London grammar and private senior school entry 2025 part 2

[CruCru]

Here is the new thread for when part 1 is full.

Hi @Fableana ,
Ok, I will outline.

Firstly, a complete refusal to negotiate on the awards / fees. My DS was awarded an academic scholarship with fee reduction at all 4 of his other independent offers, but Alleyn's wouldn't budge at all despite admitting that his performance was excellent. This is simply to preserve their income so that's their choice and I'm ok with that ultimately - these schools are businesses.

Secondly, the school tours were just with a year 8 (a very good year 8 admittedly) and didn't have any structure to it. At the other schools, we always had a member of staff and a student show us around the school and answer our questions. After the school tour, we observed kids clumping together in the playground in a relatively small space and acting a bit immaturely. Probably happens everywhere and I'm just not aware but we were a tiny bit disappointed.

Thirdly, we thought some of the facilities were in need of a refresh. The new buildings are great, but the old ones should be replaced in time, I would say.

There were a couple of other niggles that I won't mention.

On the other hand, the facilities at St D's, with the new £30m building are undeniably modern and impressive. They also have several planned facility projects over the next 2 years. I think at the end of all that, the school will be even more impressive. I agree with you that the back office and teaching probably won't be as slick. That is why our decision took so long. I wouldn't include Comms though, from what I've seen so far the Comms are excellent.

St. D's is clearly a bit of a marketing machine, but in the end it did come across as a more organised onboarding. As someone above said, they showed us that they did want our child to join them more than the others. They put on events every day for 7 days and executed them well!

Taking everything into account, we are now happy with our choice.

Congratulations to all those who made a decision.

I am probably too early but if your child goes to a prep school or all through school, you are probably meant to give a term’s notice. So if your child starts a new school in September, let the current school know before the Easter holidays.

Well done @SELondonFamily1 … There is something to be said for your child being really wanted by the school. I do know of another family offered Alleyns in previous year and the school was VERY put out that they were considering Dulwich. So much so that their attitude on the phone steered them away from Alleyns. But again, it all comes down to individual experiences on the day too. I think St Dunstan’s will be the school to watch in future as millennial parents will opt for co-ed schools increasingly and obviously Alleyns can’t take them all. Comms is chaotic but I don’t believe there are any complaints about the teaching at St Dunstan’s so I wouldn’t worry about that.

Indeed, one's decision will be impacted by one's experience. We chose Alleyn's, they knew Jags was also a choice and there was no pressure, on the contrary they mentioned that it was a great school too. They knew our DD's first name by the end without being prompted and greeted her warmly. The tour was with a lovely 8 and without staff but I felt that most of my questions were answered thoroughly by the members of staff mingling whilst the children had the taster class prior to the tour. So was happy with the informal tour with Y8, and had interesting further info when on pool site. Saw some excited Y7 kids when in their building but it felt like kids rather than "robotic" behaviour, nothing to report really.
Personally I m glad that the "old" 17th building has been preserved... no problem with mixing it with new builds of course around the site. But completely understand the scholarships versus none argument etc.. of course it s nice to feel wanted.

We had exactly the same experience of Alleyn’s. At the taster day lots of the staff greeted DD by name (before the name label was attached!), we had genuinely balanced conversations about Alleyn’s v Emanuel with one Head of Dept with no pressure, and even the Head greeted DD (by now with name badge on) with ‘Ah [DD name] I hear your going to be doing lots of [favourite co-curricular].’

Horses for courses and all!

Did anyone go to the Hampton open morning today? My neighbour missed it but will attend the next one. Was it good?

Hello, this is for entry in 2026 but posting here as its a popular thread! My son has a place at St Paul's for Year 9 in 2026. He is more of an introvert and on the quiet side, whilst also not being very sporty. However, he is very academic and is excelling at his current school academically. As a child who is not into football, rugby and other sports, will he cope in the St Pauls environment and more importantly, will he thrive? Will he become more confident or will he become more quiet in an environment where everyone around him is very bold? One of the key reasons we would invest in a St Pauls education, is so that our son will hopefully become more confident, more outgoing and more socialiable and utilise all of the clubs and societies available etc. Does anyone have a son who joined St Pauls with a similar personality and found that the school helped him to build confidence, develop social skills further and thrive in the St Pauls environment? I would appreciate any input anyone may have!

