How bright are the kids at yours child’s private school?

[Notinlalaland]

Just that really.
Considering sending DC there for secondary school but concerned he’ll struggle to keep up if all the other kids are super bright.
Currently in state primary. Doing average in most subjects except maths (below average).
So if he went to private he could well be bottom of class if everyone is much brighter.
In state secondary he’ll probably be middle of abilities.

Some are bright some less so. Same as in all senior schools I should think

If he’s not particularly bright would he get in? And if he did, then presumably lots of other medium performing children would too?

It would be worth finding out what proportion join at senior school and how many are there from say age 3, as it’s not possible to be super selective at that age.

Also it’s worth speaking to the school.

My DC are at a middle of the road private school. Most students are above average (not always by much!). They are very quick to intervene (nicely!) and support children who struggle. Also much smaller class sizes compensate for some lack of skills as children are given more support.
Most private schools have finished for the summer now, however if you can a taster day will allow the school to get a “feel” for your children and let you know if they think it will be a good fit or not. It needs to be right for your children - loss of confidence will not help long term; it’s always worth enlisting the school’s support as they know their own expectations.

I also teach at the school too - believe me the school will help you to see if it will work for your DC. It’s in their interests to have children who fit, but equally they won’t turn you away for nothing - at a cold, clinical level they need fee paying parents to survive!

Some far below average some far above and majority average. I have children in both. It’s more noticeable in public school and the reactions are harsher. He’ll know he’s bottom set and it may be joked about in a way that I haven’t seen in state settings.

I’d say the reaction is true of any selective school, not specific to private. Having taught is state schools too, kids can be bloody horrible about the differences that are highlighted to them regularly. In selective schools they are pushed to achieve so much more and know they were all examined to gain entry - therefore they can judge each other harshly, in some ways it’s a method to raise their own self-esteem; if they are not bottom of the pile then that’s a good thing in their eyes.

How academic is the school you’re considering? What are the results like? That would give you a bit of a pointer.
Do you know what the selection process is?

Scarily bright. I have one of above average intelligence who was in the top groups at state school and is now not in the top groups/classes. The other one is very average and in largely bottom classes. However, they are both very ably supported and there are plenty like them both.

As someone who is very average, I went to private school and being in bottom set really knocked my confidence.

Our school is non selective but results are much better than average. Which makes me think a couple things: being able to afford to send your child to a private school suggests a higher expectation for their child so is self selecting by the very fact parents have chosen to send their children private, and the smaller class sizes and other factors that a private school provides mean even ‘average’ children can excel more than at a state school.
Looking at it another way: my average son was saved from failing completely, and my very studious child would probably have done just as well in a state school. So I think in one sense private school benefits an average child more than it does a child who would achieve no matter what.
And my son was in lower sets and it didn’t bother him that much (one of the issues), my daughter is in top or near top and it matters quite a lot!

Depends entirely on the school.

Some schools select on academic ability. Some do not. So sounds as if your DC might be happier in a school which does not select on academics.

Many private schools have large numbers of students who have moved there because they have not been reaching full potential in the state system.

Depends. Ds1 is at a local catholic secondary that is very good.
He has 15 students in his top maths set that haven't yet got less than 99% in any test, they've done, for any of their subjects, in any subject, even recently sat GCSE papers.

There's always bright students, no matter where you go!

Appreciate all the replies.
Is there such a thing as a non-selective private school? I can’t find one in our area. They all have 11+ exams.
I’m torn between wanting to give him best chance to reach potential vs the lack of confidence/feeling demoralised that’ll come from being bottom of class.

All private schools will have an entrance exam. Selectives will use it as an entrance criteria, wheras non selectives will just use it for streaming.

My daughter's school is selective, but not massively so: they'll take anyone average or above. Despite this, they have the best results in the county.

IME it's the average kids who beenfit the most from private education. The high fliers will be fine anywhere.

I went to private secondary in a fairly affluent area. Not in the UK though.

There was a good mix, about 60-70% were above average incl me in English and the humanity type subjects. I was lower set (or below average) for maths / science and there was probably about 15 of us all in the same boat.

Us in the lower sets actually stuck together, we formed quite a strong bond and had a good laugh. Out of 80 students I can only remember a handful looking down at those in the bottom sets.

I got quite a lot of support too.

But it does depend on the school. However in my opinion I would go private.

I used to work in a private school in admissions. The entrance exam was used to weed out the very undesirable parents, not the child. A school looks for reasons to accept the child.

It does depend on the school though. Winchester is very different to the local grammar which turned independent in the 1980s. A less academically focussed school will have a more broad based ability range in its student cohort.

Ask the Head about inclusivity, learning support and value-added. Basically the school needs to tell you that they are happy for your child to achieve the equivalent of the old Cs (can’t get my head around the 1-9 system) but they would strive to get your child a few Bs and hopefully a couple of As.

Notinlalaland. My dd is in an academic private school. She went to a non selective private prep school which also had its own Senior school. This one had an entrance exam that was impossible to fail. It was a small school which traded on its care for the individual.
Do a google map search and see if there are any less selective private schools in your area.

'Is there such a thing as a non-selective private school?'

Absolutely dc attend non selective prep and although many senior settings have entrance. Not all around here do.

Although we are north

Seems less so according to friend in the south

Much the same as any other school that isn’t selective.
People don’t send their children to private school because they are bright. They send them because they can afford it, because they believe the education will be better, the class sizes smaller and likely to be fewer disruptive pupils. Or simply because it’s part of their family culture and they wouldn’t consider sending them anywhere else.

Btw. Private schools do not all have an entrance exam.

I went to a private secondary and had been in a state secondary for a couple of years first.

At the state secondary I was very top of my class (by a long shot) in every subject. At the private school I was middle. Didnt do my self esteem any good and I didnt perform as well as i could have.

The private schools round here are not full of bright kids according to my friend to teaches in one. We are in a grammar area so anyone bright passes and goes to the High schools.

She says the kids are apparently jokingly referred to as the ‘creme de la creme’ (rich and thick)! Not to their faces though!

It all depends on the school, as others have said. My dd goes to a seclective private girls school in London, although it’s not one of the super selectives. They results are very good though - but it’s not just about being born “smart” - I think most of the girls work quite hard - both at home and at school there is an expectation that you put a lot of effort in.

My DS school is bright enough and he went to private secondary from a primary state school. He has found it a struggle as a lot of the DC had gone to private prep schools so were prepared for the move. My DS is bright however he is disorganised as has taken the first year to understand expectations around homework and standard expected. He isn’t performing academically as well as others however that is more to do with lack of revision and not being on top of when tests are etc. I think he will be fine when he goes back for yr 8. My DD school is selective but is pretty average. She is middle to top and also moved there from state. Again she had the same issue as my DS that it was quite a big step up from the state school where she only had one piece of homework a week to three subjects a night.

DD’s school is non selective but there are a lot of very bright kids.
She was head and shoulders above her peers at (state) Primary and while she performs really well now there are quite a few kids at the same level and one or 2 maths geniuses who are off the scale.
Her school achieves roughly the same GCSE results as the closest Grammar