How pressured / full on is QE boys?

[poobaloo]

Hi all,
My sister is looking at her options for her DS and is considering QE. She lives in Walthamstow so not close but there is a coach apparently.
Her DS is really bright, but she's not sure if a longish commute to a full on school would be a good idea. Her DS is in yr4 so she's thinking ahead re tutoring etc already.
Any feedback would be helpful, thanks.

I know many parents who tutored for the exam. None of their children got in. To get in, your son needs to be already at the very top of his class in primary, in every subject. Ours had a reading age of 16 at the age of 9 and was on the 99 percentile for maths. And he is not even in the top sets at QE. He has a twin, who simply doesn't have the same ability, so we didn't even put him through the exam. If the school is the right fit for your child, he will fall in love with it at the open day. Ours didn't want to leave because he found all the puzzles and work on display so engaging. He even loved the headmaster's speech. Seeing the school is the best way to work out whether it's right for your son.

Just by the numbers who sit and the numbers they accept, the majority of tutored and non-tutored will not get in.

and yet only small proportion would get tin. Tutor won’t change one’s IQ.

I know a few children there and they all work very long hours with homework. Personally I wouldn’t want that for my child and I think it encourages a mentality that working is always good rather than rhythms of rest and play. I got excellent results and went to a standard school and did very little homework outside of coursework. My teen years were spent at the cinema, going bowling, reading philosophy and poems with friends for fun. Sadly that era is gone but I certainly don’t want to make it worse by sending my sons to a school where ‘work ethic’ is king. I know so many adult friends who’ve left successful careers due to bein out. Learning the importance of rest is equally as important as learning the importance of work.

My son never spent hours on his homework at QE. He did scouts, played football and rugby, He played computer games with his friends and watched films with them. He taught himself piano for fun.

Many of the boys are naturally bookish , the type who like spending hours on their homework. The school encourages boys to join at leat 2 clubs. They are not aiming to produce academic robots. That some of them end like that is not the mission of the school but the nature of the individual (or their pushy parents).

1. some children not getting to chose their fav subject like boy scoring around 95% but at A levels he couldn't chose maths( as per school std it was not good enough)
2. The nbr of boys who leave school (around 40) post gcse results so school only care abt it results
3. the atmosphere is school is extremely competitive and u can sense that even in parents forum and not sure how heathy it is to be under constant pressure
4. homework being set on short notices like weekend and due within 2/3 days

Felt like factory but no direct exp but not something I will chose for my boy

Not true. The school is truly amazing, obviously only for boys who are at that level.

Also bear in mind it is not even diverse and is predominately south asian. This was a factor in us deciding it wasn't for us. we weren't looking or impressed with children knowing what they wanted to do for A level and degrees at 11 and wanted something more rounded for our extremely clever son who would have stood as good a chance as anyone to get in there. Just read the 11+ forums to see the hysteria and the prep about getting in there.

DAO and Latymer are far better for a brilliant education combined with some proper diversity

@FlawlessSquid all these points are directly by parents who are my family friends who have shared this. All kids have different experiences and it is true to say that every chid doesn't experience all points mentioned above but none of points I mentioned is made up . So not sure which point you don't agree to.

Also to justify the school environment by saying that the child was not capable or not good enough is really appalling. I feel that a child if for some reason fall from the expected level should we supported by school and not asked to leave school.

BTW my son cleared QE and all top schools , I have not chosen QE as I will either chose Westminster or local school at 5 min walking distance as that was always our preference and also my son had no tuitions and cleared exam on his own merit. so I know he can survive the school so I am not bitter about school.

What I shared is honest feedback from my friends and it is just good to know. its for posters to make his own decision.

1. The boys are given very clear guidelines what they are expected to achieve to be allowed to study their a levels. There are chances, second chances and appeals. The 95% is for further maths a level, not maths and is the 1st, highest criteria to be offered a place at the end of year 10. There are further, lower criteria to be offered further maths later on through year 11. If you miss these standards then you can still do AS Maths in school and a level maths . it’s the same at comp: if you don’t meet the standards you can’t do the course. They have limited teaching staff for FM like many schools.
2. Pupils leave comp after GCSEs too. Especially boys schools as many want a mixed environment
3. I agree it is competitive and that’s not for everyone.
4. I get this at my younger son’s comp too so it’s not a QE problem

@Toddlingturtle oh yes! I forgot to add that 99% Asians so there is literally no diversity

Direct contacts with boys who are in QE, their experiences differs to what you summarised. There are boys who never had opportunities in learning music instruments start to pick up instruments. Boys who were not advanced in math at the beginning, were encouraged & well taught & eventually went on to do A level math as well as advanced A level math. What I'm saying is, yes for someone had to work super super hard to just get in, they will find it hard, but for someone whose natural talent is there, the school is superb.