Well done to your son, Kindnessiskey2021!

I don’t have a son there (my son is joining Westminster this September) but I remember being very impressed with the deputy head, who was head of pastoral. He was quite happy to talk frankly to us about what sort of boy would enjoy the school.

I would expect (but someone with a son there will probably come along) that the school will only take boys who will thrive there. It cannot only be a place for one type of boy. I remember either the High Master or the head of admissions saying that what worries them is not the idea of missing out on a promising boy but rather taking a boy who won’t thrive. If your son has a place they will expect him to thrive.

If he doesn’t like football or rugby, he may enjoy rowing.

Echoing what @CruCru said above. Our child is joining this Sept for Y7 (so still junior school) and we had similar questions to you as he's a quiet gentle soul. Chats with the Junior School head and lots of other senior school parents (friends) reassured us that there isn't one "type" really. They all thrive in their own way.

Congrats!

My friend’s son joined last year and he has a similar personality to your son. He’s introverted until he’s really comfortable with others and the environment; he absolutely loves the school!

He speaks very highly of St. Paul’s! He’s not sporty either but reports he’s enjoying the clubs and is having fun trying them out with no pressure to pursue commitment or to be of a high level. Regarding friends, he’s made quite a few and has his own close network of similar kids and kids he says he wouldn’t normally socialise with (really sporty kids).

Like others have said, there’s going to be a collection of different personalities in all schools. Some schools do get typecast but I’ve not heard this about St. P’s (then again, I am raising a girl-so unlikely to hear much). You could keep attending the open days until he starts, to get a good feel of the school.

Can I ask if you chose Westminster for your DS over any other school and if so what swayed your decision?

Well done to your son! St Paul's has a lots of grounds for sport but I don't think it is that sporty. It is a school for very clever boys and a few will also excel at sport but if you had an exceptionally sporty boy you would probably consider another school. You can looks at their fixtures and results and last term it looks like the Rugby A team under 11s lost every single fixture (Dulwich, Reigate Kings, RGS, Dragon)

I can say that St Paul is top in the world for under 18 for rowing and currently there is no competitor.

My son ended up with offers from City, Westminster and Wetherby. It ended up coming down to either City or Westminster and it was an extremely difficult choice. In the end, he asked us to choose for him.

@CruCru

Nosey question but did your son pre-test for Westminster or did you have to do the admissions process for your DD and DS at the same time?? 😱 slightly in awe if so!!

They do the exams and interviews in year 6, even though they don’t start until year 9. The offer is subject to my son’s school being able to say that they continue to recommend him without reservation (so basically it isn’t a license to slack off in years 7 and 8).

Thank you all so much for taking the time to reply to me, I really appreciate it!! Your replies are really helpful ❤️ Regarding rowing, this could be a great option. Is there more than 1 rowing team, I.e will everyone who wants to do rowing have an opportunity to join a team (A, B, C etc) and compete?

I think everyone will get the chance to have a go at rowing.

Rowing at St Paul's is a big activity. It's a great sport for the previously sporty. My DS learnt to row on the Tideway (not at St Paul's) and ended up rowing at a US Ivy League. He was not a 'sporty' child 😂

Should have said 'previously unsporty'!

Thank you!

I can’t agree at all about SPS not being for sporty boys. Based on the newsletter I read each week, they have boys excelling in every sport. Their under 15s have just won a big tournament in rugby and their rowing and Fives is unsurpassed. It’s a school for all-rounders and there’s a very strong emphasis on sport. That said it’s a big intake so you definitely have many, many quiet boys who are there for academia and non-sporty clubs and societies - of which there are dozens.

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hello,
Would anyone here share tips for the Emanuel interview 10+ or 11+ please?
would anyone also share the pre-interview form as well please?
thank you

It is all pretty standard getting to know you type of questions....no tricks there. The form they give prior to is basically the questions they will ask. They make the dc feel really comfortable. I think they did a great job for the 11+ process.