Which school to choose for my daughter!

[naomienira]

Hello,

I saw similar treads in here and I wanted to get your opinions…

DD is 7 years old who is self-motivated and well above average in all subjects. She loves learning, reading, music, sport, art. Her reports are amazing and she is always been top of her class. She never had an tutor and never practised for 7+ exams and she had offers from each school.

School 1: Its my DDs current school. My DD2 is also in this school. It is a girls only GDST school, walking distance to our house just 1 bus stop. DD loves her school and her friends, also her teachers.

School 2: JAGS about 1 hour commute with school bus. I need to drive DD to the bus stop (15mins) than she needs to take school bus around 7:25. School facilities are amazing and it is very academic school. If she start there we would like her to stay for seniors as well. I would love my daughter to attend to this school as my daughter is also academic focused but commute makes me to think twice.

School 3: Eltham College- it is 20 mins drive away but DD needs to use school bus as I have another DD. But bus stop that she needs to go for the school bus is just 5 mins walk away and she needs to be at the bus stop around 7:45. Academically this school is better than our GDST school, also it is bigger school with better facilities. But it was boys only school till 2020 so not sure if ratio of girls/boys.. Also we are not Christian and Good School Guide state that Eltham College is a Christian school and they teach in Christian environment.

Meanwhile we have £6 discount in her current GDST school because I work in the GDST school as well.

Isn’t the same…. Blasted phone.

If she has the option of all 3 schools still, she would have to have paid deposits at the two new options and not given notice at her current school. Whatever she does now, she'll owe a full term's fees at two school fees she doesn't attend in the autumn.

I would really urge the OP to release the two places she doesn't intend to take-- its not really fair on the schools or those on the waiting list at this point. Anyone accepting a place off of the waiting list will now also have to lose a term's fees which means its increasingly difficult for the schools to fill the place. Places should be released before the start of the summer term at the latest.

“DD is 7 years old who is self-motivated and well above average in all subjects. She loves learning, reading, music, sport, art. Her reports are amazing and she is always been top of her class. She never had a tutor and never practised for 7+ exams and she had offers from each school.”

Save your money OP! This is the kind of child who will be cherished in every decent state primary school, then get a tutor in Year 4 and send her to Newstead or Townley grammar. So if you stick with option 1, then you can still do grammar later, if you want to.

You really do not need to be weighing up private schools unless you are a millionaire.

Please do not take this the wrong way, but are you maybe from a culture where private school is an expectation?

In any event, GDST until GCSE level is fine too. If you really want to do private school, then better to go top of the top like Westminster at Sixth Form. Moreover, state grammar also open up again for Sixth Form.

If you really want to do JAGS you need to move house with both DDs and try and get both in and then just keep them there. If you do Eltham, then obviously you move the younger one too for Year 3. And then you will have to stay there because Eltham is the kind of school that makes it harder to leave than other private schools.

Also OP if you are really rich, then Sevenoaks School is better than Eltham for girls, in my opinion. That is at 11 plus. I don’t know where you live but if you are on a train line and close to the station, then that is a good option at 11 plus if your DD outgrows her GDST school and you really want a more academic independent school. It is co-ed.

Eltham College is trying to compete with Alleyns and Sevenoaks but I think the latter two are much more academic, in my opinion. They are also far more established. Eltham College is trying hard to compete to bring in the academic kids so it might change in the future. At the moment, the parents who themselves were privately educated in the UK are more likely to stick to the “established” options.

However, for now, those are the two academic established independent co-eds in the South East of London and beyond. JAGs is the most academic single sex option. Whatever you chose, make sure you understand the difference in the parent groups and how the schools are run. I am surprised you would leave GDST if you have such a good set up. GDST is a very safe nice option for girls.

No she would actively have had to make a decision and pay a deposit by now - the schools usually only give a few weeks decision making time.

OP, does ur DD going to start year 3 or year 4 in September? I know somebody who has recently received an offer from Eltham College for year 4 entry