All through private school - secondary admission

[schoolfeeslave]

I have a yr5 boy at a non selective independent primary school. We are looking at options for secondary.

When we first looked at schools for DS (nursery, so summer born DS was not yet 3) we applied for a place at an all through school. DS went for the assessment and was rejected. Not wait listed, outright rejected.

It is now DS' first choice school for secondary and he would be so disappointed not to get in. His current school say the rejection for nursery shouldn't affect his chances but I am not so sure. DS doesn't know he was rejected at age 2!

His school assure us he is bright enough to pass the entrance exam (they have suggested he tries for more academic schools too).

Anyone have any intel on whether this rejection will affect his chances?

To add, I worry it was actually me that caused him to "fail" the assessment - we had a talk at his current school which said that parents are also "assessed" at open days etc and when we applied for DS I was deep in a pit of PND with DD and not at all engaged with the process (I have blocked a lot of this time out of my mind). We are going to put DH's details as main contact on the application but I am sure they will ask if we have applied before.

Are you in London? I think you may be massively overthinking this. A previous rejection age 2/3 is really not relevant, and lots of schools (including in London) regularly accept kids they've previously rejected for an earlier entry point. I think you are projecting a lot of PND guilt, that's really misplaced.

I wouldn’t worry about this for two reasons:

• it is often the case that people who previously didn’t get in at 4,7, can get a place at 11 if they are up to the standard
• what they are testing at 3 is not relevant at all to now. They tested behaviour and ability to learn. But he has now reached the standard required so go for it

obviously don’t put all your eggs in one basket - and it’s important for you and your son to not think that going to this school is the be all to everything - it sounds like your son is very bright and will succeed wherever he is

Agree that you are massively overthinking this. You don't need to bother about giving DH's name as contact vs yours! DC1 didn't get in to a selective primary school at age 3 (not even the first of 2 rounds). She was one of 8 who was offered a place at 7 and has consistently been among the top set in her year group of 48 children. DC2 on the other hand joined the same school at 4 (yes, through their silly selection process) and is not a patch on DC1.
The school doesn't care and will not remember.

Thanks - I know I am overthinking this but DS is really keen on this school and I am panicking that because I was a weird space cadet 8yrs ago he will miss out.

We are applying for 2 other private schools (really don't want to overload him with entrance exams) and will also apply for state options as a back up.

Yes, this is London - the competition for places is ridiculous.

It’s not a problem. One of my DC was rejected by an all through school age 3 and then offered a place with small scholarship by them at 11+.

There is nothing AT ALLto panic about - including in London. Really, rejection at an earlier age is totally irrelevant! Fixating on a specific school could be a problem, but if he doesn't get in, it will be because he didn't do well enough in the exam, and precisely zero to do with anything you did or didn't say to the school many years ago. I'd suggest visiting a range of schools this autumn and encouraging him to keep an open mind and telling him that you are not sure which school will be best for him and you all need to see how it goes.

My DS was rejected from competitive schools for reception, went to non-selective private primary, and got into very academic private secondary - in London. It's very difficult to select at such a young age, and schools mostly get it wrong. That said, as you say, London is VERY competitive, so make sure you have a backup plan. Different schools have very different exam schedules and exam content/ structure, so if you're only applying to 3 private schools, make sure one of them is a sure thing or think about whether you're genuinely ok with your realistic state school option. We applied to 4 independents (3 very competitive) and one grammar and got one very competitive independent place, which we're happy with. It was helpful to have grammar exam at start of Sept, then 1 indie exam in November, 1 in December, and 2 in January. It spread things out well.

The school doesn't care and will not remember.

If this is their position then they are being rather silly. They absolutely should care that their preschool selection procedures are failing to pick up successful students and should reconsider those procedures. They should also be glad they have been given another opportunity to welcome such a bright child.

I would say that most of them recognise that their pre school admission selection is basically bollocks and favours children born earlier in the school year.
OP- don't give it a moments thought.

GDPR should surely mean that they won't have any actual records of unsuccessful applications from eight years ago anyway. Very unlikely that anyone will remember you otherwise.