Who is sending their kids to an independant school?

[Kizza2]

I want to send my son to an independant school and was wondering what the best ones around North London are, I dont want him to have to go into the city and would like somewhere with a bus service?

I looked at Latymer, but I feel he would be better supported somewhere which had a better student:teacher ratio.

Thanks for your advice

[Good2talk2]

Mill Hill School is on the up and up. Good academic focus with some pupils going to Oxbridge and most to Russell Group unis.

[Kizza2]

thanks for all the positive responses on here, much appreciated.....good luck to all mummies looking for schools for their kids- i know how hard it is now :)

[Kizza2]

Hi i am considering merchant taylors....heard it was good. As for girls- anyone considering North London Collegiate? Has anyone heard any reviews about it??

[tropicalfish]

st albans boys and habs boys both have a bus service.

[BringBack1996]

The best thing to think about it your DS's interests and any extra-curricular activities he may do. Have a look with him at the oppourtunities there are for him to do these activities at each school and what facilities there are for them. Lots of schools bang on about great facilities but, say you DS is into art but their best facilities are for say rugby, your DS isn't necessarily going to benefit. Make sure you take a look around each school and maybe find out a bit about them from other parents - once you've got a shortlist together you could ask for opinions on the specific schools on here.

Sorry I don't know anything about schools in the area but I hope that helped.

[PooshTun]

clayhanger - please point to where the OP gets arsey. As far as I can see, the OP made just the original post. No doubt she was put off by the hostile responses.

If you are going to flame someone's spelling then it helps if you don't demonstrate a lack of comprehension skills.

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

I'm reposting because the thread went of track

Thanks Sarcalogos for getting back on line

Mill Hill is better than in was and they have just dropped Saturday school but do still offer optional activities on the Saturday as they are a boarding school.

Harrow I know someone who sent his son to Harrow as he thought he would far better in the less hot house atmosphere compared to some of the day school options, he enjoyed himself and got good results.

Merchant Taylors is not as far out as you might think, its on the Met line and runs buses from various places. Spacious grounds and good results. I know quite a few people who have sons there and they all seem pleased with it.

I don't know much about UCS or Highgate.

Do you want co-ed or single sex. Do you want boarding? Harrow, Mill Hill, MT etc are more NW London, where are you in London?

[Sarcalogos]

Mill Hill is improving rapidly, has a 'broader' academic intake than the more traditionally 'academic' schools and standards/results are getting better all the time.

Highgate has an excellent reputation for the very bright.

Harrow is the natural choice if you want traditional independent schooling, think bizarre traditions and lot of sporty fun (as well as sound academic work).

Facilities at all three are very good, it's really down to personal choice,

Now has that got the thread back on track and out of pedants corner?

[EdithWeston]

This isn't pedantry (go over and look at the Pedants' Corner: quite a different sort of thread is found there).

This is picking on someone because of a mistake.

And even if you notice a mistake and form a poor impression, perhaps the more supportive assumption is that the poster wants DC to have a better education than she had?

OP: I have never come across any selective school, independent or otherwise, which selects on the basis of parental spelling. It really is a non-issue.

[happygardening]

If some of you have nothing better to do than sit there correcting people's grammar and spelling than I think you need to go and get yourselves a life. Maybe I'm deluding myself but I thought the whole point of MN was to offer support particularly when the actual posting was asking for specific advise. If a posting is trying to provoke a debate and I admit the original question looked like it have been done to start another now tedious independent versus state ed debate then ok be picky but this is not the case here leave the OP alone.

[gazzalw]

The 11+ Forum is a classic venue for some basic spelling/grammatical howlers. The funniest was atlist for at least. Yes, I know, I know, we should be tolerant but still it annoys. I don't think I would post in any language unless I was sure that what I'd written was linguistically correct.

It's not as if independent is a particularly difficult word either.....sure they do it as a spelling in KS2. It's a bit like getting definitely wrong [grr].

[StealthPolarBear]

Clay, there are many reasons why people choose independent schools and I imagine the specific, detailed attention to spelling and grammar as you describe may just be one of them.
I agree with you btw that it's important, but while I am meticulous at work, I am a lot less meticulous when posting on a chat board.

[empirestateofmind]

I agree with senua and Clay. It isn't worth getting spelling wrong on these sorts of threads. If you know you are not good at spelling- then check.

If you expect others to put time and effort into providing you with information the least you can do is take the trouble to present your question well.

OP I think you need to be more specific about areas and your child's ability and interests to get any meaningful information.

PS is it just me that doesn't like the word kid?

[marriedinwhite]

I hope you get some sensible responses. I can help with SW London but know very little about North London, except that Harrow is up there and so too is Mill Hill School; both of which are reasonable but not especially academic.

[Clayhanger]

Sorry. I'm with senua. Love it when parents who want to send their children private suddenly get arsey when picked up for extraordinarily basic spelling errors. Isn't that why you want your kids to go independEnt? Isn't that sort of rigour exactly what you're paying for? (And don't get me started on "grammer" schools).

[PooshTun]

:o at nokissy

[nokissymum]

PooshTun - "Does picking fault with the OP's spelling make you fell better"

Not unless Senua is a tree cutter you've gotta put all that angst somewhere

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

I know some people who send their son to Merchant Taylors and really like it as it is a bit more rural. It gets good results.

[wordfactory]

senua there are people on this forum with dyslexia and other LDs. There are people for who English is not their first, or even second language. There are people who had a poor education themselves....

They are perfectlly at liberty to post here without someone ridiculing them!!!!

And no, a headmaster at a private school would not care a jot...

[PooshTun]

Oh look, I accidentally typed 'fell'. Oh dear. I guess I should forget about university for my kids. eh? :o

[PooshTun]

sensua - Does picking fault with
the OP's spelling make you fell better? I mean the OP may have more money than you or is more successful but hey, at least you know how to use a spell checker :o

[happygardening]

One parent at my DS's old prep on completing the registration form for Eton made the cheque payable to Eaton! Least she had enough of a sense of humour to laugh about it afterwards.

[senua]

PooshTun If someone is going to spend thousands of pounds trying to gain an academic advantage for their DC, it would be an idea to be able to spell the name of the product they are buying. Otherwise they could end up looking a right idiot in front of the school / headteacher they were trying to persuade to take their DC. I was doing her a favour to point it out.

Remind me again, what was your contribution to the thread?

[BeingFluffy]

Try the Good Schools Guide - it may be available at the library or I believe you can subscribe online. That should give you a good idea of what is available in your area.