Moving from SW London Private to Bucks Grammar?

[Fretfulmum]

DC currently go to a prep in SW London. DH took a new job a few years back in Bucks and has been commuting since and this has always been the plan. But lately he is getting really tired of the commute and we have discussed a possible move to Bucks. I’ve looked at secondary schools there but there aren’t any decent independents from what I’ve found. Pipers Corner isn’t quite academic enough for us. Berkhampsted neither. We were aiming for LEH/G&L for secondary in Surrey (just so you get an idea of what we are looking for). We also don’t want boarding and have discounted Wycombe Abbey.

Are the Bucks grammars comparable to SW London independents? The academic results don’t look too bad but I’m unsure if the extracurriculars and getting a broad education match up? We only want to make the move if it’s going to work for the DC school wise. Any insights please?

Although not Bucks you can live in Berkshire and get the bus to LEH, it's not a long journey.

@sunshineclouds24 thanks. I would have thought Berks would be a long commute. Any places you suggest that’s commutable to Hampton and Bucks?

My ds is at Hampton and the bus from Ascot is quicker than the bus from Wimbledon.

Would you be applying at the normal time via 11+? If not, you might find an in year grammar place hard to come by.

Yes. DC are currently Y1 and Y2 so sufficient time for 11+

@Fretfulmum , your dc are young, I would make a house move that works for the family, there are many good prep schools in the Bucks area.

What about either North West London schools eg St Helens. Has a bus route from Amersham and Beaconsfield www.sthelens.london/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/St-Helens-Coach-Service-2021-22.pdf
Or Oxford schools eg Oxford High bus routes
oxfordhigh.gdst.net/

If you lived near the outskirts of the tube (eg Watford, Amersham, Uxbridge) you could take the Met line straight into London. SHHS is 5 mins walk from Finchley Road tube.

Otherwise check the school bus routes. You can get to at Helen's and the royal Masonic from Beaconsfield and Gerrards cross.

My perception- based on very brief research - is that the Grammar schools seem to be on a par with st Helen's but below SHHS academically.

Thanks everyone I will look into these schools. Oxford is going to be too far.
There are several preps in Bucks I really like the look of so preps aren’t an issue. It’s the secondary school. It’s hard to gauge what the Grammars offer compared to an indie in SW London/Surrey and if the DC will be stretched to their full potential, be taught independent thinking, opportunities for off curriculum learning, sport music provision etc.

I’m not keen on a long school commute for the DC so want to live either walking distance or a short bus ride away. I know lots of children commute long distances for the right school, but ideally it’s not what I want for DC.

How do you know how academic your children are already?
The Bucks grammar schools are excellent. They are not as selective as some grammars in other areas because Bucks is a fully selective county so only has grammars & secondary Moderns ("Upper Schools"). This means that 30% will pass.
However, every year there are people who are quite sure their child will pass, but they don't. Therefore you need to live somewhere where you are happy with the Upper Schools as well, and you may not consider many of them to be very desirable.
Whereabouts in Bucks are you thinking of?
The reason that there are few academic private secondary schools in Bucks is simply because the grammar schools are so good, so anyone academic tends to go to those.

@Nonamenoclue well DCs prep have already advised me that LEH 7+ is a very realistic option for DD so I’m going off that.

I don’t doubt the academic-ness of the Grammars but wanted some insight into how they compare with the factors I’ve listed above eg independent thinking

Girls grammar schools in Bucks are certainly strong academically. They also tend to be strong in sport because they are quite big, single-gender schools with a large cohort of girls competing for the teams. I don't know much about music or drama I'm afraid, not my area.

I would say independent thinking and off-curriculum learning are things which come more from individual children and their personalities rather than from a school ethos. Probably with encouragement from teachers.

As PP pointed out, some of the secondary moderns are not all that great in Bucks, so worth bearing that in mind. Perfectly possible to do well at them, but it takes some focus and determination.

The Bucks Grammar I have experience of is very much what you are looking for - but doesn’t appear to be in your preferred area - you do need a plan B and probably plan C though - not all of my children passed the 11+ .

Have you considered Stowe School? It's just outside Buckingham.

I know you said you had discounted Wycombe Abbey but they do have Day Girls too. About 10% are day girls.

It's true that there are good private schools around the edges of Bucks.
The problem with recommending any of the schools is that things change - staff, heads etc etc. The results obtained in the last few years aren't relevant to 5 & 6 year olds as they won't be taking their GCSEs for another 10 years & their A levels in 12 years.
Having said that I do realise that you have to base your choice on something! Most if not all of the school's would hope to fulfil your requirements. One states its aim as being to produce independent learners. If you say which particular schools you are thinking of people may be able to give you more detailed advice.
If you want a girls' school I think your choice is fairly limited. Beaconsfield High School & Dr Challoner's are very highly thought of. Wycombe High I'm not so familiar with, nor the one in Aylesbury.

Yep! All of those just mentioned by pp score highly in last Sundays top 200 in The Times newspaper regarding academic achievement.

Aylesbury High, Beaconsfield High, Wycombe High and Challoners are all very high achieving. Watch out for the number of pupils though as they do vary.

For example, Wyc Abbey has 635 I believe whereas Aylesbury High has 1300. I assume staff to pupil ratio is proportionate.

Thanks all. I don’t know anything about Grammar schools so this is all very helpful and has given us lots to think about. We haven’t visited any in Bucks yet, just looked online and the locations. We like the look of Beaconsfield High, Aylesbury High and Challenors High but we would need to visit them to get a proper feel. The big pupil intake does worry me and if pupils almost “get lost” in the year group. Can their individual needs be nurtured in these large class sizes?

We also like Maltmans Green, High March and Godstowe Prep schools.

Godstowe is the feeder into WA.

Maltmans, in my experience, sees girls leave there to go to Pipers Corner. A certain BBC presenter did this some years ago. Not because she didn't like Maltmans, she just felt PC was more matched to her two daughters. But then again, I know of another TV personality's daughter who got expelled from PC for rule-breaking....so personally I go on my child's personality and a school to fit in with it.

Aylesbury High with 1300 pupils has 6 classes per year I think, if that helps.

OP, bear in mind that the Bucks Grammar Schools are not super-selectives. They are local schools so you HAVE to live in catchment, no matter how bright your DCs are. You would need to decide which school suits your DDs best and then buy a house in that catchment area. You wouldn't, for example, get into Dr Challoner's if you lived in Great Missenden…

Interestingly, although we all, as parents, instinctively feel that smaller class sizes are beneficial to children, academic studies don't really support this belief. Overall, and as an obvious generalisation, at secondary school level children will do better in a big class with a great teacher than in a small class with an average teacher. The quality of the teaching is really the crucial factor. And great teachers are just as commonly found in the state sector as in the private one.

Maltmans had an 11+ grammar school pass rate of something like 82% last year. A large proportion of girls go onto the grammars, royal Masonic, st marys ( not academic), etc. just depends on where the parents live.

Private schools don't tell the whole story when quoting pass rates. They only enter pupils for the test if they believe they will pass. Buckinghamshire state schools enter all children unless they opt out. It's the same as the headline that pops up every year - that children from outside Bucks have a much higher pass rate- that's because they don't take the exam unless they believe there's a reasonable chance of passing. Having said all that, I've heard good things about Maltman's.