Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

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Confus_ed
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby Confus_ed » Thu Nov 17, 2016 1:06 pm

DonJ - I was trying to think of negatives about SCP for you and the only one I can come up with is that there is a LOT of homework. My daughter gets way more than at her old school and significantly more than her older brother does.

I'm not sure what it is like in the lower years of the school but by year 3 it is quite full on. It can be difficult to juggle with a busy schedule of after-school clubs too.
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lolaloves
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby lolaloves » Thu Nov 17, 2016 3:01 pm

There were about 20 parents going round Thomas's this morning all with offers, all undecided!
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dudette
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby dudette » Thu Nov 17, 2016 3:12 pm

I think the big question you have to ask yourself is - do you want your DD at S&C from 4 to 18? That's a lot of years at one school (I went to the same school from 7 to 18 and I'm not sure it did me any good). If you don't, then you'll presumably move her at 11, in which case do S&C prepare adequately for entry to other senior schools? Because she's going to be competing against kids from schools where they drill their pupils in exam technique, maths, English and reasoning. If she's very bright she'll probably do fine anyway, but you might not know yet how bright she is/will be.
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Flowermummy
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby Flowermummy » Thu Nov 17, 2016 3:14 pm

:D

Lolaloves - just another thought, you say you have a son as well...I think for boys having the option to stay till 13 is actually valuable; I called some of the secondary boys schools (kings, dulwich, St. Paul's ) and it seems that if the boy is at a good prep school it's better to try for 13+ rather than 11+ (The reason being that 11+ is a bit more competitive , lots of boys applying from state schools). I haven't spent a lot of time looking into this, so not sure how accurate...
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DonJ
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby DonJ » Thu Nov 17, 2016 4:14 pm

I think being at SCP until 18 had been an attraction, just to spare daughter the horror of the 11+ - but sounds like entry to the senior school isn't automatic now anyway...
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lolaloves
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby lolaloves » Thu Nov 17, 2016 4:20 pm

Whilst it's not automatic it's pretty rare not to make
It. Very rare I believe
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dudette
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby dudette » Thu Nov 17, 2016 4:45 pm

And on that topic it might be worth mentioning that most of the girls at Thomas's take the S&C exam as it's the first one and they see it as practice for the other schools' exams. Despite the fact they pretty much all get a place (with scholarships thrown in) it's very rare they actually take up the offers.
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sofiatheseventh
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby sofiatheseventh » Thu Nov 17, 2016 5:20 pm

Well, we'll have to take your word for that dudette now that Thomas' have pulled their offers/scholarships figures from their website.

Quite a few Thomas' kids definitely take up Emmanuel offers each year and it and SCH are usually thought of as requiring the same standard/being similarly (un)competitive at entry.

Plus of course if all the Thomas' girls weregetting scholarship offers to SCH then they'd have bagged more than 16 scholarships for all their leavers in 2015.

I'd have thought that the reason there aren't many Thomas' girls at SCH goes back to wheresmyschool?'s point right at the beginning of this thread
my experience of parents at Thomas's and the children who attend is that they like to be seen as being more successful
SCH was always looked on as a fall back option and regardless of the actual advances it is making, until that reputation has completely disappeared it won't appeal to the Thomas' crowd.

*Braces for accusations of Thomas' bashing*
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Happymama
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby Happymama » Thu Nov 17, 2016 5:31 pm

I am sorry Dudette...I really do not wish to start having a little online fight here.

But I am not sure that I feel completely comfortable about what your post above is supposedly implying ? are you saying that they use the test at S&C as a practice and that they would rarely take up the offers ... because its not good enough ?

Perhaps you meant something else but it would be good if you could elaborate ?

I just don't see the need to be offensive about a school that its a lot of people's first choice school and is part of the GDST which does normally have amazing schools ! And as a disclaimer.... I have no kids at the school. But I will be going to the next open day to have a look around as the reputation is good.
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dudette
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby dudette » Thu Nov 17, 2016 5:36 pm

Actually Sofia I think you're probably right there - senior schools get reputations in the same way that prep schools do. The only thing I'd say is that Emanuel, which has traditionally been seen as the fallback option, isn't any more. I know a few children who didn't get in, and that includes one who got into Alleyn's (which is usually seen as much harder). I think from this year on we'll see a lot more children going to Emanuel from Thomas's (it's only been about one or two per year before).

As I said before I can't find the info you quote about the scholarships but I have just found a letter to the parents from the head last year and he lists 33 scholarships (I'm talking about 2015 - they had even more this year), so I hope that sets your mind at rest!
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dudette
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby dudette » Thu Nov 17, 2016 5:51 pm

Happymama - I wasn't trying to cast aspersions on S&C at all. I was merely stating a fact. I know quite a few Thomas's girls who try for S&C and get offers but I don't know any who have taken up offers. I also know that their parents say they do it for the practice, but they don't take up the offers as it wasn't their first choice - most of them (not all admittedly) get offers from more than one school. That is a statement of fact, not a judgement. I haven't been to S&C so I don't have an opinion. I was trying to point out that on the basis Thomas's children don't seem to go there, it is obviously seen as a very different school from Thomas's, and the OP was asking for people to help her choose between the two schools. So it's like asking for help choosing between brie and stilton (quite different), rather than brie and camembert (say Thomas's and Newton Prep). Partly this is because it's all girls. Partly because it's seen (whether rightly or wrongly I don't know) as not the most academic in the area and as Sofia has said, Thomas's parents can be a bit sniffy about that.

I went to a GDST school myself - and I agree, they're great schools. I also really liked the head of S&C when he came to talk to Thomas's. I find it odd actually that more Thomas's parents don't choose it, but they don't.
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sofiatheseventh
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby sofiatheseventh » Thu Nov 17, 2016 5:59 pm

What would put my mind at rest would be Thomas' publishing detailed leavers' information like all the other schools do. Instead of doing the reverse and removing the little they did used to reveal when it is questioned.

Interesting about Emanuel - I do wonder which came first though: it being no longer seen as 2nd choice or 11+ entry becoming so competitive that the traditional first choices moved out of reach?

11+ is becoming so competitive that I would imagine within a few years there won't be any dead-cert fall back options at all in london.
Last edited by sofiatheseventh on Thu Nov 17, 2016 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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dudette
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby dudette » Thu Nov 17, 2016 6:04 pm

I agree - it's crazy. The problem is people aren't moving out of London in the way they used to when their children are young so there are many more kids fighting for the same number of places. It's very stressful for the kids and the senior schools don't help by not having a common entrance exam like the boarding schools do. Also boarding schools are now so expensive that only the very wealthiest can afford them. The whole thing is a complete mess.

Not something that the OP will have to worry about yet but if she thinks trying to get her kids into a decent prep is a problem....
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby Flowermummy » Thu Nov 17, 2016 6:39 pm

So if this trend continues, in 10 yrs time SCP will be a sought after destination for Thomas's girls. :)
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Confus_ed
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Re: Thomas's Clapham, Streatham and Clapham Prep offers

Postby Confus_ed » Thu Nov 17, 2016 7:00 pm

I'm just waiting for a Newton Prep parent to come on and object to being compared to Thomas' :lol:
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