Eltham College Blackheath Prep Merger

[TJsAunt]

Just announced. So many questions - they claim both schools will remain as they are but surely there will be changes? Worrying...

These kids all had CAT scores around 130.

they were rejected after a 45 minute test.

it just blows the whole ‘partnership’ model out of the water- if kids sit this test then BP ‘won’t support applications anywhere else‘…. Until the kids get rejected and it’s then a scramble to enter and prepare for other tests….

Think the test will be in year 5 going forward but these kids were already near the end of year 5 when the merger was announced so Sat the test at the start of year 6.

just blows all the marketing out of the water. This is no longer a viable route to ‘bypass the stressful 11+ process’. It’s a way to make the whole process even more stressful on young kids.

Well I certainly knew it was going to add extra pressure on parents and children in all schools in the area (and that was my first reaction to the news here). I have several friends with kids at Blackheath Prep and Pointers in tears over the added stress for 11+. Instead of simplifying the process, Eltham seems to have increased the stress significantly for all parents involved.

The Eltham parents I know are anti merger because why take on the financial burden of a primary school in this climate? Makes zero sense. They should merge the two properly and give everyone a guaranteed place in Year 7 but then Blackheath Prep need to pay the same fees that Eltham Junior do? Are they prepared to do that? Surely BP is going to gain financially from this set up otherwise and how is that fair on the Eltham parents?
Also if VAT comes in private schools need to be in groups to set of VAT for capital projects so it is an accounting issue as well? Finally, some parents will want to prepay VAT so need guaranteed places. It isn’t going to be about top performers anymore but bums on seats? Anyone with a CAT score of 130 is perfectly adequate.

Did the very top performers at BP not apply then?

“Instead of simplifying the process, Eltham seems to have increased the stress significantly for all parents involved.”

This is not about the parents and their Angst over 11 plus. It is about protecting the schools long term financial viability surely? How financially secure was BP? I assumed the merger is driven by financial considerations for small preps long term. It is all well and good people saying it is oversubscribed etc etc but that kind of small set up just needs a few too many leavers in KS2 and the whole thing can come crashing down?

If the Labour Party are going to introduce VAT schools need to make some difficult decisions, even if certain parents don’t like it. Even if the VAT does not happen, the schools have to plan for this now.

These are just your DCs school places, there are state places available. However, for the teachers in the schools it is their whole job and family life at stake. Yes, of course they could go teach in the state sector, but we all know how difficult that is these days.
So I think on balance it is right that the schools are putting the teachers and the survival of the schools first - schools that have been around for over 100 years? What do you all think?

That's my point, this is going to have the opposite effect of survival. No parent wants to go through unnecessary manufactured stress. They will pull children out of Blackheath Prep and choose state schools or other schools in the area that have a much more streamlined teaching for a wider variety of schools. I think this move will jeopardise the survival of Blackheath Prep imo

Think most BP parents also against the merger.

13 early applicants is about a third of the year- so the other two thirds clearly decided they preferred the existing process.

Neither school is about to go under, but BP has been operating in the red since the new head joined….

I think the schools will be fine once the initial anxiety over the merger subsides. I have experienced several mergers at work and after the initial panic and insecurity it all settles down. Part of the problem is that people don’t feel they were asked/consulted so it takes time to process.

I would assume that this Year 6 at BP will have started crazy 11 plus tutoring long before the merger was announced so many will have chosen to continue with the original pathway (because the work has already been done/process commenced). However, in a couple of years it will be different. Who wants to actually do 11 plus preparation if there is an easier option.

Also how are Eltham assessing the BP priority applicants? The only benchmark they have is their existing Year 5 and Year 6. When children apply externally in Year 6 they are benchmarked against each other. There is always going to be a benchmark. Like I said this is anecdotal, but I have heard that the current year 5 and 6 at Eltham, as a cohort, are really clever.

If you look at schools like Highgate and Alleyns and why they suddenly did so well in league tables it can all be traced back to becoming incredibly oversubscribed and hyped up. Once you get kids with Cat scores of 135 plus as the norm due to crazy competition, the A stars and 9s just follow. However, those schools purposefully almost double their intakes at older ages to keep bringing in the competitive talent.
So this one with early primary and sizeable ks2 entry points will be interesting to observe. I wonder whether the Eltham Junior lot will continue to have seamless entry to the Senior School. I think if they joined on that basis (and paid up accordingly) it would be unethical to change it. However, I also think they should offer BP kids similar through easy non invasive twice yearly progress assessments that are standard in many independent schools from KS2.

TJ's aunt are you saying children in year 6 are now without school places for secondary? When it is almost too late to scramble for another school and do all the prep? Are you sure? Surely they don't want to totally annoy all these high fee-paying parents as they will go ballistic?

@Cafedream these families were led to believe by
BP that the early test was for EC was a way to avoid the nightmare of the 11+.

they didn't take any grammar exams and hadn't been doing any preparation for other schools. I am sure.

