Is anyone here part of private school secondary admissions?

[upupandball]

I have some questions that only admissions can answer.

thank you.

I used to work in admissions for a private school - but the main thing I can tell you is that attitudes between different schools will vary a lot! What do you want to ask ?

Ooh can I jump on this and ask a question? We’re trying to move our year 6 DS from a through school independent (he has a place in the senior school) to somewhere else because we’re not very satisfied with SEN provision. DS is extremely bright but uneven - ie his standardised scores vary from 118 to 136 (in same subject!) often depending on confidence and fairly small SEN adjustments. His year 5 teacher just didn’t “get” him at all, his confidence plummeted (we had to really fight for small SEN adjustments) and he went from a stellar report and amazing grades in year 4 to a just good one with good grades in year 5.

My question is - most independent secondary schools require the most recent report from current school as part of admissions. How much does that report affect things? And can opinion be significantly altered by a great reference from head? The head knows DS well and I think would be more complimentary than year 5 teacher…

Ask away

Should add, goal is selective London school. Not top tier St Paul’s level, but definitely selective

The report only forms part of the picture. The taster day/assessments/interview etc are as important. And unless the school is hugely oversubscribed they will likely look beyond that.

You will need to take the enterance exam. The reference is usually done by the head.

Thank you . Yes, exams and (hopefully) interview too. So in admissions would you sometimes see kids presenting differently from their reports? It just seems a bit mad to me that one teacher would have such control/influence over a kid’s future!

At our school we’d have looked at the most recent report, but if you told us that the Sen accommodations had not been consistently applied in that timeframe and asked us to look at the year 4 report as well we would definitely look at that and take it into account.

With any applicant with SEN we’d ask for information about their needs and accommodations to be sure that we can meet those needs, and that the application process was adjusted so they could fairly show us their abilities.

In one case the school reference and grades were poor, but we read references from scouts, and Jiu jitsu club, and a holiday club and that all helped give us confidence that this kid could meet behavioural expectations when their needs were being met - their primary hadn’t done a good job at all of meeting those needs which is why his school reference was poor but the overall picture was good if that makes sense.

So in your shoes I’d send whatever you think is helpful, with a covering email or letter explaining what everything is, include both reports and a headteacher reference.

Hi,

i would like to know how admissions work with getting a place.
The 2 schools that we need a place at say they have a waitlist. We are not on the waitlist as my child did not take the enterance exam. However, school can see his results as it is an ISEB school.
They have not put me on a waitlist.
is there any advice for me?

i havent met the head either or asked him.

Have you actually made an application?

Oh wow! That’s amazing. Some of them don’t seem to have the option to add a covering letter. But I can upload the Ed Psych report and also the much better year 4 report. Maybe I can speak directly to the SEN department too…

There isnt an option to.

Yes, do all that. I wish all parents would be more open about SEN. I know that some worry that it will influence our decision, but honestly it’s some much better to have all the info before they start, so we make sure the right support is in place.

I’m not sure what you’re asking tbh. They’ve told you that to apply for a place he needs to take their entrance exam. They’re allowed to have their own admission requirements, so you just need to follow their process. It might be helpful for you to know whether he’s likely to meet their standards (based on his ISEB score) and you could try asking the admissions team for guidance about this?

Yes definitely ask the admissions team if you can speak to their SENCO, they’ll be able to discuss with you what accommodations would be needed for entrance exams etc.

So do you mean you missed their application round and now they’re not letting you apply as that entrance year is already full with a waitlist? That’s unfortunate but there’s nothing you can do about it, you’ll just need to look at other schools.

Thank you so much. Given that we are potentially moving him in large part because of unhappiness with SEN provision there wouldn’t be much point being covert about it! The thing with DD (and his EP report literally says this is a real risk) 🙂 is that he does ok regardless, so it’s very easy to miss that he’s actually underperforming, which is what happened with year 5 teacher really.

Okay. Find an email address for the admissions person, and send this:

Dear Sarah

I am keen to find out the best way to apply for a place at Happy House for my son, Ben. Ben is currently in Year 6 at St Marks School, and we would like to move him to a new school this academic year.

I am aware that there may be a waiting list in operation for this year group, but I would appreciate it if you could tell me how we can get Ben’s name added to it.

As we have not visited the school, I would also be grateful for the opportunity to visit and meet with the Head.

I look forward to hearing from you. If it is easier to talk on the phone, my number is….

@KarcherK5 @NancyJoan Can I ask one more thing: willl more general admissions read the EP report? Or just the SEN team?

Hard to say. I might skim it before passing it on (but you could send directly to SENCO if you would prefer, that wouldn’t bother me at all)

Yes this is what happened.
Would it be worthwhile speaking to the head?
i know lots of places come available as there is always movement.

And I would skim because I am interested, and get to know our families really well. The report would have no bearing on us offering a place or not, but it might give me context when we are arranging a taster day, or telling you about extra curricular stuff, or school lunches or whatever.

@KarcherK5would it be ideal to speak to the head as admissions are not enteraining me at all

Thank you both @KarcherK5 and @NancyJoan - I actually WANT general admissions to read the EP report as well SENco, because the ed psych is so, so clear about DS’s intelligence and potential and how much small adjustments make a difference. I feel like it helps put the (not terrible at all but slightly average) year 5 report in context for anyone even remotely reading between the lines.

Agree with the draft email. However their disinterest may suggest that they already have a wl of candidates who sat the entrance test/interview round and/or they would prefer not to take on an untested pupil with potential SEN. Are either of them recognised as supporting pupils with Additional Needs well?