Comparing apples and pears? Maida Vale school vs Mill Hill

[kozano]

DS has offers from Maida Vale School and Mill Hill for 13+. They were both our back up schools. He still has assessments for SP and City boys and we have not heard from Westminster yet. Ideally we would love him to go to City as he is very sciency but he already got rejection form UCS, so his chances from the other 3 is not the highest so we need to accept a place between these two, but they are such different schools! DS is very academic but comes across very different in interviews and he is super quirky and non sporty. Maida Vale school is by the Gardener group but this will be their first year so a complete unknown, Mill Hill is not sufficiently academic but DS could be among the top sets. Mrs Gardener told us she would really look after my DS and bring the best out of him. Maida Vale school is more local to us. How to decide?
Any comments and pointers would be greatly appreciated.

If your DS is very into science you need to ask the question at Maida Vale. I toured the school with my DS and was told that the science GCSE would be combined science and not separate subjects by the Headmaster. So this does have lots of implications. If he is doing Common Entrance then he has covered most of the GCSE course in Chemistry, Physics and Biology and is therefore very prepared for one GCSE covering all. But if he wants to continue into A-levels and a future career with a science base then It might have to be Mill Hill.

My DS failed UCS because he didn't like the school but was waitlisted for CLBS and Highgate at 11+. Does your son have a personal first choice? And if he does would he have pulled it out of the bag at the exam/interview process. And does his current school have a realistic view of what he could get?

Thank you, that was extremely useful. DS will most definitely pursue a career with science in it and would do all three separately. My DS failed UCS and the feedback was he was too quirky in the interview! Mill Hill might just be big enough to absorb his quirkiness :-) He would also most probably get academic scholarship in Science and Maths. He really likes City and Westminster but both seems like a huge ask at this point. Thanks for your help.

I don't know much about the schools you're asking about but in case it's useful I think that as there aren't many places at ucs, it doesn't necessarily follow that your son is unlikely to get an offer from Westminster, City or St Paul's, as they have more places to offer. Good luck with the decisions.

At Kew House School (same group as Maida Vale) they do Double or triple science. If you do triple it’s the same as 3 GCSES one in each science. If you do double it’s 2/3 of a GCSE in all 3 sciences. Not sure if that is what the head meant by combined science. I find it all very confusing - I’m old school!!

My son started Kew House in one of the early years and he really loved being in a small school. You could tell it was new as some of the systems and communication didn’t quite work but the teaching was always superb and I think the e ability to offer staff the possibility of setting up a new department was exciting and enabled them to attract some really dynamic teachers.

The kids are diverse - for some it was a fall back school - but not for all.

Having recently joined this forum, I had been looking for others feedback on Maida Vale School. In general, our first impressions have been very good. My initial contact was a phone conversation with the Registrar, who was helpful and informative about the school. Despite not being able to physically visit the school due to the lockdown at the moment, we have now been able to book onto a Virtual Event on the 20th May, which we will be able to see the site and facilities. My daughter recently completed the assessment process as well as the interview with the Headmaster and came away smiling (which has been a first in the whole process). It was refreshing to find a school that seemed very personable and made it all about the child. Maida Vale School is definitely our first option. I hope this feedback helps.

Just an update. We chose Mill Hill school where DS got scholarship for Maths and Sciences. We are so far very very happy. Academically not pushed fully yet but able to take extracurricular academic subjects like Maths competitions, science clubs, Astronomy, Further Maths etc. House system works well pastorally and for the first time he has been fully supported emotionally. He found enough quirky kids who share his interest so he does not feel like an outsider. Lots of learning differences are supported. School seems well organised, especially compared to our Hampstead prep! We're very happy with our decision.