Best place to live in Kent for Grammar school

[vik2017]

Hi,
This is my first question on this board....
and I wanted to know which is the best place to live in Kent and falls into Grammar catchment area and also if my son dont get to the Grammar at least will go to a very good comprehensive school.
Any suggestion will be appreciated even suggest to move to another place considering we both work in London.

Many thanks in advance...
Viki

Don't go letting yourself get distracted by all the parents of children aiming for super selective (or just normally selective) grammar schools who have opted for private primaries because they don't think their children will get an adequate state primary education to pass the 11 plus, then, vik.

Lots of the children who go into the Kent Grammars go to private junior schools that is a normal progression .

Absolutely. Because you have to work backwards. You have th think where you want to end up, and where you need to be to get there.

In Kent,N this working backwards often goes;
OXbridge - Super selective Grammar/independent - Prep school - Private nursery feeder to Prep

So in fully selective counties such as Bucks and Kent private primaries (Preps) are often a huge thing - people what to pay for primary in order to avoid paying at secondary level and to give the best chance of getting a place. Those hyper set on Grammar don't tend to think 'I will go for my bit if social mixing to see all of society at a young age' because they fear this will wreck the chances of the coveted grammar place.

Of course, people do go to Oxbridge from good Comps, average Comps and occasionally sink Comps. Lots also go to all the other great Unis too and most of these kids have been to state primaries of varying success.

If you seriously want Grammar though, some thought is needed in terms of how you will get your kid in. Have a look at the 11+ forum website for this - there are people crazily planning literally a campaign of attack from birth, but also those thinking through a few months of familiarisation. Some kind of familiarisation at least is certainly advisable when you remember that the majority who sit the 11+ cannot pass and some people have worked for years to get a place.

I think OP would benefit from looking at the regional pages on the 11+ forum website. They will give more of a flavour of the grammars, plus the primaries.

And I must say I find this idea that the Grammar or Indie is supposed to be exciting because it is a step up from a less impressive primary experience quite odd. Children are excited by starting secondary because it's the next stage. It doesn't have to be more shiny than the last stage for this. Remember,N they have to actually get in, so the primary phase, plus any extra help needs to be good enough to get them there.

vik2017 consedring sending him to top of indi

So you think a DC who has failed the 11 plus will find it easier to get into a "top indie"?

Just tro be clear, by "top indie", do you mean Eton, Winchester etc.?

I very mush doubt sending your DC to a privatr prep. will make him dissapointed about going to a grammar school. After all there are a fair number of parents who send their DCs to preps in order to try to get them into grammar schools.

You should also consider the fact that a number of parents on MN actually advise parents to send their DCs to priavete preps. that have form for sending DCs to top Privates.

there are people crazily planning literally a campaign of attack from birth, but also those thinking through a few months of familiarisation

In reality, certainly in my area, there are also the vast majority - who either tutor once a week or DIY themselves for a year during Year 5.

Taffeta in my area tuition has ramped up considerably since the introduction of CEM. The once a week starting in year 5 approach doesn't seem very common anymore and advice often given is little and often which, in some cases, means anything up to an hour almost every day (I'm also on a FB group with a fair number of parents all over the country posting about what they are doing to prepare).

Tuition centres, which are particular popular in some areas, offer anything from 1 hour sessions to 2 1/2 hour sessions with two or more pieces of homework that can take up to an hour. Some of those centres are suggesting to parents that they should also look to supplement the work the centre is doing so again, in some cases, DCs are doing quite a considerable amount of preparation.

Mocks are also growing in popularity with some parents doing 1 a month for a number of months leading up to the exam (not to mention those who are sitting the actual test in other areas as practice).

I read somewhere that at Tonbridge grammar for instance about 30% of its pupils come from Private Prep schools!

