I'm a weeny bit cross that there hasn't been a SW/W London Independent schools thread this yr.

[SonorousBip]

Every blinking year there is one - and I read, and nod, and note. Sometimes they go on for months and pages. But this year, when I'm actually doing it - pah, not a sausage.

If anyone wants to do a last minute SPGS/Latymer/Godolphin/ KGS/LEH/WHS/PHS thread, please do! (disclaimer - I'm not doing all of those.). But views welcome. Because I've got several days to form my final views

Well done darkblueeyes's and wheresthebeach's DDs!

Redecorated bedrooms all round!

Great to hear of the good news! Let's hope for much more of it.

Well done all! I'm a lurker as a couple more years to go but haven't managed to suss out what's happening at our state primary, not through lack of trying! I have managed to find out that most of them applied to 4 schools max though..

Nice to hear the good news! I reckon you'll get places off the waiting list before the boys' results are even through so just think of them as boys and wait accordingly and all will be well

To a PP, why more waiting list places than actual offers this year? Are there more applying than usual?

Dark and where's the beach, great news! Hope you are relaxing with champagne in hand!

Well done to all the DCs who've got their offers. You must all be very pleased. My heart goes out to those who haven't got what they wanted. I've been through that too.

I do have a query to throw out to you wise people... My DD has been offered a small academic scholarship at the least selective of the schools. We do have offers from the others as well. This has surprised us a little so consequently I'd like to find out whereabouts she is relative to her cohort in the other schools. Do you think the registrars would share this info?

A friend sat her DD for Latymer a few years ago. She got an offer, which they were a bit surprised by, so they phoned and asked where she was in the cohort. They didn't want her to go if she'd just scraped in. They told her.

So...I'd ask.

Congrats to your DD!

Thank you where. I'll be bold tomorrow!

I would ask. I know two mums who rang LEH last year to ask this very thing!!! For the very same reason.

I shall probably be asking it too.....

Do let us know how you get on. Good luck.

DS1 gained entry five years ago when it seemed much easier! We asked if he was weaker in any area in order to help him prepare and was told English was slightly weaker but not significantly and he had finished 50 odd out of 75 offers being made for an intake of 40. So we were given plenty of information without trying.

By the way, if you're not doing it yourself, how much do you get charged approx for having a bedroom decorated properly? By 'properly' I mean an average room prepped, and both walls/ceiling and woodwork painted etc and a decent quality job done.

Thinking of you Papalazaru

Morning all,

I have been quietly watching the thread the last couple of weeks and taking in the comforting words mums are offering each other :) Congrats to all the DC children who have received offers and especially to those who are getting offers from the waiting list; this good news really filled me with happiness this morning!
Please could you Dear Mothers give me advice on St James School, Ashford? My DS did really well in the exam there and has been made an offer (he is over the moon, as is my husband), however, every time I think of him going there I feel extremely anxious :(. Why?
I think it may be the spiritual side to their ethos and I am aware that they are a less academic school - but need assurance that they do still add value. So really confused and upset that this maybe they only option we have if DC doesnt get his first choice school Hampton - where he attended English interviewed but not hopeful). Thank you

I would not worry where your child has placed within the cohort. The important thing is you think the school is right for your child. Gaining a place even via the WL means they are almost certainly good enough.

1. It is a test on a single day.
2. Normal statistical distribution means that a lot of kids will be just above or just below the 'pass mark'.
3. Whether DC do well from now on will depend mostly on their attitude to work. So you will see diligent children in higher sets and some bright but 'unfocused' children in bottom sets.
4. Both LEH and LU have prep schools with DC selected when they were much younger. Some of these might well have struggled to gain an 11+ place. Especially at Latymer where entry has become much more competitive over the years.
5. Children change. Primary views on who is bright and who is not, are often fixed around the age of 8. By 13 some of these children are being left behind. Dd gained a 'surprise' place. (The prep HM was shocked and indeed cross as we had gone against his advice.) The secondary school must have spotted something as she then moved up the cohort and became one of those who just 'got' chemistry.

Yr7 was interesting. Some DC were clearly used to being 'top table' and tried to establish themselves as the clever girls straight away. Indeed one or two seemed to think they were slumming it, and should have gained places at more academic schools. Others like my DD were nervous about whether they would make the grade. Roll forward three or four years and actual sets did not match those early expectations at all. At one point a couple of DDs friends revealed they had come in via the wait list. Really not the ones she might have expected.

I agree with everything needmoresleep has just said, as a parent of a child of one of the schools mentioned who got in off the wl, and another at the other school mentioned who got straight in. The margins are so slim it makes no difference.

