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

villages along bucks/beds borders eg Wing, Cublington. Can apply for Aylesbury Grammars. If you dont pass can go to Linslade Middle and Cedars Upper. commute into Euston .

“Pupils travel up to an hour to attend grammar schools, why could they not do similarly to attend a comprehensive school !”

Because unless the school operates a lottery admissions system, or is undersubscribed, they won’t get a place based on distance.

In some cases, both LAC and PP children will get a place regardless of distance if they pass the test. I think there are a couple of places (Birmingham?) where they need to get a marginally lower pass mark.

Because unless the school operates a lottery admissions system, or is undersubscribed, they won’t get a place based on distance.

You missed a couple:

Or the school is located in a Rural area (e.g. Hampshire).

Or they do an in-year admission and are top fo the waiting list when someone leaves.

@cantkeepawayforever: yes, I mean Grammars and non Grammars..

Thanks

It would be far less hassle than paying/organising tuition etc. to get your DC into a Grammar School that requires a journey of 2-3 hours (and more in some cases) a day on the bus/train/walking

If the op has the luxury of moving house, why would he/she pick somewhere so far away?

Perins might be out of consideration now if the op has noticed the Winchester - Perins thread below.

Not to mention the disappointment and emotional issues that arise if the DC doesn't pass the test and then has to go to the school that is clearly considered second best because why else would everyone be going to so much time, effort and expense so their DCs don't have to go there

And I suppose the dc at second rate schools in Basingstoke are too stupid to realise that other dc have gone to better schools elsewhere.

Clavinova If the op has the luxury of moving house, why would he/she pick somewhere so far away?

Isn't what she would be doing if she is looking for an area with good Comps. that also offers access to Grammar Schools?

I suppose the dc at second rate schools in Basingstoke are too stupid to realise that other dc have gone to better schools elsewhere.

I'm confused as to how you've made this conclusion from my post TBH.

As someone who lives in deepest Kent with good grammars and awful sec moderns (note not comps and certainly no grammar streams) I would strongly advise op to chose anywhere other than a selective county. If your DC get into the Grammar you have effectively won the lottery (based on saving of £100k plus on School fees) but sadly the majority of non grammars are simply second rate. If you really must move to Kent I would say take a look at the Tunbridge Wells area for some of the best schools in both categories. But really don’t put yourself in a selective county if you don’t need to!!!!!

UsernameMum I thought there weren't any sec. mods. in Kent as no one calls them that any more. I thought Kent only had "non grammars" or "high schools" ;-)

KCC simply refer to them as “secondary schools” and “grammar (selective) schools” on their website. My point was more that Kent doesn’t have a comprehensive school system in the way that most other counties do.

If you don’t pass the Kent test you are advised “suitable for entry to high school”, which is really confusing as the non grammars round here don’t call themselves that!

which is really confusing

I agree. Dr Challoner's High School is a Grammar as is Aylesbury High School, Wycombe High School, Beaconsfield High School.

On the DfE Performance tables non selective schools in fully selective areas are classed as "modern".

KCC simply refer to them as “secondary schools” and “grammar (selective) schools” on their website.

Which makes no sense as Grammar schools are secondary schools.

If they are so desperate to pretend they they aren't sec. mods. why not just add Grammar to the name of all the schools and then highlight which schools require an exam for entrance. I'm sure the parents will be quite happy telling people which non selective Grammar their DC is going to.

I know it is complete madness and I am unfortunately living in the midst of it all with a Y5 DC. Will be a complete wreck by September! Wondering if Op will do a house swap with me

I have a DC who has just emerged from a Kent High schoo, with excellent GCSEs. No need for panic.

I always call them secondary moderns on here to remind the pro grammar crowd what they are campaigning for!

Has OP said which year her child is in? This makes quite a difference.

I am a year 5 Kent mum who deeply regrets settling here. Dd will sit the test in September 2018 I am having to have her tutored for £35 an hour in order to learn the year 6 maths that she will need to know to take the test as well as verbal reasoning and non verbal reasoning that school are not allowed to teach her. I am also working with her myself.

Note: this is about learning exam technique and learning parts of the curriculum not taught at school and not academic ability. Dd is very bright but still might fail if she sees a load of questions in an unfamiliar style.

I approached about 6 tutors in year 4 before I found 1 who would take her, some told me that people had put their kids names down from year 1 or 2! Suddenly year 5 is very high pressure and parents and children are getting stressed. If I had known this I would have moved somewhere else.

We are incredibly fortunate that we can also afford independent as a backup however OP needs to be aware that some indie boys schools in Kent are as tough to get into as grammar (e.g. Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Caterham) and they will require slightly different exam preparation - however there are some easier to get into schools - Sutton Valance, Radnor House.

