Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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Waiting_For_Godot
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Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:57 pm

Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by Waiting_For_Godot »

Close to London! Are there any schools that get great results and have no Saturday school? I am really struggling to find any. I have a bright(ish) boy who would do well at the selective London schools but he would need to be tutored to get in and that is not an option and we have come to this too late. I don't care if it's co-ed or ss as long as it does well considering it's intake.
zorro
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Location: Barnet, Herts

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by zorro »

Habs boys, Merchant Taylor's, Aldenham(!) ??
Waiting_For_Godot
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Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:57 pm

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by Waiting_For_Godot »

I forgot about Aldenham! :oops: I have stuck habs and MT into the impossible unless tutored category but maybe I am wrong?
new2me
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Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:52 pm

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by new2me »

There's always St Columba's college in St Albans.
Waiting_For_Godot
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Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:57 pm

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by Waiting_For_Godot »

I wonder if any forum members would be able to rank these schools in order of selectivety:

Westminster
St Paul's
Alleyns
Dulwich College
KCS Wimbledon
Aldenham
Habs
Merchant Taylors
St Albans
Trinity
Whitgift
have I missed any?

I have also noticed that at 11+ the minimum expected for music scholarships at a number of these schools is grade 5 which is quite high, and some of the schools expect this on two instruments. DS is working towards G5 bassoon with the aim of sitting it in December now (Y6) but if G5 is the minimum then he will only have the minimum, his singing will be higher than G5 but that is only voice. Outside of London, G3 is the minimum for 11+! :shock:
mad?
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 6:27 pm
Location: london

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by mad? »

Waiting_For_Godot wrote:I forgot about Aldenham! :oops: I have stuck habs and MT into the impossible unless tutored category but maybe I am wrong?
Dare I say it Tippo but I think you are. Very few of the kids at our local primary were 'tutored' before the autumn term, and those that were tended to be from easter. They were bright of course, but in an 'average' state school and of the schools you mention many were able to pass the exam and then show their potential at interview.
Of the schools you listed I would put St Pauls and Westminster as most selective followed by KCS and Dulwich College. Not sure about the rest.
mad?
pheasantchick
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Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:28 pm

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by pheasantchick »

In harpenden there is roundwood, St George and St john laws, all good state schools. You can also board at St George.

In St Albans, there is the Abbey school.

Where exactly are you considering?
Waiting_For_Godot
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Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:57 pm

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by Waiting_For_Godot »

I want a school as close or in London as possible. No Saturday school and preferably a day that ends before 5pm. I would also prefer a school that will bring out the best in a naturally bright boy but one that had no tutoring. If I thought DS could get into the likes of Habs then that would be great but without tutoring I feel that is highly unlikely.

Many schools often offer a child a place based on sporting or musical talent but it seems that many of the London ones offer places on highest exam scores and then offer music scholarships to these boys.
cinnamon
Posts: 152
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 7:50 pm
Location: S.W. London

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by cinnamon »

One point to note re Kings Wimbledon is that they only offer IB, which may strike them off the list straight away if you don't want to limit your son's future exam options.
londonmum
Posts: 100
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2009 9:07 am
Location: London

Re: Less selective but still exceptionally good schools.

Post by londonmum »

Depends what you mean by "selective".

Schools on your list are very different, as are candidates. Hopefully it then becomes a matter of which school is the best fit for the child and whilst there will be overlap there will also be a school for each child.

For example a very very academically focussed child might love Westminster but find Alleyns tough going. An equally bright but social/arty/sporty child may find the reverse. Will a child thrive in a academically selective school where they find themselves in the bottom third, or are they better off having their confidence bolstered by being in the top third at a less academic school. And what is the school selecting. It is not unknown for a child to not get, say, Alleyns or Latymer Upper, but to be accepted by Westminster or SPGS. (Yes I know the latter is a girls school but Alleyns and LU are both mixed.) Similarly Hampton have taken boys turned down by Harrodian. The right fit and performance on the day or at interview matter.

Missing from your list:

Highgate,
Hampton,
Latymer Upper,
City,
Kingston Grammar

and probably more.

My experience is that kids in receipt of music scholarships are seriously high level. It might depend on instrument, but Grade 5 would seem like a minimum. Several of my children's peers were well above that at 11.

At 11+ I assume that the position for boys is much the same as for girls. That is that you try for about 5 nice schools of which one is a stretch and one is a reliable fall-back and then you choose on the basis of what you are offered. Irritating if you don't get the school you prefer but large numbers apply and some results can be surprising. You then find your child changes dramatically between the ages of 11 and thirteen anyway.
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