Judds, St Olaves, Sutton/Wilsons or Bexley/Beth - confused!

[Dani432]

Hi,

We currently live near West Wickham (Bromley) and are planning to move house with a view to put our DS in a grammar school. We will be putting him through the tests for Bexley (preference Beths), Kent (Judds or Skinners), Sutton (SGS or Wilsons) and St Olaves. I know all of these are outstanding schools and some of these probably are super selective, however, DS is pretty good in academics as well as in sports (mainly cricket) and he is also quite motivated to take on the challenge. We are reasonably confident that he is capable of passing all of these exams

Our main preference is to have a school that pushes him more academically Plus has a good cricket club. Our main motive to move house is to avoid his long journeys to school and back but the dilemma is where to go? Are Judd/Skinners, and Beths as good (academically) as St. Olaves or SGS or Wilsons? We also have a DS who is in primary so that is another factor to consider.

I appreciate if anyone can share their experience or ideas that you think would suit us best?

thanks

[hermanmunster]

Welcome to the forum!

Just say don't get too fixed on the cricket - children can change interests over time and if he sticks with cricket then often the local clubs are better for them than the school - certainly round Yorkshire the GS rely on the local clubs and their excellent leagues to coach and produce a stream of players.

Also although you may be confident at present that he can pass whatever exam he is set, remember anything can happen on the day and the competition is unpredictable so best to move to an area where you are happy with some of the non-selective options

[Dani432]

Many thanks

[ToadMum]

If you are putting your DS through any selective tests, then it might be a good idea to check the admissions policies for the various schools first. Bearing mind that the further away you are from the year of entry, the more chance there is that a school may change its policy (and the general trend seems to be to increase the relative number of places allocated nearer to the school and to those qualifying for the Pupil Premium). At the moment, schools will soon be entering the consultation period for admissions policies to apply for entry in 2021.

If you decide that Beths is your favoured school, for example, will you aim to move nearer to the school in good time before your CAF will have to be submitted? If your DS's score isn't in the top 180, you would be reliant on the normal oversubscription criteria - do admissions usually extend well beyond the distance from your home to the school? I don't know whether Bexley allows moving into the area up to a certain date post-CAF to be considered as on time, but where we live, a couple of years ago the LEA changed to the CAF deadline as a cut-off, leaving less than 3 weeks from selective test results to having to have moved and be able to provide documentary proof of having moved.

[doodles]

With respect to Judd and Skinners' I would strongly recommend that you read the admissions policy. Both of these schools now have inner and outer (for want of a better description) catchments so you will really need to make a decision about where you want to live. Also consider whether you like the non selective options should your ds not be assessed as suitable for gs. Then add your primary requirements into the mix and you should probably target one area and concentrate on that rather than sitting the exams first.

Perhaps your first decision should be where you actually want to live!

[Dani432]

Thanks everyone for your comments and guidance.

[PettswoodFiona]

St Olaves has no catchment so it doesn’t matter where you live so moving is an option at any time. Crofton school in Petts Wood is a popular and outstanding school for those with younger children. Bear in mind Olaves is in a completely different league to many other grammars, some sit the test who live hundreds of miles away or who are currently expat families and fly in for the test. The intake is also very small compared to most other secondary schools. The make up of each year is often one child from a school and so even being top table doesn’t make it a given. Also you don’t get a result as such so knowing likelihood of getting a place is a bit of a mystery- all you get to know is if your DS got to sit the second test. This is me with a daughter at Newstead who thinks Olaves is a completely different kettle of fish.

If I had a boy then Dartford Grammar would also be on my radar, it has in county parish places and a smaller number of out of county places and some who get a very good but not stellar score move ‘in county’ by the cut off date advertised by Kent or by their admissions authority (typically first week of December but do check) so as to be in with a better chance.

Also don’t look at sixth form results - there is a lot of movement after GCSEs and schools become selective yet again for sixth form. Initially look at the first five years of secondary school and then worry about sixth form and A Levels, International Baccalaureate (as done at Dartford and co-Ed at sixth form Tonbridge Girls) etc.

I was very happy moving wasn’t something we even considered, we love our location and felt moving for a school would put a lot of pressure on DD to succeed on the back of upheaval of the whole family - you know you DS and siblings best but do take that dynamic of expectation and sacrifice into account.

Good luck and try just to enjoy the next few years - it goes so quickly.