Secondary school in Milton Keynes

[Rabbitit]

I have kids ranging from 6 to 10 and looking to move into Milton Keynes. But it seems that all the grammar schools are in bucks area. Are Mk residents able to apply to those like in Aylesbury or the chances are slim? Any experience or adice would be helpful !

You can apply for the grammar schools but think there is only Aylesbury that I no of now as royal latern is now a private school.
There are a couple of good secondary schools in mk such as shenley brook end and denbigh which are highly recommended

Royal Latin is not a private school. It is still a state grammar. The chances of getting in from MK to the Aylesbury or Buckingham grammars are getting less each year. For instance a friend lives in Medbourne and kids in their neighbourhood did not get places in Bucks grammars last year.
Denbigh and Shenley are both seen to be pretty good, but if you want the 'guarantee' of a Bucks grammar if your kids pass the 11 plus, you'll need to move to Bucks not MK.

Thanks for the advice. It's very difficult choice as aylesbury seems to have more choices for secondary schools but Milton Keynes seems to have better primary schools ! I personally like Milton Keynes more in terms of living and work.

I don't know much about Aylesbury uppers (i.e. the schools where kids go if they don't pass the 11+) , but for the most part they don't have a great reputation. If you move to Bucks you need to be very sure you're happy with your catchment upper school.

At the moment you need to live in Bletchley or Newton Leys to get into the Grammars. The allocation did go slightly higher Furzton and Emerson this year I think but last year it stopped at the a421. Have a look on the 11+ Forum newsgroup web page you will find the details of distance. Also look on the bucks county council admission page as there is a checker on there you can add your postcode and it will tell you how far away your address is from the school.

Denbigh, oakgrove and Shenley are all considered great schools. But you need to really really check the admission rules to make sure you can get in. Denbigh has feeder schools as an allocation criteria but getting your kids into a feeder at age 10 might be impossible.

I have friends who have sent their kids to Aylesbury - it's a long journey and after-school clubs are not possible if you want your child returning on the school bus. You need to be available to travel after school for meetings and events. Additionally at weekends and school holidays their friends might not be living locally and you will have to drive them a distance to see friends or hang out. So it's a big lifestyle choice not schooling in the local area.

Final point on great mk primary schools is that they have waitlists....call school admissions and find out how long they are for each school just to give you an idea. We moved a couple of street away from one and have been on the waitlist for 9 months with little hope of gaining a place.

....sorry I don't mean to sound negative. Milton Keynes is a fantastic place to live. (Just some people don't get all the facts about schools and are then surprised to find they move and can't access a specific school because they didn't research it properly. Or even worse they listened to an estate agent tell them that a house was in a catchment for a certain school when it never was and the child has no chance of getting a place). There is a new secondary being opened this September called Watling Way school (I think) and is part of the trust running Denbigh academy so that would be interesting to look at for your eldest. It serves the new areas in West if MK - Whitehouse Park etc

This is my first time handling 11+ entrance. What would usually be the back up plans if in case the kid got allocated to an undesirable one ? Re apply the year after or move to another area ?

Just to add, Aylesbury High (the girls grammar) have extended their catchment area for 2020 entry so it includes areas further south in Bucks, (saunderton/naphill/great missenden type areas).

This is likely to mean that there will be even fewer places for out of catchment students so even if they took girls from 15 miles away last year (I haven't looked at exact distance but it's on their website if you want to look), it is unlikely they will take from the same out of catchment distance this year.

I don't know if Aylesbury Grammar and the Sir Henry Floyd have also changed their catchment areas.

The back-up plan isn't really to move after you don't get a place because the food comps will be full. Why not move somewhere like Tring where you'd still get a place at the comp but also have a chance at the grammars? The secondary moderns like cottesloe are fairly dire really. The quality of the teaching is poor and they seem only concerned with getting as many as possible to pass rather than thrive.

Most people put a grammar school as first, second and third choice and their catchment school in Milton Keynes as the last choice. So that if they don't get the grammar they get the local school. -- one lady I know ended up with her daughter at SBE and is now very happy that she didn't get into Aylesbury. One mum didn't put her local school at all and ended up with the least desirable (in her opinion) school in Milton Keynes. They missed out on grammar by .1 of a mile..... fortunately he got a space from the wait list before September. But he was number 2 on the list on allocation day.

