Top tips for
parents facing
the education
years
 Thanks to running The Good Schools Guide for
a decade, Ralph Lucas understands the virtue of
planning well ahead in education. He argues that a
bit of organisation of schooling makes for a much
less frantic life. Sandra Hutchinson assesses
learning issues
1: THE EARLY STAGES
contraception
matters!
Serious, but not often
heeded, advice: start
planning well before conception.
Th ere are a few vital decisions
that you can take that will make
education altogether a safer and
easier matter. On average Summerborn
children do ten percent
less well than their winter-born
classmates and if you have ever
watched children in a reception
class you'll know why. At that age a
year younger is a great deal younger
and it is all too easy for a summerborn
child who finds him or herself
starting at the bottom of the class to
accept that as their natural position.
Unless you view using a state
school as a fate worse than death
and have infinite confidence in your
ability to afford a private education,
choose a house in the catchment area
of a good primary school. If you can,
and this can be very challenging in
cities, choose a house which is also
in the catchment area of a good nonselective
state secondary school.
Consider reviving whatever
religion you can lay claim to. Where
state faith schools are good they
are often open only to children
whose parents have been regular
worshippers for years beforehand.
If live in central London and
intend to use private schools, look at
them while you've some energy left :
you're likely to want to send your
applications in soon aft er the birth.
2: START FROM THE END
will top notch A levels
matter?
Once you settle to the real
business of planning your
child's education, when your strength
is back and you've at least some
inkling of your off spring's character,
start thinking of where your child
will fi nish their schooling.
Where, being optimistic, do you
think that your child might take
their A levels? If you answer Eton,
with its idiosyncratic and early
examinations, then you may want to
aim for a prep school that knows the
ropes and has a good track record.
If "Westminster", you may need him
to be specially schooled from age
four for the rigorous exams he will
face at seven. If "Putney High" you'll
need your daughter to know her
numbers and letters. The shadow of
your ambitions can reach a long way
back into your off spring's childhood.
If your preferred senior schools are
less eccentric, you won't have to limit
your junior choices nearly so early.
3: NURSERY LIFE
the route to senior
school
Now you know how much
freedom you have got,
you can go back to the beginning
and plot a route that intersects
conveniently with your ambitions for
an ideal senior school.
Nurseries are numerous and very
local. By far the best guide is the
Ofsted website, www.ofsted.gov.
uk.
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