3 month old applying for private school???

[Tinasan]

I live in SW London and have a three month old baby - am a bit shocked by friends telling me that they are already registering their babies for schools in the area as otherwise it will be too late (Apparently even registering this early doesn't guarantee a place - they will all then be 'assessed' for suitability at three years old ) Is this really necessary - I haven't given this any thought at all and would rather enjoy my baby at the moment and not think this far ahead if possible! Thanks

Certainly in this area, the sooner you get their names on the list, the better. It doesn't do any harm to have their names on a couple of lists if you aren't sure. You won't have to commit (or pay a deposit) until much nearer the time of entry, although you will have to pay a fee (here it's only about £50 to put their names on the list. Worth the insurance if you're considering it.

Despite the fact that my children are in the state system - not because I registered them too late but simply lack of money, lol - yes, I've heard and also read somewhere that you should register your baby for private schools in London as early as possible.
There are these stories of dads rushing straight from the maternity ward to the private school office which I think is hilarious but I can well imagine it happens. So if your baby is already three months old it may even be too late. Don't know how important it is but if I was keen, I'd do it just to be on the safe side. On the other hand I also heard of one mum who 'forgot' to register her child and only started looking for private schools when her ds was 4 yrs old and still got a place (people move away, or register their child at numerous schools then do not take up places etc), however I think she didn't have much choice.

I really have no idea but... there is a good school across the street and we went to have a look because everybody we knew with children the age of DS (about 2 years by then) had already put their names down in one list or another. But... with a child so young (and being the only one) I didn't even had idea about what questions to ask, so a waste of our time and the headmaster's. Anyways, we decided to add his name to the list just to find out there were already 20 other names in it!

Ours (Surrey) recommends that you register by 6 months to guarantee a place although in reality there are often still a few places at aged 3+ unless it is a very high birth rate year (as 2001/2 was apparently )!

You might find that a few private lists are shut if you wait, but in practice most people apply to private once they've had a chance to look around at the local state schools - typically when their firstborn is age 3. In reality parents register with more than one school so waiting lists miraculously free up in the year prior to starting.

round here it doesn't matter one jot when you register your child, so long as it is before assessment day (ie can be at 3 months or at 3 years 3 months). All the major independent schools in the area are the same (north and west yorks)

I've also heard stories of people with July or August babies not getting onto waiting lists for London prep schools as the list has already filled up with children born earlier in the academic year by the time their child is born. I've known two people personally who've had this happen, even though they called soon after the baby was born. Madness.

Good private schools can be so over subscribed that the waiting list is "managed" so they don't have to interview too many kids. DS was interviewed at 3 1/2.
At open days, there is quite a show as parents realise they left it too late, and try to blag their way onto the list. I keep telling them to auction places, but men are routinely ignored on the PTA.

Depends on the type of school. If the school genuinely wants the cleverest children then they would be shooting themselves in the foot if they took only those who register first - their IQs might all bt 80!! On the other hand if they take all comers however thick and then work on them to get them up to a reasonable standard for entrance exams at 7 they might well do it by earliest registration. Check. If you want Westminster or St Pauls at 13 for example they have pre tests at 10 i think and then you register for those at 7 or something so it's more complex than just saying common entrance at 13 so you apply age 12.

If it's a scool like say Haberdashers or North London where my girls went at 5/7 then they don't want you down at birth because they hope to choose on assessment from a whole bunch of children and they are trying to ensure that those they take in will be the ones going to Oxbridge when they're 18 and you can't run a school like that on the basis that those who register first get in as you miss the brightest chidlren.

I'm in SW London as well and I think you do need to think about it early in some circumstances with regard to the private schools, although I don't think you need to at that age with the state schools.

I think if you are looking at one of the schools that does selective entry, you probably don't need to worry so much: they will look at all applicants at 3.5 or whatever.

Otherwise, you will find that some schools do close their lists relatively early, particularly, as happened to us, it is a big sibling intake year. However there are 2 important factors - firstly, a lot of people are registered at 2 or 3 places and so cannot take up all places; and secondly a lot of people move out of London when their children are young. So places open up all the time.

I think most schools don't definitievely tell you whether you have a place until later on because of this. A couple of the schools we were registered for also asked us to re-confirm our interest a couple of times, which again I suspect is them managing their lists.

There also seems to be a great window of opportunity in the 4 weeks or so before school starts, when despite initially gargantuan waiting lists some places become availabile, if you have the nerve to go down this route!

We were told by one of the private schools here (and we're in the midlands, not London) that they "very rarely" admit any children who are not on the waiting list by Christmas of the academic year 5 years before they would start, unless they have siblings already at the school, or a parent who is a former pupil.

So they therefore don't care who they admit in a sense. Not a good way to run a selective school but I suppose at least then you ensure it's comprehensive.

My brother's little girl just passed (hurray) for the school they wanted and they do tests now for entry at 3+ in September of this year. That seems a more sensible way to do it.

Not necessarily Xenia - you're getting the oldest in the year who tend to perform better at the initial primary level just because they are older. And you're getting the keenest parents, who researched the issue of schools before their first child was born. And finally you will still have a 3+ selection to weed out anyone as the registration is just to get the chance of shot at the assessment. Yes of course they are missing out on some bright kids whose parents get their act together a bit later, but a) there are usually still a few places which are offered after the assessment process to mop up these pupils, and b) your initial criteria (older children of eager parents) probablys till give you a fairly good intake anyway.

This is assuming that you see such selection as a good thing!

I am also in SW London
It probably depends on which schools - the good schools guide is a good starting point for how oversubscribed the private schools are

I registered my child at about 18mths for 3 local private schools. The list was already full for the fourth school.

I suppose so. It also means you might have fewer to assess on the day which might save some time for the school. My niece seemed to have been lucky to get in where she has at 3. Huge relief for her parents.

Thanks for all your responses. How do these schools assess which three year olds they want to teach? And when will my child start school, given her birth date of Oct 06 - when she is almost 5 in 2011, or almost 6 in 2012?

Thought you might laugh at this - here, some Mums register their children when they are newly pregnant! It comes as second only to breaking the news to the parents!!

Reception(they may call it something else) at almost 5 unless they have a nursery/transition class before then

Ds3 (3) is registered for a popular private school nearby which asks parents to register during the child's first year. They are strict on that. Next year he will attend a group assessment for entry into reception. We're not fully decided on this; he has other options too, including staying at the school whose playgroup he currently attends.

Registering during a child's first or second year, say, then means that the list won't close once all the September bithdays have signed up, like Singersgirl's friends' experience.

Tina, depends on the school. Some schools are age range 3 - 7; then they leave and do exams for 7+ schools. My sister's children are at one of those. My brother's daughter is going to one that starts at 3+ with exam at &+ and 11+ to the two other bits of the schools which most of the girls there pass but not all. My daughters went to school where the first year is the school academic year from September when you turn 5. Boys prep schools often start at that age and go up to age 13. Some parents will want the child at a mornings only nursery school from age 3 for 2 years before going on to big school at 4/5.

Selection in young children is a joke. DS1 "passed" his selection test for a private school when he was 2 (we moved from London anyway before he was due to start there). He's severely autistic and aged 7 can't talk. So that was good selection then!

I think Jimjams that it indicates that they are selecting as much on the basis of the parents!

Blimey- you're probably right- that hadn't occured to me. I must have scrubbed up well on that day then

Both of you Oxbridge? I'm not sure that looks necxessarily came into it!