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Original poster

How should we be preparing our 10yr old state educated primary DD for private secondary at 11yrs?

61 replies

twistyizzy · 02/04/2022 14:14

Just as title asks really. DD state educated at what we thought was a very good primary school however that hasn't turned out to be the case. We have her name down for public school for Yr7 and are currently starting with a tutor in preparation for the entrance exam in January.
I know the transition from primary to secondary is huge anyway but is there anything we should know/do to prepare her to leave the state sector, assuming of course that she is accepted into the public secondary school?

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RandomThought96 · 04/04/2022 09:24

You should tell her that she will not have covered as much of the syllabus as those students coming from a prep school. But you should make it clear that that does not mean that she is not as clever as the prep students. That is a myth.

If it is a large traditional prep school there will be a number of new entrants at Y7 - many from the state sector and others from abroad/international schools. A good prep will perform base line tests and provide small group teaching for a term or so in subjects like languages which some of the new entrants will not have studied before.
If they are clever thay will soon catch up.

I know a lot of prep school parents who have been shocked to see their children out performed by new entrants from the state sector. But money does not buy brains.

You may wish to polish her lacrosse skills though Wink

Hoppinggreen · 03/04/2022 19:46

My 2 went Private at Y7
No knowledge gap and no need to prepare them for a wealth gap either, it’s only a big deal if you make it one.

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 18:41

100% SATS are created to test the school. Hence why they are sat after secondary places are allocated. Schools may then use them for setting but mainly they are for monitoring schools.

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Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 18:40

@cantatata thank you, we are hoping that is the case for our DD too. Now just keeping everything crossed that she gets in as I really think it will suit her much more than the nearest comp.

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cantatata · 03/04/2022 17:53

I should have said, we haven't regretted the decision for a single second. I think as long as things like sport and music are inclusive, there's no problem. My kids absolutely love all the sport and music they get to do, even though they hadn't done much before. Catching up in MFL and Latin hasn't been an issue at all. They're incredibly happy at school.

MayfairW1 · 03/04/2022 14:33

I wonder if anyone ever unravelled the mystery of the SAT exam taken in Y6 but no results to parents until long after new secondary school resolved. Have been told results are sent to new school for them to stream or allocated Y7 classes?
Otherwise, what use are these tests to anyone?
(Perhaps more to gauge progress of the primary school rather than the child?)

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 14:16

Thank you @TottersBlankly that does help massively. Yes there is zero competitive learning and no consequences from the school if homework isn't completed at primary. These are the things we will need to explain to her and prepare her for, things I had never really considered either.

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TottersBlankly · 03/04/2022 14:12

In a previous century, when I moved from a reasonably good state school to an all girls independent school, there was no preparation at all for the shock of proper Latin rather than the unchallenging stuff I’d been doing. I really struggled for months, then admitted I was struggling and was a given a little help. Left with an A at O’ Level! This century, the young in our family making a similar move were sent an entire textbook as a pdf (from the new school) and we spent the Summer helping them to catch up.

Independent schools are quite hot on the basics of any subject - multiplication tables, spelling, French / German / Latin vocabulary. Prep set and expected to be completed on time. My impression is that state schools have gradually decreased the competitive element of learning - if this is the case at your current school you may need to do something to prepare her for that. Aspirations should be universally high at the independent school - this might come as a relief.

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 13:59

@MayfairW1 🙈🤣

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MayfairW1 · 03/04/2022 13:55

Did the same transition with my two DD at 11 to independent in Hampstead.
Don't worry in the slightest about "wealth gap". It never arises (except for the £2,000 skiing trip!!) as the kids all pretend to be gangstas from the 'hood.

My biggest complaint is that the schoolkids are not posh enough!!

(Sort of joking, but not really.)

What you will experience is it's very likely with the 11+ year 7 group that many will have perhaps come from same primary or have many friends in common.

What does get them excited is DDs of the famous! To have one of the Spice Girls daughters or from Peaky Blinders is the only thing that impresses any of them.

But whatever you do don't watch this instagram!!

www.instagram.com/p/CbhzXIdg1b5/

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 13:53

Hopefully! The state options are really quite dire in terms of results, behaviour and expectations so we are trying to do everything to make sure she gets in to the private school. We are just very fortunate that we can afford to do it but having no experience ourselves of the private sector (grew up in grammar school counties) we just want to make sure we are setting her (and our) expectations correctly to make the adjustment.

