Secondary school places - we are in :)

[Hulababy]

Well DD is in anyway!

She sat the entrance exam for a local girl's high last weekend. Heard this morning that she has done well in the exam and been offered a place. So have 5 of her friends; just waiting to hear from one other. Not in high stress grammar/11+ areas here, but still no guarantees.
Really happy for her - she's not always very confident when it comes to academia but she has worked really hard, learnt lots of good strategies to help her with her dyslexic type tendencies and it has paid off for her.

I know other MN children have been doing exams recently too. Hope they are all getting some news about now too.

[LIZS]

Excellent news - did she just sit the one ?

[Hulababy]

Yes, only one round here and didn't want her going to another town for school. The co-ed isn't academically selective though they do exams on a taster day to see if the child will fit in with their general ethos, whatever that means. She did sit their exams and got a place offered there too but the high school was her first choice deep ddown.

[LIZS]

A quick turnaround then. I was just glad dc2 did hers last year and we (fingers crossed) won't have the angst again. Shall try not to look smug when her prep school peers are doing 13+ and CE next year !

[Hulababy]

Yes, a week's wait - pretty quick, so now more wondering :)
Glad it's all over. Think me and Dh found it more stressful than she did, especially on the day itself!

[LIZS]

What happens to those who have also applied for state schools ? Do they have until March before committing ? Around here offers are made at half term but confirmation not until early March once state allocations have been made.

[Hulababy]

Yes - have til a March date to confirm place, coincides with state secondary places coming out.

[outtolunchagain]

Hulababy gosh it doesn't 't seem five minutes since you posted pictures of her in her reception uniform Well done to her.

Ds3 is only sitting for the senior school of the prep he's at . The exam isn't until next week , we haven't been told there's a problem so I'm pretty confident but it still feels like a rite of passage.

[GinandJag]

Congratulations, Hulababy, you must be both immensely proud and a little relieved :).

My DD is in the same boat. She did her entrance exam last Saturday and we got the "big" envelope in the post today. She didn't do any preparation for the exam (it was two English and two Maths papers, rather than NVR/VR) so I was extremely nervous to see 300 candidates on the assessment day for 100 places.

[Hulababy]

Thanks all. Yes, very relieved its all over.

Good luck to your children too

[Ladymuck]

Great to know that it is all sorted Hula, and yes, those 7 years went pretty quickly!

LIZS, so you know of any cases where younger siblings haven't got into C? Ds2 is in yr 5 (in a class with 3 other siblings).

[LIZS]

Sorry for hijack ! LM, not as far as I know but not something we have tracked consciously . Two of those who joined at 13+ from ds' prep with him were younger siblings and think similar this year but they were good candidates anyway. There are at least 5 in dd's class with year5 aged siblings. Were you there last Monday eve?

[LIZS]

oh and at least 4 have older siblings (including dd)

[Ladymuck]

Sorry Hula for the hijack - am having 11+ angst a year in advance.

Hopefully ds2 will be a good candidate - we shall see. Ds1 is someone who "participates well in class" (yes, we can de-code that one!), but seems to be doing well in all areas apart from self-organisation according to Monday's feedback. So far we've been very pleased with the school, and find it hard to think of back-ups. Ds2 really wouldn't fit the W or T mould (he'll probably be the first male member of Alley Cats). Ds2 wants to try out for Reigate, but I don't really see that as a safe back-up plan! Did your dd sit anywhere else?

[LIZS]

dd also took RGS (whereas ds didn't) but on balance it made sense to have them in one place and she preferred the range of activities at C. More of her peers went there and we know plenty of others. Has a much more local feel to it. The new head is making an impact though - academically, structurally, info for parents and admissions - so that could prove interesting.