11 Plus Exams Forum

Hello all

We may potentially move to South Bucks. We are not local to the area and will be unable to visit the school open days this September. But we will need to move before September (someone in earlier post said by April?)to get in the right catchment area. So we need to buy/rent wisely.

Much has been said about SWB. Is it really that great? What type of school is it? I have a bright sporty boy who can work hard but he's so easily distracted. How can I make a judgement on which type of school is best for him?

And if he fails the 11+ tests then I need to make sure that there is a decent secondary nearby. Fingers crossed that this won't happen but just in case!

Thanks.

And would you move just to get your child into the grammar school system? My husband and I keep changing our minds on a daily basis

Disclaimer
We will have lots of family nearby but primarily the move is driven by getting the best education for our children.

I woud never put my child in a school we had not seen during the school day - even an Open Evening doesn't give you a 'true' feel.

Agreed but I will need to move in middle of Year 5 before going to the open days.

BlueBerry wrote:Agreed but I will need to move in middle of Year 5 before going to the open days.

Are you living so far away at the moment that you couldn't make the effort to set to a few open evenings? Or are your employers so inflexible about time off even with a couple of months' notice?

ToadMum wrote:

BlueBerry wrote:Agreed but I will need to move in middle of Year 5 before going to the open days.

Are you living so far away at the moment that you couldn't make the effort to set to a few open evenings? Or are your employers so inflexible about time off even with a couple of months' notice?

I live about 60 miles away & can probably attend the open mornings whilst my baby is at nursery. My problem is that my husband's job is pretty inflexible and he won't be able to get the time off. I suppose I can attend by myself but I really wanted him to be there with me just to compare notes. I definitely cannot attend the open evenings though.

Can I take my son to these open mornings? I'd like to get his input too.

I have to say that I would never move 60 miles for an unknown school, particularly not without visiting. Grammar schools are just schools, following the national curriculum along with any other school. With good, bad & mediocre teachers. My DS is currently at a Bucks grammar & is concerned he may not be able to follow his lifelong ambition due to a poor teacher in a key subject. How would we/he feel if we had uprooted ourselves from friends & community for this school? I'm not saying he's not happy or that it's not a good school but that they all have their down sides.
Are the schools so awful where you are? Are there siblings to consider?

I think that I didn't make it clear, I will visit the schools, just not before we move house. We need to be in Bucks in April 2017 and he will sit the 11+ tests in Sept/Oct 2017. The reason that I chose Marlow as an area because I can be in catchment or close to for 3 grammar schools.

If we do move I can within 5-10mins drive of my 5 siblings and my mum, so it's not as bad as it sounds!

Marlow is a lovely area & had I known it when we moved 20 years ago I might well have chosen it. Personally, the family reason would be a better one than the schools!

scary mum wrote:Marlow is a lovely area & had I known it when we moved 20 years ago I might well have chosen it. Personally, the family reason would be a better one than the schools!

True, but we've been living away from them for the last 10 years so I feel a fraud for using that as a reason. Travelling to see them every weekend is a nightmare with the traffic on the M25. The only reason we haven't moved is because both my husband & I work locally. But I guess we will have to commute until we can find a job closer to Marlow. We are considering moving now because once my son starts secondary schooling then I won't consider moving him till he's ready to go to uni!