Supplementing a grammar school education

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Sdan79
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:16 pm

Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by Sdan79 »

Hi all. DD has fortunately scored well in the SET/NWSSEE exams this year and on the basis of the score it seems likely she should be offered Nonsuch or Wallington. We have visited a few independent schools and really liked a few of them e.g., Lady Eleanor where students perform better at GCSE, A-levels and Uni destinations, extracurriculars are amazing, pastoral care seems really good etc. We are comfortable financially speaking but fees of £20-25k would involve making major sacrifices, e.g, we do not own a house and are saving up to buy one (side note: as we are renting, hence we are location agnostic and will move close to whichever school DC ends up going to)

My question is: Is it a practical/feasible strategy to send your child to a good grammar/comprehensive school and then spend a bit of extra money (say £5-7k a year) to supplement that education and school experience by private lessons e.g, art lessons, music, sports coaching, if needed private tuition for the academic curriculum or really anything that you'd like to provide for your child and the school does not provide for any reason. Or is it best if these things are best provided for within the school environment and with known peers etc. In some way I guess we are trying to find a middle path between grammar and the really high performing independent schools but would love to hear other people's experiences.

Thank you
hermanmunster
Posts: 12815
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by hermanmunster »

Plenty of people do spend money providing coaching for sport / art classes / dance / music - it is fine to do so. Many of these things can be extras at independent schools anyway (worth checking :wink: )

trick is to let your child try out activities, give up the ones they don't enjoy and cut back on them all if they are finding it too much - if they really take to something, you will become the taxi service taking to endless events and your weekend will not be your own!
tfp_sa
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2021 8:18 pm

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by tfp_sa »

I suppose it probably varies.

On sport specifically - 'sport for all' is one of the big selling points of private schools. If your child is halfway decent and/or interested, they'll get to play competitive fixtures for a school team (be it A, B, C, D, etc). For a child who's anything other than very good at sports it's impossible to replicate that in the state system. e.g. dragging a very modestly good teenage girl to a competitive hockey club at the weekends won't end [or even start] well.

Music - whilst it obviously can't compare with private options in funding terms, you might be pleasantly surprised by the provision at the Sutton grammars.

Art - not really my area of expertise.

Academics - if you identify a subject that a child is struggling with then buying in 1:1 tuition is quite common and easy to fit around other things.
Millwallforthecup
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:22 pm

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by Millwallforthecup »

It seems to have worked for Emma Raducanu.

Personally, I’m not sure the difference in outcomes between the mentioned grammar schools and independent ones warrants £175k over 7 years. WHSG and Nonsuch each twice the size of Lady Eleanor. 21 pupils in WHSG got straight 9s last year.
Sdan79
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2021 3:16 pm

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by Sdan79 »

Thanks all, useful comments. We are definitely inclined towards the grammars but lets see if things change

@tfp_sa : Agree (sports point) and thats my concern too, sometimes children learn best when they do it gradually with the same cohort vs. dragging them to clubs on weekends. I'm happy to hear about your views on music too, it is reassuring
RuedeWakening
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2015 11:56 pm

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by RuedeWakening »

I can't comment on Nonsuch, but WHSG has a number of sports teams in each age group generally - Netball A, B, C teams etc, same in hockey I think too. So perhaps more similar to private than you'd expect.

The school generally provides good enrichment opportunities too - DD is there in year 10, she can access a free pass to attend Tate exhibitions now she's doing GCSE Art and is going into school this week for a day-long painting workshop, she's been involved in tons of music groups, choir, productions etc over the years, and takes instrument lessons in school weekly. There's an enrichment day timetabled every term, and 3 days in the summer just before they break up, these cover a huge variety of activities.

The school is good at publicising opportunities for their students to get involved in things outside of regular school life, through the Wallington Week (weekly newsletter) - you can see examples of them here: https://www.wallingtongirls.sutton.sch. ... ter&pid=25" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck with your decision!
Allegras
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 11:09 am

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by Allegras »

We were in a similar situation last year. First of all, don’t think once you make a decision, it is set in stone. If after trying one school type, your DD changes her mind, she can always switch at 6th form which is a very crucial phase of high school.

