Bucks/Kent/Slough grammar catchments for DS

[Daylight7777]

Hi all,

Going through a divorce, have ds aged 6 (yr 1) at pre prep in SW London. Was on course for St Paul’s Westminster etc at year 3. StBexH now refuses to contribute to school fees post pre-prep. I am assessing life plans and looking to move to Bucks /Kent for the grammars there. My question is which areas of these 2 counties should I live in to maximise catchment for as many grammar schools as possible? It looks as Tunbridge wells falls into catchment for both judd/skinners but not sure about the rest and also clueless re Bucks/Slough in this regard. Thank you !!

Have you considered the London state grammars OP (if you live in or near London)? QE Boys Barnet has no catchment and is highly competitive but if your son is working at St Paul's/Westminster level then it's worth giving it a shot.

With the ones in Slough, Upton and Herschel (I think) have some places based purely on score. St Bernards admits on Catholic or Christian faith so unless your son is practicing that might be out for you. Langley has priority areas and Bucks postcodes are in the last priority group - no one in that group has gotten a place there since said areas were introduced IIRC.

So I think your best bet is Bucks. Others with more knowledge than me have given you good information.

Your opinion is just as valid as mine 😊

I didn’t say there are never any surprises - I said in general there weren’t.

The head teachers rate each child (or at least they used to) and this has always played a massive part in appeals. If a head has marked a child as a 3/3 for instance they would be really unlikely to succeed.

Also the change in the appeal system when the CEM test was introduced (my eldest who is 20 was the first CEM year) significantly changed the appeal system by introducing selection reviews. A selection review is a paper / panel exercise. If you are unsuccessful with this you can only appeal is you can prove that the SR wasn’t fair and consistent (which is pretty hard unless something was massively balls’d up).

Undoubtedly there are many students who should qualify who don’t which is often down to socio economic groups / parental background/ EAL / and people just thinking they don’t fit what is required. The 11+ favours chikdren of pointy elbowed parents from naice areas and I don’t think anyone would argue this.

Did it benefit my children? Yes - I would say especially in the extra opportunities afforded to them outside of the curriculum. I do also think that the system puts a lot of pressure on children in terms of parental expectations and there being bottom of the class in a grammar school system is a truly miserable existence. It is intrinsically a really unfair system based on a child’s ability to pass a test aged 10.

Re timings (caveat none of my children took the new style GL test) neither of my children finished several sections in their 11+ and both scored very highly - similar with many others I know.

I live in this area. Please think carefully about your commute if you work in the City. The trains from places like Amersham come into Marylebone which is a tube ride right across London to get to the City ~ it’s why my children wouldn’t consider moving back here. Even the MetLine takes ages and coming back there are only two tubes an hour I think going to Amersham.

Calculate your journey time (and cost) carefully before you consider moving just for grammar school especially as a single parent. And remember bright children do well in most schools and in comprehensive areas there will be lots of bright kids in those schools. So look at areas like Hertfordshire maybe.

And if you’re moving out of London, learning to drive will really widen your options.

I agree, it's a terrible system. Assessing children on the basis of a single, non-curriculum-based test, taken on one day when they are 10 years old is ridiculous. All the pedagogic research indicates that academic achievement is not linear – most people experience peaks and troughs – so there is little evidence-based data which supports making big decisions on a child's future schooling at 10.

The head teacher's rating is just another part of the system which is fundamentally flawed as it's far too subjective to be fair – how does any HT have a scooby how their pupils compare to those at another school? Plus HTs at private primary schools are always going to talk up their pupils – it's part of what parents are paying for! Whereas the (shit) HT at my DCs' state primary refused to give ratings as she 'didn't agree with selective education'.

@theresnolimits i cant drive for medical reasons. I think you have a point re commuting to the City though I would be doing it x2 per week. For this reason, I’m considering Kent/Berks too

@StressedMumOf2Girls thanks for this. Yes I’m considering the Sutton grammar schools and others that have OOC places. But I understand that they are super selective.

the good comps I have identified and would not mind living near are Orleans Park/Grey Court/ and Twyford…though would have to be on a world faith place for the latter (of which thre are not many!)

Anyone have any thoughts on the Essex grammars and living there? Leigh on Sea appeals to mr too !

If you do consider the Surrey schools and you move to Bucks, be warned that you may have to move again because the journey from Bucks to Surrey is too long to do 10 times a week (going there and back 5 days a week). It's exhausting me just thinking about it.

But if you are willing to move then by all means go ahead. Otherwise just stick to the Bucks schools or move to Surrey even.

There are far more than 2 tubes an hour! At rush hour there are some trains 5 mins apart (though you might need to change at Baker St as not all start at Aldgate) and the longest you would have to wait is 15 minutes. I live near the end of the Met in Hertfordshire and can be at Liverpool St in under an hour door to door.

@StressedMumOf2Girls thanks! I won’t be moving twice, it’s one of the other areas for me. I’ve just moved due to sale of family home and that was stressful enough!

Like others have said I would be v careful at moving house for a grammar when he is in Year 1.
My DD was a high flier / G&T until Year 5 and then it was a spectacular nose dive into averageness
You will have to look v carefully at the Grammar school alternatives just in case....

I live in 1 of the areas you've mentioned and have had DC at 2 of the schools and I have worked at another 2 of the schools on this thread

Non driving is an issue - sorry I know you said it is medical.
But the local trains are full of children commuting.
The Lizzie line's reliability is rubbish!

Which three Elizabeth line stations are in South Bucks?

Friends with kids in Bucks grammars love it. They go on about the facilities, the culture etc but the distance to the rest of London is what holds us back from moving there too. May I PM you further?

@Sunnyeverday , there are two. Burnham and Taplow.

Slough has Langley Grammar too.

She's talking about Bucks and saying Hertfordshire is better connected.

Which county?

We live in South Bucks and my commute to the eastern edge of the city is an hour door to door. It’s only 20 minutes longer than my commute from Islington on the tube. Absolutely loads of people commute to the City from here!

I wouldn’t live outside of London as a non-driver though.

Ah! I count them as outside Bucks.

I was also referring to Bucks, Amersham has frequent tubes , not 2 an hour, and is arguably better connected than some Herts locations as Amersham is on the Chiltern Line as well as the Met.

Apart from Amersham, there's no quick/fastish connection really.
I keep praying TFL decides to do something with Chesham tube.
There were talks about some improvements at Aylesbury but seems it only improves local connections and in the future towards Cambridge or so.

Taplow, Burnham, Iver. These villages/town are Bucks.

I'd forgotten about Iver. Thanks.

Yup, 4 an hour most of the day, and at least that many in rush hour. Plus 2 x Chiltern Line trains so more like 6 an hour. And as a further bonus you pay tube prices from Amersham because it's TFL-owned but you are entitled to catch the overground into Marylebone.

Honestly thousands of people commute into the West End or the City from Amersham every day and always have done.

Maybe look at the Sutton grammars since lack of driving/commutability is a factor? Also Tiffin. There are some good non grammar schools I believe in that vicinity too I think