Three schools- which one?

[Vco001]

Hi! We are in a bit of a conundrum. We moved to London a year ago and found a prep school for our son who which goes to year 8. He started in year 7 so this is his last year. When we moved here we weren't worried about the school ending because my husband's contract was only for two years. Well- we have all fallen in love with London and want to stay longer! The school has arranged for my son to sit pre-test outside the normal testing schedule since we started the process so late. He has gotten offers from Brighton college, city of London boys and Wellington. We currently live in SW London but we aren't tied to it geographically since we are renting our house. I have two other children DD 10 and DD 3. Now I may need to find schools for them though DD 10 could stay at her prep school until year 8 though she may only be one of three or four girls since most will be leaving this year. Brighton College makes the most sense geographically but the through of boarding still gives me night sweats. However- it would be an easy commute for him each Friday night and Monday morning as trains are conveniently from Brighton to Clapham Junctin or Victoria which are close to us. I love LCS but what do we do with the other two girls and we need to move.... Wellington is my son's favourite and his best mate will attend but geographically it makes the least sense. Plus I'd only see my son for 24 hours each week or maybe less with sport. Also- we would need to move and not sure where DDs would attend that would be close to Paddington (where train arrives from Reading). I also feel it would be a nightmare commuting each weekend from Paddington to SW further impratojgnour family life. My husband's office is near Victoria so we aim to stay at a conveniently commutable radius. Any insight at all would be lovely. Thank you.

Why not move further down the London to Brighton line? Plenty of day pupils commute to BC from Mid Sussex . Your dd could transfer to their prep or one of their feeder ones ? There are also 13+ entry schools whose registrations are closing in next few weeks and select on their specific tests sat between November and January rather than CE and pretests - Whitgift and Trinity in Croydon for example are both boys only and worth a look. Then you have much of South London/Surrey within travel distance to live in.

www.whitgift.co.uk/prospectiveparents.aspx?SubCatID=6&PageID=175 registration by end of November. I'm surprised your prep isn't advising you to look as similar.

Like wise Trinity, www.trinity-school.org/entry-requirements , and there will be others.

Hi Lizs, thanks for your reply. Are those schools as academic as the three I mentioned? I don't know much about them. We have only been a year and learning about the different schools I had been a really big learning curve.

Have you applied for any of the competitive entry (no pre-test) London day schools? I was thinking of Dulwich College and Alleyns, as you are in SW London (they have SE postcodes, but are very easily reached). And PPs have mentioned Whitgift and Trinity

Paddington to SW London is a bit of a schlep, but it's not a huge problem really. But there are direct trains from Clapham Junction to Brighton, which makes it really easy. Northern Line (squish) up to CLSB.

There are lots of prep schools in SW London, so it should be possible to find one that suits your DDs whilst you work out your longer term plan.

Both easily as academic as BC , also offer strong sports, music, engineering/tech, arts etc. imho Wellington isn't regarded quite as highly academically selective but obviously still achieves good results.

And there would still be time to enter DD1 for 11+ at Alleyns and JAGS.

You could end up with two in the Dulwich foundations schools (all of which are excellent academic reputations), and then move DD2 to the Alleyns Juniors or JAPS idc.

And the current Wellington head came from Caterham which is a coed just within m25 in Surrey, but their 13+ exam is shortly after half term.

Paddington to SW London is not that bad: Bakerloo, easy change to Victoria line at Oxford Circus, then depending on where you are train from Victoria to Battersea Park/Clapham Junction. Northern Line link to Battersea Park will also be open soon. Your DS will be perfectly capable of doing this on his own when he is 13.

My ds is at Trinity and lots and lots of boys come in every day from Clapham Junction to East Croydon. He comes the other way up to East Croydon. Same with Whitgift. Very easy journey (when Southern Trains are playing ball ...). Both have excellent academic reputations. Closing dates end of November-ish I think. Worth a look from SW London I would have thought and much easier logistically than your current options..

I am a bit lost where Paddington and Reading come into this. Do you work in Reading? .
If you stay in London CLSB makes a lot of sense and commutable from many areas. If you are not completely comfortable with boarding don't do it.
How bright is dd1 you could look at city of London school for girls if she is bright. From Victoria the commuteto Putney high or Wimbledon high would be ok.
The Croydon schools would make sense for your son as mentioned above.
Another option but I don't know about pre tests etc is Latimer upper in Hammersmith. That is co Ed. Not bad for Paddington or Victoria.
Most London girls schools do start at 11 rather than 13

Scratch Latimer upper comment above. They don't seem to have a 13+ entry

Go for City, it's my favourite of all the London boys schools. No need to move and your girls can go anywhere

Isn't Paddington where you get trains to Wellington, her DS's current favourite?

OP: I was wondering if any of this helped and how you were getting on (as applications deadlines have now pretty much all been and gone)