DAO (Dame Alice Owens) v City boys

[Schoolflapper]

So I know this is a nice decision to have to make but I’m still tormented (to the point of going a bit mad...). DS has an academic place at DAO/Dame Alice Owens judging by his ranking. He also has an offer from City plus one other north London private. The journey is fine to all of them, there are no siblings in the mix, the money is saved but really is an issue in that it really should go to a million other things including pension. My question is: if I send him to DAO am I compromising on the academic side at all? Are the children in the selective intake challenged? When it comes to the university and A level results (impressive) are the people who went right the way through the school well represented in those top results? I’d always just assumed DAO was brilliant academically but now it comes to having a choice (which we hadn’t expected at the start of all this) I’m second guessing and wondering if there could be some flaw in the ‘dream ticket’ I so much want to grab. Any thoughts especially from people who’ve children have got to the exam stage at DAO?

from a socialisation perspective for boys as well as academic reasons I'd go DAO.

My and DH bought went private but agree state would have been fine and the money would have been better spent by our parents on a BTL 😂
Bar a very good scholarship offer our kids are going state all the way

I get the bus home from work with a load of boys from QE and I can assure you the boys who get public transport are from very diverse backgrounds. My friends son went there from ordinary state primary, no extra tutoring and hes a lovely grounded lad. Its a fantastic school.

OP, I'm sure either schools would be great for your DS.

if I send him to DAO am I compromising on the academic side at all? Are the children in the selective intake challenged?
Re DAO - my DC are students now, but both went to DAO from 11 to 18. I personally think you would have no worry on the academic side. Many of the siblings seemed to be just as academic as their older brothers and sisters, and my DC's friends were all so keen. I was also impressed by the interaction between the teachers and pupils. The teachers seemed to go to endless trouble for music, sports and plays. One of my DC's (rich) friends turned down a place at Queenswood to go there.

I was educated privately, but I really wished my parents had saved the money, and given it to me for a house deposit!

Old QEBoy here whose Sister also attended Henrietta Barnet and without a shadow of doubt I'd pick QE/DAO. QEboy was/is basically a free independent school. We were a congregation of pupils from Middle class homes and in a few cases Upper Middle class homes. Most of us would have either attended another Grammar school(Me) or Private schools had we not been accepted by QEboys so worry not your ward will be surrounded by bright and highly motivated students. Infact a good chunk of pupils in my year attended Prep schools(the first I knew about prep schools was when I started in Year 7) and most of us barring maybe a couple got tutored.

I say Save your money and choose the Grammar option unless you've either got loads of cash to spare or you want the extra curricular activities a private school would afford your DC. Don't get me wrong we had a good amount of sports and extra curricular activities on offer but my privately educated peers simply had more.

If you have got the money, go private. Leave a space in DAO for a clever child who can't afford private school.

I went to DAO then Oxbridge. Good school but obviously it depends on how bright and motivated your child is.

@pyjamashark thank you. The money issue is a big one and as long as it’s academically strong that’s fine.

I believe, DAO is a fantastic school. The people I know who have turned down places there (us included) have all done so only because they or their DC have been put off by the journey, which just felt very long when we went there for all the tests. So, if that isn’t something you or your DS are bothered by (and plenty of people aren’t) then certainly academically, I’d have no reservations about DAO.

Sorry about the rogue commas

2 generations of our family are old Owenians so our vote would be for DAO . Depends on whether your son would be focussed and thrive in coed or single sex school.

Of those three, City is most ethnically mixed and reflective of London's population.
Owens a close second.
QE Boys is quite mono-ethnic.

Also City and Owens are more liberal. QE had a very strict, full-on feel.

City and Owens get great results without being hothouse in feel. As far as I'm aware neither push kids out as much as QE at sixth form.

Both City and DAO are fantastic. DAO is much bigger I think so that might be a factor but otherwise it's about location, mixed vs boys and FEES.

Oh and btw City has a lot of bursaries and doesn't have a flashy feel from what I hear.

And supporting thedog

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=23310

I'm surprised people say it diverse. When I visited it was 95% south east continent but the pupils have an amazing work ethic judging by some of the threads I have read about revision timetable so deserve top grades. Not sure my dc would keep up in that environment though despite being of the same genetic descent but has my lazy gene.

@thedogisdrivingmemad thank you - so much clarity there. FEES are looming large for me.

You have to be suspicious of people advising you to reject DAO/QE Boys at this time of year You never know if posters' kids might just be high enough on the waiting list...

Only people I know rejecting either school this year are those who have an offer from the other of the two schools or Latymer/HB.

Obviously not an offer as it's not yet March 1st, but high enough scores for an offer

Pkaboo, I think sometimes people use 'diverse' to mean non-white but the two are not the same thing.
QE Boys is not diverse at all from what I see.
That's not necessarily an issue but I think it was raised upthread so I'm just responding to that.

It has a reputation for being fiercely academic and full-on.

@Thedogisdrivingmemad i am agreeing that it is not a diverse school and providing a discussion thread in support.

I think people are offering different opinions which suggest the right school depends on your situation and your dc. It's not grammar or privates are better. Whatever OP and others decides will be fine and considered given this thread, and will impact others on waiting list at a grammar or private.

I know pkaboo - I didn't think anything else and realised you and I were agreeing. I meant other people sometimes see diverse as just meaning 'non-white', rather than actually mixed.

It is up to you really but, you have to put a lot of things down.

This is our story!

My daughter is now in Year 11. She goes to an independent school. She didn't get a place into a selective grammar school and she wanted to be in a high academic school, so we compromised a lot of things to sent her to a private. She has done well and the fact that all girls have gone through the same selection process (for your case, CITY), it means that although they are put in groups, an average girl means that for GCSE this is grade 7/8.

She applied for 6th form. DAO is possible for her. I would love to sent her to DAO because its 2 more years of fees. Remember each year this is 20k (includes coach).

My thinking is that DAO AL results and her own school results for the subjects she will do at AL are similar. This is why she agrees to move to a school for 6th form. If money was not an issue, I wouldn't bother as she is quite happy at her school and as parents we are also happy. But 2 years of 20k = 40k and she definitely wants to study so at least she can use those 40k for later.

Good for him he can choose a school, I think it's always good to have an option rather than being stuck with a single school choice. Good luck to him and remember wherever you/he thinks he will be happier, that's where he should be.

But, at the end of the day, it's entirely your decision.

First time in over twenty years that the DAO ranks have not gone past 100.

Competition is fierce.

well, I guess the rank takes the school as a whole and not just 6th form and particular subjects.
I try not to judge a school as a whole but only parts of a school

Also, through the years, I don't think ranking numbers is the most important here, it's up to the child really, a child can only do well if they are happy in the school.

Without a doubt, DAO. My three, all in their 20s/30s, all went there. Each had a house at uni with the money saved, their results were good (AAA+ ... which was pretty standard at DAO in their day and I presume now too), but moreover, they had a great time there. Academics did matter but everything else worked well too. And we turned down private scholarships for the first one. That said, I do quite like City Boys, they used to carry my pushchair for me at Blackfriars . But I like saving £500,000 even more than I like any private school.

EleniT I think that orangeblossom means that for the 60 academic places, they've only got as far as 100 (or less) on the waiting list this year, because it's so popular. Usually, children much further down the waiting list are offered places.

Yes, only went to 85 this year

ok, got it. Yes, private schools costs a lot of money.
With my daughter she didn't get into a selective school and she really wanted to be in a good school so I did have in mind that she can move for 6th form. And she is in a good position now so, I believe even if its 2 years, us saving private school fees will still be good.