St Dunstan's College - Catford / Settings?

[user1475317873]

Hi

Does anybody with kids at St Dunstans know if they do settings for all the subjects in the senior school? I remember the Headmaster saying they do but when talking to one of the students, she said they have settings for english and maths only. Also, if they do this, do they do it from year 7?

Also, any opinions from this school will be greatly appreciated as I am considering for my DD; the other option is moving to Bexley for a grammar school if we decice to take the test, which I am not too sure about it. We don't need to apply until next year.

Thank you

I hope SDC learn from their mistakes - in fact, that all schools do. Sad to say, I am sure this happens to varying degrees in numerous schools.
This is where pursuit of league table eminence gets in the way of a mission-driven education.
I hope you and your DC find a school that can help put this all behind you.

Parents are as much a problem as schools in terms of wanting the ‘brand’ on tne it children’s CVs. Does no one understand that having shared a classroom with someone who got a grade lower does not actually impact on the quality of education their child received or the results they get? (See the current Kkng’s Thread). I can’t be doing with these results that are engineered by kicking kids out.

I second TammyWhyNot

Agree. This happens a various independent schools and unfortunately we as parents are partially to blame as what many people focus when choosing a schools are their results.

Hi Maccaron,
I would be really interested in chatting with you. My child is at St Dunstan's and suffers from a medical condition. The school have virtually admitted this week to not taking proper care of him and after reviewing the details supplied to the school over the last 4 years are thinking of taking the matter further. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Maccarron - how much notice time did the school give you for asking your dc to leave? Were there extenuating circumstances for not achieving the mark? Did they give you any warning? I heard from another parent they were looking for children to achieve 6's in their mocks...that doesn't seem terrible????

We live fairly close to the school. We applied to St Dunstan's since we were concerned about local secondaries. My DS has a diagnosis of ADHD but is super intelligent and has no behavioural issues. His high energy levels are controlled by doing lots of sport. I sent the school a covering letter to this affect. We had glowing reports from his primary school. My son passed the St Dunstan's assessment with no coaching - he looked at past papers himself for a couple of hours the night before. We were invited for interview but after around 5-10 minutes the fire alarm went off and the interview was cut short. He also went for a sports assessment. I told them that he has an aptitude for running and runs for the borough. We were told that he was too young to specialise in athletics so they wouldn't assess this (he is now in the top 100 for his age in the uk).

We were shocked to receive a letter which said that they were unable to offer him a place since he would be unable to cope with the demands of the school. This is a child who had scores of 109/110 for all of his SATS. When I queried it the head refused to meet with me or speak to me by phone, I wrote and asked for a copy of the admission paper work but they said that they only kept it for 3 months and then destroyed it. Unfortunately I was unable to pursue it any further since my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Luckily my DS got offered a place at Kingsdale. He has a Sports and maths scholarship and is doing well in all their top groups. I think we had a lucky escape!

Good to hear that your son is doing great at Kingsdale!

It would be interesting to know from current St. D parents, do you know of any kids with SEN issues at the school?

Thanks. Make of it what you will but another boy in my DS's class who his teacher told me was less academic was given an academic scholarship and my son wasn't even offered a fee paying place.

He was reading Animal Farm at the time and we had a good conversation about some animals being more equal than others. This is certainly not the kind of environment that I would want my son to be part of. I would not send him to the school if they paid me. I hope that the Secretary of State for Education exposes them for what they are.

We have a DD at St D and she is thriving however the school doesn’t suit all. I don’t have any experience with SEN so couldn’t comment. The school have made a number of changes in the past few years and one major was the new online test last year which was a little unusual and is in line with the screening tests used in Eton and places like that. All timed tests and IQ based allegedly. A number of DC from top preps didn’t even get an interview. We didn’t send our DS their despite the offer as whilst he is not SEN he has some issues relating to Comprehension due to an abnormality in his brain which affects other areas too and the school he now attends picked this up with the traditional written exams and had already thought about what support they could offer. So that was the decider for us

The issue is that if someone passes St Dunstan's' OWN entrance exam (with absolutely no coaching or preparation) - I really don't understand the need for coaching or to pay to do SD study course.
If their primary school report is excellent - his class teacher was also shocked and even wrote to SD - another letter which they ignored.
If they are already achieving level 6,s
AND they didn't even have a proper interview since the fire alarm when off.
Where is the evidence that he would 'not cope with the demands of the school. ???
They did not even show me the respect to discuss this with me - nor allow my DS to come back and have a full and fair interview. I had to talk with the Headmasters PA since the Headteacher refused to speak to me,
This is pure discrimination since they are making a decision based on ASSUMPTIONS not evidence.
It is a scandal - we paid £100 for the assessment.
As I said - SD loss is Kingsdale's gain. His tutor who had been at Kingsdale for 16 years told me he is the brightest boy that he has come across at his time in Kingsdale. I would actually be concerned now that SD would be sufficiently challenging academically for my son.

I can’t comment on your experience with ST D. However my DC didn’t get offered certain schools and you never truly no why. They usually give you the standard letter with some stock phrases as they are saying no to hundreds and your right there is no opportunity to discuss as once it’s a no it’s a no. I feel the same as you that it’s there loss.

I of course cannot cast any light on why your chile didn't get in. My son is at St D and I am aware of at least one child with ASD in his tutor group. My boy got an academic scholarship and his SATS were 120/120/117, seems to be similar to others in their top maths set. He also got unto the most selective of the Sutton Grammars. However, neither Dulwich College nor Alleyns selected him for interview while a couple of children we know who had performed very much less well on SATS and various other things than our boy got places. I have no idea what St D reasoning is with your son and whether discriminating but I do think the whole 11+ process produces some quite random and surprising results wherever you look. Not really the age to be reliably assessing children.

The letter didn't say any blurb about lots of applications. It just said they didn't feel that he would be able to cope with the demands of the school. Big difference. It wasn't for entry this academic year.

People will say league tables are irrelevant. However when choosing schools what are you looking for first and foremost? Not even pastoral care comes first 😩 for the majority. St Dunstan's is on the up and I see a very bright future ahead for the school. Mr Hewlett is one of a kind 👌🏾