Westminster Under School

[lvd]

For any parents with sons at Westminster Under (or who know parents with sons at the school): what do you think of the new Master? Have there been any changes in the school since her arrival? Are teachers and students happy? The Open Day in October was very chaotic and it was hard to get a feel for the Master (and for the school) on that day. We had visited previously and liked both the school and the prior Master but now have some doubts. I'd be grateful to read any thoughts from people who are more familiar with the school. In particular, I'm interested to know about the balance of the school between academics and other activities. The prior Master seemed to value a well-rounded education with sports, music and arts complementing the strong academics; the new Master seemed much more focussed on "cerebral boys" and didn't discuss things other than core academic classes.

CC feeds into St Pauls, doesn't it? We didn't realise - doh - and didn't go for it. Really really wish we had.

cyberdad, did you get both letters today? someone on the waitlist at 1 of the schools will be very happy.

Yes!

Can someone explain to me, please

If you take the 7+ for Colet Court is that for entry at the start of Yr 2 ie do you take the exam in yr 1. And would 8+ then be for entry in Yr3 with exam in Jan of Yr 2?

I thought 7+ was in yr 2 to start in yr 3 and 8+ yr 3 to start yr 4, but was being very emphatically told by a mum last night that this is not the case

CC has both 7+ and 8+ entry see here. For both, you have to register by mid-October the year before planned entry.

Thank you Edith. I am still a bit confused, some cognitive dissonance here clearly as this goes against what I'd been led to believe (and many of my friends too, more importantly as they seem to be prepping children for a non-existent entry level)

To recap. The lady was correct - the 7+ lot enter at the start of yr 2 (with assessment in yr 1) and the 8+ lot enter at the start of yr 3 (assessment yr 2). There is no entry at yr 4 -which will disappoint my friend who is about to start tutoring her son for that [confused}

@cyberdad - both are fantastic schools; you cannot go wrong and whichever one you opt for you, I cannot imagine you'll regret it.
If you really don't have a preference, I'd focus on the school run as the deciding factor. I opted for a school close to home for primary school, less commute for my little guy and less hassle for me. Also, friends tend to be closer for playdates.

Agree with what Fainche says re: school run BUT with CC and WUS I think you should also consider the senior school and whether you have preference there. Very few children leave at 13 from either, so whichever you opt for could well be a decision until 18. The commute thing starts to influence less from yr5-6 IMO as homework and after school activities increase. Well done to your DS for a great achievement, and good luck with your decision.

If you're not sure about the available entry points, ring the school and they will check dob and advise.

Thank you fainche and milkshake3, your input is much appreciated. The point about the commute is well taken and that is why we are leaning slightly towards WUS -however in terms of all other factors cannot find anything to differentiate between them despite much deliberating!

@cyberdad - milkeshake3 makes a very good point about secondary school. WUS boys definitely tend to go on to Westminster. However, accepting a place for Year 3 doesn't lock you into the school until University. Here are the stats for WUS Year 8 leavers: www.westminsterunder.org.uk/admissions/destination-of-leavers.htm
I'm not sure how Colet Court works, their website says that it's assumed that St. Paul's will be your first choice but I'd expect some boys to apply to boarding schools, including Westminster.
Again, you're in an enviable position; you cannot make a bad decision. Both schools have amazing academics and feed into superb senior schools. Congrats! :)

Areyouthere, the information on the admissions page for CC is confusing; I think they mean year of entry into the exam. I can promise you that 7+ is taken in Y2 for entry into Y3 and 8+ in Year 3 for entry into Y4. The year groups at Colet start at Lower 1st (Y3) and go up to Fifth (Y8). So your friend is wrong and you're right.

Thanks, singers, I was SURE this was the case as dd has just taken 7 plus and is in yr 2. Relief for my friends who would otherwise have been prepping their yr 2 sons for exams that had already taken place.

