City of London (boys) School

[atah]

Just wondered if anyone can give me their honest opinion of this school. In particular pastoral care. DS has previously been bullied and has poor social skills although he is friendly and wants a fresh start.

Does anyone know what it is like for the 10+ entrance being youngest in the school............any info would be great.
Thanks!

bump.....anyone please?

I have responded under primary ed...

school is great, but clearly not the best one in London.

the school is good value for money.

pastoral care: like any other school, but i would kindly suggest, in good will, that you do not rely on pastoral care to solve your sons bullying issues.

THere are two ways to look at bullying... the modern way (bad and can be eliminated) and traiditional (that its part of life). I follow the second approach, and rather than taking him to the priest, I encourage my kids to deal with it, show no weakness, do not complain, find a nische to excel in, study and you will have the last lough.

Perhaps i am wrong and you are right though. I do however agree with you that once bullied and given up, the best thing that you can do is give him a fresh start in the new school.

Good luck!

"clearly not the best school in London"

I am genuinely curious how do you arrive at that judgement?

not sure about the basis for your judgment.... imo the best school for any particular child is the one that looks likely to best meet his individual needs... if it has features the parents also think important so much the better. on this basis cls suits both my dss very well... good academic standards, good for their music and allows them to excel at swimming / water polo which are their sports of choice. i also happen to value the diversity of the pupils and believe that the amount of free places offered (about 10%) is admirable. have found the pastoral care excellent so far. can see that it might not suit you / yours kris if you think bullying is "part of life" to be endured as city has a zero tolerance approach which it takes seriously.

kris please tell me more on why you think CLS is clearly not the best. Do you know any pupils/ex-pupils? Just curious as we are seriously considering and have only heard good things so far, but would like to take a balanced view.
control glad to hear of the zero tolerance, fitting in and being happy is our biggest concern tbh as they are the areas most difficult to judge as an outsider. sounds like your dss are very happy there.

kris seems to think eton is her first choice for her ds... (see her thread in this topic) so don't suppose she and i are likely to have much in common re views on secondary education... yes, both dss (and they are very different characters) very happy at city. i think one of the things i like best about it is its straightforwardness. has a very clear sense of identity and sense of purpose.

Thanks for your opinion control from what you and nlondondad have said its sounds like just the right kind of school for my DS and perhaps not for kris' DS. Just hope he passes in January..........

let us know how he gets on! good luck with the exams little atah...

Thanks I will!

I see a number of boys of various ages from this school on my commute & they seem to look out for each other; I have never seen any unkindness. They also seem very well behaved, but not in a priggish way, just normal, nice boys.

lady Aaah "normal,nice boys" just what we are looking for! Obseving kids travelling to and from school is always the best real measure of the school. thanks

If anyone remembers posting on this thread - particularly nlondon and control. Its good news DS has a place at City and will starting there in September, we are so proud and excited!!!