Hello all,
I know we are still 2 weeks away from national offer day and I am not even sure if NW will be offered to my DD or not but I will really appreciate if someone can advise or help if he/she has any knowledge about both schools and which one can recommend. Jags or Newsteadwood?

Thank you

Hi Qusay02, with the score you reported on an earlier thread as long as you are in the 9 mile radius it would be highly unlikely for your DD not to get an offer from Newstead Wood (note it is two words rather than one).

It is hard to compare a state school with a fee paying school. DD does have some friends with siblings in private schools who didn’t get offers from Newstead but not at JAGS, general consensus is that Newstead does a great job and the girls are happy and have a wide range of opportunities and extra curricular. During lockdown DD has said her friends with siblings at other schools haven’t had half as good learning.

The physical buildings of Newstead are a bit tired but not decrepit. It has a full complement of teachers and most teachers stay a long while. I don’t know how that compares to JAGs.

The two schools are a distance apart so commute may also be a consideration. What was the reason for applying to JAGs and think of that is worth the money to your DD. Assuming your DD does get an offer from Newstead and you are still in two minds then do think of other families who might not have the choice of private and don’t hold onto the place for too long.

Hopefully someone who knows JAGs will come along with better knowledge than I have about that school.

Thank you very much for your response. To be honest, we are not mega rich and the fees definitely will be burden on our neck for Jags and we will have to reduce many expenses to pay the fees. My daughter’s heart was always with Newstead wood and was our first plan was NW but we applied to some private just as a second plan for a bad scenario.
Unfortunately, since my DD pass marks weren’t great for NW; we started making her ready to accept the fact of not getting the offer from NW. on the other hand as a result of that she got attracted to Jags facilities and sports activities.
I know that it is very long boring story which probably no one is interested in! But I really just need if someone can help with wise advice to help in case she offered a place for NW.

If it helps my daughter turned down Westminster to stay on at Newstead for sixth form, she loves it so much! Sports they have the tennis centre and green fields. It isn’t so inner city so isn’t polluted. We are in a similar position, we could only afford fees if we made a major change in our life and we didn’t want to sell our home and DD enjoys extra curricular that we couldn’t afford if she went private.

Newstead have a good music department and relationship with the Bromley Youth Music Trust. Newstead has a very diverse set of students who all accept each other for who they are.

We were in a similar situation with DD1 (a long time ago - back in the day when you did not know DC's scores until allocation day - different schools). Our choice was made much easier (albeit more expensive) in that that we and DD had a strong preference for Co-Ed and a simple/short commute - which meant going indie. I don't regret our choice, it worked out well. However, I cannot emphasise enough what a burden those fees can be and, in these uncertain times, what a risk. Both are great schools. Other than the burden of fees I would think seriously about the commute/distance - not just travel time but complexity, alternatives and where DD's friends will be living. She will become independent very quickly and you do not want to be an unpaid uber driver for the next 7 years ferrying her around. Good luck.

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mad?

Thank you for that, the music advantage can help me to persuade her to stick to NW if she gets an offer and hopefully that will be the case. It is just a very stressful moment with a score by the edge of cutoff.

We had a similar decision to make a few years ago for our DD, and waiting to hear what we get offered for our son tomorrow (who already has offer from Trinity).

All I can add is my daughter has been very happy so far at Newstead - she’s in year 9.
We’ve never regretted sending her there , she’s thriving and has lovely friends.
The fabric of the building is tired but the teaching is excellent ( compared to some friends at non selective state schools who’s lockdown experience has not been great ) - we’ve been very happy and it has compared with children at other fee paying schools my DD is still friends with and I’m friends with their mums.

Good luck making your decision!