Exactly!

It's a school that is meritocratic based & if one feel the right to look down on it because it's 99% Asians, then one shall have some self-reflection.

That’s not looking down on a school being 99% Asian. It is recognising that it is not diverse and isn’t a reflection of the area it is in. Diversity is massively important in an area which is truly multi-cultural and that is a very important factor to me when choosing my child’s school. I do have an issue with it. The other schools in the area, including QE girls are more diverse annd reflect the local population and reflective of the community and in my opinion that’s a consideration when choosing schools.

Even as Asian ourselves we appreciate more balanced setup. Constant competitive environment might damage pupils’ sense of cooperation (my own observation from some fellow QE graduates). However it might be unavoidable for a state school on huge demand.
We normally only offer hands when kids ask for more. But most time they could figure out things themselves which we are really proud of!
Good luck for everyone as 11+ is overly competitive especially in London

You have no direct experience but present the above as fact? None of the above is true.

@Braveheart35 My boy had non but I did taught him maths in year 3, He was greater depth exceeding levels and always three years ahead for reading and numeracy. His class teacher advised me he doesn't need it and she was so right.
he self taught NVR / VR and his passion is creative writing. He only studies three days a week for 60-90 min till July of year 5. In summer vacation we did study 5 days a week in Aug holiday doing one GL mock every day mainly to speed him up. that's it.

but i must say he found 11 plus exams boring and slept away in kent exam .

He liked ISEB entrance test- that is the only test he came out abs thrilled apart from Sutton second round maths.

@Braveheart35 - its all over internet by parents of QE and my friends whose children visit us regularly. so yes my child doesn't but we have heard directly from kids who goto QE.

If it's all over the internet it must be true. As for 99% Asian, how did you arrive at this figure?

There are huge diversity in QE in terms of social-economic background but very very narrow ability band. Nothing wrong for you not to choose it. But for some very very bright young men who are from disadvantaged backgrounds, who can’t afford schools with hefty fees, QE is life changing for them, for the positive! Meritocratic is the fairest, for every child to have a chance to succeed in to the best of their ability.

White families are not proportionally represented because middle class sensibilities are just not comfortable with overt competitiveness: they think it's more important to be nice. This is a reasonable point of view but one you maybe can't afford if you don't start from a position of privilege.

Still, QE not a monoculture.

There's a big cultural difference between a Hindu from India, a Muslim from Bangladesh and Christian from Hong Kong in terms of culture. Also sizeable African contingent (esp Nigeria) too.

It isn’t an issue of meritocracy. When you go to these exams, it’s around 99% Asian so of course the intake is going to be 99% Asian. The question is why the White flight. Why is there no diversity at the exam stage?

Even Asian parents are turned off by the lack of diversity. Not just at QE but at others like it.

Also, the kids are heavily tutored. All these tuition centres are evidence of this. The demographic that makes most use of these centres is Asian. The degree of competition between Asian families means the need /pressure for all to have their kids tutored is very high.

What I think is happening is that White middle class families are sending their kids to state school because the game is changing and the top universities are now prioritising children who have high grades from local comprehensives.

Also, there is a desire for more rounded experiences, including sports. For some demographics there is a singular and one dimensional focus on academics. That can change a school’s culture. A school that was once excelling in inter-school sports can eventually move to the bottom.

Probably not 99% but 90% is reasonably correct based on my observations. Anyone interested in actual figure can ask the school via freedom of information act.

There is a big sports culture at QE. It is one of the few state schools who play rugby with 3-4 teams for each year group. They have practice once a week after school and then play on Saturday morning, usually against private schools around London/Herts. The rugby coaching staff are mainly ex-professional players. They all go on the coach to the match and have a blast. There is a swim team who practice in the mornings, cricket, athletics and a water polo teams which I know less about.

This compares against my son at the local comp where there is no swim team. no water polo team. No serious rugby team. There is only 1 football team per year group.

At QE my son could play ping pong every lunchtime. It's once a week after school He had a gym where he could work out at lunchtime, also not available at the local comp.