They did go ballistic but clearly that's not helpful so the focus is now on trying to find alternatives.

@TJsAunt - so is it a no for good or can they resit for Eltham with the normal 11 plus round in January 24? I am also a little confused because I thought the merger was recently announced so either way those families would have had to do 11 plus? However, if I felt my DC would have passed Bexley/scored well in the Kent Test etc I would also be angry. If I were told they have to miss applying to grammar to be offered a place and then no place was offered.

Thanks for the response TJ'a aunt.

I still can't get my head around it. So Blackheath prep kids did a test thinking it would likely get them a preferential place at EC as both schools are merged .. but what happened in reality is that a fair few now have to scramble for places, and likely will have missed state grammars (as deadline has long passed) but also their prep - even if for exams in December and Jan is not ideal?

I thought the entire point of a prep school was to prep students for secondary?

Pointers must be benefiting from this shambles then?

This just sounds so far fetched and an own goal by EC and Blackheath Prep. Are you sure this actually happened as you wrote? It beggars belief?? So parents in effect restricted their choices by being loyal and then were penalised for it?

Also is not the entire point of Blackheath prep one where they have to find or help find students a school place? Or now they are merged are they saying they are one through school?

This is accurate. Only a third of the kids who took the early test were accepted

Those who were turned down have been told not to apply again.

agree it sounds completely counter to all the publicity but it’s fact.

Wow, that is outrageous.

It would put me entirely off the private sector.

I guess even few charging schools can royally muck up.

Sorry another question - is it even worth applying for Eltham college as an outsider if:

1. EC children get to go to the senior school without an exam.
2. Blackheath prep children may get priority access.
3. So are they really saying they don't actually want state kids? How many places would be open to children from state sector or from other prep schools?

@Cafedream - Eltham College Junior kids sit an exam in Year 2 and they only ever got in at that point, if the school felt they would progress to the Senior School without another exam later on. So they do sit a formal exam just years earlier. My neighbour also tells me they then sit biyearly progress tests online.
Now if anyone really struggling gets asked to leave or not, I don’t know, but the rumours are that the vast majority stay on. The rumours are also that they are actually good with SEN and dyslexia etc. and help to identify early and actually keep those kids.

Blackheath Prep is different - most sit an extra informal play test aged just 3. So at that point nobody can tell if they will be good enough to enter in Year 7. So they will have to test those kids at some point later on somehow. The question is when. Blackheath Prep is also cheaper than Eltham Junior which is actually quite expensive for a prep. There are no scholarships and it is possible, they actually subsidise the Senior School but I don’t know the answer to that one.

Like many private schools, this school wants the brightest kids whose parents can pay. For many people, paying junior and senior for all their DC is not possible.

So absolutely, a bright state school kid should apply. And just because kids went to BP or Eltham Junior does not make them brighter than many state school DC.

Thanks but the whole process leaves me with doubts.

If they are all under the same umbrella obviously they prioritise their own and that should include Blackheath prep children. Personally if what TJsaunt says is true and given some of the other comments about the school, then I think if you were a state kid and interested in private, you would be worth looking elsewhere. It seems like they expect loyalty but then don't give it in return, while charging expensive fees... now I have may have misunderstood things but that is how it reads.

I think it depends on geography and which schools you can easily access. There are not many local co-ed independent options in South East London. Colfe’s, St Dunstan’s, Eltham and Alleyns.

Alleyns is even more oversubscribed than Eltham and there are threads about St Dunstan’s on Mumsnet too. So I guess Colfe’s is the current favourite but this will mean it will be super oversubscribed this year. This is why people just apply to all 4 and see what happens.
If you want a co-ed grammar in Bexley a child needs to score in the top 180. A top 180 child will usually also get into St Olave’s and Alleyns and Westminster. Most private school parents know where their DC sit due to regular CAT scoring and state school parents can send their DC for paid for Mock Type tests to get a clear idea too.

Cognitive ability matters for 11 plus (and how preparation is necessary) but later on when it comes to actual GCSEs and A levels attitude to studying, personality etc matter a lot more. So parents should not get too caught up in the whole 11 plus shenanigans. My DC have friends who got into Oxford who failed to get into some of these schools including Blackheath Prep aged 3!

I have been pondering the HMC codes of practice and am wondering whether Eltham College being a HMC school may be in actual breach of the guidelines? Does anyone know?
https://www.amcis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Code-of-Practice-GSA.pdf

Reading this, how are they allowed to make people commit deposits and guarantee places before 1st March for 11 plus entry and scholarships? Is there an exemption for Blackheath Prep students or those coming from the Eltham junior school bit? The code implies the deadline has to be 1st March (not earlier)?

To be honest any private school parent should read the code including the bit about schools returning deposits if they do not suffer actual financial loss and fill the place.