Latymer upper school, Hammersmith

[fruitcorner]

Can anyone give me an idea of how difficult it is to get into this school from a state primary? I am slightly panicking about state options and considering private secondary at Latymer or others nearby ( not sure which others there are?!)

My dd2's best friend has two sisters who are now at Latymer from their state primary. dd's friend will undoubtedly follow next year, as will one of her other friends (whose sister also got in from same state primary).

I think the percentage of kids from state schools is fairly high at Latymer, though not sure of the figures....they could probably tell you.

As for slightly panicking about secondary, I'm trying not to, but it is hard

I know a lot of local children who have got in from state schools - in fact all the children I know at Latymer got in from state schools. Obviously it is very competitive - they had 900 children sit this January of which I gather about 200 were girls and 700 boys and they take exactly 50/50 so obviously your chance is much much higher if you have a girl. For boys it seemed to be a bit of a blood bath this year (and I'm including my own g&t level 6 across the board ds who didn't even get an interview but then we were asking for a bursary so I think that did for us).

Perfectly happy with our state school choice though.

Agree it is much easier to get in with a girl than boy (according to friends who have been through the process). OP - do you have a DS or DD?

The proportion is very high. I was told by one prep school friend, her dcs wouldn't be going to Latymer because "there are too many state school children there and they're all bullies"

And don't let the 900 children sitting the exam stat frighten you too much, these children will all be sitting for 3, 4, or 5 schools, so your chances are much higher than 1/10 or whatever you might infer from that

That's certainly true areyoutheregod. In my ds's state primary all the boys doing indie exams sat Latymer and Hampton and the ones that ended up with a choice accepted Hampton. One boy sat 8 , another boy 5. Girls sitting them seemed to do a minimum of 4, one did 7. The January stress was unbelievable.

Ye gods

If my dd sits any, she'll sit a maximum of 3. I refuse to subscribe to uncontrolled hysteria.

200 were girls and 700 boys

Wow, you have just confirmed something for me. I have suspected for a while that there are more boys being sent to private schools than girls. Unless there also more private girls' schools than boys (which might be the case - I think girls' schools were smaller though), are parents particularly anxious about boys' education?

DD's best friend at primary went there last year. She's very bright and was tutored though. Having said that, a fair few from DD's state primary went to Latymer. I think you'd obviously need to do a lot of BOND practice papers and prep towards interview, but it's certainly possible.

I think it's not that more boys go to private schools, but there are more girls' private schools in that part of London, so better choice for girls.

Yes agree there are more girls' schools. In that area for example, there used to be St Pauls Boys and Girls, and Latymer Boys and Godolphin & Latymer Girls, i.e. two of each. Now there are two girls' schools, one boys' school and one mixed, thereby reducing the boys' provision.

Same in North London - was City Boys, City Girls, Highgate Boys and Channing Girls. Now Highgate is mixed.

Same where I'm from - Cambridge, until recently the two boys schools had gone mixed but the two girls were single sex (this has now changed).

Don't know how this works in terms of places - where do all these boys go?

All the boys get a bit desperate - hence the huge uplift in the number now doing the Hampton exam in the West London area. Latymer going co-ed took the options down to Hampton, CLBS, Westminster, St Paul's and Kings if you wanted single sex.

At least the girls can cut the number of exams down a fair bit by doing the consortiums.

Lordy, lordy, glad it's all behind us.

Also a lot of those girls will be trying for the Francis Hollands and Putney High etc, so there really do seem to be many more options for girls - not that this reduces the stress much for some reason!

Having done the 11+ thing twice, once for each gender, I can confirm it is much more stressful round this area with a boy!

My boy did get into Latymer from a state primary, and he is bright but not genius by any means. He didn't get an interview at Hampton. There were boys at his primary with the opposite outcome.

There are so many all girls schools - LEH, Putney, G&L, Wimbledon High, Notting Hill and Ealing, Francis Hollands, St James Girls, St Catherine's, Surbiton.

For a bright but not stellar boy there is only really Hampton (halliford/st James and Reeds were all too far for us). All the others are co-ed or too academic.

Thanks for all this info , I hadn't really appreciated the difference in choice for girls and therefore pressure on boys for places, there's also st Benedicts - any thoughts on there? My DS is bright but not top of class at his state primary but others are being tutored for private and working at lower level thn my DS at school so I'm now thinking (in panic) perhaps we should have a shot at private too!

Hi Fruitcorner - don't panic! There are a big range of private schools to suit all academic levels and in my experience as long as you apply to a range of schools including aspirational, realistic and fallback choices you are unlikely to be disappointed. However, from a state primary you will need to do some preparation to make sure he can handle, for example, trickier inferential comprehension s and wordier maths problems. There are lots of sample 11+ papers around on school websites that you can download free.

Does anyone know anything about St. James' Senior School for girls in Olympia? How does it compare to other independent schools in the Hammersmith/ West London area? Thank you!

My neice goes to St James and its been great for her...and she's done really well in gcses. It seems very nurturing and creative. Slightly (but only just slightly) alternative ethos.

Friends of ours with a daughter at St James' say it's a great school for girls who are not necessarily as sassy and confident as those who go to Latymer, LEH, Putney etc. We've heard it's a very gentle, nurturing school which produces good results. It has often proved to be a safe haven for girls who've not had a great time at other London day schools. Go see!

fruitcorner I supported a daughter who was trying for the most selective girls' schools , she was at the equivalent of a good primary (we were overseas) which as a matter of principle since it was entirely contrary to their slightly hippy child focused, wonderful in principle and in reality if not returning to London, ethos did not prepare them for exams. We did get an old loved teacher to help her with Literacy and time management as they were weaknesses and obviously she was not going to get help with exam technique otherwise (and it has subsequently turned out she is dyslexic), but only 10 sessions 1 on 1 on the sofa with biscuits which she loved. Then for Maths where she had not covered the curriculum and since a wrong answer is so clearly a wrong answer she couldn't argue she did some practise papers and then we went over what she was weak on / hadn't covered with me one step ahead, tough going back to times tables and algebra but never more, all told, than a couple of hours a week for a term. We also did lots of logic puzzles which she loves because for the more selective schools the question are often problems that are based on familiar concepts but need lateral thinking. (neither of my DDs did Latymer so I don't know if that is the case but since it is aiming to compete with the other Hammersmith schools I guess so.)

She got in everywhere including a couple of the girls' Hammersmith Schools. Totally doable.

I agree ginger. DNiece is not academic really, but reasonably bright. she got a range of As and A*s in her recent GCSEs and one b (in maths). pretty good for a non pushy private.

Can anyone recommend good tutors to prepare my daughter for Latymer 11+ entrance exam

Have name changed since I haven't told many people that we have a tutor. Don't know where you are based but our lovely tutor works for a company called SchoolSmart based in Barnes. I know some of their tutors will teach at your home though.

Good luck!