Comp, grammar or private school?

[RobEmily]

We live in a grammar area and I feel immense pressure to start making some decisions about what we are aiming for with my daughter who is just finishing year 3 as a result.

Our closest school for girls is in the top 10 nationally and for lots of reasons I have ruled out - I don’t think my daughter would get in nor from what I know of it do I think it would be the right environment for her.

We then live quite far from other grammars, so I understand our distance would make getting into those a bit harder as those closer with the same score would get precedence.

In any case, I’m not sure my daughter would pass the 11+. She has just received a dyslexic diagnosis - this seems to mainly impact her spelling and some long term memory for spelling and times tables etc. She works hard at school and is determined to enjoy reading. As a result, she achieved expected in all areas in her report this year, other than GPS but that was because of the spelling, her grammar is actually good. She is a slow reader.

She scored very highly on non verbal and a good score on verbal reasoning skills in the dyslexic test - she’d never done these sorts of tests before.

My thoughts are therefore to pass the 11+ would require a lot of tutoring and I’m not sure I think is the best approach as she might then struggle when there.

She also finds tests very stressful - so I’m not sure sitting and failing the 11+ would be helpful.

Our closest comp is average but on an open day I really didn’t like the approach by the teachers and discipline I witnessed. I’ve heard they have good dyslexic support and they have good sports facilities. Lots of her friends will go here.

We would like to move to the area with a wider choice of grammar schools but can’t find any comps we like with a house nearby that we like if she didn’t make grammar / we opt not to do. They always seem to fall out of the catchment - especially if we could also feasibly still get my daughter back to her current school, which we would very much like to be able to do.

We could move for a well rated girls comp in the other direction to we really want to move, but I’m not sure where our younger son would then go. Also, the facilities aren’t amazing there and my daughter is very in to art and sport.

The last option is private school - she’d still need to sit tests to get in but they would be easier. I’m
unsure if these would be better for her with the dyslexia or not ie smaller class sizes… with this option we possibly would still be able to move house, but it would limit what we would be able to spend on the move.

We have fully costed the private, with annual fee rises expected and can do it with sacrifices ie less spent on the house, holidays, etc.

Wondering what others would do? Anything I haven’t considered?

It isn’t the case in Bromley though that the best are creamed off as the only grammars are Newstead and St Olaves and these are super selectives which take the highest scorers (from anywhere in the case of Olaves). Therefore all Bromley secondaries have a wide academic ability range. Have you looked at the West Wickham schools.

You could consider the Sidcup side of Bexley very close to the border with New Eltham (Greenwich Borough). The Bexley grammars, like Kent take around the top 25% who take the 11+ and pass. If they don’t pass then St Thomas More in Eltham does take kids over the border in Sidcup but only a few roads over. It’s a church school but ‘lite’ and achieves good results. I don’t know about its SEN or sports.

Wow something clearly hit a nerve with you…

Someone else described the closest school to me as a “hotbed” and said I would never have considered it before my daughter even started school. Kent grammars are very different for the reasons other posters have outline above.

My daughter would probably pass the Kent grammar test based on her school test marks, which I hadn’t realised until someone explained the test above and scores, but we would need to move to the area. I’m wondering if that is worth it when I don’t consider her ‘academic’ and therefore think while she might make it in that wouldn’t be the right environment.

One reason I don’t think it is right is that her interests and talents (which I didn’t say for fear of being called boastful), are in sports and art - which I’m not sure would be nurtured at a grammar.

However, my daughter’s single greatest quality is her kindness. Something which is clearly too rare.

I haven’t yet but we were going to go to the open days in September - would mean moving the opposite direction to we would really like to but is an option.

Newstead is superselective.
Townley you just need to pass the Bexley test. Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls is also super-selective, Weald, Sevenoaks is not.
Some of the Bromley all girls schools have grammar streams too eg Chislehurst School for girls.

You just need to go to the open days in Year 4 or 5 and find a school your child will be happy in. You are lucky, the London Borough of Bromley has, on the whole, a lot of excellent schools. Darrick and Hayes are meant to be good for SEND.
If you could afford private school, you can always find a good state comprehensive and find a really specialist dyslexia tutor for your DC. That would be my recommendation.

You should also consider Kingsdale if you are on the train line into South East London. They have a great art and sports department. It is a huge school, but lottery system and great for creative sociable kids. There is also a sports scholarship.

Yes, Newstead was mentioned as somewhere I would NEVER consider for my child. Thank you for the information about the others - I know very little about the other grammars so good to know which might be more achievable.

I'm not sure why, but I thought you couldn't tour the grammars until you had passed the 11+, but I've just seen maybe we could tour Weald so I'll book that.

I've looked at Darrick and really didn't like it unfortunately and we wouldn't get in to anywhere else but Harris, Orpington and Charles Darwin without moving. I've ruled Harris out but will be looking at Charles Darwin.

I am surprised so many on this thread say Bromley has such excellent schools though. I've done an excel of every school locally and Darrick, Charles Darwin and Chislehurst Girls all have negative progress scores - Darrick is in the bottom 18% nationally for progress score. But maybe I'm reading too much into that...?

Thanks, I have heard good things about Kingsdale. We'd definitely have to move a lot further into London to get in the catchment I think and my husband would be very anti that - plus it would be too far from my parents I think and I need to stay near my dad as he's not well.

Kingsdale doesn’t have a catchment

Is Beckenham too far for you to move?

Kingsdale does not have a catchment. It is lottery or you can get a place via sports scholarship. It is minute’s walk from the train that goes through much of South East London. Just looked it up for you. Orpington to Sydenham Hill - direct train. You do not need to move. You have as much of a chance getting a place as anyone else all over London and with sports aptitude, you have a good chance on top of that.

You can look the Townley catchment up on the Bexley website. It is typically quite large, 6-7 miles. Weald of Kent Sevenoaks you may also get in on catchment from Orpington. You would have to enquire but it does go out quite far. For both Townley and Weald, you just need a pass in Bexley or Kent. If your DD is good at non verbal, she is intelligent. You just need to get the extra dyslexia help/laptops/possibly scribe etc.

There is a huge difference in academic ability between just passing a grammar like those or qualifying for a superselective with huge catchment. Townley has a great reputation currently and lots of clubs and quite a modern building. Not sure if you have to pass Bexley before going on an open day or not.

Ah right hadn’t realised this thank you

My husband doesn’t want to go further in to London. But I would definitely consider Beckenham - I’d just need to persuade him!

Ah I never knew that, thank you - I’ll look into it

Thanks I haven’t considered Bexley way so will check this out. Thank you

If you're in Orpington area then take a look at Knole Academy in Sevenoaks. It offers art aptitude places which a separate criteria to distance. They have a grammar stream but also appears to be ambitious for what they call their high school stream.

Weald came out to Orpington in first round offers this year.