Grammar school in Durham?

[IandC]

Hi, I am after some great and academic 11+ schools between Lanchaster-Durham-Chester le Street. I know the Johnstone is great but their waiting list is very long. My daughter is in year6 and she is already talking about Uni and asking questions on becoming a GP!🥰
Thanks in advance.

Well you won't find a grammar school as it isn't a grammar school area so your choice is state or independent. I don't know a huge amount about the independent schools a friend has her dd at Durham High School for Girls and really likes it but she's still in primary. Durham Johnston is always the one people want, always very oversubscribed. It is very academic. Realistically though there is little difference in results between the 3 schools that always come top off the list of well regarded schools in Durham. Fram and St L are also well regarded and get good results. There are great schools around Chester Le Street too. Depends where you live though for where you are likely to get in.

If your DD is in year 6 then you may have missed the boat on the 11+ exam as they will be taking place this month or have already taken place!

Mine are at St L. One is very ambitious and science minded (the other just coasts and has no clue what they want to do). The ambitious one does things like maths club at lunch time and is well challenged with their work.

OakleystreetisnotinChelsea thank you.
Yes those are the schools I was looking at. Fram St Leo and Johnstone. Any others you can think of? 😊 Howabout St Bede Cath School?

I have a friend teaches there, I think it is decent, I don't know much about it as no transport there from our village so I didn't really look into it. The catchment includes a wide variety of places. As does the Leonard's catchment, being Catholic they are both very wide.

Where do you live though? If your child is year 6 then you are applying now I assume so you need to be realistic with your choices depending on your current address not looking far and wide for the best school. If you are in catchment for St Bedes you are nowhere near catchment for the other 3 schools and if you are in reach of those then you are not really in catchment for St Bedes.

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea,
Thank you.😊
We are still down in south, my daughter is doing her 11+ test next week, and we already have a grammar school in mind where she will go for year 7, BUT we will be moving up to that area (in the middle of securing our jobs that can take ages, also have to wait for son too, so the move will be in the middle of her year 7, while she will be in grammar school(if she pass the test successfully and offered a place ofcourse!), hence i thought i might be able to "transfer" her to another great "grammar-like" school! We will be living around that area that i mentioned. 👍🙂

There are lots of good schools around. The places you listed Lanchester, Durham and Chester Le Street are all pretty far from each other schools wise, you won't get into the 3 schools you liked the look of from Cls for example, nor will you get into them from Lanchester though of course you will have the option of St B from L. Even Durham itself will depend which bit.

If you are moving to the area I would consider schools and catchments and then choose where to live based on that. You'll be able to get info on how far away from school people got offered places etc from the council to give you an idea of catchment.

It is a great place to live and there are a lot of good schools, not just those 3 so you have a wide range of places to live, city, suburb, village, proper rural, coast. It is fab.

There is a big Facebook group called mums in Durham which might be worth looking at, you'll get plenty of opinions of schools etc there.