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MrPickles73 · 03/04/2022 13:50

Sounds as though you have it all in hand Grin

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 13:43

@MrPickles73 exactly the same here, our primary was providing approx 1-2 hours per day whereas the prep school was doing full days over zoom/teams. We are just using the tutor to plug the gaps over the next 8 months in English a day maths. Thankfully it is an entrance exam rather than the 11+ as we aren't in a grammar school area.

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MrPickles73 · 03/04/2022 13:41

For us french and Latin was the biggest gap. Once she's passed the exam I would ask the school. You may find they have lots of other joiners in a similar boat and will allow for it.

MrPickles73 · 03/04/2022 13:40

From where we live the private schools provided much more lockdown learning than the state primaries so getting a tutor is a good idea to plug any gaps.

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 13:37

@MarshaBradyo yes we've sorted a tutor as her school have really dropped the ball over the last 12 months we feel although I fully appreciate the issue with lockdown etc. From this thread I've realised that the things we need to prepare for are not even necessarily the academic side but the sport/music/languages aspect. She only does 2 x short PE sessions per week in her primary school so 1 x full afternoon per week + additional PE sessions are going to be a shock to the system 😆

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MarshaBradyo · 03/04/2022 13:33

Oh and languages he’s just started Latin and seems to be ok with the other MFL despite not doing much earlier on

MarshaBradyo · 03/04/2022 13:32

We moved across and found similar

Sport - eg Ds just starting hockey, I’m glad he’s going it but others have been doing it for a while, water polo too, he did tennis in primary outside so less of a gap there

Music - he’s grade 5 / 6 due to outside lessons so that’s not too much of a gap and is in the school dance / drama which I hope continues

Grades - he’s doing well but he’s in a selective school and the make is different

We didn’t really prepare him other than a few papers.

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 13:31

@MrPickles73 that sounds very much a similar position as ours

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MrPickles73 · 03/04/2022 13:29

Oh and on the money side we were top income bracket at the primary and now near the bottom at the private school. If you don't make a big thing of it the children will shrug it off.

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 13:28

@TottersBlankly thank you. We love the school, have had a good few chats with the Headmaster, been to an open morning and a know people who have sent their children there. It has always come across as a very nurturing school environment and we have always been impressed with the attitude and manner of children who go there ie well spoken but not in any way superior or stuck up. It does mention bursaries in the literature but definitely there is no shouting about it and no published statistics about how many it gives each year, although we have researched that through its published accounts. Our daughter is clever although not unusually so but she doesn't push herself forwards so we feel the smaller classes where she can build her confidence will suit her better.
There are a proportion of boarders, some of whom are from abroad (China).

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MrPickles73 · 03/04/2022 13:25

We moved state to private in year 6 and the deltas were

  • sport 5 hrs a week v 1 hr. So the kids already playing weekly sports fixtures (hockey, netball, football, cricket, rugby etc) v shuttle runs with bean bags ..
  • much higher level of music . Our state primary someone in yr 6 got star of the week for their grade 1 exam (this was the only one in the 5 odd years we were there).. private school someone in year 5 was already on grade 5..
  • I'd find out what level of languages they are expected to be at. French yr 6 they are on 4 hrs a week v 0.5hr at primary. Also 2 hrs a week of Latin which was new to DC. Yr 7 they also do Spanish.

State primary in London / other city will be better than ours but ours was v limited.

TottersBlankly · 03/04/2022 13:20

The wealth gap …

It depends on the ethos of the school. If they have an established bursary programme and actively seek diversity in their intake then this shouldn’t be so much of a problem. In every area of life there will be better off and worse off people; children know that - but a fee paying school can do a lot to ensure pupils are celebrated and respected for their own individual qualities.

If your proposed school doesn’t shout about bursaries on its website then it may not be addressing this issue with sufficient vigour.

It’s a thing that you, as parents, need to investigate as part of your due diligence. Doesn’t matter if it’s the only school for a hundred miles around - is it one that accords with your own values?

Blimecory · 03/04/2022 13:15

One of mine went from state primary to private secondary. Sport was a big change. Quite a few had played things like hockey before, and mine hadn’t. Also, languages. Quite a few had learned French at prep school, and mine hadn’t.

Original poster
twistyizzy · 03/04/2022 13:15

@cantatata that is my concern, she has been near the top of her class through primary but I'm well aware this probably won't be the case if she gets into the private school. There will be that plus the socio-economic differences in addition to the difference in emphasis on sports etc.

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