I wish I had settled somewhere with a comprehensive system - and no pressure - but moved here from London before I had kids and so it wasn't on my radar.

Anyway the only way to get a feel for what will suit OPs son is to visit schools. This year dd and I have viewed 7 schools and we have a short list.

Sorry for my long waffle. In the 2nd, 3rd paragraphs I was referring to the 11+ test.

Has OP said which year her child is in? This makes quite a difference.

Not that I can see from skim reading. I do wonder if they are one of the parents with a G&T 9 month old ;-)

@StealthNinjaMum : "kids names down from year 1 or 2"
quite interesting, mine one is >4 and now sounds I am not planning much in advance..
"I wish I had settled somewhere with a comprehensive system - and no pressure"
Please dont judge me, are you saying this because it is too much pressure on you or your Dd. And if you had settled in comprehensive system, will your Dd will have the same future?

"I am a year 5 Kent mum who deeply regrets settling here"
Can you please elaborate more on this coz I dont want to do anything willingly which may result as Regret for us...
As you already in Kent and in similar situation I hope you can quite help me on this decision...

Thanks

vik2017 And if you had settled in comprehensive system, will your Dd will have the same future?

I doubt anyone could answer that question as a DCs future will be influenced by far more than just the school they attended. I think BertrandRussell's DC has demonstrated this. Despite not being deemed "siutable for Grammar" at the age of 10/11, they are now doing A Levels at a grammar school. I personally know a fair few children who moved from Grammar schools to non-grammar after GCSEs Levels.

@MumTryingHerBest: sorry, I may put it wrong way but I did not mean that way, I wanted to know from different point of view....

It is stressful, no doubt. Whilst I don’t doubt there are some good non grammar options, in our area there are none I’d choose for either of my DC.

I couldn’t be happier with the schools they are at - but the stress involved along the way isn’t to be underestimated.

The system is awful. Destructive, divisive, unfair-particularly to children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Just hideous.

Mum + OP
Fiona's suggestion of Petts Wood/Orpington seems to be a good one - Bexley grammars and good/outstanding comps within 3-5 miles.

I'm confused as to how you've made this conclusion from my post TBH
Because you said, DC...suffer disappointment and emotional issues (not passing 11+)... then have to go to the school that is clearly considered second best because why else would everyone be going to so much time, effort and expense so their DCs don't have to go there

Quite a lot of time, effort and expense avoiding second best comprehensive schools in places like Basingstoke as well (28% are educated out of town according to Hampshire CC), especially if it costs £2400 pa in school bus fares for 2 dc. Those left behind are too stupid to know what they are missing I suppose.

On the DfE Performance tables non selective schools in fully selective areas are classed as "modern

If you click on the individual schools though, quite a few of them are classed as 'comprehensive', not 'modern'. All of the faith schools in Kent are - Tunbridge Wells has 2 faith schools in fact - St. Gregs. as well as Bennett Memorial - both have Grade 5 GCSE results way above the England average. Mascalls, Meopham, Leigh etc. also choose to call themselves 'comprehensive'. I assume KCC are just using a blanket term rather than being 'desperate to pretend' anything.

I suppose I compare my daughters life with my life and I had trees to climb, went cycling round my estate, didn't do homework until I was in a comprehensive school and even then got less than my daughter does now. I went to the local school. My husband also went to his local comprehensive. We both did well, got degrees, Masters and I don't really believe if I had gone to a different school my life would have been better but I certainly had a very free childhood.

I believe dd gets too much homework already (about 4 hours a week), about 40 words a week to learn (but this might be normal I don't know) and another 1 or 2 hours of 11+. She is quite relaxed in herself because she gets 80 - 100% in tests but she is aware that she could have a bad day and fail and affect her whole life. That's a big pressure. (As parents we are also aware that some of her friends are in the early stages of puberty and this could affect any of these poor girls over the exam period.)

Dd also has friends who aren't doing so well academically, whose parents are pushing and pushing them to the 11+ when maybe they're not suited and then there's playground talk about who is your tutor, what are you learning, which apps do you use, which schools have you visited, how much extra work do you do. This can't help but make dd feel stressed, like she could be doing more (lots of her friends are), and because she is sensitive she knows her best friend (who has SEN) will probably not go to the same school as her and it upsets her that her best friend has already been labelled when actually her best friend is incredibly intelligent but just not 'academic'.

I don't know where I would have chosen to settle (we picked our town based on proximity to London) but I do wish I had done a thread here 4 years ago to ask the same question you asked!