Any senior schools which registering from birth means entry is easier?

[Sofa123]

Hi all,

My DS is 10 months old which I know sounds ridiculous to be thinking of senior schools, but having struggled to find nursery places by not looking until he was 4 months I've decided it's better to be earlier rather than late.

We are focussing on the independent sector and are based in South East London, but for senior school would consider boarding which increases the area that we can consider.

I recently found out that Radley College (just south of Oxford) uses 2 general entry points for 13+, one of which is called the Radley List - which you can sign up your son from birth up to the age of 4 and is an easier route (lower CE requirements) into the school.

My question is, are there any other good independent schools (principally at the senior school level, but lower levels is also interesting) that operate on a similar basis, i.e. if you register earlier/from birth its easier to get in.

Thanks very much for your help,

Sofa123

Heath House is small. I don't know it personally but the results are good and parents I know there are happy. No sports facilities of its own - they use a local sports centre and the Heath.

The drive to Dulwich every morning is pretty horrendous (currently have a DC on the bus) - and not sure how parking would be to leave the car there and get a train in afterwards?

There's an outstanding primary in Hither Green - Brindishe - could do that and then aim for 7/8+ entry and the school bus?

You are still overthinking it. Look at the nursery and pre-prep options. Very young children are surprisingly different. Some thrive in the sort of busy and boisterous setting, which might crush a quieter more sensitive child. Go by feel, go by which environment is most likely to get your child ready for education in the broader sense, which includes curiosity, emotional and social skills and an interest in learning.

At every stage I think it is more an issue of keeping doors open. A prep school which regularly has a good range of destination schools, so the most academically able go to the super-selective schools, but a good cohort go to the DCs, Emanuels, Radleys, Sevenoaks, etc and a few to less selective schools like Shiplake, Frencham or St Dunstans.

The real cost of a long commute is that your son will have less time. Less time to enrol in after-school football (great at teaching teamwork and resilience) or explore interests. DS, via a computer game, became fascinated with Ghengis Khan and aged 10 happily explained to SPS during his interview that he wanted to be an archaeologist in Mongolia because he liked digging and liked history. He got a place, and they explained that they were interested in boys with curiosity who pursued their interests.

The process is not just about brand name schools/universities, marks achieved and ticking boxes. Talk to any City recruiter and they will moan about kids who have won the glittering prizes who arrive entitled rather than being willing to muck in. And read a few linked-In profiles. People who arrive via the longer, scenic route often have more skills in place.

In short, look at local options for your child and find the right one. Don't rule out state if you have a lovely state primary down your road. Do then have a go at 7/8+ options if your child is ready and up for the challenge. Schools like Dulwich Prep can offer a better 7-13+ experience than WUS or Colet (whatever it is called now.) The latter two will have a number of quite anxious, quite pressured children, and can be quite competitive places. And from observation, if a child has not been happy there aged 7, their peers' view of them carries through till the age of 18, with no chance of a fresh start.

If you get a 3/4+ place at Dulwich Prep, consider moving. Or if not think carefully who does the school run. The pre and after school times of the day are so important. If not try to have a parent do both journeys, and use the time to talk properly to your child. You parent, schools educate. Both are important.

.

OP one of the great advantages of paying for education is that you get more choice. You can look at all the schools on offer and decide which will suit your DC's personality the most and therefore where your DC will be happiest. Secondly IMO the advantage of 13+ entry is that your DC will have matured a bit more and you can decide what school is really right for them. I suspect if our two schools of choice had had yr 7 entry rather than yr 9 we might have chosen SPS but as my DS matured we made a different decision.
We sent DS2 to what a very best could only be described as a mediocre rural primary school he moved to a boarding prep at 7 and did very well, many of our friends who's DC's also went onto very oversubscribed big names did the same. We took the view that a good prep will sort out any gaps in their knowledge and that they had 6 years to do this. Just to add my DS never went nursery and he didn't go to school till yr 1, he couldn't read or write (I'm proud to say I've never owned a flash card) he ran around outside having a great time talking making up stories playing with numbers, singing, playing with the dogs, riding his pony enjoying life, but it's never did him any harm in fact I think it only did good.

Enjoy your 10 month old DS, don't worry about senior schools, just let him and you have fun together, there is no urgency to register him with a school I very much doubt it confers any advantages, watch him grow and mature keep an open mind decide what you also want from education and in a few years time hopefully you'll find a suitable school that ticks most of you must have boxes.

Completely agree with Happygardening.

