SW London boys 11+ 2022 entry

Any guidance on why city and not hamptons?:)

We are going to say no to city today as my DS prefers Hamptons. I still feel City is so very great but not sure if i can convince him

@fabricaabandonada maybe hold fire on the new iPad... the school you settle on may want the boys to have something different (MS Surface).

All the schools are excellent. It would be difficult to put a hair between them. Maybe do a Pros & Cons list for each school (your DS and you) to see where you have common ground and what's able to overcome. It may come down to where their friends are going...?

Congrats @Avidgardner!

Bribery. Bribery seems to be the answer. Budgeting for a new iPad..

Congrats on the Westminster offers, fantastic achievement! @fabricaabandonada let me know if you find the secret to convincing DS to consider it, we have a similar issue with DS and SPS - he is not really entertaining it at all though it’s our closest school.

[quote 7plus11plus]@fabricaabandonada
That’s interesting. They are all great schools. You won’t go wrong with any of them. For us, I love Habs but not DS. He actually said he didn’t want Habs during the interview and managed to get the flat No! 😭[/quote]
I know.. this is tough. Luckily we have lots of time to make a decision.

@fabricaabandonada
That’s interesting. They are all great schools. You won’t go wrong with any of them. For us, I love Habs but not DS. He actually said he didn’t want Habs during the interview and managed to get the flat No! 😭

[quote 7plus11plus]@fabricaabandonada
Is the distance or Saturday school? DS is dying to go to Westminster so no problem for us! 😂[/quote]
Westminster is actually the closest to our home.. he doesn’t like the campus (we are “selling him the historics but no sale), esp as compared to SPS/Kings. Also he hates to be in a constant “marks based competition” as he perceives Westminster; thinks that would make him a “drone”.
In short, Westminster is our first choice but sadly not his.

@fabricaabandonada
Is the distance or Saturday school? DS is dying to go to Westminster so no problem for us! 😂

@hockeygrass
Yes words can’t describe how happy and relieved I am now. Westminster is the only school DS really wanted. We accepted the place the minute the offer came in today.

@sprite22 definitely consider Molesey. Public buses to KGS and school bus to Hampton. And unless you're deep into West Molesey, Hampton Court station is very walkable, no need to drive.

DS is at KGS - he has after school sports practice at Ditton Field twice a week, and games there once a week, and just walks home afterwards (unless I'm feeling nice and give him a lift). He misses the odd lesson for school matches but that's the exception, not the norm - usually they're on Saturdays so no problem juggling sport and academic commitments.

Happy to answer any questions about KGS or Molesey - we turned down Hampton for KGS and no regrets, getting the public bus into a town centre has given him so much more confidence and freedom, and we preferred the fact it was co-ed. Academically he's definitely being pushed, but that would have been the same at Hampton, I'm not sure there's much to choose between them in that respect.

@7plus11plus, congrats, that's amazing for your ds, you must be once the moon after the CLSB option. Is this the end of the road decision wise for both your dc now? What a great note to end on!

@travelturtle going to visit Emanuel on Monday

We’ve accepted the offer place to Epsom College and so happy.
Was hard to turn down Reeds and St. George’s though as all super schools.

@Parentingfor2 and others - how did you find the Emanuel open day? We are very keen and likely to accept I think.

@CrazyDaisy7668 and @hockeygrass thanks for sharing posts in the group about your two schools. Super helpful as we think our choice has boiled down to between these two very different schools.

We've got Westminster, too :)

DS got in Westminster too. So proud!

Aaaand we got Westminster, woo how!

@ Molesey is good but it's not on a train line hence the lower house prices. To get a train to London you need to go to Hampton court and pay for expensive parking.

@hockeygrass Is the area 'Molesey' worth a look ? Rightmove is showing many houses in that area.

@sprite22 , the balance isn't an issue as all the clubs and sports practice is over lunchtime and the matches are on Saturdays when there are no lessons. The school day ends at 4pm and most of the dc use the school buses, my ds is home by 4.45pm and he then has time for a piano lesson and club football outside school during the week. Most sporty dc also play for a local football/rugby/cricket club and have a club training session during the week and a match on Sunday. If you want a really sporty set up with more training then you should accept the Whitgift or MTS place for the cricket. I think KGS has more sports practice than Hampton too.

The Hampton 11plus offers morning is today so I'm sure parents can give you more feedback but is there really no way that no one in your family can't visit the U.K. for 24 hours and see the schools?

@hockeygrass Thank you so much for sharing your views..DS applied for Brighton, MTS, Trinity, Whitgift, Hampton and KGS. All in different areas as we are relocating and do not have any particular preference for location. These were shortlisted on the basis of reviews and couple of references from existing friends. He received offers from all and now we are trying to narrow down. The pace of teaching isn't an issue on it's own but balancing sports practices/fixtures may be difficult. Does the school provide any support in such situations ( may be extra classes ?)

@sprite22 , as a Hampton parent who lives locally is there any way you can visit in the next week or so? The school is in quite a suburban area about a 20 min walk from the train station and near the most basic of shops.

Re Hampton school, well done to your ds on getting the place but academically he will be similar to everyone else who gained a place, there isn't much variation in ability (the super bright scholarship boys being the stand outs) and you have to be motivated to keep up with the class so I wouldn't worry about that. The pace of teaching in all the top schools is fast.

Yes there is lots of cricket at Hampton and an option to train in winter nets at the weekend.

If you don't want to pay for the school bus then you need to live on a transport for London bus route that stops near the school - like Twickenham. If you want to use the school bus look at houses on the Isleworth, Brentford and Sunbury school bus routes.

Sorry I don't know anything about Trinity apart from it's in a totally different part of Greater London.

Best of luck with a tricky decision. Out of interest are there other schools your ds applied for but didn't get offers from?