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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Have I missed the boat? 2 yr old ds, not down for ANY London pre-preps.

41 replies

PuffPants · 29/02/2012 18:13

Is this a major oversight on my part? I naively thought I could wait till about now to think about schools for DS. He has just turned 2. We are thinking about moving house and would like to base our move on schools. I am getting panicked that everyone I ask seems to have had their DCs names down on school lists since birth. Do you think I have left it too late? He's a bright little thing and I really want to try to get him into a decent pre-prep with a view to ultimately going to somewhere like St Pauls, Westminster, Dulwich College etc.

What do you think?

OP posts:

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Sneezeblossom · 29/02/2012 18:16

Hulababy · 29/02/2012 18:17

Phone the schools and ask them.

halfrom · 29/02/2012 18:23

Can somebody tell me what a pre prep is? I've heard of prep and of course pre school. I thought school was only from age 4, wherever you go.

Hulababy · 29/02/2012 18:24

Prep-prep is infant school, so reception to Year 2.
Prep is juniors, from Y3 and finishes at either Y6 or Y8 depending on the system.

EdithWeston · 29/02/2012 18:28

Not that many schools operate on "first come first served". Your (scarily over-organised) friends may simply have their names on the lists for assessment idc.

You need to enquire of each school you might be interested in when their dealing for applications is, and how they manage allocations.

Orchiddroop · 29/02/2012 18:37

It's only Ducks that he would need to have been on the waiting list for (usually at conception....)
The rest are pretty much assessment so you only need to get his name down and pay your fee, the year before you want him to start.
Dulwich Prep feeds those schools and you have more than enough time to get him assessed for nursery or reception
Just have a look around all the schools and see which ones you prefer, but in general for boys it's Alleyns/Dulwich Prep/Ducks/Herne Hill/Oakfield/Rosemead

Orchiddroop · 29/02/2012 18:38

Not necessarily in that order!!!

halfrom · 29/02/2012 18:39

Thank you Hulababy, I stupidly thought it was school from age 2/3. I can't believe people have childrens names down on lists. Is this just London area or others as well. I know some kids go private, but I just thought you applied, paid and went. Not criticising or anything just curious, as its a different world than nearest primary then high school we have around here/ North West

Shallishanti · 29/02/2012 18:40

god forbid you might have to mix with the plebs

very slack parenting

Orchiddroop · 29/02/2012 18:50

Bit of a leap?!

3duracellbunnies · 29/02/2012 18:54

I know someone who put baby's name down so older sister went to top of list as was a sibling of a child who in the future would be at the school, if that makes sense.

Hulababy · 29/02/2012 19:35

halfrm - no, not just down South and London. Waiting lists elsewhere in country too.

wobblypig · 29/02/2012 20:14

Puffpants - not necessarily to late. Depends on kind of pre-prep. Because of economic climate many reception classes are having unexpected vacancies. We put DS down for pre-prep at 2.5.
Sounds like you are being very ambitious for your son. Not sure you can really pick Westminster etc. potential at 2.

seeker · 29/02/2012 20:40

Let's hope he's very bright- how awful it would be if he didn't get into St Paul's even after all this planning.......

swanker · 29/02/2012 21:11

We left it until 2, are far from London, and only got our 2nd choice. (16 above DC1 on waiting list at No. 1 choice)

Mominatrix · 29/02/2012 21:16

No need to panic. I was one of those slacker more laissez-faire sorts of mums who did not put their kid's name down for nursery or pre-prep places at birth. Although I was told by my DS1's pre-prep that waiting until the year prior to entry was very late, I still was able to obtain a spot. London has a very mobile population, and places do open up - even at the most "in-demand" pre-preps.

In terms of leavers destinations, it is not the school which gets the boys into the starry preps, but the boys (and the parents behind) who should get the credit. If your son is indeed bright and you support his learning, no reason why he should get into your desired prep school....even from a (whispers) state school.

Shallishanti · 29/02/2012 22:14

how on earth do the rest of us cope?

thank goodness my poor dcs were able to rise above their tragic circs (playgroup...state primary...comprehensives....)

GetHerOffTheBloodyBed · 29/02/2012 22:18

I'm so lucky I am poor and never had this stress.

halfrom · 29/02/2012 22:34

I suppose us poor people have our share of stress as well in fairness, it's just we don't feel the need / have the money to pay for education. If our LA has a full school year places are difficult to find for us at times. I once had 2 kids in different schools next to each other. One had to go to a Catholic school and we aren't catholic as there were no other schools with places, as we moved areas half way through school year. Alot of our schools don't guarantee places for siblings, thats really hard for some. Secondary system unfair as really only have one choice as most over subscribed and only look at first choice, so I think we have stress too. But a childs education an oversight, what devastation, how would I cope, the shame in my pony club circle.

mumteacher · 01/03/2012 00:10

It does depend where you are based and where your moving to. I'm based in north London and have a very understanding of the school around me so if I can help feel free to pm me.

Good luck

didofido · 01/03/2012 06:30

How unpleasantly sarcastic those who don't want/can't afford indies can be!
It's not all about money - I know very well a single mum in a low-paid job, and sometimes out of work completely, whose daughter is now at her first choice RG uni. This girl has been at independant schools throughout with the help of the Assisted Place scheme, bursaries, and EMA. You just have to work at it.
Sadly Assisted Places and EMA are no longer available - one removed by the Labour govt, the other by the Conservatives

Zzanne · 01/03/2012 06:36

I'm not sure about "pre-prep" as we're probably going to put our twins in a community shool, but what ever your socio-economic background it's good to think about these things early if you're going to base your move around it. We're moving to Barnet soon and I just found out that A) the house we want is across the street from the border of the catchment area for the school we wanted B) that shool is VERY oversubscribed (I called the school for info - over 200 applications for 17 places) C) the school in the catchment area for that house had a very bad Ofsted report. All of this information and more was found by me doing research and now we're rethinking the house purchase/area. You are talking about spending a lot of money on property, so a bit of footwork is worth it. If you have the time, it's also worth looking at schools in person.

gettingalifenow · 01/03/2012 06:38

Agree with you didfido. The OP asked a perfectly reasonable question that she knew many people on here could answer which is exactly what MN is for. Yes she's lucky to be able to make a choice like this, as are many of us, but don't expect her, or the rest of us, to not plan for our children.

SconeInSixtySeconds · 01/03/2012 06:52

I'm not at all snarky about private schools, it's your choice how to spend your money and that is fine. However, it's not correct to imply that is the only method that can produce a child at an RG university.

Says she, who was state all the way through and has excellent degree from RG university, married to a DH who was state all the way through and has masters from an RG university, and sister to a DB who was state all the way through did first degree at an RG university and then PhD at Cambridge.

EdithWeston · 01/03/2012 06:58

OP isn't talking about RG universities. Her aim is for certain prestigious single sex (and hideously oversubscribed) secondary schools in SW London.

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