EDUCATION WHICH SCHOOL?
there are differences in their make- up and that they are not necessarily for every child. Eton requires boys to live in their own rooms from day one and this might not be the right match for an immature or sensitive boy, no matter how intelligent or gifted at sport he is. Sir Winston Churchill once said,
“I wish I was as confi dent of anything as Wykehamists are of everything” about those who attend Winchester College. Current Headmaster, Dr Ralph Townsend acknowledges that, “Boys who think outside the box fi t in well at Winchester.” He is unapologetic about the word “intellectual” as the type of boy who thrives here. “We take bright and well-motivated boys and provide teaching which sets them alight.” But it is a full-time boarding school and not all children want to board.
Registration
Traditionally, parents had to put their children down for a school at birth but this is no longer necessary for
Questions and answers
Questions
Do your family circumstances necessitate a full boarding or weekly boarding school?
What is an acceptable round- trip mileage? This applies to full
Do you have strong family links to a public school? If so, work
boarding, weekly boarding and day school runs.
Have you weighed up the pros and cons of co-education and
backward down to prime feeder schools.
Siblings: do you feel strongly about sending all of your children
single-sex education?
Is a prevailing religious tradition important in your
to the same school?
Has your child been spotted early as requiring special
child’s school?
learning enrichment?
public schools. Parents considering schools at an early age could be best advised to wait. After all, it is hard to know what your child will be like before they are even walking and talking. Often, talents or special needs will only emerge at prep school age. Nevertheless, it is helpful to be aware of a school’s range of specialist provisions and whether extra charges are added to the bill for learning support. Choosing the right school can
seem a daunting task but do not feel everything has to be worked out on day one. Life plans change, and generally schools try to recognise this. Most schools take children on the basis of entrance exams and interviews. Once you have developed your criteria by using our key questions and answers (see below), pick up the phone and good luck. There are just two important pieces of advice to remember: when they are young, keep it simple – and it’s your child who is going to the school, not you, so ask yourself if it is the right school for them. %
Answers
Parental research areas should include facilities, subject options, extracurricular activities, leavers’ destinations and provisions for drama, sport, music and art. Good sources of information include school websites, prospectuses, other parents, interviews and open days. Use the below to begin your research.
The Independent Schools
Council (ISC) The ISC was
established in 1974 by governors, heads and bursars associations all connected with independent schools. It represents 1,280 approved independent schools with over 500,000 pupils. The ISC covers regulation, data protection, examination standards, university admissions
and charity law. The ISC Parent Zone section has a schools directory enabling parents to search according to region, age, boarding, religion and gender. The website,
www.isc.co.uk, has a free information and advice service (ISCias) for parents with general queries about ISC schools or the independent sector. The national helpline is
0845 SCHOOLS (7246657) or
email
information@isc.co.uk
The Good Schools Guide
Founded in 1986 by parents,
for parents, this printed guide helps to give a subjective take on an independent school. Used in conjunction with information from Ofsted and the ISC, the guide can provide an additional insight to school prospectuses and other marketing tools.
Open days
The Good Schools Guide
recommends that you should fi nd out how long the headmaster has been incumbent during an open day visit. Recent changes can precipitate excellent evolution for the long term but there may be a few initial hiccups. Pick up an exercise book and look at the standard of the work, the frequency of marking and depth of comments. Check class sizes tally with the numbers claimed in the brochure. Also, don’t just admire the encyclopedic list of enterprising clubs on off er – fi nd out about the take-up rate.
The First Eleven website has a list of the dates and times of school open days. Visit
www.fi rstelevenmagazine.co.uk
WWW.FIRSTELEVENMAGAZINE.CO.UK
SUMMER 2010 FIRST ELEVEN 37
Feeder school?
Siblings?
Religion?
Boarding?
sex?
PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO, MATT JEACOCK
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