Independent schools selection crisis

[clevud]

After having researched schools for years it's time to firm up the list of london independent schools. We live in NW. DD is doing very well at her state primary and she has had a weekly tutor since Y4, now she's Y6. However, I realise that she cannot compete for NLC or CLGS or LU, probably also SHGS, not at this stage, she will probably develop a bit later- as many children do. Her maths is not strong enough for that type of exams and she's quite an introvert when she comes to speaking to adults. Although I feel she'd blossom if she could get in, as I saw many children blossom at very high academic schools in another country where there is no concept of admission exam. So what to do? I don't want to lower the bar too much in terms of private schools, I'd rather send her to our local comp. Any advice, comforting words?

There are also excellent private schools without going to the super selective. Have you thought about Francis Holland NW1?

Not sure which comp you are referring to (don't particularly want to know) but believe it or not local london comps are often very good. Friendly and welcoming to kids of all abilities - that is kind of what comp means. Send her there if it's what she wants. Her likely happiness trumps everything else imo.

You have lots of options - More House, St James's senior school for girls in Olympia, Queensgate etc.

Thanks all for your comments. @afewtoomanychoiceses I do have FH NW1 on my list.
@Gingercat1223 I'm not married to the private school idea unless it offers outstanding education, not sure whether these are really good. I agree @marytuda with your comment. She doesn't particularly want to go there, though, after she's seen the facilities of some private ones.

Has your tutor given any realistic ideas? Having said that we had a tutor who was very pessimistic and dd ended up doing much better than her gloomy prognosis.

Do you mean SHHS when you writ SHGS? If so, it's on the consortium with FH and Channing so there's no harm in doing it. The new consortium exam has some maths but also lots of VR and nVR. I don't know where you live, but I really liked Forest, which along with Forest was definitely frontrunner in the 'marginally less selective' lot.

My three are at schools which are definitely seen as very desirable in NW London but I still feel a bit wistful about them not walking to a local state, as they did at primary. The children I know who've stayed in the state system seem to very well, in fact at least as well as those in private.

Sorry that should have read Forest along with FW was frontrunner.

Argh Forest and FH. It's Friday...

OP, by sitting the Consortium exam, your DD can theoretically apply for up to 12 schools, all through the same exam. All the schools have a different academic “bar”, so somewhere like G&L would be looking for much higher marks than say More House. But inbetween are schools like Channing, or the FH Schools or Queensgate. By the way, my DD was offered a place at FHS SS last year and although she didn’t take that one up, we were highly impressed. Their results are suddenly amazing (not that they were exactly bad to begin with). It would still be easier to get into FHS SS though than say LU or G&L. But maybe not for long! So definitely worth a go.

The other great thing is that there is virtually nothing you can do to prepare them for the Consortium exam. It’s designed to assess “raw ability” as far as possible and be “tutor proof” . It’s a mix of maths, literacy, VR and NVR, mainly in multi-choice format, but nothing like the Bond papers or anything else you might come across. This is intentional, because they think the whole tutoring debacle is ridiculous and they don’t want pupils endlessly drilled on how to write an effective short story in 20 mins or stressing about how to get top marks in VR. They send you a sample of the format of the questions and that’s it. The whole exam is over and done in a few hours - I think I dropped DD off at 9am and picked her up at 11.30 or something like that. She sat two schools through that one exam but we could have applied for more. It was definitely the least stress of them all. SPGS went on for months - three rounds. Ridiculous! LU was the typical format of story, comprehension and maths which you feel you have to prepare them for and it’s such a shenanigan. Anyway, good luck!

Also, in answer to your question about whether an independent school lower in the league would be worth the money compared to your local state. Well, only you know your daughter. But take somewhere like More House - deprndingbin her subject choices, she could well be in lessons with just two others in the class. I know if girls in this school. It’s like personal tuition, quite often. They woould know your DD so well - no chance of her going under the radar. The trips and other opportunities will be amazing. I hear they have a fantastic chamber choir which tour internationally and sing in the church next to SS tube. That’s just feedback from friends. And you don’t need to be Catholic - just not object to a mass once a term.

Thanks everyone for your useful advice. We are then doing the right thing. Tutor is far more optimistic than me (I'm quite demanding when it comes to academic performance). DD has selected a number of schools from the Consortium , so it's good she'll have to sit only one exam. Total cost of exam fees will be horrendous, though. The girl is quite good at VR and NVR and English so maybe something will come out. If she doesn't get in, she will have received some useful support and 121 attention she doesn't get at the local Primary (30 children per class). I'll look into More House.

A friend’s daughter is at More House and is incredibly happy.

Another friend’s daughter goes to Queens College and thinks it’s super.

@CruCru I liked the ethos of QC but the buildings are dark very old , with limited maintenance and claustrophobic and the area is very polluted.

RE. Queen's College: very good results and great girls. But there is virtually no outdoor space. One has to think whether one wants her daughter to spend 7 years of her life in that type of space

Depending on where you live, please think carefully about the commute. If she's going to be on a coach for an hour across unpredictable London traffic or sitting in a parent's car, I would explore all local options first.
The easiest way to get a realistic view of this is to ask for the school's coach pick-up/drop-off times. The reality of a 7.10 pick-up is more stark than the duration.
Some kids are fine on long coaches, some fine making their way across London on a tube and bus. But many struggle with it at 11 carrying bags, instruments, hockey sticks..

If you are determined to go private, have you thought of Queenswood? Fantastic grounds and facilities, and good academic results for the mixed intake.

Queen's gate and MH are nice schools for the right child but I really wouldn't contemplate bussing a child to them from north London. Surely up there you can find schools with space and greenery?