help with choice of independent school (habs, mts, colet, ci

[CandyCrush]

Irnmaiden - I've tried to contact you but your private messaging needs to be enabled

[Moon unit]

I would echo the thoughts of others. In my opinion the journey really, really matters. We were told by my sons headmaster that St Paul's would be great for him but the journey would have been terrible. We are under two miles from a brilliant alternative and I have no regrets.When there is an evening event at school I have a whole heap of boys come for a quick bit of tea before it starts because they live a long distance away.
My son does sport at school 4 nights a week but still gets home by 6.30 at the latest.
I wouldn't swap a place higher up the league tables for a great local school.
Very well done to your son. You have a great choice of schools.

[tiffinboys]

As every one has suggested, journey is important. But it is even more important that child likes and is happy at the school. If your child gets all these wonderful offers, then see which schools he would be happy at and the choose the nearest among those schools. If he is most happy at CC/SPS, then in your place, I will go for that despite the 45 mins journey. Do they have school bus?

From your other posts, I reckon that your child could also get place in QE or WGSB. Deciding about private or grammar school would itself be a tough decision, if finances are not a big issue.

[MrsChips]

Yes but one can never know in which school one's child would be most happy - this is really down to cohort and other unpredictable factors. I've known miserable children in fantastic schools and vice versa.

But you can know how long a journey can take. It's a known factor against an unknown one. In any logical decision making process that has got to take precedence over unknowables.

I speak as someone who had a pig of a journey to school and I can honestly say it's affected my whole life's choices. I've always lived in very urban areas and bicycled or walked to my place of work.

By the way OP - did City give you feedback about your son's performance when you asked?

[tiffinboys]

Yes but one can never know in which school one's child would be most happy - this is really down to cohort and other unpredictable factors.

Quite true. But the only way to find out is when once one joins and spend some time there. Even a year may not be enough. So one would go with the gut feeling. Smaller journey is very desirable, but not every thing in the equation, specially when the comparison is between some of the outstanding schools. Wishing best of luck to the OP and all the children waiting to hear good news.

[ConcernedDad]

Irnmaiden,

All are fabulous schools, and it will not be easy to decide. Often, it is very useful to pay another visit to the school after receiving the offer, and before deciding which offer to accept. You and DC tend to look at the schools differently once the offers are in hand.

It also may help, especially in the first year, if there are other kids traveling to Colet School from your neighborhood.

All the best!

[KB]

Teenagers will do best if they are thriving both at school and socially and health wise.

All the schools you are talking about are great - once you get to this 'level' how much difference does 'ranking' really make? Also be careful not to be swayed unduely by activities that sound exciting. If there are a range of extra curricular or enrichment activities available the chances are your DD will find something he enjoys and having a specific option ( unless he is looking at National level achievement) is unlikely to have the same impact on his life experience as living far from the school.

If your DS is able to easily access extra curricular activities and be a social hub for friends due to his proximity to school this will be a big factor in developing confidence socially.

The shorter journey will also be less stressful and demanding on time making it easier for him to get enough sleep and chill out time.

If teenagers have to travel to get to a good school they generally do adapt but its another thing to cope with - why add it to the mix if you don't have to?

I'm not suggesting this as a factor in your own deliberations but as a more general point there are parents who feel under pressure to choose the most prestigious option for their children. I guess certain 'names' do still open doors but if your child is at a really good local school and comes out the other end as a mature, confident young person with the best academic results they are capable of and has enjoyed the 7 years that is a pretty good start in life.

[CPM1771]

I think the only advice is wait until you get the offers, re-visit the shortlist and then choose.

You are getting lots of advice here from people simply telling you that they are happy with their own decision. Every upside has a downside and vice versa. The upside of travelling to school is that it creates independence and maturity. The upside of having friends all over London is the variety of social interaction that this provides. My DS has a 45 minute journey door to door involving a 20 minute tube journey. He meets friends along the way. He plays water polo 2 mornings a week and football one and gets up at 6.15 to go to do it. He has 2 hours of homework most evenings along with instrument practice for 2 instruments. He has long days, but has coped with it. I accept that not every child would. At weekends he has plenty of local friends, but equally might jump on the tube to go to see someone an hour away. We have friends all over London and I don't really see any problem with him doing the same.

This doesn't make your decision any easier, but you should approach it on the basis of there not being a right or wrong and go with what your heart (and DS) tell you that they want to do.