Open mornings for the year ahead

Open mornings run on the second Saturday of October, February and May. They start at half past nine with coffee in the hall and finish by half past twelve, and there is no presentation at any point.

What the morning looks like

Your child goes off with a Year 8 guide and spends the morning in a class of roughly the right age. You walk round with the head in a group of six or seven families, which is small enough that you can ask the awkward questions and get an answer.

You will see lessons running normally. Nothing is staged for the morning, which is why one of the classrooms will almost certainly be noisier than you expected.

Come on a weekday instead

The better visit is a Tuesday or a Wednesday in term time. The school is doing what it does every week, the corridors are full, and the registrar can take you into whichever year group you are actually thinking about.

Email the registrar and she will find you a morning. Parents who come on a weekday tend to decide faster, in both directions, and that suits everyone.

Registering afterwards

There is no registration fee and no deadline until the January before entry. Registering does not commit you to anything; it puts your child on the list for the assessment morning, which is a session of reading, number work and a lot of play, and takes about two hours.