secondary school options
Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2014 11:30 am
Recently, I've become slightly concerned re my ds3's options for sec. school. He is currently in y5 and we are working towards 11+. He's doing ok but having 2 extra languages at home has left him lacking some English vocab. Especially words like eg stile, hoe, words that most children would have learnt at home. I obviously work hard with him and encourage reading, but he picks up new words rather slowly. Being fluent in Greek does help him with longer words though, I must admit.
Well, I am quite aware that he may not pass the bucks11+ (despite being brilliant in maths+non-verbal).
So, I have started looking at other sec school options and I got slightly concerned with the gcse/a-level results of our 2 local comps. One major concern of mine is that they do not do triple science. These might (I would guess) be his best subjects in the future. I've understood they offer Physics, Chem, Biol for A-levels but looking at the few students' results who have taken these, they got very low grades typ C's def. no A's. This makes me suspect that teaching in these subjects is not their top priority. Probably hard for the kids making the leap from double science to A-level science.
We are not keen on sending him to private school, having another 2 younger dc (possibly not passing) this would make us go bancrupt.
I'm not British, so I kindly ask for your advice. Which options are feasible/in your view best?
A) Send him to local comp. Support him at home using material/notes from gs that his 2 older brothers' attend.
Is it then possible for him to take triple science? Have you done this? Could he skip doing the double/single science at school? Where would he take his tests?
Would I be allowed to teach him latin and let him take the gcse (my eldest finds this subject the easiest of all, so it might be worth giving it a try to home-school him in)?
B) Is it possible to enter gs later than 12+? eg after gcse?
C) Is it possible to enter an indie at a later stage eg around gcse or later if we find the state school isn't right for him?
D) I believe from other posts that comps do streaming, but it really doesn't seem to reflect the children's gcse results. Maybe the "best" teachers and support is focused on children struggling and the top tier is left with inadequate support(?) I am hopefully completely wrong about this. It seems like the schools achieve fab results in pe, cooking and dt, but pretty much no A's in maths, english, science, history.
If anyone would have recommendation on a South Bucks school, I would be extremely grateful
Sorry for the long post and I sincerely do not wish to offend anyone who has their dc at comps - I am sure there are great ones, but I need advice locating them and understanding how to tell which one is best for my ds3.
Well, I am quite aware that he may not pass the bucks11+ (despite being brilliant in maths+non-verbal).
So, I have started looking at other sec school options and I got slightly concerned with the gcse/a-level results of our 2 local comps. One major concern of mine is that they do not do triple science. These might (I would guess) be his best subjects in the future. I've understood they offer Physics, Chem, Biol for A-levels but looking at the few students' results who have taken these, they got very low grades typ C's def. no A's. This makes me suspect that teaching in these subjects is not their top priority. Probably hard for the kids making the leap from double science to A-level science.
We are not keen on sending him to private school, having another 2 younger dc (possibly not passing) this would make us go bancrupt.
I'm not British, so I kindly ask for your advice. Which options are feasible/in your view best?
A) Send him to local comp. Support him at home using material/notes from gs that his 2 older brothers' attend.
Is it then possible for him to take triple science? Have you done this? Could he skip doing the double/single science at school? Where would he take his tests?
Would I be allowed to teach him latin and let him take the gcse (my eldest finds this subject the easiest of all, so it might be worth giving it a try to home-school him in)?
B) Is it possible to enter gs later than 12+? eg after gcse?
C) Is it possible to enter an indie at a later stage eg around gcse or later if we find the state school isn't right for him?
D) I believe from other posts that comps do streaming, but it really doesn't seem to reflect the children's gcse results. Maybe the "best" teachers and support is focused on children struggling and the top tier is left with inadequate support(?) I am hopefully completely wrong about this. It seems like the schools achieve fab results in pe, cooking and dt, but pretty much no A's in maths, english, science, history.
If anyone would have recommendation on a South Bucks school, I would be extremely grateful
Sorry for the long post and I sincerely do not wish to offend anyone who has their dc at comps - I am sure there are great ones, but I need advice locating them and understanding how to tell which one is best for my ds3.