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Original poster

Is Westminster School the best school on Earth?

1000 replies

statesmom · 01/02/2014 17:20

Just looking at their website and they have 97 places for their students at Oxford and Cambridge this year?!

We have an 8 year old son and want to focus on getting him into this place, just next to the Palace of Westminster. It looks amazing! Any thought on parents with children at the school very welcome indeed, especially any thoughts on the application process. Thank you for someone new to London.

OP posts:
Shootingatpigeons · 05/02/2014 21:54

oops sorry statesmom So insensitive of me. You produced the wrong gender of child for the best school on earth. Still I'm sure it wouldn't hold Amy Chau back, just add a little more challenge to the process of shoehorning your DS in........

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 21:55

ah yes summers, that is an excellent point!

Poor statesmom. Irony free zone.

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 21:57

The only people who give a fuck about your A levels and your school are your peers at freshers week.

It soon disappears.

Taz1212 · 05/02/2014 21:58

statesmom The asking at parties is an American thing. No one over here ever asks what school or uni you go to. I know it's a normal conversation starter at home but it simply isn't here. Grin

Bonkerssometimes · 05/02/2014 21:59

This is not about whether the school is good. It'all about OP being able to afflict the label 'best in Earth' on herself and her DS; the social exhibitionism of Statesmom portraying what she thinks of the world.

For me this thread is a hilarious piece of reality theater.

Taz1212 · 05/02/2014 22:00

Went to, not go to

Huitre · 05/02/2014 22:00

Also, Haydn, shooting? I think you mean Holst. Grin

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 22:00

OK, to be fair, when you apply for a graduate position in an international banking firm, they might well be very keen on your school and university and your results. But don't make the mistake of thinking that they are bigoted enough to limit their intake to privileged graduates...they need fresh blood, need keenness, need cutting edge. Need innovative...

Their choices might surprise you.

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 22:02

Maybe the sub prime disaster in the US might have been averted if they had not recruited to high positions only those of the golden pathway...

And the fucking awful global fall out might have been averted if they had not had a bunch of entitled twats assuming their social and economic position made them impervious the the realities of economics.

mateysmum · 05/02/2014 22:05

Oh dear Statesmom we really haven't moved on have we.

Lots of people have given you opinions on why other schools might be "best" for different children. You are defining best very narrowly but if that is the definition that suits you and your family, fine. Just don't expect everyone to agree.

For you more than £30k per annum might be a bargain but do you realise what that sounds like to people who earn and raise a family on far less than that. You are in a very fortunate position. No doubt that has come about through hard work but again don't expect people to regard your definition of a bargain as the only definition.

In the UK it would be regarded as pretty crass and vulgar to ask at parties, questions that elicit the answer "Westminster and Harvard" and then define people by that definition. I hate it when the popular press always has to say David Cameron - Eton, Benedict Cumberbatch - Harrow and in a deprecating way. I realise that the USA is different but this is a UK board.

You do rather bring out the preacher in me Statesmom Confused

SoftSheen · 05/02/2014 22:06

statesmom What numerous people have already pointed out is that Westminster does not take a random selection of (rich) children and then get 50% of them to Oxbridge. They rigorously select for children that have a very high potential for getting into Oxbridge and then (unsurprisingly) 50% get in.

And if you are looking for a school that might impress random strangers at parties, then Eton is undoubtedly the school with greatest fame worldwide.

Bonkerssometimes · 05/02/2014 22:08

Agree with you Madame, entitled twats are more of risk than asset to a global business nowadays. They just don't see what is going on in real world. Just think of BP handling of the oil spill.

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 22:10

And softsheen, only 50% of their sixth form cohort.

Many on whom will comprise girls from other superselective schools in London.

Therefore the chances of your ds being one of the 50% are pretty low!

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 22:13

But Statemom knows this.

She is just playing with us...

To prove, some, er, vague point nobody with an ounce of rigour can actually get their mitts around...

