SW London Grammar and Private year 7 entry 2024

[lolo99]

Not sure if this thread has been started but if not, I would like to share experiences, tips and generally talk about schools and their pros and cons and processes to ease the anxiety and pain for us parents :)

@PreplexJ is your dc sitting this year or do you have experiences with these schools please share positives and negatives. That would be great!!!

Wow lots of chat about league tables! For what it’s worth, my view is that the league tables shouldn’t be given too much weight (and not the reason for choosing school A over school B). They are a useful indicator of academic performance, but not the only factor to consider. If you end up being in the lucky position of having a few offers, focus more on what school would better suit your child - eg co-Ed or single sex, more or less focus on sport, travel journey, how did the child feel about the school on visits etc. Sometimes it’s as much about gut instinct as anything else. For DS1 we turned down an offer from a school which was in theory higher in the league tables and know we know plenty of others who’ve done the same (with different schools). Haven’t regretted it and would do the same again this time round if we have choices at the end of all this, and prefer a different school for DS1 🤞🤞

I think the only real reason for looking at league tables is if you have a strong sense of where your child needs to sit within their school cohort. You might have a child who you think would do better near the top of a less selective cohort, or you might have a child who is likely to be miserable near the top (this can be its own type of pressure) and would be happier being one of the crowd. It's five years back for us now but this was something that was important to us and we talked to DD about it and she was right about where she would feel most comfortable.

With most of the schools in these league tables has 30% A* and 70% GCSE 8-9 and 10-30 stright 10+ grade 9 GCSE students in every years cohort . I'm no sure one can be comfortable saying that would make it near the top of the cohort of these schools. Maybe prepception is also important.

Seems this thread is all parents of DDs and in particular those in West London. Any Y6 DS parents, particularly south of the river, here? I kind of hoped from the thread title to find some!

@ALongProcess yes we have a son in Y6. Looking at mainly co-ed south and west.

I think the league tables are worth a look for some of the less selective schools. I am interested in schools that have less-selective entry but still do well in the public exams.

@travelturtle good to hear! which schools? and are you looking at state options too? DS had the Wandsworth Test last week and the Chestnut Grove language aptitude test a week or so before and may take the Ashcroft Technology one; privates we're applying to Dulwich College and Emanuel (no real single sex vs coed preference from DS or us) and probably 2-3 more, but not sure yet which ones. Easy travel to school is definitely a priority as well as the school itself

@ALongProcess I have a friend who has a son at Ashcroft. Very good school for certain child. It is very strict and cold but gets results.

@Westlondonmum2024 what kind of a child would you say that was? We weren't really aware of the school until recently as it's a bit of a trek for us but went for a tour and the guides were very articulate and nice. Their IB programme also seems v good although I had always assumed DCs would do A Levels when the time comes. I just wondered whether "strict" schools allow for proper debate and discussion in the classroom? DS would need that.

@ALongProcess think we are looking at Emanuel, KGS, Latymer and Ibstock. Maybe Hampton as well. Preference for co-ed and has to be easy travel for him, and somewhere that encourages other interests as well as being good academically. Dulwich too far for us and I don’t know the others you’ve listed (apart from Emanuel obviously!).

DD also sitting Emanuel, KGS, Latymer and Ibstock. Did the Wandsworth test at Ashcroft last week and she was not happy with their constant shouting, I am all for strict but it seems to be run like a military reeducation camp. She said teachers constantly told children off/shouted at them for not sitting properly during the test, she certainly is not keen on Ashcroft anymore after the banding test. More motivation to study hard for the upcoming KGS exam I guess!

@ALongProcess i am not sure is a debate kind of school. No mobile phones are allowed in school for example not even in your lockers. Sixth formers have to go on for morning registration. You will get detention for little things. My friend wanted that for her son as she felt he needed that structure and it worked for him

Hi! I do not have any DC going through the process this year but our DD did last year and I found the Mumsnet support network very valuable. Very happy to answer questions / provide comments if you think it can be useful.

We are based in SW London so considered / applied to quite a few of the schools that have been mentioned.

For what is worth, I would suggest casting your net relatively wide to start with - sometimes schools surprise you when you visit (trust your instincts - you know your DC!), your view of schools can change during the selection process (ours definitely did!) and your DC changes and their preferences evolve as well.

@sanam2010 that is so interesting - DS did the banding test at Chestnut Grove and told me afterwards how nice and welcoming all the teachers there had been

Chestnut Grove is a very friendly, upbeat feeling school generally so not surprised to hear this was the experience of kids sitting the Wandsworth Test there.

yes we are a DS and trying to navigate it all.

The reason I'm keen to know is actually trying to gauge which my child would get into. The whole profile has changed of late. There are bright children in some schools just not getting offers esp in the last two years for schools that in recent times *pre covid) were actually certains.

@ModeWeasel @ALongProcess that is nice to hear. I found it very odd that they don't at least pretend to be nice during the banding test, you'd think they'd make an effort to show future applicants they are a welcoming school but clearly the intention was to show they are a strict school.

Echo that MN was a real support group when we went through it last year! We applied widely and it was not very burdensome for DD because the Consortium covered 4 of the schools. Kids are quite resilient and they form a good view based on the open days and exam+interview process

Last year is the first time consortium introduce online test via Atom, some info in the following thread, not sure if this year will change much on the format.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4902188-north-london-girls-11?reply=129404071&utm_campaign=reply&utm_medium=share

There’s an exam date clash between Ibstock and Hampton. Both schools know but I’m not sure yet how they will resolve it. Anyone else have that problem or know what those schools have done previously? Hoping there is an alternative date as two on one day would be very difficult for the children.

It often happens. They will probably have a reserve date or you will be able to ask for a morning of afternoon session. One of my DCs had LU and St Paul's on the same day. KGS was also on that day as well!

@travelturtle IPS had a clash last year too (not sure which school, might have been SHS and ended offering alternative slots on another day though I understand it took some chasing...

There are also potential clashes with others and 3 schools have their interview dates scheduled for the same days.