Private at 11 from Dulwich Hamlet JS

[behindthescenes]

Hello,

We are just starting to wonder about secondary for our children who are at (or will be at) Dulwich Hamlet Junior School and wondered if others had experience of preparing their children for entrance tests for schools such as Dulwich College and Alleyn's from DHJS or other state primaries. I'm guessing there may be quite a lot of tutoring involved? My kids are very happy at school but I don't get the impression they're massively pushed at the moment so imagine they'll need some help to compete against kids from prep schools.

I think that they're both bright and probably in the top handful of kids in their classes for English and maths but I really don't know for sure. Is it really difficult to get kids through the exam if they haven't been at the sort of schools which prepare them? I'm conscious that some of our friends' children who have been at private schools get a lot more homework and do seem to be doing more advanced work.

We're by no means set on sending them to private schools at 11, but just want to look at the options at the moment. Any insight gratefully received!

Totally achievable if your child is bright and they are prepared to work hard during Year 5 and first term of Year 6 with a tutor or a dedicated parent. The prep schools give the their students the same materials that you can buy/download yourself and if anything most prep school kids have a tutor as well. Just work your way through Bond and CGP books and lots of practice papers nearer the time. Good luck.

I would ech what Bickleymomma says but Bond/CGP won't be enough. Look at the elevenplusexams forum- it has an independent schools bit. Basically you need to do all the normal 11+ prep but add in creative writing/poetry analysis and long multi step maths problems. Your child will also need another string to their bow - member of a local orchestra or sports club etc. They will be up against hundreds of kids from prep schools who are tutored to the nines, prefects, county players etc so you need the competitive edge. It's horrible but that's the process you have to buy in to.

Yes it is achievable -
speak to you current head teacher to see what they think - and I think they will give you some useful advice.
Work on lots of past papers from different school websites.
Ensure that your children are active in extra curricular - that they enjoy!
Help them to understand and discuss current affairs. Good reading habits - good luck !

@MrsPatmore what a ridiculous post. She’s talking about getting a place at one of 3/4/5 schools, not on a NASA mission 🙄
OP if you have your heart set on for eg. a scholarship to Alleyns, DC or JAGS, then yes, brace yourself and there are no guarantees. If your child is near the top of the class and you’re looking for a place at any of the above schools and/ or St Dunstans, Streatham and Clapham, Sydenham High you’ll be fine.

Thank you everyone so far. Sounds as if tutoring would definitely be required. The oldest does lots of extracurricular so I wouldn’t be worried about that element. I think we’re really thinking about Dulwich college, Alleyn’s and JAGS rather than St Dunstans etc.. I’m probably more inclined to stick with the excellent local state school anyway, but my husband is very taken with those particular schools which we live very close to.

Does anyone know if many kids go on to those schools from Dulwich Hamlet?

At the open day last year the Head said that 80% of the year 6s went on to one of the Charters. Another group to Kingsdale; some out of London and the rest private. I would imagine that some also go the Bromle and Sutton grammars.

“speak to you current head teacher to see what they think - and I think they will give you some useful advice.”

Heads of State schools rarely advise on how to prepare for private school entrance. It isn’t their role.

OP, if course some local children will go to their nearest independents. It isn’t a matter of certain state primaries paving a way for particular schools.

Maybe start from the other end; go to the Alleyns / DC open days and see what they require for admissions.

But it sounds as if you are a way off if your children are just starting school, and you do have an excellent state option in Charter.

Sorry, I see it is JS, not infants.

extra curriculars are 'nice to haves' not 'essentials' in this process

have kids at the schools you're thinking about, and a good number of their peers come from local primary schools.

Tutoring is helpful in terms of exam technique: writing a composition and completing an English comprehension are not skills that come naturally to any 10/11 year old!

It's completely achievable if you have bright kids who are motivated. Even I they aren't grade 29 on the violin or Team GB athletes!

My impression is it's fairly challenging to get from the local primary schools to DC and Alleyn's nowadays without quite a serious approach to making sure you are prepared. My son was at a good local primary school, tended to get picked for maths competitions and the like with feedback that he was highly able, got 120/120 in two of his SATS and 117/120 in the other, and got into super-selective Wilson's grammar in Sutton. Given a general view that he's a clever boy, he had a shot at DC and Alleyn's after a handful of sessions with a tutor and quite a limited amount of time reluctantly spent with the Bond books. He didn't get an interview for either, which seemed surprising, and not only to us. His presentation was quite dubious though, and he tended not to show many workings in maths - I'm sure many others would have approached the exams in a more polished way. With St Dunstan's nice new tutor-proof exams, he got a nice big academic scholarship there and is very happy, with a good crop of seemingly pretty brainy local primary school kids among his peers (loads from Dulwich Hamlet). I'm sure Alleyns and DC are doable, but if we went through the 11+ process again, we'd either not bother with them (we were somewhat ambivalent about them anyway, especially as so expensive), or take preparation quite a bit more seriously.