Cambridge private schools, the perse

[Rarily]

Hi. My daughter has finished reception class, in a good school. She is a very advanced reader and seems to have high natural academic ability which has been commented upon since she was quite small. For this reason we are considering sending her to private school where she will be more stretched - the local Perse seems to be the school which targets academic ability, but also seems to have a competitive and success orientated edge. Does anyone have experience of the local independent schools and any comments to make about their experiences?

It is lovely! We used the pool and fields a lot and the grounds and buildings are gorgeous. Shame it is so expensive.

I think it is a pity that the Perse has gone co-ed. DS loved its laid back atmosphere and I would expect that with girls (stereotype = hard working, neat etc in comparison to slovenly do it all at the last minute boys) the atmosphere might change. As for its current academic standing, a check of the results should give some clue.
The OP wanted somewhere that "targets academic ability" and the Perse or Perse Girls are the schools for that. The Leys has a lot of middle ability children who do well because of their good teachers/small classes, but there are far few high fliers there than at the Perse schools.

Lily-the dropping of the Entrance Exam for in-house applications ( don't know about the current Y7s but the Y6's definitely didn't have to take it!) and the wheeling in of the girls won't have any affect on the Y11 exam results til perhaps 2014, will it?

I can only tell you what the parent of 2 DSs currently there has said to me about it.

I suspect that a long slow decline is where the Perse Upper is heading. It has spent a lot on building (look at the accounts) so is clawing it back by overcharging current pupils (look at the 10 year fee development: 15% of your fee is being spent on repaying debt on buildings). It abolished scholarships in all bar name (instead of means testing them like the Leys do) so plenty of the brighter children who relied on scholarships to make the fees affordable are being driven away whilst bursaries are targetted at politicially correct social engineering targets not at ensuring access for scholars. Do your own maths at how anyone not in a single child family within walking distance could survive on the bursary levels. Hence the old supply of smart academic's children is drying up (or leaving for Hills Road in the Sixth Form). Hence also they are dropping admissions standards to try to fill places and making the entrance exams easier (compare the maths entrance paper to the Perse Girls one: look at how much time the pupils are given to do such trivia... they said 40% girls but only got 30% despite pressure so they have also had to drop standards for boys). In five years when this has worked through the results will begin a slow steady decline and the virtuous circle which has helped them for so long will become vicious; the only thing saving them at all is that national standards are falling pretty fast too.

Hi I am not sure if you are still looking for your daughter.

I have moved my daughter to a really fantastic independent primary school called The Phoenix, it is located in Willingham just outside Cambridge. My daughter has just turned 8 and has a reading age of 12 and spelling age of nearly 13. This school prides itself on providing individual learning for its pupils. It has a lovely relaxed nurturing environment but encourages the children to be confident and recognise and work to their strengths. I can honestly say I have never seen her happier. The teach a broad curriculum and have individual teachers for French, music and speech and drama.

I cant recommend this school highly enough it is a relatively new school but don't let that put you off - it is fantastic. They have committed to keeping class sizes below 12, but as it is still growing your child will benefit from an even lower ratio.

Good luck

I see the 2014 iGCSE results for the Perse were the highest it has ever achieved. Well, best blame grade inflation eh? Certainly no actual evidence of falling standards.

You've hit the nail on the head - iGCSEs.

Wish to god my state educated DC were sitting exams aimed at ESOL DC instead of the convolutions of GCSEs.

Only slightly tongue-in-cheek example:

Maths IGCSE:

Use this formula to solve this equation... blah blah

Maths GCSE:

Tariq has a yellow pencil that is twice as long as Meena's. It's Wednesday. What colour is Tina's ruler? Show workings.

I know which one my DC got a higher grade in- how? Because they sat both papers, as a research experiment.

Apples with apples?