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City of London (boys) School

6 replies

atah · 08/12/2010 21:45

Just wondered if anyone can give me their honest opinion of this school. In particular pastoral care. DS has previously been bullied and has poor social skills although he is friendly and wants a fresh start.

Does anyone know what it is like for the 10+ entrance being youngest in the school............any info would be great.
Thanks!

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
atah · 09/12/2010 10:04

bump ...anyone ?

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nlondondad · 09/12/2010 17:09

Well City of London school is where my son is.

He enjoys it and seems to have a good range of mates.

So far as 10+ entry is concerned, that is a survival from the past as is referred to as OG (for "old Grammer" ) Its a smallish group and seems to be specially catered for.

Does that help at all?

atah · 09/12/2010 18:38

Thanks nlondondad did your son start at 10 and was it no problem going into secondary school so young.

Also I presume his classmates are from all over london does that present any problems socialising when they are still at an age where they rely on parents for transport? we are in west london...

We went to an open day early this week and I was very impressed by the school, the pupils, the staff and of course the view blew me away!

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nlondondad · 10/12/2010 14:29

No he finished year 6 in a state primary and went to secondary school at the usual stage. Although as it happens he does have an August birthday and so is youngest in his year.

I asked him about OG last night and he said that OG and form 1 occupied a particular part of the building - a particular corridor- and when he was in form 1 he did not go away from that much. He says he is not sure why now, as these days "he wanders all over" To clarify the point OG is effectively a "Form Zero" and they are not thrown in at the deep end, and I understand they get a special element of pastoral care. I suspect my son, without realizing it was in a mildy protected environmentBut City would clarify that for you. we never had any great occasion to look into that side of things.

So far as socialising is concerned that has as yet not been a huge issue. They do a certain amount after school. There is a doughnut stall at Liverpool street station, it would seem.

After the first few weeks my son was very happy, actively wanted to travel by tube in and out on his own by the way.

Birthday parties in the early years tend to be large and at a venue. If you do something like taking them to a movie in Central London then they all just converge.

I should mention that we do not have a car, so although much as my daughter would have liked to rely on us for transport, that was not really on....She used to complain of a lack of car but my son never has.

The views are stunning and my son has said how much he likes that. They have a really good library.

atah · 14/12/2010 09:43

Thanks for all the info nlondondad its sounds as though your son really loves the school. It is a unique school because of its location, it really isn't local to anyone. here in west London most boys are trying to get into Latymer so we don't really hear much about City.
Well he will sit the entrance exam in January and hopefully he will be successful, by then we will have had a couple more visits to the school and will have a much better idea.

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nlondondad · 14/12/2010 22:37

I suppose you are right, its not really a "local" school unless you live in the Barbican. But transport links are good. If you are west london then its probably central and district lines. Mine uses the Northern Line.

Surprisingly they have a theatrical tradition as well by the way.

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