SW London Private and Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023 (part V)

One of the kids in DS school got into St. Paul 7+ (he was top 5, extremely bright to a different level)

he was crying all the time, he couldn’t deal with anything everything is too easy

challenges are there for a reason 😉

@SamPoodle123 she might get a bit of a shock at the beginning especially comparing with state but she will definitely get there

if anything, it teaches resilience; you ll be there to help her through this

if everything is too easy , what’s the point?

@SamPoodle123 its tricky. Your DD probably doesn't put in much effort because the work isn't challenging. Some kids have memories that mean they don't really need to put in much effort for learning primary school material.

For kids like this who have never developed good study habits because they are so bright its always been effortless, it can be a bit of a shock when they can no longer just absorb information in class and rely on their memories. For some this happens at A-levels or university (or never!). If she gets in to G&L, I wouldn't worry. The best way to support her is to focus on teaching her how to learn before she hit that wall-- studying an instrument is usually good for this as even gifted musicians have to apply themselves. Once the work becomes more challenging and interesting you may find she may very well be more engaged with it anyway (that's what happened with me!)

A very academic child to me is someone in the top 1%-2% of the ability range (whether they make the effort or not). The pace of teaching required for work to be challenging and interesting is different for this cohort but that doesn't mean only SPGs will do. Most academically selective schools will have a sizeable cohort of students in this ability range but will have a wider ability tail. Deciding the best academic fit then comes down to your child's personality: do they thrive in competitive environments, are they more confident as a big fish, etc etc. There aren't any right or wrong choices. It's all about what works best for the individual child to maximise happiness and potential. A happy child is a child that thrives long-term and life is nothing if not a long game.

I think perhaps the important question for you @SamPoodle123 is whether she loves learning and has a natural academic curiosity. My sense (and this may be wrong - parents with DDs at these schools can confirm or deny!) is that what these top schools have in common is that the vast majority of girls are just really interested in lots of things and have a deep love of learning.

I think your DD is currently at state primary, so you might well expect her to ace tests with minimal effort (I think you've said the academic standard is not very high there?) I'm sure you know your DD and her temperament, and the kind of environment she'll be happiest in and thrive.

I guess I just get nervous when people comment about the schools being super academic, making it sound like it will be very difficult. But I guess, if she gets in then perhaps there is a reason for it. I just wish we could find out already!!!!

Yes, this is what I am not sure about. My dd style is very relaxed when it comes to studying. She achieves good results w minimal efforts. Her little brother is the same. Maybe they are just extra focused at school. At home, they do bare minimum. It makes me really nervous when parents say the schools are super academic.

I am curious, when people say academic child, do they mean one that likes to study a lot and achieves good results, or does it just mean a dc that achieves good exam results, regardless of effort?

I am trying to figure out my dd. She gets good results with minimal effort. She says she wants to go to G&L if she gets in, but I worry if that just is not really for her, as she is not the type who goes off to study. She is more of the relaxed type. If she has a spelling test, she will glance at the words once. She does the minimum. I explained to her if she goes to an academic school, she will actually have to do more work! She says that is fine and maybe it will be....but I just get nervous when I hear parents talk about the schools being super academic.

@crazymama123 I agree with your list. For me its, where will my child be happiest. For me, the things that figure into that are school ethos / fit, commute, and how strong are the school is in the curricular and co-curricular interests relevant to her etc.

I think the right academic fit is important but not rankings. So if you have a very academic child, you'd want to feel there was a cohort of similarly able children within the school. This might just be the top set rather than the entire cohort iyswim. As long as the school can help a child reach their academic potential (which most schools absolutely can) then I wouldn't really consider it any further as a preference criteria.

I would email/call them to find out. But first check your junk mail!

Thanks @VickiMent for the pointer to the updated Claremont page. I do like the status report making it clear that offers have not yet been posted/emailed - saves a lot of refreshing of emails.

Not heard any news from CFC, but they have updated their information page on the timing of the offer holder events. They have also said one adult per child, which I am very surprised by. It seems a bit too important a decision for that.

Oh dear God!

they ve already confirmed opening of Pre Prep at existing site!

That’s a good idea to use offer days to test out the commute. Presumably schools won’t have ‘exploding offers’ so we’ll have a bit of time to make a decision?

We’re waiting to hear from Westminster, city, UCS, Highgate and forest (favourites are probably UCS, Highgate and city but honestly don’t know how to choose between them - if we have a choice of course!). Plus if we get Westminster then it’s hard to turn that down despite being not that keen on it.

For those waiting, we have discovered that our communications seem to come later than our friends for schools where we had applied for a scholarship - perhaps the scholarship applicants are in a separate group? Just a thought to mention it as I was on tenterhooks for the 2nd round emails and the one offer we've received as all friends got emails before us!

I wonder if Radnor are waiting for the outcome of their planning application which was due 20th Jan. Although no update of decision has been published yet on the Richmond Gov website. I’m sure that will have a bearing on how far they can offer.

Aha! Found that email now too from 23 Jan. I am not impressed to be honest to say least. Let's see if they push it back again.

Re Radnor, they did say on the most recent email after the assessment day that outcomes would be emailed by Friday 3 Feb at the latest...

I do wonder though if they already emailed the “Yes”

maybe we re the “no”?

Long-time lurker, here, prompted to answer because (despite my best efforts) I’m rehearsing the “how will we decide if we get multiple offers” scenario. We have one offer in hand and one of the schools we’ve applied to is an IB-school - so that’s going to be a big crux point for us. The big school/smaller school and level of academic challenge are other big decision points.

As in, we didn't apply to Radnor not that we've heard from them already!

We're waiting on CFC still, but not Radnor.