As for us, we chose the grammar school that is closest to our house. One of the important criteria for us was the diversity the school offered. Some elite grammar schools are dominated by one ethnicity, whereas our DD’s grammar school has a more even distribution of every ethnicity and religion. Our DD had a very high score(350) and academic and artistic abilities and could have gone to any school she applied. We own our house and are mortgage free and can afford the independent school fees, if only it means sacrificing ski trips, etc. People tend to focus on entering a coveted school but not enough on the big picture.

What is the purpose of education? Is it a school life where your child thrives, is challenged enough intellectually and a happy social life? Extracurricular activities provided at school of course is a big plus. It is less of a hassle for the parents, rather than driving their children around, etc. Every school has some after school or lunch time clubs that will be attractive to your DD. In independents as well as state schools sometimes there is an extra cost related to these. My DD’s grammar competes in some sports at county level and sometimes they beat and become champions against the high end indie schools which have better sports facilities. An indie with an amazing swimming pool on the other hand rejected my friend’s highly able swimmer daughter from the swimming squad. Instead, those who were already in an external swimming squad in Year 7, got accepted to the team. So getting accepted to sports squads really depend on each school’s attitude.

We are a well travelled expat family from tech and humanities background. We have decided in the end, spending funds on trips to Gallapagos Islands, Silicon Valley or language courses abroad for few weeks every summer would be a more enriching experience for our DD rather than paying indie school fees.

Most importantly, we wanted our DD to be exposed to people from all walks of life rather than being among privileged kids. Of course there are children with full scholarships in indie schools, but how many? There are plenty wealthy parents in DD's grammar school,(judging from the cars during the school run) so I am not claiming most children in grammar school come from a disadvantaged background. But the average student in a grammar school is more normal(in terms of wealth) than an independent school student.

When chatting with friends who preferred indie schools to grammars, I discovered a plethora of reasons: sometimes the proximity to school(they choose an indie because their house is closer, etc.). Sometimes they want their children to build a strong networking circle for future job opportunities etc. by being in the same alumni groups with influential people. Another friend preferred an indie to grammar, just because the indie was a smaller school and so she thought the pastoral care would be better because the teacher/staff ratio to student was higher. Her daughter was an anxious type and she is very happy in her indie school.

So there is really no right or wrong choice in a sense. Each school type has its advantages and disadvantages. It is rather which one is more suitable to your DD's needs and your life style.
Eeek!
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:21 pm

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by Eeek! »

@allegras thank you for your insight. We too are debating indie vs state grammar.

Our state grammar is walking distance, but our indie choice is a bus ride (or two) away. However, we are still thinking of taking the indie on the basis that it has a better diversity mix and our child liked the buzz around the school (lots of things happening). It's a large indie, so not too different in terms of class size or pastoral, but we noticed a subtle difference in the pupils - the way they carried themselves/ spoke etc that is difficult to quantify. We were also impressed with the selection process of the indie (broader spectrum of criteria).

Most people think we are nuts to make this choice as the indie is so much more expensive and further, and the grammar is comparable in terms of results and size. It is not that we are super rich or comfortable either. It just feels right.

I worry that we are going too much with heart over head. Thoughts, advice and guidance welcome please.
mad?
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 6:27 pm
Location: london

Re: Supplementing a grammar school education

Post by mad? »

We were faced with this choice also. For us travel time AND complexity was a a key thing, plus the grammar was not co-ed and we both ideally wanted that for our DDs. With regards to economic diversity I would say there are more extremes (at both ends) at the indie, but as stated above the average is probably higher. Neither of my DDs early notice this, and it was not an issue for us so long as there was a wide range. However, the thing that neither offered was the same exposure to DC who were disinterested and whose parents thought that was fine. I thought at the time this was a good thing - but actually learning to work well with those who do not care and are not committed/interested is a life skill which I think neither indie nor grammars offer as well as truly comprehensive schools. Easy for me to say with hindsight though, as at the time it was the former that we were most interested in being away from, having experienced much of it at our primary. Never underestimate the burden of school fees though, we knew we could afford them, but it is a long life and things can change, they certainly focus the mind on money in a way that is not totally healthy.
mad?
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