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Education

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Original poster

private schools... how/when to apply...

50 replies

starlover · 16/05/2005 14:25

I know it is early days yet, but have been wondering about sending DS to one of several good private schools locally.
I have no idea how you go about it, or how soon you have to put your name down...
One of them is tiny (96 pupils I think!), so obviously places are going to be very sought after...
Do I just wait until he is 5 as I would with a state school, or is it something I need to do sooner?

Presumably it is easier to get a place if the child has already been to nursery at the school?

OP posts:

ggglimpopo · 16/05/2005 18:43

Message withdrawn

hunkermunker · 16/05/2005 18:44

GGG, you're missing a G?

Mud · 16/05/2005 18:44

actually victoria peckham is a fantastic name

shame she spouts rubbish, but great name

hunkermunker · 16/05/2005 18:45

I prefer yours, Mud

ggglimpopo · 16/05/2005 18:45

Message withdrawn

Mud · 16/05/2005 18:46

don't think its eugenics (wrong term)

but I do think there's something in the theory that private schools discount children with SN which is foul
and that parents want their offspring associating with kids like them - same class, financial, educational and social backgrounds because that's who they want them to have as friends and eventual mates

hunkermunker · 16/05/2005 18:46

I think you may be right, GGG

Mud · 16/05/2005 18:47

sorry should some private schools (not all)

and thanks hunkermunker

hunkermunker · 16/05/2005 18:48

S'OK - I think it makes for good punnish fun

milge · 16/05/2005 18:53

Starlover, to answer your question, you won't be silly at all - we reserved places for our dt's when they were 6 months old, and when we phoned up, registrar said they were full and onto reserve lists for 18m+ children. Its good to keep your options open. IIRC, the deposit was £40 each. hth

Original poster

starlover · 16/05/2005 19:15

I actually am not that interested in what people think about private schools.
For what it's worth I am not thinking of sending him because I want him to mix with posh children... the state schools round here aren't great, and I want him to have the best education possible with all opportunities open to him.
I worked with a family whose 6 children started off at a state school and have since gone private. The change in them is astounding, and I feel that they have been offered so much more.

That said, I do NOT have anything against state schools per se. I was state educated and have turned out ok, and I always had planned on sending DS to a state school. AND, I am also not ruling one out should I feel that they have improved by the time he is ready to go.

Why the hell shouldn't I give my son the best possible start in life if I can afford it?

I am wanting him to start at 5, but would also consider nursery attached to the school should I need it.

OP posts:

RTKangaMummy · 16/05/2005 19:18

Well said

If you are looking at nursery or 5 then IMHO deffo put name down now

I think lots of others will have done for infants around the age of DS.

Good Luck

Stilltrue · 16/05/2005 19:44

Good luck Starlover, whatever you decide to do. Dh and I were also entirely state educated; we have chosen private for our children not for reasons of social advantage/status/snobbery, but simply because we couldn't see how any of the state schools for which they'd have been eligible would have given them a good enough education. Currently 3 are at a non selective prep, with a wide variety of families from professionals to builders, who simply want reasonable class sizes and traditional teaching.

JulieF · 16/05/2005 21:24

We were lucky wit dd in that he local prep school decided to open a nursery and pre prep so we put her name down when she was 2 and she started when she was 3. However they advised us to get ds's name down straight away (he was 8 months old at the time).

We have not had to pay a registration fee. When she was accepted into the nursery (no assesment) we had to pay a deposit and will have to do the same when she is accepted into pre-prep.

They don't close their lists as such but places are allocated strictly on a first come first served basis (though there is a rumour of some sibling priority).

The school used to do a 7 plus test but since opening pre-prep they accept children at 5 and guarantee to keep them until 11 when they have to sit the 11 plus to progress to the senior school.

Original poster

starlover · 16/05/2005 22:36

thanks, very helpful stuff!
Think I will order some prospectuses online tomorrow, and wander along to some of the open days that I know are coming up.

stilltrue... that's totally how I feel. And although I think it shouldn't be that way, that all children should have an equal education, unfortunately that's not how things are. The children I know who swapped to private school have really blossomed since being there and have been given opportunities that they wouldn't have had at their state school. And on the whole, all the kids I have met from there just seem so well-mannered and well-behaved, which I think is something that the school goes to great lengths to instill in them. Unfortunately at a lot of state schools manners and respect are not a priority (or so it would seem!)

OP posts:

dinny · 16/05/2005 22:57

interesting thread.....dd is just 3 and at a day nursery right now - should I put her name down for private school (to start in reception a year in September) NOW?

lockets · 16/05/2005 22:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Earlybird · 16/05/2005 23:00

Yes, right now. Depending on where you live, and what schools you are interested in, you may already be late. It's quite a system!

happymerryberries · 17/05/2005 06:25

Mud, just out of interest the private school that my kids go to have 15% of their children in the sn regester. Granted there are no children there with ds, but there are children with ADHD, AHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia.

The state school that I work in has 16% of the children in the SN regester, so I think that the two are roughly comparable. The nearest state school to me is a comprehensive that has a 'volentary' entreance exam (I kid you not!). If you don't sit it and pass it, you don't get in! They have 1.5% of their children on the SN regester. A friend of mine tried to get her son into that school, and he has quite profound dyxlexia, he was refused a place and she was told not to bother appealing as he had SN!!!!

He is now very happily settled in a different school, the one my kids go to.

Not all private schools are selective

happymerryberries · 17/05/2005 06:27

Oh and the reason that they do so well with children who have SN is that they are in classes of 14-5 and not 25-30, which is what I deal with in the state sector.

LIZS · 17/05/2005 07:55

Haven't read all replies but think it varies from school to school and as popularity for each one fluctuates.

We have just got ours into a more popular one -dd was registered by 3 months and had a definite place for Reception from then on whereas we registered ds at just 3 and he has only just got a place at 7 ! With him we were about 6 months to a year too late registering to get a firm place so he had been on the Waiting List all that time. It meant he had to take a test, as at 7+ there is a competitive entry, whereas dd just had to go for a couple of hours to play with her age group.

One of the less popular private schools in the area atm (undergoing a merger, building works,newish head) can still offer us places for September for both children.

iirc where you are, Starlover, you may be considering Copthorne, for example, which we looked at several years ago and there didn't seem to be the same rush then for spaces as at some others. Also I can recommend an excellent small Montessori Nursery school in your area (assuming you would drive a bit) where ds went for a while. I was really sad to have had to take him out when we moved and that dd never got the opportunity to experience it.

hth

Original poster

starlover · 17/05/2005 09:08

yeah copthorne prep is one option. also tavistock and summerhill (my fave), handcross park and maybe a couple of others!!!

OP posts:

Azure · 17/05/2005 10:26

We didn't put down DS's name for schools until he was approaching 2 as we moved house and it was clear that we had left it much too late to get a place on first allocation and could only go on the waiting list. When I looked around the schools there were mums there with small babies, looking around for those babies. Having said that, DS is now 3.9 and is starting this September and he has had 2 offers, as a result of people leaving the area or initally accepting multiple places. He also started the nursery class of the school he will go to half way through the year as a place became available - TBH, I think that's how he got the place at the school, as it's still oversubscribed. Quite terrifyingly the school admissions policy for siblings is that they will get a guaranteed place if they are registered within one month of their birth . We paid around £50 registration fee per school and registered at 4 schools.

lockets · 17/05/2005 10:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster

starlover · 17/05/2005 15:55

yeah, my parents live in handcross too, which may come in handy, and I did my work experience in the nursery there!

i'm going to bumps n babes tomorrow or i'd have come and said hello! I love arctic jungle!

OP posts:

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