SW London Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023 (Part III)

[QuiteAJourney]

Continuation from

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4697901-sw-london-private-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023-part-ii?page=40&reply=122947087

An opportunity for parents of DC applying to private and grammar schools in SW London for entry in year 7 in 2023 to share their journeys.

@UKUSMum the comment on considering school fit and not difficult of offer is a useful reminder that neither academic performance nor so-called 'desirability' (which are linked but not linearly related) are not everything.
In addition to DC's personality and fit within the culture and cohort, the issue of extra-curricular is an important one. As @HawaiiWake says, the scope or incentives for DCs to be involved can vary from school to school - DC unable to take part in clubs as the are not elite, etc.

For any private and state school one can always make subject access request via GDPR. You may not get feedback but you should get some information on scores and notes etc (which may not comparable)

For state school, the freedom of information act means school have to reveal all students score if required
..

I don't think you could make a GDPR request to a private school as what would you gain as your dc would certainly not be able to attend. Private schools can admit who they want and reject who they want too.

Re fit, I would agree with that, I have a ds at Hampton and whilst the academics are great he would have perhaps been in a higher level sports team and in a choir or participate in a concert at a less academic school where more participation is encouraged whatever your ability.

@PreplexJ GDPR indeed applies (on that, I wonder whether for ISEB / Consortium schools the request would be to the school, ISEB / Atom, or even both). But it relates to personal information about your child, which leaves you blind as to their performance as such in relation to the cohort.

@poppybuttons that is the experience of quite a few of our friends - perversely, they opted for a certain school because the sport / music was strong in that school, but then found that it attracted a candidates of such a calibre in those disciplines that their DC were not able to participate in those activities as they would have wanted.

@QuiteAJourney depends if atom or ISEB are identified as data owner or data Processor but eitherway by law the data owner has tongive you access your DCs information

Agree - I wonder whether them being the data owner might be one of the reasons for their attractiveness to private schools.

Yes it's quite upsetting when your ds is at home on a Saturday because he can't make the top ranked football/rugby/cricket teams with fixtures and his friends at KGS, Claremont, St John's are all out being busy because those schools encourage everyone to be in a team. Same with the choir, i went to 1 concert at Hampton, saw the amazing standard and realised my ds would never stand on the stage. But saying that Hampton is the right school for him and the teaching is great.

Yes, very true. In fact we have a tournament coming up at G&L.

@poppybuttons @QuiteAJourney how do we know which schools our dc would have a chance on being part of the teams that actually compete!?!

I have heard of this happening a lot from our friends with older DD's - both that they don't make squads (if there aren't squads for everyone) but they pick a very sporty school because they've always been one of the best in their primary /prep, only to get to senior school and find they're in the C or D team and suddenly lose all motivation. I think if your DC has particular extra-curricular interests that they want to be a part of school life, the level at which they'd likely to be able to participate should definitely be part of the decision making process.

It will depend on school and child. You can definitely ask how many teams they field / how many kids take part in competitions in a given sport, whether in the past a kid at county level would make a certain team or not, ...
For music, worth asking whether orchestras require a certain grade and/or whether an audition is required, and what is the average grade level of those taking part.

Hi regarding the GL interview, DD felt it was very impersonal not quite getting to know but more like going through a standard process … FH process and Channing seemed more involved with activities etc.
it mostly comes down to the exam in the end I guess.

Do kids not pick up new sports or musical interest at these super selective schools? I remember the GL head girl saying she was in the E team at the start and then she moved to the A team towards the end of her time there!

If it's a school that has teams for everyone who wants to participate, they will. If it doesn't - eg only A and B team - they'd need to be very very good!

Progression is indeed possible, the issue is that some schools do not have that number of teams and competitions are restricted to the A and B teams. Hence the comments above re: caution as to the level of inclusivity and the standard required if opportunities are limited.
Similar issues (potentially even more pronounced) apply to music / instruments.

In regards to potential offer holder events, are they generally held during the day or evening? LU used to have an evening event. It's been difficult for us to attend during the day due to work.

@QuiteAJourney , agree there are schools with multiple sports being played and has A to E teams, plus sport clubs.
Music, how many orchestra and ensembles and choirs does the school cover? Some schools have lots of options and opportunities and others for those at county sport level and those attending regional orchestras and choirs.

@QuiteAJourney the number for orchestras and ensembles varies as well, as does the average standard, hence my comments about being better to ask.
One of the schools that we are considering takes only some DD every year and playing at around G4 usually gets into the orchestra or an ensemble (of which they seem to have many). In other schools, be it because they have more children coming in every year, because of the average level being higher and/or because the number of ensembles is more limited, the opportunities might be less. So I would say that not that dissimilar to sports.

@HawaiiWake All this info is generally on school websites - how many choirs /orchestras are audition only /how many are non audition. Ditto sport - whether they have A-E teams or not.

I would think that they do but it might be easier with 'new activities' than existing ones. So breaking into drama, debating, rowing or lacrosse might be easier than football, netball or rugby where some students are already performing at a high level with years of practice under their belts.

Really agree re not choosing based on kudos if ‘getting in’. dD chose her school over another far more popular one and a lot of my mum friends said we were mad. Dd is in te right place and so happy and settled. It’s inclusive and she gets to do the things she wants without the high levels of pressure abs competition. That has actually improved yet achievement because she’s happier and not at the bottom where she was in her prep. She’s excelling as a big fish in a small pond and much more happy than she would have been in a big sea of sharks!

Rowing is the best for everyone starting together and training at the weekends etc and it's a great team sport. The same for lacrosse I expect. Football/rugby/hockey are more difficult to break through when the A and B teams so often come from the feeder prep if there is one (ie surbiton prep) and local clubs where the dc already know each other plus the sports scholarship day when the potential new dc are assessed.

A lot of the schools do have quite a few teams but their competitive matches will be limited by other schools' teams e.g. DD's school has A-H team in netball but the A team has 19 matches scheduled this school year and the H team has 1. The A team is often sports scholars and other very very good players. DD was A team at primary and F team at secondary initially, although did move up to the C team. The other major sport at her school has A-C teams.

Great, my dd loves netball....I hope she will be able to compete on the team!