Is Westminster School the best school on Earth?

[statesmom]

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.

Of course I'm for real; I know it makes you feel better about yourself by assuming I'm not.

I guess if I spoke with such zeal about some grammar school or whatever then I would get your approval! LOL

statesmom WORKS

and 5 hours a week of tutoring for four years? Ha ha ha! Sorry statesmom No scrupulous tutor in London is going to agree to that, we are not quite Hong Kong, not yet anyway. Plus you are wasting your money. Why instead of speaking to a friend, and an unscrupulous tutor, don't you talk to Westminster about what it takes to get in? Surely before you start this family commitment you should do your basic research? Things like you do not have four years for preparation, as has been pointed out several times on here, you have to pass a pre test at 11

Now I know this is a wind up! Quite fun though

Can I just say on behalf of other Yank expats that most of us are a bit more down to earth!

Honestly!

Every joke has a fraction of joke.

OP might be playing, but her values and attitudes are totally real.

We always knew that they are part of the most exclusive club in the land. and OP just put the moose on thew table.

saintlyjimjams - when I said that London private schools were diverse I was specifically referring to ethnicity, race and nationality - NOT economic background

Ah okay - that makes more sense. I'm not sure that it's specifically about priorities, it may be that in some cultures the whole family chips in to pay for education, making it more affordable. And if it is about priorities that can be double edged. I did teach a lot of Asian students when I was working in a very expensive retake college and quite a few of them did complain about their parents expectations for them (which were, it has to be said, often unrealistic). I remember specifically talking to one boy about what he wanted to do (which was perfectly respectable), as opposed to what he was expected to do - yes education was valued as a means to becoming a professional but other careers were not valued at all. This was their words, not mine.

I do think that for the large, old top notch schools entry at 13 makes it very difficult for many state school or more 'normal' private school entrants to compete really. Or perhaps it makes it less relevant for them. I couldn't imagine taking my settled year 7 ds2 out of his school to start somewhere new in year 9, having just moved in September. There's one prep school that teaches to year 8 in a 20 mile radius of here, and that doesn't have the big scholarships that Eton etc has. Maybe that's why 6th form scholarships are more common - it's more practical for people who have been in the regular education system (whether state or private) to transfer to the big public schools then.

The 18:27 post is bonkers.

Eton a much worse school? Ha ha.

And a family commitment to focus only on Getting Into Westminster. Really? And what happens if your son doesn't? As can happen to any bright child. Having had it being something given the importance of 5 hours a week with a super tutor for years? Surely there's better things for a child to be doing? Better save up some money for adult therapy sessions.....

Is Statesmom hoping for a fee rebate in exchange of this viral marketing campaign? Or is the school's digital marketeer?

statesmom - blatantly investing in the pursuit of naked ambition, and advertising that fact, is not usually a very successful strategy in the UK. You should shut up just know .

Bonkers if you find something fun and fascinating and you are enthusiastic about it then you will be prepared to put the hours in to the grind needed to get to where you want to go. My DD is now studying Science at a top uni, she has done internships in Research Science and now really wants to spend the rest of her life studying the behaviour of proteins within cells to enable targeted therapies for things like Macular Degeneration and Cancer. She is passionate (sorry to use that word but she really is) about the importance of Science and Scientific advances for society and the importance communicating that effectively to society and about the position of women in the scientific community. Obviously she hasn't got to this point without an awful lot of grind, and nor does what she do not have lots of grind, the thing that is holding up all the promised benefits from the mapping of dna is handling the sheer volumes of research data.

And it all goes back to an inspiring teacher in her hippy school letting her dissect a fish in art.

I have always focused on introducing my children to the endless fascination that exists within Sciences and the humanities, on the basis that given the motivation the work ethic will follow. I am glad that their schools, be they hippy or highly selective private school had the same aim, as does Westminster. I am not so much proud of their academic achievements in terms of A* s as that they are intellectually curious, funny, enthusiastic caring girls who have confidence in their talents and know how they want to use them to make a difference. That's what's important not their ability to do Calculus, useless if they don't want to use it.

She might be 6th form student doing digital marketing project... LOL

Bonkers Is statesmom going to be the first person to go several 1000 post threads with her first thread? Is she getting a pay off from Mumsnet?

Statesmom's trolling is getting tiresome now. Let's just talk about other stuff.

What's for tea?

I wish she were a troll but, going by the Americans I know in Paris, I think she is for real...

You do know that the US is a huge, diverse country, right?

Oh and oneglass the girls' school that are broadly offering the same sort of education as Westminster in London, which after all is what we are taking about do indeed go back hundreds of years. I don't know if they were the first but Lady Eleanor Holles and James Allen Girls' both go back to the early 18th century, established to provide education for servant / poor girls. LEH still "is committed to the contribution it makes to society as a whole, and to equal opportunities, and it embraces diversity." and indeed still has it's original aim of producing girls of "grace and integrity" or as statesmom would say LOL. North London Collegiate was founded in 1850 and founded Camden School for Girls for those who couldn't pay, and St Pauls' finally followed the crowd in 1894 So yes you do know exactly what you are signing up for when you join.

She is the worst sort of snob whatever she is....so glad I will not be part of her "exclusive little club". A load of snobs trying to clone another load of snobs. Yuck.

Can I join in? I've been lurking quite happily on this mammoth thread, as I have several friends who went to Westminster. We all met at a university which was not Oxbridge. They had no idea what to say to me when we first met, as they had never met a state educated goth before.

PANTS ON FIRE!!!!!!

Note to self NEVER post without previewing.

Completely wrong thread!

Actually, thinking about it, one of the Westminster boys managed to get through three years of uni without looking me in the eye, and he still squirms when I talk to him.

Zero But not inappropriate

Zero - which thread was that for, then?

The Archers.

Rob is a liar.