SW London Private and Grammar - applying for Year 7 in 2023 (Part VI)

[QuiteAJourney]

Following from our previous thread (link below)

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4731973-sw-london-private-and-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023-part-v?page=40&reply=123775541

Looking forward to continuing the journey together!

These are all good schools, where are your families based? I would think that location would be a big factor and also coed vs single sex. Hampton is more academic than Epsom and is also cheaper. I have heard good things about Hampton teaching. Epsom has Saturday school and is part boarding. Both kings and esp. Hampton are potentially a bit more sheltered, if students travel by coach, than LU, where most children go by public transport I would have thought.

We chose LU over Hampton (amongst others) mainly due to location but also gut feel etc.

I'm eternally grateful we prioritised location- I am at school one way or another much more than I thought I'd be and very glad we can rely on public transport rather than a school bus and I can pick him up late /drop off early in the care easily if needed. He is hopeless in the mornings and getting him to the Hampton bus would not have been great for the family! I have a DD at another school and often need to be there as well.

LU has been great for DS- sports wise he is A/B teams for rugby and cricket- great for confidence. Would have been trickier at Hampton I suspect unless he really upped his game. He has got involved in music and drama as well. I think Co-Ed suits him. He's not particularly sensitive but have heard from friends at Hampton that there is a lot of 'banter' like hiding younger boys sports kit etc. He would get upset by that sort of thing and doesn't seem to be any of that type of thing at LU (or I haven't heard about it anyway). Also no indication of any 'everyone's invited' type behaviour. His close friends are boys but he knows lots of girls and they all seem to get along fine.

Quite a grown up school- not a lot of hand holding etc but whenever we've had (minor) pastoral issues they've been great. Strict on the important things like phones use etc.

Very happy with our choice although I'm sure he would have been absolutely fine at Hampton as well! Know lots of boys there. Sports fields on site are a bonus but also a bit remote compared to King Street!

I would say that Epsom is more traditional (boarding, longer days, Saturday school etc) and slightly 'less academic' than the others but all relative.

Thank you for your feedback. Really good to know.

This rings so true. Offers day was fantastic, and we were on a high for quite a while.

I know getting offers is a hugely fortunate position, and that this is a fantastic opportunity, but it feels like yet another scenario where there might be pitfalls for the future of our DCs!

Ridiculous I know, but there is definitely stress attached to making the 'right' decision, or more correctly stess attached to making sure you don't make the wrong one.

It's easy for me to say but having been through it twice, with a DD and a DS, don't stress too much about the wrong/right decision as you won't ever really know anyway!
They're all good schools but..

• every child's experience will be different
• you don't know who else will be in their year -some year groups may be trickier than others
• no school is perfect so there are bound to be things that crop up that you find irritating or worse
• school policies on sport, curriculum etc may change while you're there
• Heads can change, favourite teachers can leave
• League table positions can change- only takes a few pupils to do really badly for some reason (illness, bereavement etc) and a school can drop quite a few places.

Location, ease of travel, gut feel, your child's preferences (within reason) are all important.

Slightly trickier to choose between state and private due to £££s!

It was so funny LU's HM mentioned MN at today's offer holders event 😀 Wants us all to know that next year's Y7 will sit GCSEs when it is their time as he doesnt think efforts for change will be ripe enough by then.

The 'no GCSEs' will start with the children who are currently in year 5. Our generation of children will be the last ones that sit them. I have a child in the Prep school and this is how the change was communicated to us last year.

Well he said his DC currently in Y3 wouldnt be sitting them but didnt mention about current Y5 children.

Is this no GCSE’s for all schools or just a few??

Based on his comments: LU, together with "some other leading schools", are looking into it.

Wow that’s quite a move! Rather than it being a general change? Seems strange for a few to do- what do they do instead?

@sugarcookie5

He didnt go into the specifics (as it was an offer holders day). My guess is they expect "the rest" to follow.

I asked a similar Q to UCS HM recently to which he said they would consider if it is adopted by many schools of similar caliber so a question of when rather than if and depends on how quickly a critical mass can/will be gathered it seems.

Big changes to possibly come then! Have a younger DD so it’s interesting to think about it possibly being a different situation to her brother when she goes to senior school.

How is everyone doing? Offers/Deciding etc? Hope all going well

As the LU head heads off, the 'no GCSE' idea will, too. The new headmistress is far too sensible to want to be a trailblazer for such a daft idea.

How have the offers days been so far for everyone? Have any of them made you see a school differently to your other visits?

I think the initiative has enough momentum and backing to stay after his departure but we'll get to see in a few years.

We have gone to two offer events so far (two more to go). I really like both schools that we have seen (Putney and G&L). My dd prefers G&L, my dh prefers Putney. I am now leaning towards G&L. I liked the school grounds and facilities. I felt there was more space at G&L. Also, it was nice to speak to the teachers and the student giving the tour.

What about you? We will confirm our decision on Friday after we see the last school, releasing 3 schools.

We had the Surbiton Offer Holder events this week and they have been very impressive. DD at another Offer Holder event now which will no doubt knock it out the park with fun but think we'll choose Surbiton as ticks so many boxes (and is the closest so walkable!) We will decide tomorrow and then release our 3 other offers.

@SamPoodle123 @EweCee
just living vicariously as DS is on a waitlist!
Sounds like there are a lot of great girls school options, which might be useful in a couple of years for DD, but not nearly as many for boys in the same area

Yes, I am thinking for my ds now, who is year 4 and I see there are more girl options for sure. Good luck to your DS! We have made our decision now, so will be releasing the offers. One of which is Emanuel.

DH and DD did the 13+Offers Event at St John’s this week but unfortunately I couldn’t make it again due to being very sick atm . Both very happy still so we have excepted the place and released the other 3. I’m hoping I’ll eventually actually get to see the school in person since in the summer I was unwell too . Very glad to be putting this process behind us , now it’s still DS A- levels to finish . He just had his practise exams , results next week so I’ll pray they went well . Thankfully his top offer that he took is much lower than his predicted grades so hopefully will work out . What an awful year we’ve had but very proud of both😊!

@SamPoodle123 I am interested in which one you chose in the end. Was is G&L?

@Vista123 Yes, we decided to go with G&L in the end. It was always my dd first choice. It was a hard decision, but after viewing the schools and speaking to others, we feel it is the right fit.

How is it going for you? Did you make a decision?

@SamPoodle123 we’re still
deciding between 2 GDST schools and have one offers day to go.
Many congratulations to your daughter, who did amazingly well 👏👏