7+ at North London schools, if from a non obvious feeder.

[FunnyBear]

We live in South London. Our daughter is summer born approaching 4, and very happy in her current prep school nursery. We target Habs girls, Channing, NLCS or SHHS for our daughter at 7+. What proportion of children are accepted from non obvious feeder schools. Is there a path we could follow?

Move to North London.

The schools you've mentioned won't care which school your daughter has come from. They will want the highest performing girls. If several girls get in from a particular school, this is not because Habs, NLCS etc favour that school, it's because the school prepares the girls best. At 7+ there are v few places so not so easy to see a pattern. NLCS and Habs have around 8-10 places at 7+. I don't think Channing have a 7+ entry point any more.

Channing doesn't have a 7+ entry and Habs only takes 6-8 girls. I think NLCS takes a whole class. SHHS takes a whole class at 7.

If it's a pre-prep that goes to 7 then they will prepare her, otherwise you need to tutor for 12-18 months before the exam (or do it yourself at home)

No- NLCS takes 8 girls- sometimes 10 if anyone has left before year 3. I know this for sure.
South Hampstead takes a whole class.

@wickerlampshade Thank you, v insightful. Might you know recommended tutors for 7+ who have attained positive results for N London schools?

@horsemadmum @lilagrace Thank you, Your suggestions are compelling, in that location & school prep counts. Our child is happy in a nursery attached to a prep school that goes up to 11+ whose notable '15/'16 11+ exits were to SPGS, Putney High, Wimbledon High, JAGS, (

1. Hampstead Hill
2. No. Why would they?

Best bet to prep for 7+ is a school that goes up to 7. Hampstead Hill has a great reputation. Also Mulberry house, The Avenue (Highgate) is good too.

1. or Golders hill, annemount or the avenue
2. schools only prep for their exit point. They don't want children leaving early!

Don't know about 7+ tutors in detail I'm afraid.

Hello, wickerlampshade

LilaGrace

We must stop meeting like this...!

I had a little bet with myself on how lomg it would take you to spot me!

Can I be nosy and ask why you are seeking school places the other side of London?

Are you planning on moving, and if so where would you want to go? Because you could try to fit it all together, with a move when your DD changes school at 7+, either to one of your preferred schools or to a prep that has a track record of sending girls there at 11+

@AnotherNewt My daughter nears 4, and I strongly believe her (a) happiness, (b) wanting to attend School & (c) positive friendships with other children and teachers are paramount to our school decision at this age. Therefore criteria such as the commute, culture & ethos, space & facilities for instance. Ideally, it makes sense to move my child only at 11+, and if at 7+ then only if she's a natural, i.e. if she wants to.

I strongly believe that the merit of the child is & should remain foremost. The extent of target school specific prep, from feeder schools - is concerning to me. If one were a parent from a non obvious feeder, then what does one do & how much does one worry?

Planning to move location, for instance due to a change in employment, or to escape home price erosion - is ultimately led by our children's school prospects!

But why not target the academic schools in S London?

@wickerlampshade
Absolutely! Great schools are plenty in S London. Perspectives do change with time. It's easier to trust a school whose method has stood time's test, whose alumni are well resolved, whose students are happy with their outcomes.
www.londonpreprep.com/2016/08/gcse-results-london-2016/

How did that look in 2006, who knows how it might look in 2026!

If we knew what proportion of 11+ offers were from non obvious source schools & if there's a method to prepare the child for any generic league table school, then that would help a long way in planning the path - move to join a feeder, or tutor, or smthg even better.

What are the non obvious parents & teachers doing special. What's the magic in their method?

OP, I don't think there is any magic in their method, you just need to have a clever dc suited to the schools you list.

As OGmum said, there is no magic method. A good nursery or pre school will get the best out of a bright child, and what you do at home with the child can help a lot too. But if the child isn't bright, or ready for the pace of some of these highly competitive schools, they won't get in- regardless of whether they went to a "feeder" school or not.

I don't get why all the things you say you want in your DD's education have cystsllised already into a specific set of schools which are some distance from where you live.

Going to a prep which has a range of exit destinations and prepares for both 11+ and 13+ transfer is the way that people do it, but that's been mentioned on this thread.

Or if they can't afford a prep, they ask around parents with DC about 2-4 years older than theirs for the good tutors.

If you're looking for a magic bullet, there isn't one.

The key is a solid school which teaches them well and them exam technique practice. A tutor will do the same sort of thing, or you can do it with bond books etc. I happen to know the child that came top in the assessment for one very competitive N London school and third in another and he had no tutor - just a pre-prep school and his mum doing past papers at home.

@QGMum @LilaGrace

Excellent points. Is cleverness / brightness trainable? If a (non obvious) parent tries to shadow teach target school curriculum at home, and consistently keep it say 3mo-6mo ahead of time, is such a practice advisable or is it detrimental to the child? (Doing this over a 3yr period, not just the months before assessments) That said, are school suggested readings available on request.

@meditrina
Fair comment. My final targets would be known only later - depending on how my child's aptitude develops, and also how various schools evolve. My bigger question around tutoring is whether target schools try to ascertain if a child was tutored and penalize for that?

@wickerlampshade
Brilliant point. The fundamentals matter. How predictable are assessments at top schools? Surely they would seek to find children that are uncut diamonds via innovative testing methods (looking beyond children who have prepped or tutored for specific objectives) Have feeder school preps & tutoring gamed the system?

Surely they would seek to find children that are uncut diamonds via innovative testing methods (looking beyond children who have prepped or tutored for specific objectives)

don't forget they have vast numbers. I would assume that the maths/english tests are a screen and the interview looks beyond the prepping. but have never done it with my kids so not from personal experience.

In London, tutoring is endemic (for both state and private sector pupils) so I wouldn't worry about it having a negative effect if spotted. Assuming of course that your DC interviews well.

She's picking the good schools.There is nothing wrong with that speaking as an ex parent of Habs and NLCS girls. My daughter went to NLCS at 7+ but that was before when they had a whole class entry at 7+. She went to a school called Kensington Prep before that and most girls did not leave at 7+ from her school, but she did fine. We did get her about 8 sessions with a tutor just to practise exam papers and we worked on her reading and times tables a bit at home.

I think those schools are relaly good at spotting who will be good. In fact they used to have entry at 7 and moved down to 4 or 5 as they realised they could spot the potential as well at earlier ages (my other daughter started Habs at 4+).

She's picking some good schools which are neither local nor easy to travel to.

Which seems a bit odd, given that she has SPGS and JAGS as regular leavers destinations at her DD's current school, plus GDST schools.