Advice please - my little bro has been offered a music scholarship to a VERY good school but ...

[massivebigpantsface]

he is apprenhensive and worried about being bullied as he lives on a council estate. He is only 10 and this is really bothering him and i am concerned he is going to turn this fantastic opportunity down.
Do you think he will be targeted? How can my Dad and Stepmum approach it withou forcing him to go?

What has living on a council estate got to do with it.Your little bro is obviuosly very talented and i bet he is a lovely person too.What a wonderful opportunity for him-you must be very proud.

Well of course I agree with you fakeblonde, it never occured to me until he said it himself, but this is a very expensive public school and I doubt there will be many children there from the same sort of background.
You know how children can be, they will always single out the 'different' individual.
I am absolutely over the moon that he has achieved this, he is very talented and can be a lovely boy (although there is a bit of the 'creative' tearaway in him too!)

Congrats to your little Bro!
Ask if he can talk to current Scholars, they might put his mind at rest.

thank you marina, that is very reassuring

I have a friend who's mixed race daughter from a very deprived area (her words not mine) won a scholarship to a prestigious music school. She has fitted in very well and has not encountered any difficulties from parents/staff or pupils. Her exceptional talent has enabled her to fit right in and I'm sure your brother will be exactly the same (she was 10 too by the way)

thats great suwoo!
he is really excited about it but the next second I can see the worry in his face. I think I'll share your advice with him ('a friend of mine...' )

hmm. He may have a point. While a lot of independent schools are quite welcoming there are some that aren't and have a rather intolerent ethos. Someone I knew at uni was very unhappy as a scholar at Winchester and said all the scholars were very looked down on and didn't mix at all well with the others. I think you should try and find out a bit more about the school and ask some probing questions. Talking to existing scholars would be a good idea, but they may feel compelled to tow the party line and so if you can find some old boys you may get a more accurate picture.

It sounds like this is a chance of a lifetime for him! Why not suggest that he gives it a go and reassure him that if it turns out that he is really unhappy, then he can always move schools.
To be honest, my dd who is also 10yrs old is due to enter secondary school next September and only this evening, was tearful at the prospect of leaving her primary school and old class behind. Change is difficult to negotiate for most of us and at10 yrs old, especially so.