Experiences of Aberdour and/or City of London Freemens schools

[zimzam]

Can anyone provide views, personal or second-hand, positive or negative of these schools? We're looking to move our dc into either school at the junior or senior stage. Is it very rare for places to become available in the in-between years, say yr4 or yr5 and do any pupils move out at say age 11 to go to state secondary?
Thanks.

I wouldn't class clfs as either a hot house or especially academic. Lots of boys who can't get into other schools like Hampton or rgs go there.

Ds1 went there from 7 to 11. Very unhappy - hated it in fact. We moved him as soon as we realised.

I think it is a good school for girls. And a good school for outgoing boys. But a child can fly under the radar if they are quiet or less obvious.
It was not the school for ds1 who flourished when we moved him to a more academic enviroment

Thanks for your views.
That's interesting: GiddyPickle, I thought the ones who left Aberdour at 11 would be those going into the state grammars but I suppose there are those that would rather start a senior independent at 11 than at 13.
Also, I've heard that clfs is an 'all-rounder' offering good musical and sporting activities as well as the outstanding academic results.
For these reasons, I imagine that only those that are very unhappy (I would think a small number, such as your ds Pagwatch, I'm glad to hear he is happier at his new school) move out and leave space for those wishing to move in between the standard intakes at age 7 and 11.
Our children are in state primary and very happy there but we are also able to offer them the private route. We're very taken with Aberdour but think we could persuade ourselves to wait until yr6 to have a better idea of the kind of children they are and whether they'll be suited to these independent schools. However, we're also concerned that they will have much more competition to get a place then.