Schools leading to Colet Court, Barnes

[jennyinlondon]

I'm just getting to gripes with schools. DS is 14 months old but I have a feeling I could already be late!!

If DS is bright we'd like him to go to Colet Court and then St Pauls.Do people have advice for which schools boys go to prior to Colet Court?

I hate the idea of being a hothouse parent but also don't want him to miss out

Many thanks

You're a brave lady for posting! Hope you get some helpful replies.
A colleague enquired relatively recently and Colet gave her a list of feeder schools, so that could be a place to start.
Also I would say depends where you live - I don't think there is any one particular feeder school so the one closest to you may be best. Eg Wetherby, Notting Hill; Falcons (Chiswick); St James? I quite imagine there is also a lot of tutoring that goes on.
Good luck - my husband went to St Paul's and would love our little one to go too, but King's is on our doorstep so I am shooting for there.

Agree that you are brave to post. vanitypear's advice is spot on - pick a good pre-prep which is close to you and is well versed on the 7+/8+ process, has a good track record in getting boys in, and work from there. No need to worry about anything until Year 1, and even then it is more towards the middle that you should start.

Wait and see what kind of boy you have. Colet Court will not suit everyone - not in terms of intelligence, but a certain type of boy will thrive there, and if your son isn't that kind of boy, I'd pick a different school.

Good luck.

Dear Vanity pear and Sofaqueen thank-you so much for replying.

Am I brave because people think its awful to think about schools when they are babies? I'm not enjoying it but equally being in London don't want him to miss out

I'll give Colet a call

Hi Jenny, just to explain the comment, sometimes people on MN take exception to posters they assume to be pushy parents wanting to send children who are still very young to hothouses, etc, and the thread kicks off... glad yours didn't. But Sofa Queen's advice is of course very good, to wait and see if it will suit him as I am sure it's not for every boy.

Good luck with finding a lovely pre-prep for your DS.

you could look at Merlin. It acts as a feeder to Colet Court.

some info here.

www.putneysw15.com/default.asp?section=community&page=schmerlin.htm

There is no one "feeder" into Colet Court, but a number of schools which successfully get boys in at 7+ and 8+. Choose the one most convenient to you which you (and, most importantly) your son will enjoy.

I know that Newton Prep has good links with St Pauls but it depends on your location. They don't tend to do the 7/8 moves though as the schools goes from nursery to 13+ but if you wanted a good nursery school to start with that would give you the option of the best schools in the country at a much later date then it is worth considering.

First pick a preprep that until goes up to 8 years old because the others want your money all the way up to 13, your son will not get good prep for 7/8 or you are on your own.
Eaton House Belgravia and Wetherby Pre Prep seems to get 7-8 per year to both Colet Court and to Westminster Under.
My nephew goes to Colet. If your boy needs to be extensively tutored to get in they you are going to be miserable when he is 9+ because he will be at the bottom of the year and worse, the School lets you know gently that your boy is not up to St.Paul's or to Westminster Great School, so look elsewhere. The boys also know exactly where they are in the year, you don't want to be at bottom third at a school like Colet.