11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi friends, my DS is on the 87th on the waiting list for the grammar no hope for now, so deciding to send him to either comprehensive or the private option. Comprehensive - as we didnt apply for closest we have been offered a school which is not really performing good, so deciding to go for private option. Both of these schools are a bit distance, however we are close to High clare in Sutton, but not really keen on High clare, friends if you or anyone you know might have attended or attending these 2 schools please share your experiences please, for us its going to be a big commitment at the same time we thought it would be better to invest on a worthy reason, however its difficult to decide between these 2, chase is offering to give some amount of scholarship whereas king henry is finished with those and wanting a full fee basis, so money wise chase is better however I am not sure with the quality of education and behaviour policies. I am really worried and confused now.please help with this dilemma.
Thanks in advance.

Have you visited either or (one hopes) both of these schools? Which one felt that it would be the better fit for your DS? Does he have a preference?

I don't know either school personally, I'm afraid, although I do know where King Henry VIII is, if only because I've been past it on the bus; is Chase Grammar as convenient for Cannock station as King Henry is for Coventry? If all else were equal, ease of transport would be something to go for.

He doesnt have any choice or preference at the moment, he can adopt to any circumstances.
Both distances are of equal eventhough Coventry might be a little easire choice.

I don't know either school, but both are some distance from Sutton area so please do factor this into your choice as this daily commute will be part of your son's life for the next 7 years potentially.

What is it that they have over Highclare (which has a good reputation) to warrant additional travel?

What are your local comps if you don't mind me asking?

Also, it's not too late to be added to the waiting list of a local comp that wasn't initially listed on your CAF.

Thank you for the kind advice, High Clare generally their academics doesn’t seems to be great compared to other private schools, that’s what I heard from one of the previous students parent, my closest would be Plantsbrooks and John Wilmott school, now I have added Plantsbrook to the waiting list as well, so just waiting to hear any news from the council ....

kessaar wrote:Thank you for the kind advice, High Clare generally their academics doesn’t seems to be great compared to other private schools, that’s what I heard from one of the previous students parent, my closest would be Plantsbrooks and John Wilmott school, now I have added Plantsbrook to the waiting list as well, so just waiting to hear any news from the council ....

Why not visit Highclare as word of mouth is not a reliable source. The results may not rank as highly as other independents, but if you are interested in other factors like travel (Highclare has a bus service), pastoral, extra curricular/enrichment, then you cannot go by data alone. What does your son think? He'll be spending 7 years there.

I liked Highclare when we visited and I know somebody there whose child loves it, but you need to visit yourself. For me, travel.is very important.

I think the cut off for Plantsbrook was 1.8 miles last year.

Good luck.

I'm sure you have already decided by now, but if not, have you considered Twycross School, its a really lovely small feel private school. Has a lovely juniors that teaches specialist teaching from around age 7 or 8!! They were doing such a high level of science so young when we looked around. The seniors is a lovely place too, and lovely teachers. Definitely worth a look. They don't advertise because they don't need to to fill their places.

my friends son went to Cannock and was bullied horrendously