I remember looking this up before, so have checked again - Pates' grammar, a superselective in Gloucestershire, had 25% of children with no SATs score (ie not included in the Progress8 figures in 2016) and thus takes 25% of its pupils at least from private primaries.

mumrtyingherbest is CEM common entrance? is this the set of exams kids can take for indies when they're 13? A friend of mine was stressing about these exams when her son was in reception! She said they're practically GCSEs and actually did have a strategy in place for her son with tutors and her son was I repeat IN RECEPTION! (sorry for shouting it makes me angry).

Interesting comments about prep schools being used to help kids into grammar. I don't want to give examples as I might out myself but in my little part of Kent most primaries (both private and state) claim Kent County Council aren't allowed to teach for the 11+ but some do - not least by teaching year 6 maths early. From my knowledge of 8 or so primary schools it seems like the state schools are more likely to teach for grammar as kids at these schools are more likely to be doing year 6 maths earlier (although this is anecdotal so might not be representative).

I have heard parents of kids in some of those state schools complaining that their child doesn't have PE very often or some other 'non essential' part of the curriculum. I think SATs revision also eliminates the need for interesting teaching in year 6 as well at some state schools. Poor kids.

Cross posted with 2 posters who disprove me with actual numbers!

Not CEM in Kent, which is what this thread is about.

Currently GL in Kent, and certainly the majority I know tutor or DIY for a year for Y5.

StealthNinjaMum mumrtyingherbest is CEM common entrance?

No it's the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University. One of the exam providers for the 11 plus (the one that claimed to be tutor proof then had to retract the claim).

When my ds went to Grammar many years ago ( he’s mid 20s) every boy in his year at a private school except 2 , who went to different Grammars ( one of whom was him) went into the same grammar school , and made up the largest entry from any primary school . I’m fairly sure that would still be the same now as they send about 20+ boys there every year .

Taffeta I take it tutors only offer hour long sessions and don't issue homework then?

There also seem to be a number of Kent tution centres offering 2 hour sessions.

Even before CEM, very few people were doing just 1 hour a week.

So you
, "buy a house in Hiltingbury and enjoy life then fill out the form"
Or
Spend a blerdy fortune in time and money to maybe get into a grammar that gets similar results

Hmmmm

Taffeta I take it tutors only offer hour long sessions and don't issue homework then

Tutor used by everyone I know does 45 min sessions once a week and sets homework which starts at 20 mins per week, and ramps up after Easter.

Of course there’s the odd frothing lunatic that does years of prep, has two tutors etc but not the norm here. Even those aiming for SSs do the same.

Taffeta a quick Google on Kent 11 plus tution makes it clear that a lot of parents in Kent are not just doing 1 hour a week prep.

Taffeta a quick Google on Kent 11 plus tution makes it clear that a lot of parents in Kent are not just doing 1 hour a week prep

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 that you think that the people that post on there represent the majority!!!

That's just what you're being told, Tafetta. They're not mentioning the Kumon maths classes their child has done since year 3 or the workbooks they've been doing at home since their child could read to make up for the school moving too slowly.

Sorry if that was rude - I can see that if you don’t live here that you’d assume from reading Internet forums that that might be representative.

In my experience, having had two children go through it, one last year one three years ago, what I’ve posted is the norm around here, not what might be posted on a specialist self study forum.

Maybe, but a lot of the people are very good friends, not just school gate acquaintances. And, you could take that point to the nth degree - what about reading to your child at bedtime etc?!

.... and I’m posting about it as that’s my experience and I get very fed up of the hype, worry and stress that people feed around it.

To be fair, what is done by particular parents in a particular area of Kent depends partly on the actual secondary schools nearby, the actual primary school the child is at, the people the parent is talking to and friends with, and how disastrous the parent concerned thinks it would be if their child did not pass the 11 plus.

45 min sessions once a week and sets homework which starts at 20 mins per week

So approx. one hour minimum.

ramps up after Easter.

So everyone you know is doing more than an hour.

Not doing more than an hour before Easter, no.

April - August more, yes.

But not 2 hours from Y4!!