hard as he is now, and no excuses will be tolerated (I have kids in both the state and the private system, and state kids just have no idea how hard kids in the private system have to work);
and secondly, what a soft little Mummy's boy he is compared to the others. Don't panic about that, let him go and let them turn him into a man it is the right thing emotionally and developmentally.

Hmmmm, Labour party. Good on him. Like that Harrow boy Winston Churchill said: if you are not a socialist when you are young, you have no heart. If you are still a socialist when you are old, you have no brain.

If he gets it, do tell us how long he stays Labour for!!!!!

Have you spoken directly to Harrow? Most school admissions offices are very helpful. My concern would be that they want A*'s across the board. Ask them.
My friends DS quite a few years ago sat the Eton (for 13 yr olds) scholarship which is notoriously difficult. The head of his prep was against it he was in the lower class for all his subjects. The parents logic if you dont try you definitely wont get it.
He came 5th an incredible achievement.

CE papers can be purchased from ISEB.

Your son sounds like a strong candidate for any school but the difficulty is knowing who re competition is and what Harrow is looking for in a particular year. It is worth considering other schools that would snap your son up and give him many opportunities but are not quite as oversubscribed. I think it unlikely that your son will be able to mix with his friends during term time so other than the scholarship being location based it would be best to look around. What about Haileybury or Stowe?

I'd like to think I don't criticise other schools but alas I have my views on Canford and Wellington! Oh and how could I forget Bedales. But not everyone is academic enough to get into the likes of Eton and Win, as I know from personal experience, and some children would fail miserably in these environments.

There are many vocal supporters of Eton, Colleger being one, but i've never seen insultimg anyone's choice.

Shame they don't take girls at Eton, peteneras could well do with a few lessons in manners and courtesy there.

Eton is not a better school it's the most famous but this does not mean its better than any other school. It does have very vocal supporters particularly on MM.

Goodness me peteneras! are you an Eton parent ? If you are i'd be withdrawing my registration immeadiately you sound very arrogant and completely put me off the school.

So what if Eton is the better school ? People have their own reasons for choosing a school, the whole world doesnt want to go to Eton despite what you might think, you sound really awful.

The OP was not asking our opinion of Harrow it doesn't matter what we think about it she and we have to assume her DS likes it that's ultimately all that matters. I personally don't like Eton but am aware that many do and I acknowledge that it's a good school if it suits you.

I don't know what other posters' motivations are, but I've seen Harrow mess a fair few people up and the majority of people I know who enjoyed it are narrow minded louts. I'm sure it does have good points, but I think a lot of people think it's a good idea to send their children to "top" schools, without really understanding what a negative effect it can have.

Not necessarily the case in this instance, granted.

Compared to Eton, Harrow is certainly the poorer school by far.

do Harrow parents slag off Eton in the same manner?

jolly poor show

"a more positive direction"??

lovely

Harrow must be a really poor school then. I had no idea.

But if she didn't, then I would have done her (and others who may be watching) a service.