Walthamstow/East London private school scholarship

[LitterOntheBreeze]

DD is nearly 6 and in Year 1. She is very good at maths and reading, and has tailored work at her state primary (basically Accelerated Reader and Year 3/4 maths work). Her teacher invited us for a meeting tonight and told us that, much as she loves having DD in her class, we should consider looking for a scholarship for her for a private school. The implication was that her current school may not be able to meet her needs academically. She said that she had come across 2 children like DD (in academic terms) in her career. (I repeat this because it's the closest I have to objective verification of DD's attainment.)

Our nearest private school is Forest School in E17. My impression is that it's not hugely academic and might not be that far ahead of her current school (where she is happy). But that's a bit of a guess. And it almost certainly has better facilities.

Does anyone have experience of making this switch for similar reasons? Or views on Forest School or other local private schools? I am quite wary of the whole thing, but equally feel I need to investigate it since the teacher has raised it.

Also, I'm assuming that I would need to look at entry at age 7? I'm guessing that kids are usually tutored for this, especially if they are hoping for a scholarship. If DD didn't get a scholarship, it wouldn't be possible for her to go, although equally I doubt we would qualify for a bursary.

Bumping for the morning crowd ..

Bancroft is far more academic and they do bursaries at 7+. You can also try the central London schools. A scholarship won't necessarily be of much value. You're looking for bursaries.

And just to add, your school should be stretching your DD. My nephew is similar to your DD but in the year below. His school takes him into y2 for maths and English and he stays in reception for the topic and play stuff. It's not ideal but his particular class has a lot of Sen so they weren't managing to stretch him. Hopefully from next year it'll be better as they're mixing up the classes. I think it's quite difficult to get bursaries and I would concentrate more on pushing for the school to stretch her. They should be able to. You can aim for Latymer when she's older.

Forest doesn't offer full academic scholarships and I am not aware that they offer much in terms of financial assistance in the prep school.

Academic scholarships are usually 5-10% off and I have a feeling they can’t be more than 30% off for charity rules reasons.

Bursaries are linked to household income
and those can be a bigger reduction.

Scholarships don't usually offer much of a discount. Bancroft don't offer any discount for their Scholarships.

This is really useful information, thank you. I think I'm erring on the side of keeping her where she is, since a scholarship (even if available) wouldn't make much of a dent and the fees would leave very little scope for saving, outside activities, etc.

OP if you have enough income that a bursary may not be substantial, I would keep her where she is and supplement. She will get bored, kids like this do. Keep her interested in learning by stretching her at home, possibly get a tutor just so she has stretch sideways into more interesting parts of the curriculum her school won't get a chance to cover. It doesn't have to be things beyond her years. There's so many really interesting things to learn beyond the curriculum. You've got Latymer as an option for secondary when the time comes and if she keeps up this trajectory she should get in without a problem. There's a lot more bursaries at 11+ and they're more generous than 7+.

Your challenge will be in the older years of primary if she happens to be in a class where it's not so cool to be clever or she's just bored of being bored. If you get her into a habit of doing things in her own time now, it'll pay off later.

We moved DD from her E17 primary because she wasn't being stretched and was bored stiff. Moved her to St Aubyn's in South Woodford, not from E17 at all. I think they do offer assisted places - worth looking into. It's a great school.

*not far from

Feel free to DM if you want more info!