I am very confused. The offers which have been made at CC - are they for the 8+ exam (thus entrance into year 4)? Just wondering as we were told that results would be sent OUT Friday and with us on Saturday (something confirmed by DS's school).

yes for 8+. original papers also told us 3rd. However Westminster also said they would post out on 2nd and we received on 2nd!

I think it was the 7+ results that came out yesterday.
I read that Colet Court do not return your deposit if your son opts not to go onto the Senior school. Not sure if that is true or not.

Think carefully about travel. We opted for the 'easy commute' option for prep and reallY scuppered ourselves.

wahwahwah - in what way did you scupper yourself in your selection of prep?

We went with closer rather that another choice which is quite academic. Turns out that, lovely as the school is, it wasn't right for little 'un. I really kick myself now and wished I'd done my homework a bit better. As I said, lovely school, facilities, location... But not right for us. Back to the drawing board, entrance exams... Instead of a school that would take him through to 13+ and set him up for a good secondary. Arrrrrh!

Milkshake3: "The commute thing starts to influence less from yr5-6 IMO as homework and after school activities increase." Do you mean commute is MORE important from Yr5-6 as workload increases?

Areyou...: for sure, 7+exam (taken in Year 2) is for entry in Year 3; 8+exam (taken in Year 3) is for entry in Year 4.

Cyberdad: aren't you also considering Wetherby Prep?

For some reason, we got our letters on Thursday and Friday but we are in Central London so not sure if mail is more efficient here. Just glad the process is over for us for now as we have 2 younger boys coming up!

Also, i read in many places that Westminster is a better option if you want to leave secondary school options open as they are more supportive of this decision. On Westminster's website, every year almost a third of the Under School class go to Eton. At St Paul's, only 1 or 2 a year leave Colet Court to go to Eton, Westminster or somewhere else.

This is a huge consideration point for us.

I suppose it depends on where you have your eye on. Being fairly central I suspect people move out of town to bigger properties, so schools change. That's been our experience. Who knows where we'll be in five years time! I think St Pauls is such a Big Name, people love it so are more inclined to stay on? An old colleague did attend and really loved it (from St Johns Wood) - no thoughts or changing. This was a few years back though. It is so confusing!

Westminster prepares boys for common entrance at 13+ and for scholarship to various schools (Eton, Westminster, Winchester etc.). I thought that Colet Court no longer does common entrance so may be more difficult to keep your options open. They expect you to stay and move on to St Paul's. Please correct me if I am wrong.

TennisMom -- well done to your son for having received two offers. He must have worked hard! We chose CC for our son even though WUS is closer and we're very happy with the choice. (Presumably we would have been happy the other way, too!). I think one of the differences between the two is that CC, because of the size of the campus and the size of the student body, encourages the boys to develop independence and self-confidence quite early. Having said that, the teachers are mostly very kind and nurturing and the boys feel well looked after.

Regarding location: i think there are two factors to consider one is the time it will take your son to get to school and the other is the time it will take him to get to visit school friends. The majority of CC boys live in west London so, while they're not neighbours it's not impossible to have "play dates" (and most boys seems to have 2 a week it's very sociable!). Also, it's easy to arrange carpools as there are clusters of boys in many areas of W London so the logistics of getting to school are not hard to address. My impression is that WUS, being centrally located, attracts boys from all over London so if you live in west London, for example, you might find that your son's best school friends lives in east London, making after-school play a bit complicated. Cleary, the ease of arranging play dates won't be your deciding factor, but thought I'd add one light consideration to the other factors you might be pondering.
Good luck with your decision -- you can't go wrong with two good choices! And, as you said elsewhere, you'll make someone happy by opening a post at whichever school you decline.

Thanks cherokee07 for all the good points, esp regarding commuting time for school and parties/playdates. This is exactly a primary consideration for us as both schools have excellent academic reputations. We live 25 minutes door-to-door via tube to WUS whereas it is approximately 1 hour (at least!) via private bus to CC. Also, there will be school events to attend after hours as well as playdates. We have 4 kids with a daughter at CLSG so school runs and playdates are huge factor.