Amersham Bucks - Beacon School/Chestnut Lane Elangeni

[Mandy17]

Hi
We have recently moved to Amersham and have been offered a place at a lovely state school local to us. Our aim was always to try for grammar school and if its not possible then thats ok.

However, we are told that the Beacon School in Chesham Bois Amersham is a good school and if you want to pass eleven plus your chances are better if you go to a prep school? I am not sure this is the case especially as I assume a prep school would want to keep children until 13 (to sit 13+) but does anyone have experience of the Beacon school and what did you think of it? Did anyone actually go to Grammar school after attending the Beacon school?

Thanks

Thanks Jbjb123 that's very sad that they're made to feel like second class citizens. We've now come to a decision and chosen The Beacon however it seems that it would be wise to keep our future thoughts about life after the school to ourselves (all of that is up to the parents anyway). I've been on tours and liked Dr C, Chesham Grammar and Berkhamsted so I'm not in one camp or the other (def not boarding schools though). The latest Good Schools Guide review says "The school’s demographic is a complex one: some families are pinning everything on the 11+ Bucks grammar school tests, others are aiming for big name day and boarding schools at 13+." ...."must have equal commitment to both"......"the last two years of prep school are golden. Likewise, while the school’s website isn’t averse to mentioning the number of boys who get into Dr Challoner’s Grammar, it’s clear that 13+ is the preferred route." The rest of the review is really strong. I'm looking forward to reading the inspection report when it comes out. I guess I'd just have to set the record straight with my son about all of this at home so he knows the choice is a parent choice not anyone else's. Any reason you chose Dr C and not Chesham Grammar?
Boo

I think that The Beacon does have a role to play regarding 13 plus because nearly every other prep in Bucks doesn’t bother so the boys have to go to Caldicot near Slough for a proper prep education or even further away. The Gateway, Chesham Prep cram more for 11 plus so go to them for 11 plus only.

Godstowe for girls in High Wycombe goes to 13 and has very healthy numbers. Other schools such as Maltmans and the schools in Beaconsfield are far more geared to 11 plus.

As for telling the school, my experience is that they will ask you what you want. They will be preparing boys for CE and that will be different from the 11 plus so they will need to know. They will happily take your money though.

However you can take the 11 plus there so it makes little difference what the new Head thinks. Godstowe supported girls who wanted to take it but clearly their main business is CE at 13. Most went to well known boarding schools though and this was their usp. It was not the 11 plus. There is a strong reason to promote CE in a relatively well off area and no doubt they have parents who want this education at The Beacon. If you want purely 11 plus, there are other schools. The biggest difficult comes when boys don’t get the 121 pass mark. What to do then? There are few options.

Regarding Chesham or Challoners, traditionally Chesham boys would go to Challoners if their parents put it as first choice and many still see it as the first choice for boys. It has more high achieving students but that tends to be down to self selection by parents putting it down as their no 1 choice for the very brightest children. DH alumni from there but both schools are excellent and it’s good there is a choice of single sex and co-Ed.

Thanks for your comments Jbjb123. Not sure I follow this bit "any concerns raised about the academics for 11+ candidates are aggressively rebuffed" do you mean any concerns about the standard of teaching for that age group? We have actually now chosen The Beacon as we felt it was the best choice in the area. We start there in September so I'll go into the whole experience hopefully with my eyes open. I don't think it's right if any adult treats the boys who leave after year 6 differently to those who stay on - all parents pay the same fees as each other and it sounds quite divisive. Are all staff of the same view? Dr C, Chesham Grammar and Berkhamsted are all very obvious choices if you want to stay in the community. Chesham Grammar made it to Tatler's top state school 2018 list and was the only Bucks school in the list of 20. It's a shame as they're all so young it's not as if they're making their university choices.

I hope times have changed since 2017 that doesn't sound nice for those who have worked so hard on the 11+. It's an amazing achievement to pass it.