Should I send dd to prep that feeds to its own secondary?

[ethicaljamrag]

I am considering a small independent school for dd. She would be going into year 3. The prep feeds to its own small nominally selective secondary school. Does anyone have experience of this set up? My concern would be that unlike other preps, pupils might t be prepared for oft entrance to other more selective schools.

My concern would be that unlike other preps, pupils might t be prepared for oft entrance to other more selective schools True ime and they probably won't be as open to discussing alternatives options, unless they have decide that the dc future does not lie with them. However I would say what suits at Year 3 (or earlier) won't necessarily suit at Year 7 - children and/or parents.

There won't be much exam preparation, but you can supplement this yourself at home with Bond papers etc.

It means you have a safety net of continuing through at the school. You might decide anyway that the secondary is the right one for DD, or that it's not so different from the others available and she wants to stay with her friends. But even if you do decide a move is in her interests, it reduces the stress on her as you need only apply for the one or two schools you really like better (with continuing in the familiar as fall back), rather than having to make more applications to include safety net schools as fresh applicant.