Grammars with no catchment

[hippoplotimus]

Covid has pretty much stuffed our family in a rather special way financially. The secondary private we had planned for our dd has swiftly gone out of the window.

We can move anywhere so are now considering grammars. Are there any without a catchment area that would enable to us to move if dd got a place rather than moving for a school and it all goes wrong.
Obviously I hope that would not be the case but I do like to plan. We are buying a place after renting so it will be quite a permanent move.

Gloucestershire grammar schools have no catchment, kids come from far and wide, people definitely move for them.

Yeah, Glos. About 25% of pupils at the counties Grammars don't have a GL postcode, last time they released the data.

Which kind of sucks if you do like in Glos and your kid misses out on a place because Jonnie from Reading got a slightly better score. Off to the sink comp for you instead. Cheers Jonnie. Cheers, shitty education funding.

Your fixation on a grammar school is odd

Lincolnshire Grammar schools, Horncastle, Gainsborough, Sleaford, Grantham. Quite a dull place to live though.

Oh and Bournemouth, quite nice place to live.

@CottonSock

Your fixation on a grammar school is odd

But entirely reasonable if the OP has very happy memories of her time at one.

The key point is that schools have changed MASSIVELY over the last 15 years
and Grammars are no longer what they were
but then nor are good comps

I'm mildly curious how that works in practice. Do parents from all over the country really put their kids in for the Colyton 11+ and then move if necessary?

Colchester Royal Grammar School has no catchment area (it's a boys' school so no use for OP) - I know of parents from different countries putting their kids in for the 11 plus to get in let alone from different parts of this country.

Well the fixation on grammars comes from being the only thing I know about schools perhaps. But of course they probably have changed since I went. I know that I enjoyed being part of the grammar system and finally felt relief to find it was ok to be clever, instead of being bullied for it.

Anyway I am going to list out these grammars and research house prices around them as that will have a part to play.
I have heard of people coming in from other countries for the grammars too. Scary stuff!

If finances are a worry have you looked at a bursary or scholarship for the indy you originally intended sending her to?

Hippo
Grammars are not a panacea
and nowadays the war gaming of tutoring and admissions is ultra high stress.
If you have work issues and stress
I would seriously consider moving to one of the towns with amazing Comps
and then giving your DD excellent support
with no extra expenditure

How old is your DC obviously that has a bearing on whether they can still sit the 11+ Before you move? Personally I would move into the catchment of an outstanding comp with a sound reputation then you and your DC have no stress about the next move and they would move to secondary with friends.

I'm still boggling a bit at gs with absolutely no geographical bounds.
Seems to me that unless your kid is astonishingly bright a 'no catchment' gs is simply not a realistic reliable plan.

So you do indeed need to do your research on locations. With that said, Lancaster is nice, with a good girls' and a boys' GS. Quite a large catchment, usually a few residual places beyond that but obviously they're not something you can rely on.

Lincolnshire has grammar schools in the following areas:

Bourne
Sleaford
Grantham
Spalding
Boston
Gainsborough
Horncastle

Personal choice would be one of the top three as easier to get to A1/ good rail links from Grantham

Pate’s in Cheltenham. No catchment. We did precisely what you are suggesting. We were planning to send both of our children to public school but MIFID 2 fucked broking in 08 and we had to unpick our lives. DS1 started last Sept and he is v happy. We are in the middle of town. But of an adjustment from living in a Cotswold village but we are very very happy.

Bournemouth and Poole area have Parkstone Grammar and Bournemouth school for Girls. Catchment is pretty huge-students travel from Wareham, Blandford, Ringwood, and near Shaftesbury as well as much closer areas.

Have a look at the 4 Lancashire Grammar schools, they all have a number of out of catchment places.

@FAQs

Lincolnshire Grammar schools, Horncastle, Gainsborough, Sleaford, Grantham. Quite a dull place to live though.

Well any place is what you make of it and I've not found Lincs dull at all!

Lincs Grammars mostly have catchments plus some are highest score outside rather than distance - not unusual for people to apply before moving. Mind you there are a lot of good comps here too.

Good luck.

@NiceTwin

Have a look at the 4 Lancashire Grammar schools, they all have a number of out of catchment places.

A few, and they only go to people who are in realistic travelling range eg near the bus route up the A6 from Preston. If you're moving specifically in the hopes of a gs you'd be nuts to not move into the catchment.

@PelvicFloorTrauma thank you so much a RL story does help calm the nerves. Sorry that happened to you though but it sounds like it's worked out for the best.

I have looked at scholarships and bursaries but I don't think we'd be eligible for a bursary as we're waiting to buy a house and have the deposit in the bank and Im thinking that wouldn't go down so well.

Scholarships we could apply for but they're not worth enough to still be able to afford going.

@butmumineedit

Lincolnshire has grammar schools in the following areas:

Bourne
Sleaford
Grantham
Spalding
Boston
Gainsborough
Horncastle

Personal choice would be one of the top three as easier to get to A1/ good rail links from Grantham

Don't forget Skeg! I'd hate to live there but by all accounts the grammar is fantastic.

In a grammar county - like Lincolnshire - you have to bear in mind the school you'll get stuck with if your DD does not pass the 11+

Hence why good Comp areas are worth looking at

The grammars near my Greater London home take pupils from outside of catchment areas:

Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar (Co-ed), Sidcup (Bexley)

St Olave's Grammar (Boys), Orpington (Bromley)

Newstead Woods Grammar (Girls), Orpington (Bromley)

They are all excellent schools, I've known youngsters who went to each of them and a couple who are currently pupils.

There are very nice areas in Bromley, especially Chislehurst and it is still in a London Borough.

Glad to help! Bursaries and scholarships are generally strictly means tested so you may not qualify. We were in a catch 22: going to struggle to pay full fees but too well off for financial assistance. We sold our house and rented while we worked what to do. When DS got his place after sitting the 11+, we immediately started house hunting in earnest. Pate’s has incredible A-level results, amusingly better or as good as some of the expensive schools we had DS’s name down for. I feel for you. I felt as though the rug had been pulled out from underneath us. It is hard to know what to do. We know a number of families who have sold the family home to fund private school fees but that felt imprudent to us.

Google super-selective, they don’t really have a catchment but take those with the highest scoring exam results.

You tend to have to score VERY high though!

Thanks for starting this thread OP, very useful, I'm place marking!