Independent schools?

[thegrowlygus]

OK. We were hoping to send DS1 (age 3, starts school sept 09) to the local state school - however, they are building a new one so we aren't really sure what it will be like (or indeed if it will exist but that is a whole other thread!).

So my thoughts were that we would let him go there but then send him to somewhere private if it all went pear shaped. It only recently dawned on me that I should really be looking at the private schools round here pretty damned quickly (indeed I suspect that I have already missed the Perse admissions procedure do-da).

So - anyone any thoughts? I have heard good things about St Johns from a current parent there. But what about St Faith's? and the Perse? And I have only just come across Sancton Wood and St Colette's.

Or have we left this far too late and should've had his name down since I was pregnant?!!

Perse for a boy of that age would be the [http://www.perse.co.uk/pelican/ Pelican]]. They then start at Perse Prep in Y3, though I think that the move up is not automatic - and the schools are on separate sites one mile apart. Perse Prep is going co-ed as will the Upper School in 2010. Pelican has always been co-ed. The Perse Prep and Upper are very academic schools so you would need to consider whether your DS would thrive in that atmosphere. I've heard good things of St John's and of St Faith's - but note that at these schools you leave normally at 13 not 11 for secondary school (I know this is a long way off!). I have always had the feeling that Sancton Wood is probably best for those struggling academically but I may be wrong. St John's, St Faith's and Perse Prep have extensive grounds - plenty of sports activities.

Well, so far we have been round St John's which seemed good. I mean - what I am actually looking for I am not sure tbh, I guess similarly to nurseries, the atmosphere is as important as anything (in that they all do well academically). The children at St John's were very polite and friendly.

And Sancton Wood yesterday. Which I loved but DH wasn't so impressed. He is very academic so I knew he wouldn't like it and so said to him "you think it is the independent school version of Hufflepuff don't you?" and he did!

Going to St Faith's and The Perse after easter. Already have a 'bad' feeling about the Perse just because they 'assess' the 3 year olds ffs. Supposedly to make it fair on all applicants as they are so oversubscribed. But assessing 3-4 year olds? How accurate can that be? At least St John's and St Faith's are open that they are first come first served unless you have siblings there already or went there yourself.

This seems such a huge decision!

And on the other hand we could just move and have him go to a local primary (as they all seem pretty good in the villages) but that looks like it will be even more expensive than school fees given house prices at the moment.

Anyone got any other thoughts?

DS1 went to local primary (though we only moved here when he was in Y5) then to Perse. But very few do that as the local secondaries are generally reckoned to be good and then the more academic can look ahead to Hills Road. He had several friends who went to St John's and joined the Perse in Y9. I've heard lots of parents say that St John's was a good school - and quite a few more say the same of St Faith's.

st faith's is fab.

st colettes is moving to girton

there is also the international school but is owned by the same people at sancton wood.

also kings

thegrowlygus btw dd2 will start st faith's in 09.

We are off to see St Faith's next Wednesday. Still in 2 minds about it all. Worried now that ours will be the 'poor' kids in school as there is so much money in cambridge. I mean I went to private school in Yorkshire, and in the main, families were like mine, well off but all money going to school fees and not fancy holidays/big houses. Whereas I suspect here that it is mainly big money. My DH is particularly worried that they will get bullied for not having the right trainers or not been skiing

Personally I think that they could get bullied anywhere and there are worse things to be bullied about than lack of money. Plus my theory is that if everyone else is mega-wealthy they can take DS skiing!

cazzybabs - my DS would start in Sept 09! I may well be meeting you in rl. Do let me know when you can take DS1 skiing...

Certainly not big money in Perse Upper - parents there are professional/university rather than business types so many run old cars/go on camping holidays and are interested in education for its own sake rather than for the social connections that the children might make. Other schools may be different - I know that there are a lot of very wealthy parents of Leys pupils.

thegrowlygus - I have never been skiing in my life and certainlly now cannot afford to!!!

I think there is a lot of money at St. Faith's but equally there are a number who are comfortable (ie normal) and some of who make sacrifies to send their child to a private school.

Thank you. Very reassuring! But no skiing? DS1 will be gutted
My DH is currently making a beautiful spreadsheet of all the local villages and the primary school ofsted reports. Men like doing that sort of thing don't they?!

Ours is the only one (so far) with "satisfactories" rather than "outstandings". Typical. Every other bloody village in Cambridgeshire seems to have an outstanding school apart from here.

We do want to move nearer to Addenbrookes, so trying to research the best places to move to. God. I am a cliche of middle-classness.

come and move round the corner from us...we live very near Addenbrookes. Its great because dd1 can cycle to school.

Would love to - can't afford the prices though! I am now imagining you living in one of those enormous houses on Hills Road.

YEs - I imagine it too.. I don't live on Hills road - apart from the size of the house and the garden I am not sure I would want to live on a mains road. Honselt - I really am not super rich and I don't have a lovely big house...I have an medium sized horrid house.

Can the child enter private school at any age, or should they start from when they are 4? I'm sure private schools didn't start taking children until they were 10 or 11 when I was growing up! I'm sending my daughter to normal state school this September, but my husband has high hopes for her and is wondering if we should really be sending her to Perse Girls School.

Miow -0 the main points of entry are 4, 7, 11 (mainly for girls) and 13...clearly 11 and 13 are for secondayr schools. But if the school has a space (whcih is likely due to people moving house etc) then they will take them whenever.

"Medium sized horrid house" - I would still like to live near Addies! Have you seen that house on Long Road that is on the market for over 800k? So ugly. I announced the other day "i wouldn't pay 250k for that!" to be shouted down by DH who said of course I would. It has a swimming pool in the back garden!

