DCPS for a girl

[mumum]

Anyone with a girl at DCPS? I know there has been threads on this before, but they are quite short. I would like a bit more information, if possible. Has anyone got time to post their experiences or send me a PM, I would be forever grateful. We cannot agree on if we should take the space there.

[trinity]

I have had 2 girls go through DCPS nursery. One was there for 2 years (Jan birthday) and the other for one year (June birthday). Both loved the experience and didn't feel adrift in a sea of boys. The facilities are superb. The 2 year experience is better though as all of the activities run on a 2 year cycle.

Did you have any particular concerns? I am very happy to answer via pm.

[GibsonL]

My little girl is starting at the nursery in September. I am going to have to start thinking about schools now. Where did your girls move to? Does DCPS help girls get into particular schools?

[dulwichmum]

My daughter and son went to DCPS nursery just a couple of years ago. They both adored it. I couldn't speak highly enough of the school. The facilities and teachers are second to none. Freya went there for just one year as I could not part with her for the first year (she just seemed so tiny and I selfishly decided to keep her for myself).

They prepare the girls for school assessment, and you will be guided through the process. Freya was offered places at Alleyns, JAPS, Herne Hill and Sydenham.

She adored the boys in her class and had no problem at all, if anything, they made a huge fuss of her. Your daughter will thrive there.

[new mother]

Why don't you ask them for their stats on getting (girls obviously) into JAPPS/JAPS?

and cf the boys' results...

[EDZ]

What is the drop off/pick-up like? I have this image of spending twenty minutes in traffic each morning to drop my daughter off.

[legalalien]

EDZ - depends where you're coming from, I guess. I walk from the ED/DV border (DS used to walk, now cycles) and the traffic in the ED Grove - Gallery Road direction is generally fine, in the opposite direction (towards JAPS) it's a nightmare. Parking is fine as people park in the Belair Park car park. Personally I'd go for a bike, and cut through Dulwich Park - but then I don't drive and am fairly evangalical about the benefits of walking or biking to school.... For drop off, doors at the nursery open at 8.50, and children are expected to be in by 9; pick up is around 3-3.10.

[Tanza]

Hello Legalalien - can you advise on what the public transport is like from East Dulwich to DCPS? Would the P13 be the best bet and then a walk from Dulwich College?

legalalien Wrote:

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> EDZ - depends where you're coming from, I guess.

> I walk from the ED/DV border (DS used to walk, now

> cycles) and the traffic in the ED Grove - Gallery

> Road direction is generally fine, in the opposite

> direction (towards JAPS) it's a nightmare.

> Parking is fine as people park in the Belair Park

> car park. Personally I'd go for a bike, and cut

> through Dulwich Park - but then I don't drive and

> am fairly evangalical about the benefits of

> walking or biking to school.... For drop off,

> doors at the nursery open at 8.50, and children

> are expected to be in by 9; pick up is around

> 3-3.10.

[legalalien]

I've never taken the P13 (so can't vouch for its reliability) but the walk from the bus stop would be easy. It's a very short walk to the nursery as the entrance is very close to the corner of gallery road and the A205. I think the P13 would be the best bet, though. Unless you're close to the P4 route (forest hill end, or in easy walking distance of Dulwich Village) as the bus stops right outside a walking path with a 2 minute walk to nursery.

[dulwichmum]

new mother Wrote:

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> Why don't you ask them for their stats on getting

> (girls obviously) into JAPPS/JAPS?

> and cf the boys' results...

DCPS boys all go on to DCPS, and it prepares the girls for the entry assessments for JAPS/Alleyns etc, but it is actually down to the individual child on the day. My daughter was refusing to go for the assessments as she liked DCPS nursery so much and wanted to stay there with her brother. It was actually just a simple fluke that she went to these assessments at all (I seem to remember promising her a mountain of Haribos). I don't think that DCPS can be held responsible if a tiny child does not get offered a place in JAPS or Alleyns, but I have never heard of one of the girls not getting an offer anywhere, they are not the only super schools around here. Sometimes kids have coughs or colds or just wake up in bad mood or pick up on a parent's stress. Kids of 4 and 5 are shy and so they should be, it is part of their natural development.

There were little girls in my daughter's year who were incredibly bright who were simply unlucky on the day. I don't think that JAPS or Alleyns are actually capable of performing anything other than a lottery with these assessments. DCPS simply prepare the little ones by trying to ensure that the process is not too unfamiliar to them and so that the kids look forward to the process like a day out. DCPS also ensure that the parents are fully briefed on when they must apply and where to apply to.

I think it would be wrong to ask DCPS for stats, as though you would be assessing proof of their worth, because they are not actually accountable for how the girls perform on the day. Not one of the girls who get offered a place at one of the more competitive schools is any brighter than any of the kids who are not offered a place. It would be arrogant of JAPS or Alleyns to think that they are capable of assessing a child's intelligence using an hour long group assessment by complete strangers when these girls are so young.

DCPS is a super school, without any thought of how they prepare the girls for the assessments and that is actually what it should be about.

Have you seen the sandpit and play frame at the DCPS nursery? I would pay the fees to play on those myself!

[chelle184]

Dulwichmum

Well said and I am definately with you on the sandpit/frame!!!!!!!!! :)-D

[dulwichmum]

:)

[legalalien]

Yes, DM, I couldn't agree more (it doesn't however stop all the mums of girls engaging in endless discussions about assessments and generally stressing out about the process, so far as I can tell)(thank heavens I have a boy...)

[new mother]

Dulwich mum, Yes I take your point re clever children not necessarily doing themselves justice. One could argue that the cleverer the child, the more aware, at a young age, he or she is of the stress of the situation and therefore the less likely to perform. The blissfully unaware meanwhile might chat on for ages and do very well. One hopes that the assessors are used to separating out the brighter ones though.

In the context of this thread, the poster is asking for info about, specifically, girls at DCPS so any information about how girls perform relative to boys in equally tricky and stressful scenarios is relevant. THat was my point. At the extreme, it would certainly be telling you something if all the boys got into their schools but none of the girls did.

Chelle84, definitely re the sandpit, yes I agree.

All, when it comes to choosing among offers, I had been very keen on asking children which school they felt happiest in, till my niece chose one school and went there. it was actually my sister's choice anyway, which is just as well as it has jsut transpired the little one chose it simply because THEY GAVE HER A BISCUIT(!)

[dulwichmum]

New mother,

With regard to your second point - regarding how the boys perform in equally tricky scenarios - as I said already, the boys at DCPS nursery automatically progress to DCPS and don't leave until they are 13. It is only the tiny girls that must leave after nursery and are therefor compelled to sit these vile and unnecessary assessments at JAPS and Alleyns.

As someone who is professionally qualified to comment, I can confidently inform you that the assessors at these schools do not have the time, resources, qualifications or training to "separate the brighter ones."

The school assessments for Alleyns and JAPS are at best a pointless lottery and at worst - distressing and cruel.

As legalalien said, these assessments cause no end of anxiety for parents. The common perception that if one has enough money, it is possible to buy anything, does not apply in Dulwich. My daughter only agreed to take up her place at one of these schools because they have rabbits.