HomeHelpMeGawd · 05/02/2014 22:13

statesmom, you've seen more than 1 strong argument why Westminster isn't the best school on earth. You just haven't understood them. Such a shame your parents didn't send you to Westminster; then you would surely have had a chance...

Shootingatpigeons · 05/02/2014 22:18

What would I know huitre? I went to a northern Grammar School Shock and we only had Delius. I keep trying to mention it at parties but no one will talk to me after that. It must explain why I had to go into trade...............

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 22:19

I love statesmom. She epitomises all that is the most strategic of those lovely incursors into MN.

Post 1. Ludicrous thesis.

Subsequent posts. No Antithesis.

Still awaiting the synthesis post.

It's lovely to be able to give foreigners an insight into our education system. And even lovelier that they have a good old think about it, and come back with pertinent questions.

Still waiting on the last bit tho. Come on Statesmom, give us something to really get out teeth into!

Be happy that we have not descended into Private v state as some folk enjoy!

We are here for you!

MadameDefarge · 05/02/2014 22:20

Me and my sis went to a random convent...she is a scary mover and shaker now, me, slightly less. Ahem.

Same school, different worldly outcomes. Both pretty happy.

mateysmum · 05/02/2014 22:27

Do we actually know if Statesmom has plans to visit Westminster, has got her DS's name down? After all she asked us for advise on admissions which she was given but didn't follow up.

Statesmom please can you update us on how your plans for DS's admission are progressing so that those in the know can assist you further.

Huitre · 05/02/2014 22:27

NORTHERN, Shooting? Dear me. I am so sorry. Still, plumbing is a lovely trade and I expect you do very well for yourself. Do excuse me while I pop off to talk to chappie over there who went to Harvard.

Which nobody in the world ever said....

Is the US seriously this hidebound/classbound/weird about accidental privilege?

Xuper · 05/02/2014 22:28

i have lurked and not looked at this thread for a day...am picking myself of the floor from laughing at the last of this ridiculous OP's posts....now we are into what names we can drop at parties....fast forward a few years since her DS poor thing is only 8....sorry, no offence, but perhaps this whole thread is a moot point, because statesmom's DS may have a snowball's chance in hell of getting into Westminster...interestingly, she's revealed almost nothing about him...if he exists at all.... if he does exist, poor thing has the weight of her social expectations on his shoulders....but yes, echoing others, thanks for keeping us entertained...

Xuper · 05/02/2014 22:29

oh yes. please do keep us posted on his progression...not only to Westminster but then naturally, Harvard, yah.

NearTheWindmill · 05/02/2014 22:36

Some of us need to take it less seriously folks! Do you know, I love going to parties, and having my very ordinary self there and striking up a conversation and being asked a few questions and avoiding them as much as possible. And when pressed saying "em, yes I do know xxx, oh how, oh he's my husband, oh she's my dd's godmother, em yes, that one, em yes, I am xx's mum, em yes, he was captain of the first xv, em yes now tell me are you looking forward to a lovely holiday this summer". And sometimes at that point the head or housemaster or a cabinet minister comes along and gives me a hug and rescues me from a right little prat.

FGS not all of us need to talk about it at parties.

Blackwattle · 05/02/2014 22:40

Statesmom, I run an educational consultancy and one of my services is to advise parents on suitable schools for their children. Your comments remind me of so many parents I have seen - focused only on status and results rather than the most important thing which is to find the right school for their child. Although, I have to say location near the Palace of Westminster is a new one on me.

The 'best' school for a child is the one which will nurture, stimulate and encourage a child. Every child is different and for some, a fast-paced, competitive environment will bring out the best in him/her. For others, a gentler school where they are a 'big fish' will allow them to shine. This gentle school could well be the 'best' school whether 50% get to Oxbridge or not. Ultimately, don't we just all want our children to be happy and confident within themselves?

So stop trying to pronounce that one school is the best school - it's like saying that one book is the best book over all others when it really all comes down to personal opinion.

Huitre · 05/02/2014 22:42

Ultimately, don't we just all want our children to be happy and confident within themselves?

No. Some of us apparently want to show off at parties.

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