Enjoy your 10month old, focus on him thriving in a nursery/pre prep/prep and then consider senior schools with the guidance of the Head. All the schools you mention will have changed in 10years - new Heads, new ethos, new pupils, new staff. Review your list at the time. I know people who registered for Radley thinking it was a great non selective back up and their son's now have to have an interview and sit the pre test, even if they are on the list. It's no longer an automatic entry school. And it could all change again in the next 10 years.

Radley is a good school but it's definitely not my cup of tees.
OP if you want something to do over the next 10 years visit as many schools as you can, in both sectors, preferably ones with different approaches although as they are all becoming increasingly homogenised this is not easy. There's often lots of jargon in education get your head round it. Decide what you want and expect from education, what sort of education you would like your child to receive. Go with an open mind and discuss with both school staffand other parents the advantages of SS versus coed, super selective versus takes all comers, liberal versus strict and petty, etc. Are you after an exam factory carefully disguised as a happy non pushy school or one where which offers a non examined broad curriculum, ridiculous outdated uniform versus non uniform, niche sports. What are your interests does your the school facilitate them? How involved do you to be? Some seek hands of parents others, want involved committed parents. Most if not all will claim that their pastoral care is excellent, that they treat children as individual and want them to maximise their full potential etc etc. I firmly believe that if you like your choosen school and what it offers your DC in the majority of cases will do the same. A friend once said that schools don't change that much, I don't know how true that is but it does take a while to turn round an ethos and why change it if it works.

Sorry on my phone too many typos to offer corrections.

Sorry on my phone too many typos to offer corrections.

Lots of good advice. Mine is, yes, it's good to be aware at an early stage of options and when decisions might need to be made and applications etc but your best course now is to relax a bit and let the earlier years just happen naturally. It's hard when you have a driven City job and see the competition around you but it's a much more organic process with growing children. Spend time together playing and making up stories or whatever and find a local first school where logistics are easy and the children seem happy and some interesting work is on the wall - private or state. Take it all from there.

Some of these schools are quite a distant away from hither Green. For pre prep or prep, why do you want to commute so far (central london). There are good schools around much closer rather than Comuting long journeys.

Bromley - braeside, Bickley,
Colfes, and some more mentioned above.

Travelling long distances reduces the times in the evenings you get to spend with your son. Independent schools offer a lot of after school clubs and activities so by the time you both get in it will already be late even more with long commutes in rush hour

Hi all,

Fleurdelacourt – thanks for the feedback on Heath House. I’ll definitely visit it at the next open day.

I’d like to use the foundation bus as well as soon as that’s feasible. We haven’t looked into the full details of the commute, but I’m hoping there is parking around West Dulwich station.

Thanks for the reference to Brindishe, I’ll look them up as well.

Needmoresleep – thanks for your comments, we are focusing on the earlier phases and have nursery largely sorted. The issue we have is most of the pre-preps around our area are heavy feeders into specific schools – so we need to look at the later phases to make a decision for pre-prep.

We will naturally make a final decision based on the sort of boy our DS turns into – so far he has been showing signs of being a generally boisterous and outgoing toddler; but we’ll see how he develops.

We certainly wouldn’t want to put him into a school were he is bumping along the bottom/or heavily tutor him to get into a specific school.

Happygardening – thanks for your thoughts, we certainly don’t intend to pressurise him, but see what type of boy he grows into. The point of the thread was to have options at all levels of academic selectivity, so we could then make a decision based on DS’s personality and interests – hence starting early so we can visit lots of places.

Harvestmoon32 – as I understand it the Radley list (early registration) is still competitive but less competitive than later entry points. But it’s very true that the school may change its approach over the next decade.

Dustylaw – I will try to take it easy !

Nowfindingdory – the commute is a concern – we are currently thinking Dulwich is probably doable from Hither Green for a few years (but need to check parking and trains into Victoria) then switch to the foundation buses. But any further and we would probably need to move.

Thanks everyone,

Sofa123

"I’m hoping there is parking around West Dulwich station."

Nothing at all at the station, and I'm pretty sure that (once off the double yellows that are on the surrounding main roads) it's residents only with time limit on how long you can stay P&D specifically to prevent street parking being taken up by non-local commuters.

"some semblance of control"

It's good you realise now that this is only semblance. It's not real control in any usual sense of the word, and cannot be.

What is real now is the need to get registered for the nursery/pre-prep/prep you think will suit the best. I agree with needmoresleep that you need somewhere that prepares for a range of exit points and sends DC to a range of designation schools.

At 10 months, you need to keep your options wide open.

"I’m hoping there is parking around West Dulwich station."

Even if there is now, that is no indication that there would be in 10+ years time when your DC is ready for secondary school.

Sort nursery, have a ponder on primary/prep but don't start planning DCs educational lifetime just yet!