Reigate Grammar

[Carmenbeeeater]

Hi,

I went to the Reigate Grammar Open Day yesterday and absolutely loved it!

My first impression of the head and deputy head was outstanding and the children who showed us around were bright and enthusiastic and very grounded. All in all a great experience and unexpectedly the school is now top of our list for 11+ choices (presuming my DC can get in!).

In the meantime, I'd love to hear existing parents personal experiences of the school.

Thank you!

Bump

We went along too. It was our first open day we've been to and were really impressed with the students who took us on the tour and the emphasis on pastoral care.

Also interested to hear from others with children at RGS (and Caterham, Dunottar, Royal Russell or other co-eds), particularly if the school doesn't just talk the talk and is as warm and supportive as it came across.

My daughter was one of the students doing the tours on Thursday so I’m glad they came across well! So far (she’s in second form, year 8) we’ve been impressed with both the academic side and pastoral care from the school.

That's great to hear!

Out of interest did your daughter need to sit the 11+ for the school? If so, how did she find it? I'm trying to gauge how difficult it is to get in compared to the SW London schools and that the school is looking for? It has outstanding results, so I imagine it is quite competitive.

We don't have experience yet, but our DD is starting there in September. We have another tour for our year 5 child next month as well.

I think like most schools you'll find good reviews and bad..so the most important thing is to make sure your child wants to go.

My daughter initially was 100% set on Dunottar after her tour, and she did the exams and interviews in October and November. She still was set on it. After her RGS testing day, she suddenly changed her mind and wanted RGS. After her interview she also insisted it was still her first choice if she got an offer. She has now gone back just before accepting the offer for an activity there and still says she's happy she chose it. I really hope it stays that way!

After asking some questions of Dunottar after she recieved her offer there, my husband and I both decided we weren't happy with the answers or tone in which they were answered. They didn't seem willing to answer anything about our concerns without seeming to get their backs up. Whereas we felt RGS was genuine in their response and respectful of the worries we had/have. Of course they put on a good show, and they clearly expect the best from their students, so I dont think for 1 second they are as cosy and friendlt as they appear when it comes to trying to get the results they want. But at the end of the day, we felt more comfortable after having 1 to 1 discussions with both schools that RGS was the better choice for our child.

She did sit the exam but it was in January 2021 and the process was changed (more than once!) due to lockdowns happening so I’m not sure how representative it was or how much notice they took of the exams that year. They ended up just taking Maths and English exams at home (and a cut down version of English I think), no Reasoning, and we had to email the papers to the school. She definitely didn’t do as well as she could have done on maths but I thought the paper that year was straightforward and the questions were almost identical (same structure, different numbers) to the sample paper on the website.

@Carmenbeeeater

My DD just did the exams 2 months ago. It was 30 minutes of English comprehension, 30 minutes of writing a story, maths exam, verbal/non verbal reasoning, and they had lunch there and got to take part in a fun activity as well. She was there from 8am-3pm on test day. She said it was all okay and didn't feel like it was too hard compared to normal schools stuff. But she did say the non verbal reasoning was stuff she had only looked at in 11+ books we had at home. Her state school hadn't done any of thst with her. Of the 4 kids from her state school who took the test she was the only one to be invited back for an interview. I think having looked at a little bit of the 11+ book we had helped her so she was surprised when she saw that stuff.

Thanks so much!

It is really helpful to hear other family's experiences.

The exam day doesn't sound too stressful which is a relief. I guess it is very much dependent on the pass mark and the cohort they are looking for.

My son has done Reasoning as a weekly subject at school since Year 3, so hopefully that will be OK. His maths and english lit are strong, but creative writing needs work!

I got the impression from the headmaster that the interview and school reference held quite a bit of weight too.

It’s a lovely school and I went there myself. It’s opened up in Vietnam and Riyadh as well, so I would be interested to know if the best teachers have been shipped off abroad. It’s got lovely trips, I think something every term after third year!!

Hi,

As my daughter is going through ASD testing, I am always wary about the Pastoral Care in schools. I have attended open evenings where everything seems so rehearsed and perfect, but in reality it can be quite opposite. They talk about how there is not much pressure, but I feel as it is a grammer school, there needs to be certain degree of academic pressure to stay succesful, so I found that didnt make sense. Does anyone have any true stories to share about how the pastoral care was succesful for them at Reigate Grammer School?

My daughter is only in year 8, so I can't comment on pressure for exam years.

However, she had a very shakey start last year. Her form tutor noticed and went above and beyond to help her. The school really stepped up to encourage her and helped her along. I was very surprised at the level of support we had, and how they had observed things sometimes before we had even noticed. I really can't fault them so far. They've been incredible and so supportive.

Brilliant, thank you. It is reassuring to read this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62nj30qne8o

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/688761e7be2291b14d11afa8/TRATMPO_Heuvel_Nicholas_SoS_Decision.pdf

Please see above news. This school has recently been taken over by RGS. Parents need to know this. Especially after the recent release of Epstein files. Boxhill is now RGS Surrey Hills.