City of London Girls Extra Curricular Programme

[shootmenow]

...and I know several girls who didn't get CLSG but did get HB and DAO.

[ToadMum]

Just for the record, my daughter failed to get into a grammar but was offered a place at CLSG, where she has thrived. We almost certainly would have chosen CLSG even if she had been offered a place at this particular grammar.

For what its worth, I would suggest that this is one of the differences between independent and grammar; the grammars simply go by the tests, top score gets a place. Independents will offer interviews to everyone above a certain level and then have the discretion to offer a place to a student who might show a flicker of something special, or they think might be interesting to teach etc.

Whether you think this flexibility is a positive depends on your personal view about these things.

Of course, they also have the flexibility not to offer a place to a child they don't much like the look of at interview, great exam performance or no. No obligation to explain, no need to allow an appeal against the decision.

State schools, on the other hand, suffer from the straightjacket of having to conform to the Admissions Code, the School Standards and Framework Act, etc. Oh, and the indignity not only of having to make their admissions process totally transparent, but also of having to allow even those quite comprehensibly turned down to dispute the decision .

[muerdago]

Thank you so much for your replies. They have been most helpful.
I have been told that CLSG run several teams for the most popular sports such as netball but I have also heard that, after a couple of years, interest in sport declines considerably and that most girls are not interested in being part of a sports team and the fixtures card is very light. Is this your experience as a parent?

Also, do parents usually attend the girls' matches to support them or does this not usually happen?

Thanks in advance.

[Guest55]

For what its worth, I would suggest that this is one of the differences between independent and grammar; the grammars simply go by the tests, top score gets a place. Independents will offer interviews to everyone above a certain level and then have the discretion to offer a place to a student who might show a flicker of something special, or they think might be interesting to teach etc.

Highwater - not all Grammar school selection is by test score - Bucks for example has a 'flat' qualification it offers on catchment/distance from the school. This is a clear situation - if you get 121 and live near enough you get a place. You don't have to be 'judged' by unclear criteria which you can't appeal by a person who is looking to keep their school in profit. I know which I prefer.

A good school offers everything a Private school does - they even do the same exams and they are subject to far more scrutiny.

[silverysea]

I have been told that CLSG run several teams for the most popular sports such as netball but I have also heard that, after a couple of years, interest in sport declines considerably and that most girls are not interested in being part of a sports team and the fixtures card is very light. Is this your experience as a parent?

Don't know about this school, but totally my experience with two girls in very different schools, mixed or all girls, comp or grammar, and even by primary, the peer pressure to not run around at break time starts very young. Both of mine are fit and able, but both have experienced loss of enthusiasm, lack of any friends willing to join them, and peers sneering at them for choosing to exercise and get ew, all sweaty. On top of dawning self-consciousness and periods, with the nausea, pain and mess concerns, this is a common problem and I believe it is pretty much unviversal.

One of my girls is getting success in national competitions in her sport, but the school knows nothing about it, by her choice. She got detentions in one school due to struggles with changing in and out of complicated uniform, making her late for next class, it doesn't take much to put a girl off! The other has tried lots of things but dropped most, due to anxiety about her appearance, embarrassment and being late due to having to change clothes, and frequent bouts of period troubles. It's not so much the schools, though, it's a girl problem that I think needs addressing by parents and girls themselves. That's said, some schools or PE teachers over-promote their GCSE/A level sportswomen, and ignore those just doing/struggling with the regular PE once they get to 14-15. I don't agree with that.

[highwater]

ToadMum and Guest55

As I clearly said: Whether you think this flexibility is a positive depends on your personal view about these things.

So thank you for expressing your personal view, confirming the accuracy of my personal view that people will have a personal view of whether or not it is a positive