Prendergast Hilly Fields & Graveney School

Sorry for incredibly slow response. My DS
actually did better in the Grammars than the year 6 test!
Just goes to show that those prepped for 11plus don't necessarily fare better in year 6 test!
I would say the NVR and also the VR requires specific practice. And also a natural aptitude.
Re the Grammars I saw all but Wilsons and tbh I don't think Graveney is quite in the same league. SGS and Wallington were my fave although Tiffin very run down and lowest in league tables in now - still have the toughest test though!
Prepare for some serious tiger parenting for the Grammars - the boys that did the best are natural mathematicians at year 7 level now. It's traumatic and stressful - with no guarantees at the end of it.
Even though DS has passed for some I am still considering a local school and Independents for a less 'pushy' feel
HTH

I would strongly advise you not to discount the desirability of going to a local school. As soon as your dd gets into her teens she will want to socialise with friends outside of school, in the evenings and weekends. She will be left out of the loop if she is not within a quick walk or bus ride of her classmates. Some friends with dc at Kingsdale also find this a problem - kids come from miles around so you can end up ferrying your child 5 miles or so for trips to cinema/sleepovers etc.

The Graveney results look good on paper - and so they bloody should with that weird super selective stream.

::grin::

No offence taken - was having a josh. Yes, the lower bands are a completely different story! But the OP's daughter would be getting one of the selective places, so would be in Upper at the lowest and more likely Extension. They make up 7 of the classes and the middle and lower classes only 3.

No, don't be, villa! It's a very individual choice about what one thinks will be best for one's child. We know lots of children there who are happy and thriving, although I'm not sure whether those in the lower bands are having quite such a good time.

Interesting Mariaas, because some of the grammar kids I know (boys) just missed Graveney. I've seen that happen in MN, too.

Forgot to say it is only a 20-25 minute journey for us - I wouldn't say it was good enough to justify a trek across south London. It's not a grammar, and having visited all four local grammars, the facilities are nowhere near as good. It's a good comprehensive.

I don't have kids at Graveney, but do know others that do in the selective streams.

Mostly they are very happy with academic, but the sports is lacking.

Re. the Wandsworth year 6 test, which we have just taken, the kids who are also prepping for the 11plus tend to find it pretty easy - it's not as challenging, although now that NVR has been dropped by the grammars completely they don't have a complete advantage anymore.

The kids I know in the streams were Grammar candidates who missed out on a place for whatever reason.

I have been to the open day and actually really made me like the school. Lovely setting, really bright and articulate year 7 tour guides and good talk by the head and kids. All in all it's a thumbs up from me. :)

Trying not to be offended MyNightWithMaud! They're right though, you can be dead set/not keen on a school on paper and that can all change once you visit it.

Do go to the open events. I was very keen on Graveney until I went to the open day, where there was something undefinable about the place I disliked.

I have heard Charter ED are not setting at all, even for maths. I haven't made it to the open day so am not sure what to think, whether there was misunderstanding and they mean not in Y7 but will at GCSE for example. Nothing on website. Anyone know?
Another school ED children seem to be going to is Elm Green- 2 Stops in the train. Not especially musical but well regarded.

Harris ED?

The music offer at Kingsdale is very good .

But they do expect music scholarship people to participate in lots of activities as required, so be sure she is very into music if you go for it.

If she wants music seriously consider Kingsdale.

A kingsdale "scholarship" will include music tuition, instrument hire etc. Prendargast may get her a place, but you still pay for her music. So I am told by a friend who picked kingsdale over prendergast, havimg got scholarships at both.

I don't think there is any difference in the extra curricular offer in schools between sets . They all get offered the same clubs etc. once they are in secondary there are so many sports and music opportunities outside school, it doesn't have to all be in school,

TGH I've found that even in private schools the opportunities in sport can be limited. My other dc (and many of DC's friends) have had to find teams outside their private school in order to take part. Ditto drama. Even the school trips abroad have limited numbers. At Graveney sports and the arts are very much encouraged, of course everybody can't be picked – that would be unrealistic – but if you're kid has a talent for them then they should fly. It has a brilliant art department (and an extension art class) so that area is taken seriously.

As for behaviour, if your dc enters the school via the Wandsworth test, they will be milling around with either Extension or Upper kids, who are very bright and as far as my dc's experience lovely. I'm not sure about the SEN dept though.

I was worried about the size but they are very good at keeping the school manageable for the kids and that hasn't been an issue at all.

Maybe things have improved lower down the school, we haven't experienced any problems with communication – quite the opposite in fact.

I think as long as you approach schools realistically, they can't be perfect and they don't suit every child, you can't go far wrong with any of your choices.

My experience with Graveney (know many kids there, have worked with some of their young people in an off-site setting) is that it is a good comprehensive school, like many other good comprehensive schools across S London. It's results demonstrate the intake, many families in the catchments for Charter, or Dunraven or Haberdashers or Prendergast, Burntwood, Bolingbroke etc are confident enough about the top set education in those schools not to bother with the test or the journey to Graveney (or other selectives). It's a very good school and one of mine may well go there for sixth form in a few years, but just because it has selective places doesn't make it qualitatively different from any other very good school.

Our experience at Graveney has been a bit mixed to be honest.

Plus points - much of the teaching is excellent; if your child is in extension they're surrounded by very bright, mostly motivated peers; it's local (for us) so my child can walk to school with local friends; if your child is musical (mine isn't!) the music is excellent and some of the trips are wonderful opportunities (Iceland, Berlin, First World War battlefields)

Stuff that's not been so good - it's huge (34 in my child's class, nearly 450 in lower sixth alone) so it's very easy for a quiet, less confident child to get overlooked; the special needs department has been slashed this year, from 7 to 4 and another's going at Christmas, so if your child needs any extra support I can't see how that can be effectively given as the workloads for the remaining staff are unsustainable; extracurricular opportunities in sport and drama are limited and unless your child is extremely good they're not going to represent the school as there's usually only one or at a push two teams for the more popular sports; behaviour in the lower streams is not great and the school is lousy at communication - emails are unanswered, the website is often out of date etc

It's been an OK experience so far but not brilliant if I'm honest and certainly not a school I'd make my child travel long distances for.

Yes, the results are good but considering the super-selective nature of some of its intake you'd expect them to be

Charter ED are operating out of an upgraded primary school for this year and next - it looks quite good on their website.

There was definitely a catchment for the original Charter in parts of E Dulwich, though I think that went down a bit after the shenanigans abut the footpath form Dog Kennel hill was sorted out. So as this school is additional, and closer, and also Kingsdale has increased its intake, I would have thought that catchments would be inclined to spread.

It is a very well thought-of school.