Secondary for boys in London

[MrsSteptoe]

Hoping to mine your collective experiences re independent secondaries for boys. We are bang in the middle of London with a Y4 boy at a state primary; nearly all the kids will go on to a state secondary, so there's little word-of-mouth on the independents. We don't aspire to mega-academia, only to fulfilling his reasonable academic potential. But my main concern at the moment is avoiding any schools where he's really disadvantaged by coming from a stretched financial background. We're not in the bursary category and scholarships are mostly in areas where he shows no particular development. But if we send him to an independent, we will be continuing to live in a small flat and drive a 15-year-old car, and the more lavish school trips might be a bit of an issue! Does anyone have any views on independent schools where kids whose families are stretched for cash won't feel out of place? Or, just as important, schools to avoid?

London private school have a big mix of pupils. Even if you don't qualify for a bursary, there may well be children there who are receiving assistance and wither will be others whose parents are making sacrifices to manage the fees, or relying on GPs etc. So I wouldn't worry too much about fitting in.

I do think you need to be aware that there has been huge pressure (even by London standards) on day school places at 11+. This is reputed to be a combination of of just so many children in the capital, and fewer children going to board (parents still willing to pay day fees, but not stretch to boarding). Even some quite academic prep schools have had children receive no 11+ offers at all this year. I don't mean that to be unduly off-putting, but I did want to mention how very competitive it is.

Do you want all boys?

You might want to have a think about City of London Boys, Kings College Wimbledon (if he's of an academic turn), Dulwich or Alleyns, Whitgift or Trinity, Emmanuel. All those have junior departments or 10+ entry too. That's an extra year's fees to find, but possibly slightly less pressure on numbers.

DS1 is joining City of London Boys in September in Y9. There are lots of bursary boys and lots from state primaries in Y7 at City. We have taken the prep school route, which has been a enormous stretch financially - we don't run a car etc., etc. - though fantastic academically. We're the poorest parents in the year (bar the couple of bursary boys) and I'm really looking forward to being back in my comfort zone at City.

Medetrina is right though about the increased day school competition - scary City stats here: www.clsb.org.uk/downloads/citizen/citizen2012-01-20.pdf

Thank you, sicutlilium and meditrina - very helpful from the POV of being relatively poor parents (in the context of this conversation) although somewhat depressing from the POV of competition! I have been trying not to consider this aspect too much as I don't want to just stress for over a year... !

One other thing about City is that the fees are lower than most.

I noticed that. I'm hoping that the lower fees combined with the excellence of the school is partly why it's so hugely oversubscribed. Not to underestimate the competitiveness, but maybe the odds aren't QUITE so overwhelming at some of the other indeps. We shall have to have faith, I think (literally, I mean, not a comment about faith schools!)

I don't think the odds are overwhelming, and you have time on your side. I would get on with a bit of gentle preparation (by which I mean theatre visits and exciting London stuff so he has things to talk and write about but also just to help him think about what he is into, what floats his boat, and interesting books, as well as bits of maths practice and maybe doing some low-key Bond VR and NVR for his age group - they are not that like the real thing but can be made fun if you do them together).

Go and look round them in the autumn, and talk to the staff there about what sort of level they are looking for, and decide whether you want to tutor or DIY (I think it is not kind to send them in without practice, and as many have four papers, it takes a while even to do the MN favourite "we just look through a few past papers"!). Then decide provisionally what you think, and go again in year six. Remember a lot of these schools have registration up to the November of year 6, so you do have time.

Not all schools with junior departments will take children in year six - at least one of those listed above has a policy of not doing so.

You don't say exactly where you are in London, but have you thought about grammar schools just outside London? We used to live near Victoria and I know children who do a "reverse commute" - within 30 min or so there are some very good grammars.

Thanks so much for these comments, twoterrors and suburbandream. Your suggestion of doing lots of "stuff" to feed his imagination is inspired. We've put far too much focus on homework and stuff. No wonder he's bored. And suburbandream, we are, coincidentally, in Victoria/Westminster. And we are definitely thinking about the grammars - although I am slightly concerned that grammar school places might be even more competitive than independents! But as you say, they are perfectly do-able from Victoria Station.

Glad you like it. You do have to do the drill, but I think Stuff can help develop powers of concentration, comprehension, stamina, spark, etc as well, and they all dull the pain of NVR papers, I found. Gin helps too. Seriously, I think some of these schools are looking for children with something to say about the world, and you don't get that just by practising fractions.

Yes, the likes of the Sutton grammars are v competitive (children can not get into them and get into some of the schools mentioned here), but if you have six CAF spaces and few decent local options, it might be worth a punt, and it is useful practice before the January exams.

Mrs Steptoe, now is the time to start looking - there are open days coming up at the end of this term and in September/October for the grammars where we are in Kent. The 11+ is taken really early these days, mid-September in Year 6 (the benefit of this is that you get the results before you have to sit the tests for the independents).