Can we get son into the rugby playing schools in Croydon despite us living in West Sussex?

[AspirationalSussexMum]

We live near to the Sussex/Surrey border on the West Sussex side.

My son plays amateur club rugby at a good standard in his free time alongside attending his local comprehensive. We feel if he could attend a renowned rugby school for sixth form that this would improve his chances of securing a contract with one of the professional sides. It’s a chance we’d like to give him and we benefit from excellent train connections into East Croydon and Purley.

Question is: are Whitgift, John Fisher and Trinity commutable from Crawley/Gatwick? Does anyone from our area have a DS at one of these schools? Are T and W more lenient because inde? Is JF (state) still taking pupils from a wide area? Are Croydon schools prone to accept candidates who live just a few miles from the school grounds?

(In terms of the local options) We are probably a little too well off for Housey down the road - the places there are awarded to the mostly needy, including families from inner London estates and many are apparently in receipt of some government welfare (Housey is a bit of a peculiarity of the private sector). Ardingly would be a stretch as the fees are so astronomical.

Independent schools do not take location into account but JF would. W has a boarding house and some weekly board who live not as far away. However bear in mind they may have Saturday school and weekend fixtures. Do Ardingly, Hurst or Brighton College not play rugby?

Brighton College is a gazillion miles from where we are that it's not worth considering! Ardingly, as I already explained, is far too expensive for a day school.

I'm sure JF and the girls' Catholic comprehensive (Colombo?) are do-able from here. My younger brother attended JF - but didn't play rugby! - and several girls from my RC primary attended Colombo. That is going back a good few years though.

Never heard of Hurst?

Hurst (Hurstpierpoint College) definitely do Rugby FWIW. And if you are Crawley/Horsham way, I’d say Brighton is much easier than Croydon.

Crawley to East Croydon just 20 minutes?

One of the schools OP woukd like her DS to attend is one of the highest rated secondary schools in the UK for rugby at present, so her interest is understandable, despite the number of rugby playing schools closer to home. But the fees to board there are pretty high and prob in line with Ardingley's?
If DS plays good club rugby, is he not already in the premiership academy system since age 12 - would that not be the best path to his aim of a pro contract, OP? Not sure which clubs feed which teams in Sussex, so pls excuse my ignorance!

Whitgift and John Fisher have historical links with Wasps and London Irish. The idea is we'd stick him on the trains into Croydon and needn't have the added pressure of boarding costs. We'd very much like him to attend Housey, but we are penalised for having good jobs and successful careers in favour of those 'more deserving'.

He plays county-level rugby.

Never heard of Housey. Do Christs Hospital play rugby?

but we are penalised for having good jobs and successful careers in favour of those 'more deserving'.

@LIZS Housey is Christ's Hospital! Practically everybody knows that! lol

I think the OP means Christ's Hospital. You won't like that one, OP, it's full of the 'more deserving'.

Worth is just outside Crawley and they play rugby. Could you be Catholic if needed?

And the girl's Catholic school is Coloma, not Colombo. Practically everyone knows that! lol

@MaudBaileysGreenTurban - Don't get a bee in your bonnet, I'm just saying that this school would have been ideal for our son given the proximity from our home. More power to them but it would do better serving the needs of the local inde parent community of West Sussex and surrounds than importing pupils from Hackney and lord knows where else who should by rights be attending schools in the neighbourhoods. It is a queer place for this reason and rather off-putting to boot.

Yeah what the fuck is that nasty comment about OP??

Ah penny drops. Don't think they only let in "deserving" cases though. From Horsham you could get to St Johns LH.

If you are on the main fast line to E Croydon, T is certainly doable. I know some boys come in from Brighton. Are you looking for September 2020, because the application deadline was today. Your DS would need at least 6 x 7s at GCSE, as well as passing the entrance exams.

Interestingly rugby was a normal game where I grew up.
I never understood why English people I knew thought it was a game for posh snobs but I'm gaining an understanding now.

St Johns has a good sporting reputation certainly.

@yulet I am merely stating that these children would do better at their local inner London comps, dragging up the standards and making an invaluable contribution. Farming these kids out to West Sussex represents a great deal of upheaval and the brain drain on the inner London comps causes far too much damage.

I wish common sense would prevail sometimes.

@Seeline so from Crawley to E Croydon can be done in virtually half the time then? Is the entrance procedure at T really that onerous? Didn't know it was terribly academic.

Nice one, OP. It is Friday night, I suppose.

Is you son not in a DPP program or County set up or premiership academy?

How old is he ?

It takes more than going to a rugby playing school to get a professional contract.

Both W and T are academically selective. Certainly sport prowess may help but not on its own.

I don't know how long the journey would take, just that boys do longer trips.
And yes, it is a very academic school. Boys have to be clever as well s sporty.
Also I think there are only a handful of places at 6th form entrance.

JF is in london borough of Sutton (rather thanCroydon) - the boundary runs very close to the school. Although at 6 th form it probably runs it own admissions based on academic (and sporting) ability, with distance used for oversubscription criteria.

And both W and T pride themselves on the number of pupils with financial assistance, some from the very circumstances you seem so scornful of!