Brentwood School Sixth Form

[Morello339]

Morning everyone.

Looking for some guidance, and experiences.

At my son's recent year 10 parents' evening I was told it would be best to consider a private sixth form or one attached to a selective school due to his academic ability. There is no way I could afford private ( I am a single parent on a teachers salary, and not a high one).

They have suggested applying for bursaries, but I'm sure that's not as easily obtained as they would like me to think.

Anyway, really what's more important to me is how he feels there.

We are not affluent by any means. Is he going to feel inferior?

We are in the general Brentwood area, so if anyone can suggest any other (not necessarily private) sixth forms.

I'd say his natural strengths are maths, economics, business studies and Spanish. He does well at others, but has to work at that.

Thank you in advance.

You could try KEGS Sixth Form - plenty of kids get trains from all over Essex to KEGS. And they accept 'outsiders' to their Sixth Form.

I would agree that KEGs would be a good option, they are very selective though. There are several very good options for sixth forms in Chelmsford. Moulsham etc would be worth looking at.

Most sixth forms are good though as they have a naturally higher achieving and more motivated student body. If your son is a hard worker and motivated I would have thought he would do well at most sixth forms.

Re Brentwood, they are actually very generous with bursary’s so it would be worth a chat with them.

Thank you all.

His school will say he is hardworking, but I struggle to get him to do much outside of school. Which is a concern for me when considering selective schools.

Luckily, we still have a while to decide, maybe his attitude to learning at home will change somewhat by then.

I will look into the mentioned school a bit more after work. Thank you

I live in the area and would say KEGS, Westcliff and Southend grammars would be a better fit for an academic child than Brentwood and plenty of children commute from Brentwood to all of these.

What have you tried that he has said "no" to? Can you ask the school to sign him up for the intermediate maths challenge?

Oh, he does things outside of school that are arranged. Such as mentoring year 6 children for their maths sats, football team, and occasionally attending sessions the school put on for more able students (if it is a topic that interests him), but any form of revision or additional reading is like pulling teeth. And I think that independent learning aspect is very important.