highgate st michaels vs the cavendish

[comincomin]

it seems that our ds has chance of place at both of these. wracked between excellent state with co ed with good chance of getting to next level but will have lots of extra coaching vs cosy private with excellent chances of getting to next school with little or no coaching but is single sex.....

eer actually I meant DD rather than DS cos I am sure that would have a strong impact on opinions.........

I went to the Cavendish in Camden several decades ago! It was lovely then, none of the stress associated with primaries now. Is that the one you mean?

What does your DD say about the 2 schools? What are the parents like? Which head do you warm to? Make a chart of pluses and minuses for each one, from your point of view and from your DD's.

I know someone with children at st Michaels and lots of people who want to get in there. I also know someone with a dd at cavendish. They both really like the schools - my friend with a ds in St Michaels has said that the stress about secondary schools has started now (her ds is in y4).

thanks re both those messages.
yes it is the cavendish in camden,
and yes the whole 11plus and trying to avoid the stress of it is one of my biggest concerns

someone I work with put his dd and ds into St Michaels and they have both been really happy there. He was worried that his ds wasn't desperately bright and that he might not get into a decent secondary school without a struggle so he took him out a year early and put him into Belmont (i think) when the competition was much easier than if he had applied in the top year ... that way he can feed directly into Mill Hill. It seems to have worked and I think he is planning to do the same with his dd.

Cavendish is lovely. I know a couple of people who have or had kids at St Michael's. By all accounts it's fine IF what you want is a free prep school. If your child is a struggler, it might not be the thing. V. v. high proportion of kids being tutored, apparently.

In the end it comes down to your child's personality (assuming money is not an issue): if you have a slightly delicate little flower, one who might need support or encouragement to achieve her best then Cavendish would be great. If otoh you have a bright, confident, bossy little girl, then I'd probably go for St Michael's or other state option (which is in fact the decision we made for dd2, who was offered places at CAvendish and SHHS junior school).

I don't see how either option avoids the 11+ though, since both schools finish at 11.

Sorry to thread hijack but I guess we're in the same area to you. I note in its self description that 50% of St Michael's kids go private at secondary which I guess says a lot.

Does anyone have any opinion on the other state schools in that area, particularly Brookfield and St Joseph's (highgate)? How much effort in terms of tutoring would it be to get into a state selective or private from there?

My nephews go to Brookfield and are happy there and doing well. Quite a decent intake I think - wouldn't be surprised if many from there go on to private school as it's that sort of area. Not my nephews though - my sis is a bit of a red revolutionary!