Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham

[RosaLappen]

Can anybody tell me more about the school? Loved the feel of it at the open evening but then hear people say it is too pressured, pastoral care not good enough...

Obviously I do appreciate that dd has only a slim chance of gaining a place, but I thought I could ask, anyway!

Lovely school. Complete tosh about it being pressurised. I have the laziest child ever and Pate's has motivated said child to actually do homework with enthusiasm. A miracle!! Pastoral care is fantastic - a friends child has had some personal problems and the school has been amazing, caring and sensible in its handling of said problems.

DC has been happy since day one. They seem to strike a great balance between fun and work. I would kill to get DC2 in but also appreciate DC2 has slim chance of gaining a place.

Have you found www.elevenplusexams.co.uk ? They have a forum for Gloucestershire and if you search for Pate's there are plenty of opinions. Negative ones are usually from people who failed to get a place

Good luck, by the way. Hope to see you and your DD next year

negative opinions may also be from people who have seen the burn outs....

Everyone has their own opinion, it is a very good school results wise - it should be, it is the most selective school in the county.

ByTheWay1 - absolutely. It is the most selective school in the county. Which is why it isn't particularly pressurised. The kids have an enormous advantage when they come in and the school take them on from there.

Really, the most selective in the country? I didn't know that! Were the burn outs caused by the school's attitude?

Oh county not country

Do we know of any burn outs? I genuinely would be interested?

Runs off to search though Glos Forum....

If your child is naturally clever, works to the top of their ability and has no anxiety issues I'm sure they will be fine.

As to burn outs - my best friend's daughter had a very public breakdown between Y9 and 10 due to pressures of school - the school were not very helpful, she moved to a local comp school and is thriving at the top tier.

A friend's son was there - he was very happy, although he thrives on academic study.

My daughter's old headmaster told us Pates basically takes the elite from seven counties, so obviously a child will be a certain standard anyway. We decided against Pates as my daughter wasn't willing to practice any old papers and put the effort in - it was borderline if she got a place anyway.

Have to say, we were lucky though, we looked at our local comprehensive and were so impressed. Our daughter started there this month and is getting marks like A, G+ (which means just what they are looking for and extra effort applied), second from top of class so on so. There is quite a lot of homework coming out with the option of extension work if they are willing, so there is plenty of scope for working at a higher level and they are really encouraging the high and low achievers. Also, they have every after school club going, even things like geography, samba music, so if a child is particularly interested in a subject they can do more. My daugher plays violin and has the choice of two school clubs working in different ways with strings.

If Pates feel right go for it, but at the same time look at a couple of comprehensives - we did. Do ask the comprehensives about higher achievers, what clubs they have etc.

Yup. Hard as nails my DC1!! From that description I think you probably know her ByTheWay . Her only anxiety with Pate's is that they don't allow nail varnish!!

Maybe they have learned from that burnout and that is why they are now bending over backwards to help my friends DC...

OP I think the thing to remember is that we are very, very lucky in Gloucestershire to have many fabulous schools and you and your DD need to decide what feels right for you. I know that if my next DC doesn't get into Pate's (or hates it on seeing it) we can choose from another local grammar or two great comprehensives.

Do you think all the children who get in are Level 6?

I think the kids who get in are either level 6 naturally or tutored heavily to get through the grammar school test - the latter group are the ones who can suffer the pressures most.

hanglider I know a few who fit that description.... lol,

my eldest decided to go to a comp and is thriving - we are SOOOOOOOOOOO lucky where we live - we are (just) in the catchment of 3 very good state secondary schools, and I know mine will thrive at the top of the heap rather than in the middle - which, realistically, is where they would be in a grammar.

(this could "out" me as I think there are only 20 houses who are in all 3 catchments!)

Rosa, I would say that the Level 6 thing depends on what the Level 6 is in, because of the fact that the test for Pates is verbal reasoning only.

Therefore children who are level 6 for maths might not get in, whereas those who are that level in English might be more likely to, IYSWIM. Certainly lots of children who gain level 6 fail to get in.

