Colet Court

[racingheart]

My sons have just been for a tutor assessment - six hours of tests each, and the tutor suggested they would suit Kings' Wimbledon or Colet Court with a view to moving to St Pauls at 13.

We hadn't really considered either school, and had been looking more locally in Surrey (RGS, Hampton.)

If anyone has sons at either school I'd love to hear from you, good or bad. All I can find is very old MN threads saying CC is a hothouse. Is it? Or is it just for bright boys who like to do well at lots of things.

TBH, St Paul's looks ideal for one DT, who loves to do six impossible things before breakfast, but not the other, who likes to chill, which they actively discourage on the first page of their website!

I know nothing about Colet Court but I do know something about St Pauls (DH's school) my DS2 got offered a place there but we eventually turned it down we were looking for boarding. My DH always wanted my DS to go there and I was initially against it even if you take the boarding issue out. My Ds and I went and looked at it three times each time I was determined to hate it and avery time I came away loving it! Its a modern school educating boys for the 21st century. Its like London with a broad intake in terms of financial backgrounds cosmopolitan, multi cultural and outward looking. It has a university feel to it completely unstuffy no fussy uniform here. Everything they do they do to an incredibly high standard; the art is the best art I've seen at any school, the music superb, the drama productions amazing and for a London school the facilities are totally amazing.
But and there's always a but we didn't choose it. Ok hardly any boarders but there was more to it than that. We felt that ultimately the school is for boys who are prepared to trample on others to get what they want. This is not a school for the modest or for those who dont hit the ground running. For example in the first week you are given a trial for rackets they fire at ball at you if you miss it thats it rackets is not for your game. The art is amazing because only the best do art etc. it was like that when my DH was there and it still is.

Wow, happy. Thank you. That's frank and informative. In a way I 'get' that attitude. I'd love to have been given no more than one attempt to hit a ball with a racquet, then been allowed to spend the time in the art room instead. I like the idea of excelling at what you love and are good at; at excelling full stop. But... I have twins. One is exactly like me in this respect and would lap it up. The other is wired differently and would crawl into a shell at that level of competition.

And I certainly don't want them to go to any school where you trample on others to get what you want. That's not what I'd be paying for.

We'll go and look at it, but maybe the school we first liked best is more suited to them.

At my DS2 boarding school the current head of rackets missed the ball the first time it was fired at him. They have beaten St Paul's!
Many years ago one of the greatest dressage riders the world has ever know was at a party "you're so talented a guest said to him" his reply; "do you know it's funny th more I practice the more talented I become."
Sometimes we just need to be given the chance.

Sorry for grammatical errors I've lost my glasses the trials of old age!

That's a good point, Happy. Also, it would be good to know they are at a school where they don't thrive solely on aptitude but application in weaker areas is also encouraged. DH isn't keen on St Paul's anyway, though I was. I think I know where they'll end up and we'd all be happy with that school...

New head there though is fab, still mourned by his old school up in the frozen norf.

Your local schools are excellent and I wouldn't waste your lives commuting, if you have such good local options

Good point, Areyouthere. Lots of their friends are hoping to go to Hampton, so they could all go up together, which would be great. And they know some RGS boys, all of whom are older but really warm and friendly.

Agree with the local point. I don't know Hampton, but RGS has long had a splendid reputation, and committing to a massive commute, flogging back and forth (or them spending much of their downtime on the school bus) when you are near great schools seems a mistake, unless you are absolutely heartset.

The tutors are often quite London- and brand-centric and have a bit a of tendency to assume that just because you can go to these schools you will automatically want to.

Local at secondary important (if not boarding) - they must be able to meet friends, chill, safely and within reasonable distance. And you don't want to flog up the A3 or whatever at grim hours of the night to pick them up; you'll already have to battle enough with matches. We considered a school where people come predominantly from N London - excellent and wonderful school - but we're in S London and i know it's caused problems for several parents before us and of our DS's peer group. Sounds silly and obviously for the right school, over comeable, but the stressed parental taxi service something to be minimised if possible.

Thank you. My DH feels the same. Excellent points about meeting up with friends. He thinks Hampton and RGS are far enough, so we'll stick with them as our goals.

I've just seen this post probably too late to be helpful as I assume you've already decided on schools for your boys. In case you're still considering Colet Court, though, I can offer some perspective from my own son's experience: it really is a great school! My son is in Y4 (what they call first year) so we've only got experience of the early years (he started last year in the "lower first" having taken the 7+ exam. His classmates are happy, energetic, fun-loving boys. Given the long lunch time (80 minutes) plus a morning break and an afternoon break, they have ample time to run around and enjoy the acres of playing fields, which is a great balance to what seems to be pretty fast-paced lessons. There is an excellent offering of clubs, most of which take place during the school day, and the sports programme is very good. My son says he finally feels like someone is encouraging him to learn the skills necessary for various sports (as opposed to his pre-prep where the coach was a bit of a bully and only seemed to care about the boys who already were good at sports). Academic standards are very high, but most boys who pass the admissions test seem capable of meeting those standards and teachers seem very willing to help boys who might need support in a particular subject. The learning support teachers are very good and there's no "stigma" attached to spending time with learning support, whether it's to improve handwriting or spelling or other skills. I was very unsure about sending my son to CC as I want him, above all, to enjoy school, love learning, and have good friends. So far, I couldn't be happier with our choice of school mainly because my son practically runs into school every day and comes bounding out with a big smile in the afternoon.
I know less about St Paul's but most people seem happy. The rackets example mentioned above sounds OTT. My impression is there are plenty of opportunities for boys to participate in sports just for fun, if not on official school teams. Re the art example: I assume most schools' arts programmes would be populated by the children who are "good" at art as those are the ones who would select art for GCSE and A-level.
Good luck with the choice of school(s) for your boys!

Am looking at Colet Court 11+ deferred entry which my son would take in Feb of year 5. The syllabus is on the website but for English it says there is a 45 minute paper for composition writing. Does anyone know if this is 45 mins to write one essay, or a selection of shorter essays? There is a lot of detail about what the maths paper covers, but not very much at all about the English. Any help gratefully received.