How to choose best school

Eleven Plus (11+) in Yorkshire

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Mumof3nurds
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Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:19 pm

How to choose best school

Post by Mumof3nurds »

Hiya
I need an advice and suggestion from experienced mums.My DD has passed Ripon,Skipton and Heckmondwike grammar schools test with flying colors.Now please can you suggest which school is best and area as well.We have two boys still in primary school so will prefer a place with best primary schools as well.So confused as this is a big decesion.
hermanmunster
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Location: The Seaside

Re: How to choose best school

Post by hermanmunster »

Where do you live now?
kenyancowgirl
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Re: How to choose best school

Post by kenyancowgirl »

Which did you prefer when you looked round them?
Snowdrops
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Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:20 pm

Re: How to choose best school

Post by Snowdrops »

Unless you live within the Ripon catchment or within a few miles of it you don’t really have much hope of getting in - unless you apply for boarding.

Ripon and Skipton are both in the top 100 schools in the country (Heckmondwike may be too but you’d have to look that up).

My dd went to Ripon as does my next door neighbour’s child (their younger child is expecting/hoping to go in Sept 2019) fabulous school.

It really does depend where you live and the feel you get for each school when you visited.
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Mumof3nurds
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Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:19 pm

Re: How to choose best school

Post by Mumof3nurds »

We are in Leeds but will move near the best school for our DD.She is very polite and we don’t want to put her in an environment where she faces problems.
Last edited by Mumof3nurds on Wed Oct 24, 2018 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mumof3nurds
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:19 pm

Re: How to choose best school

Post by Mumof3nurds »

Unfortunately couldn’t attend any open evening ☹️
Last edited by Mumof3nurds on Wed Oct 24, 2018 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mumof3nurds
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2018 6:19 pm

Re: How to choose best school

Post by Mumof3nurds »

Can you suggest an area with best primary school near one of these grammar schools .
Last edited by Mumof3nurds on Wed Oct 24, 2018 11:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
eaglesrest
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Re: How to choose best school

Post by eaglesrest »

Mumof3nurds wrote:Unfortunately couldn’t attend any open evening even at our local comprehensive school as hubby was busy in his research work and I was with my DD 11 plus preparation.We had Grammar School at Leeds in our mind (as didn’t think about state grammar because of the distance).But other friend’s kids were appearing so we tried as well.Unfortunately no one could reached the standard required so they are trying for independent schools now......☹️
You should call the schools and arrange to visit each and chat with the senior management. Also look around the local areas and work out the transport logistics for each school. It sounds like Heckmondwike might not be the best fit for you but look around the schools for comparison.

No-one can tell you which is best for your own personal circumstance.

WRT Primary, search the gov.uk school website with the postcode for each school to see the stats for each nearby primary:
https://www.compare-school-performance. ... =undefined" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
hermanmunster
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Location: The Seaside

Re: How to choose best school

Post by hermanmunster »

It comes down to how likely you are to get into each of the schools - bearing in mind that you have to put in the CAF in Leeds very soon (and using your Leeds address)

1) Ripon - as Snowdrops explained there probably no chance as there is a catchment area (that won't reach Leeds) and nearly all the places will be be taken up by people in the catchment area

2) Heckmonndwike - I don't know the area well, you really need to visit

3) Skipton - well you can get to and from Leeds on the train reasonably easily, there are good primaries around. However - they offer to PP, first then catchment and then outside area by distance. Not sure how far it goes these days but probably no more than 10 miles (Keighley / Ilkley)

Are you going to try GSAL??
Snowdrops
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Re: How to choose best school

Post by Snowdrops »

Well unless you can move within the next week (when submissions for ny schools need to be in) then neither Ripon nor Skipton will be available to you. They will use your place of residence at the time of caf submission so moving afterwards won’t help.

The only thing you can do now, if Heckmondwike really isn’t for you, is to request a boarding place at Ripon on your caf submission. At Ripon you can do weekly boarding and you only pay for the boarding element, not the educational element so cheaper than independents. Weekly boarding means your dc will come home on a Friday night and return to school on a Sunday night.
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