Ah well.

I am swaying towards staying put here and paying for the school fees, then reassessing when I am working again/DH has his full salary (sliding scale for NHS consultants) and we can then see how much we can afford for a house.

Plus doesn't seem a great time to be selling a house really.

Went to St Faith's today and thought it was great. Which was your dd Cazzyb?! Have to say all the children were very well behaved and the whole school just really impressed us.

Have just filled in the registration forms all neat and tidy like and managed to spill some fat on it from cooking tea... do you think that will count against us?! (or - as DH has just pointed out that really what is going to count against us is that I have just put "fat" from "tea" and not "oil" from our "supper". May as well have just said "got some lard from t'chips on t'form" )

She was the brilliantly well behaved one who was clearly more able than all the other children in the whole school - I am sure you would have spotted her .

She is in Year 1.

I think the year one's were hurling themselves around the playground when we looked round. Would she have been the one sat quietly by the wendy house or the one dangling dangerously from the top of the climbing frame?!

Have sent off the oily form...

Sancton Wood had (and I'm pretty sure still has) an absolutely hideous school uniform that should never be inflicted on small children.

If's he's academic I would go with Perse, if you want somewhere a bit more mixed and fun I'd say St Faith's. I wouldn't choose the Leys or Kings unless you think he's going to be particularly sporty. I grew up going to independent school in Cambridge and knew people that went to all of these schools as a kid they all had different reputations, but none of them were bad and all had a mix of parents. Lots of lecturers and academics all round, tbh!

Seems my first comment was right - should've had his name down since pregnancy! St John's and St Faith's have just told us that he is still on the waiting list. Although St F's have done his nursery visit etc so "everything is in place if someone gives us back word on the places we have already offered" - which seems a little odd - why bother going and seeing him in nursery if there is no room for the little guy?!

Both of them saying it is just because we registered him relatively late.

Ah well. Still have the Perse (although places for 4+ are hotly contested I am told) so we will see.

Got my educationalist's hat on now. King's is really excellent and probably my favourite school around Cambridge. St Faith's has been criticised by the independent school inspection service for unsettled behaviour in the classrooms. But if I was advising you professionally, I would say actually it's probably not really worth spending money on private education until your kids are at secondary stage (unless you're desperate to for social reasons), because it doesn't make a huge difference to their results in the long term. People ascribe great things to prep schools that have more to do with the kids having interested middle class families, but the IAPS keep this very quiet, for obvious reasons!!

I'm looking at the same schools now growlygus - going to see St John's on Tuesday, Kings on Friday and Perse next week. I'm looking at entry at 7, as dd is having problems at school which I'm not sure they can solve, and as she's a very shy, timid child I think she may be better off in a smaller class with more personal attention.

I've discounted St Faith's for the entirely illogical reasons that they emphasise their Christian values in their brochure and my happy clappy neighbours children go there (I'm a dawkinsesque atheist who puts up with religion at the village school but won't pay for indoctrination) and they took 5days to send me a brochure and didn't bother responding to my e-mail directly, whereas every other school e-mailed me back next day.

My friends dh teaches at Kings, and she said they don't have to be brilliantly academic to get in, but they are by the time they leave. She also warned that unless your child has some musical aptitude (v. difficult to judge this early I know) they will find it difficult - everyone is strongly encouraged to be in a choir and learn at least one instrument, and much of the social life of the school revolves around music.

I was very impressed by the bumpf from St Johns - the headmasters treatise on happiness made me cry - though that could be because I am v. emotional atm because dd is so dreadfully unhappy.

My friends dd is at the pelican. They are already lining up in silence in the playground, and she has to only wear black, white or purple hair slides. They are learning to recognise letters already (this is in the pre-nursery year, 2.5) It all sounds a little too ordered for my liking

Pru - I teach at st faith's...not at all religious (well no more than any where else). Very good pastrol side....easy to get in 7. Please come and look at St. Faith's...it is lovely.

We are also looking at schools and went to see Perse and Sancton Wood open days recently. Perse looks much better, good facilities, and nice teachers. The only problem is the Pelican year is only part-time, while they make you feel getting in at age 4+ is hard (only four vacancies).

Wonder anyone is in the same boat as us so we could share a childcare? DS will be three next year. (Oh, and if he could get in at all).

Ti.

We had completely the opposite experience with St Faith's and St John's! St Faith's responded very quickly, headmaster was very lovely and made us feel we could've spent all day chatting to him if we wanted. St John's took ages to get back to us with an appointment (several months after our first visit) and then changed our appointment time several times within a few days (5 times to be precise) (even changing the time on the morning of the day we were going). Since then though they have been really helpful!

The Pelican nursery year puts lots of people off I think (the headmistress was telling me this when I went round) as it is difficult to have a job that would fit in with their 3 mornings/2 afternoons (or vice versa). We are still putting DS1 forward for 4+ (we missed 3+ anyway).

Our problem is we live in Cambourne so we have 2 schools that are oversubscribed and a proposed third school that looks extremely unlikely to be open for 09. So the potential for DS1 to be bussed off to Hardwick. I loved Bourn school but I am panicking that if I apply for Bourn (that we are outside catchment for) he may well not get a place there and then there will be no chance of a place at a cambourne school so he will be shipped off to Hardwick anyway. I have nothing epecially against hardwick school apart from it is being swamped by " a thriving community of 50 cambourne children!" (as from our local rag) Fifty from here in a little school? How on earth can they be coping (the school and the children!?)

Spoke to St John's and St Faith's so we are just waiting now. Seems St J's had a lot of male siblings this time.