From observation, there seem to be 3 groups of children who get in
a) Those who attend one of the 'specialist' private primaries in the area, who offer a very ... thorough .. preparation for the test, not only in terms of actual VR but also through general exam prep etc. Many of these are also tutored.
b) Oustandingly bright children, from a very wide area, who have done a reasonable amount of preparation at home or at a tutor.
c) Other children who are very heavily tutored.

I believe it to be a fabulous school for those children who get in 'relatively easily'. I would have more doubts for a 'borderline' child.

Remember that you lose nothing by putting Pates on your form as a school to share 11+ results with - if you gain a qualifying mark, that's great and you can put it on your main application form. If you don't, it doesn't get in the way of getting a place in another grammar or in a comprehensive. DS's application had a comprehensive first, with a grammar as an insurance place as we live on the edge of a catchment. He's started at the comprehensive and is having a ball.

[Bytheway we must be fairly near neighbours]

Unfortunately we are not quite so lucky when it comes to comprehensives we are in the catchment for.

I've never heard anything negative about Pate's , either professionally or as a parent. The High School for Girls in Gloucester is also pretty good AFAIK. Which are your catchment secondaries? PM if you would prefer.

Absolutely agree with hanglider.

Have had/still have DCs at Pate's. All love/loved it.

Any pressure comes from within the DCs themselves, NOT the school. Pastoral care VG.

Mine went there from normal state school (i.e one of the less desirable ones in Chelt)and weren't heavily tutored.

Agree that perhaps the heavily tutored are the ones who might find it hard, but remember they are only working to more or less the same syllabus as top sets in comps. They don't take extra HARD GCSEs that aren't available anywhere else, although there is opportunity to take Latin, Mandarin etc if you want. No-one is forced to do so, especially my lazy DCs.

Agree that most of the scare stories one hears about Pate's are from people whose children don't actually go there.

PS. They weren't 'professionally' tutored at all...... I went through practice papers with them, that's all. I think it is only fair to do that. They have examples of the papers on their website now so anyone can do that.

We looked at Pate's and both DSs got in, but we live very near one of the other grammar schools so decided to send them there instead. Just didn't want them spending up to 2 hours a day on a bus, and wanted them to have really local friends and be part of the community. We were also swayed by the musical offerings of our local school. We're really happy with our school and would do the same again. We didn't tutor either - just did practice papers at home.

I haven't heard anything negative about Pate's at all - the results obviously are amazing, and all the children we know who go there are happy. Nothing at all wrong with putting all the grammar schools on your form and seeing what happens. I think they're all great, and if your child is motivated they will do well at any of them.

Is your DC doing the test this time? Good luck if so!

I'm in a less than popular catchment and my youngest DS will be taking the 11+ next week. He hasn't been tutored, we've just done a few practice papers and, realistically, he's unlikely to get Pates. Maybe if he'd been heavily tutored, but he's likely to get a Gloucester Grammar place. TBH, I'd prefer one of the local comps as they are excellent, but we aren't in catchment for them.

It's worth practising as anyone who gets in will have practised. It's worth sharing results with Pates even if it's unlikely as you can take the test there with your friends, and also share with the Gloucester Grammars. My DS prefered the atmosphere at Tommies to the rather serious and worthy open day at Pates, but I'd prefer a co-ed in my town to a single sex school in the next town. In fact, I'd prefer a co-ed comp on my side of town!

My friend has 2 at Pates and one in Tommies. For her DD, Pates has been excellent, but for her DSs she prefers Tommies. I think her DS has found finding like minded friends a bit of a problem, his friends seem to live miles away in Bristol or Oxford.

Rosa, most of the children who get in won't be L6 for English because there were only 7 in the whole of Gloucestershire in 2012 and similar low numbers in all surrounding counties! Most of these will, of course, not be going to Pates. The only one I know is happily going to her local comp.

Wincy, there's a difference between those who are working at a level 6 for English and those who were entered for the level 6 reading test by a small minority of Glos schools.

Yes - for some reason lots of primaries entered pupils for Maths at Level 6, but not English...

Hello there, Was wondering if anyone's children took the pates test today and if so did they find the first paper more challenging than the second? Also did they complete both papers in full. Thanks