My son goes to an MK school....I don't think they are undesirable....there are good schools in Milton Keynes. Children educated in Milton Keynes go onto great things. Grammar school isn't the be all and end all in life... You still come out of school with GCSEs and A levels, you can still get in to University. I don't really understand the need to ship kids a long way for school....

However we are all different in life and all want different things for our kids so if it means so much to you do your research fully. And don't underestimate the tutoring for 11+ which starts at year 4 these days....

Cottesloe isn’t dire! I know lots of children, many with SEND or high achievers who are thriving there.

Thanks for all the tips and insight! I will continue to research. Not aiming for highest but want to prevent getting into the poor reputation ones in case :)

Heard ppl saying they could give u one that is miles away if there is no vacancy near your area

I agree that if you want a chance at getting a place at a Bucks grammar then you MUST live in Bucks. I live in Herts, just on the border with Bucks, and whilst traditionally children from my town have got places at grammars, last year there was huge upset as the catchment for one school widened within Bucks and very few non-siblings got places. The same is happening to Aylesbury High this year.

My daughter has passed the 11+ but I am realistic that she may well not get a place next March as a result. If we lived less than half a mile up the road over the county border then she would get a place.

As for tutoring, we refused to do anything other than working on Bond books at home occasionally through Y5. School said she was grammar material and that we were being very brave not tutoring as everyone else is. We took the risk and it paid off. Compare and contrast with several of her friends who were heavily tutored from Y4 and didn’t even go away on holiday this summer to study - and then failed to make the grade. Tutoring can apparently only gain an improvement of about 10% so if your child isn’t bright, think very carefully about whether a grammar is actually the right place for them.

I beg to differ. Both my stepkids are at cottesloe and it's been disastrous for them. Both missed the 11+ by 1 point. DSC 1 did GCSEs last year and came out with a 6 as the highest grade. Their performance has slid downhill slowly and consistently since they went there. DSC2 is now on the same descent. They put kid in for GCSEs early and only seem to care about getting that pass mark. DSC1 is a summer born and had to do English Lit in year 10 so was nearly two years younger than some of those taking the exam. English was always their strongest subject. Came out with a 6. School very pleased with it. Us not at alll. They were capable of so much more. Anyway wouldn't even remotely be my choice!

@Rabbitit in answer to the specific point you have to live near to and in catchment of a school you are both happy for your child to go to and also definite to get a place. So in Milton Keynes you could live in Shenley Brook End catchment. Then if you are lucky you might get AGS, SHF or Royal Latin. If you don't you will get SBE assuming you list it as a choice. However the downside of this is you may not be close enough to get Aylesbury or Buckingham. So if you are dead set these are the schools you want and you are able to move then move close to them.

Is your 10 year old in year 5 or Year 6? If Year 6, you've already missed the 11+ and secondary admissions.

Very nearly all DC with one mark below the pass mark are offered a place in Bucks Grammars. Either at Review or on appeal. Often appeal DC are successful several marks below. So what happened at appeal Humpdayrumjnations?

The best place to live in Bucks is Waddesdon. You would then get Waddesdon School which is better than most comprehensives. Again though, if you need September2020, check the application date. Although this is a secondary modern, it’s a very good school. You are then in catchment for the Aylesbury Grammars. SHF has traditionally taken more MK children.

Tring might also work for you. It’s closer to Aylesbury than MK. Has Tring School which is good. Bucks has plenty of good primary schools but getting a place in one could be a challenge.

Sadly the Aylesbury secondary moderns have not been great for years and have a very chequered history with Ofsted. The schools around Aylesbury such as The Cotteslowe, The John Colet and Waddesdon are greatly preferred.

@BubblesBuddy their mum didn't appeal it and was happy to use Cottesloe. She was worried they'd be at the bottom because they were so close to the pass line. Mind you they had zero tutoring so I'm not sure they would have been. I think perhaps in retrospect it's a decision she rather regrets. She was of the "bright children will do well anywhere" brigade.....

Big mistake not to appeal! Can’t really complain if she didn’t make the effort and I’m afraid there are differences between the schools and these DC won’t necessarily be lower achievers at the Grammars. That is often where the over tutored find themselves! Sadly.

DSC1 went from just missing out on the grammar to 6 being the highest of his GCSE marks. They're now being predicted D's across their 3 A levels. The advice has been poor. They shouldn't even really being doing A levels with the GCsE grades they got but the sixth form needs bums on seats soooo....