Of course, you want a really good school, one that's ideal for your child, with great teaching and facilities to match. When picking schools to apply to, think about what motivates your child – and most of us need to remember that when push comes to shove, the school picks your child not the other way round.
Make an honest list of everything you want for your child, however frivolous or peripheral it may seem. But be realistic about your little cherub. A not-very-academic child will be much happier in the top half of a non-selective school than bumping along at the bottom of a league table topper. And a not-very-sporty child could hate a school where the only high-fives you get in the playground are if you’ve been selected for the 1st XI or won the school another shining sporting trophy.
Here are some ideas:
Be prepared to revisit, refine and re-prioritise your wish list. But it will help you initially with your long-list, and later your short-list, of potential schools.
There are, of course, practical considerations to throw in the mix too. You may have to rule out fee-paying schools because you can’t afford the fees; you may need a boarding school because you travel a lot; or perhaps you only have co-ed schools in your vicinity, which rules out single-sex.
Choosing a school is a process of elimination. And it is vital you see several schools so that you have a point of comparison and can confirm or counter instincts you have about each one. Things to consider:
For more information on visiting schools, see School Open Days.
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All those scary newspaper statistics about the long-term costs of keeping your child in nappies and birthday presents pale into insignificance when set beside the £250,000+ you’ll need to educate a child privately from nursery to university. But paying for a private education from finger painting to Freshers’ Week is not an option for most families. .
As their name suggests, the main aim of ‘preparatory schools’, or prep schools, is to prepare children for entry to fee-paying senior schools at 11 or 13. Traditionally, pre-preps take children from 3 or 4 and prepare them for moving on to preps at 7 or 8. There are fewer stand-alone pre-preps than there used to be as their main market, the boarding prep, has declined in numbers.
They may not truly reflect day-to-day life at a school (this will be school at its best) but they'll give you a flavour of what's happening and allow you to soak up the atmosphere. They are your chance to have the upper hand, get a feel for the school and chat with pupils and staff. Do visit more than one school: it’s useful to compare and contrast.
The first thing to know about the UK school system is that there isn’t one. Each of the four nations – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - operates differently, with different curricula. However, there are similarities too, especially in the independent sector.
Gifted children develop cognitively at a much faster rate than they develop physically, emotionally and socially, posing some interesting problems. For some, rapidly grasping what others cannot can lead to boredom, frustration and inappropriate behaviour. In all these cases there are challenges for parents, teachers and the child, who sees conforming to the norm as a major peer requirement.