A lot of sense there needmoresleep but I would question your assertion that some junior prep children might have struggled to find another place if they had not progressed through into seniors of LEH & LU. LEH I know constantly assesses and examines its pupils and doe not offer a senior place lightly. It is not a route that parents or the school take for granted and it is not available to everyone. The school will suggest an alternative route if they think its in the best interest of the child. It's not an easy shoe-in. I hear similar from parents of LU

Jinny, I suspect we dont disagree, and I am aware of children who have been "managed out" of various schools. (And indeed of one child who was managed out of one school at 11, and then achieved a place at a very competitive sixth form at 16.) However being in place already is an advantage and you will go through if you are good enough. Lots of external candidates who are "good enough" wont get places, because there are not enough.

The one thing I would watch though is with the very academic schools. When DS was taking 13+ pretests at 11, SPS essentially told us that if he was offered a place he would be in the bottom third of the cohort. We thought about it and given he was a studious boy, not particuarly competitive, who enjoyed education and having similar friends, some of whom were very clever indeed, we did not see this as a problem. It might have been for DD, who we felt needed a school where either kudos was given non-academic activities or where she would sit within the top third.

Another thing to think of is whether a child is an all-rounder or one-sided. A very kind friend, who was involved in admissions at one of these schools and who counselled me when the HM was advising that our DD should not even try for selective secondaries, put it this way. Could I see DD going to Oxbridge or a top RG University? If I could, we should ignore SPGS as they would be looking for girls with everything. However the rest would be choosing between girls who were either good all-rounders but not good enough for SPGS, or girls who would come into their own at sixth form. The latter group, were often a more interesting prospect, though secondary schools needed to be confident that they would not struggle too much with either English or maths to the extent it was affecting other subjects.

Also interestingly the two schools my friend suggested were the same as the schools my daughter felt most comfortable with. And indeed were the schools who offered her a place. And no, though she applied, she did not get a place at the school my friend worked at - she would have been OK there, but it really was not the right school for her.

I agree with needtosleep re. the children coming up through the junior schools. Many of them will be highly able, but some of them got lucky at 7+ and may not have at 11+. My friend has a child at LU who has been told by the school that they need extra coaching (paid for) in order to 'pass' the maths to enter the senior school. I doubt there are many kids coming in at y7 who are only scraping the maths paper.

Apart from the obvious genius and those who really struggle academically (maybe 10% of kids at either end) the vast rump of children are probably pretty comparable. I think this is why so many people are over-applying to too many schools, there is a lottery element. I really think that my son could as easily be offered all three as not have even got an interview at any of them.

On the over applying subject, we had a chat with a head while my son was being interviewed on Saturday. One boy he'd met had applied to 11 schools and looked as though he didn't even know which school he was in. The head made it clear that he didn't view this situation positively.

11 schools is totally bonkers. I think my dd has been asked at pretty much every interview where else she was applying to. I don't think any have specifically asked which is her favourite, but she has been asked roundabout questions, eg why was she applying for co-ed and all girls. I fail to see how an 11 year old could give a coherent answer when they have applied for 11 schools - or even remember where they had applied to.

My DD had to miss a day of holiday for an exam, a netball match for an interview and had 2 x Saturday interviews, both of which effectively knocked out a good chunk of the morning. Now she knows completely that that's the deal, and with 4 x applications you just suck it up. Life wasn't exactly normal, but not too messed about with either. But with 11, I think yr life becomes very abnormal, and it would be an unusual child not to become really quite resentful about that.

how on earth do you fit in 11? seriously, they are all pretty much bunched into one week aren't they?

DD was knackered after her 2 in one week!

Really feel for those children doing huge numbers who then get through to interview.

DD got to interview stage 3 out of 4 of her prospect schools. All asked her where she'd applied to. Two asked her to give her preference (one of those, saying, no, let me guess where you've applied to...). Two then asked her "and now, tell me where your parents would like you to go".

Who knows if her responses were what they wanted to hear, but this level of filtering is tough on any 10/11 year old. Based on what she told me she answered honestly but diplomatically...I am quite blown away by the capacity of our DCs to mature over these last 4 weeks!

TwickersmOm, I have no experience personally (I have girls, and didn't choose St James girls as aspects of their ethos didn't gel with me for girls specifically) but my neighbour has a lad who has nearly finished at St James' boys. He's had a great experience, very nurturing (he had some anxiety issues that they addressed beautifully) but has definitely also been pushed a lot academically. I think they do take that side of it seriously.

Well done to your ds for his great exam results!

Thank you for the feedback Elibean, very reassuring. Are there any others who have experienced boys at St James School? I really would appreciate your views positive and or negative :)

Twickersm0m - it might be worth posting a new thread specifically mentioning St James...beware those who think the vegetarian meals and meditation mean it's all bonkers. My school used to teach mediation too back in the dark ages when I was a pupil, and it was a very down to earth small private school in the countryside.

Twickersm0m, no personal experience but know 2 (really nice) boys who went there and are very happy and doing very well. I think it may be overlooked by the SW London parents since it moved to Ashstead so off the radar a bit. Agree with pp, maybe worth starting a new thread or do a search on here as it has definitely been discussed before.