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As the Tiffin deadline looms, is there a girls SW London grammars / indies thread yet?

969 replies

FlumePlume · 26/08/2018 18:15

I just realised that I need to get the Tiffin Girls form in ASAP, and wondered if anyone else is in the same position? I could do with company in this process!

We’re not yet decided but probably applying to Tiffin, WHS, SPGS, Sutton High and maybe one of PHS / Emanuel / KGS.

OP posts:
KaliforniaDreamz · 09/01/2019 19:29

JUST SO GLAD IT IS OVER ACTUALLY CONSIDERING MOVING TO AVOID IT WITH DS

Poppyred25 · 09/01/2019 17:57

Yes they directly contact the parents of those invited for scholarship plus it's all the dc offered 10plus places sitting. It's for dc who have achieved pretty much 100% in all 3 papers.

Richmond001 · 09/01/2019 16:41

That is what I thought. Surely those who are invited for scholarship exams need at least a day notice? So maybe they select the top performers first and notify them first.....

TheExtraGuineaPig · 09/01/2019 14:57

I was just looking at the timeline email and it says everyone will hear by Friday lunchtime but the scholarship exams are on Friday so I guess those people will have to hear today or latest tomorrow.

DD felt happy after her exam but it's so hard to tell how they've done isn't it! She finished all the English, just missed a couple on the maths and found the VR the hardest and didn't finish

winterishereithink · 09/01/2019 14:30

We also got the KGS interview email on the Friday last year (12.34pm to be precise!- just checked). They also sent an email a couple of days earlier which was a survey about the admissions process so please don't have a heart attack if you see an email from them today...we couldn't make the original interview day as clashes with Ibstock exam. Not sure if that is the case this year? There were obviously loads who had a clash so maybe they have planned it differently this year?

Richmond001 · 09/01/2019 14:26

Thanks @Poppyred25
:)

Poppyred25 · 09/01/2019 14:08

Re KGS 11plus, last year they sent emails on Friday lunchtime. They may send a general email about admissions today or tomorrow to check everyone's email addresses are correct.

Richmond001 · 09/01/2019 13:37

Hi there, just when do you think we will start hearing from KGS?

Hothouseorflophouse · 09/01/2019 09:22

Kalifornia beware, though, we got our dream state school offer (lovely comprehensive with extraordinary results, people cheat to get into etc) and yet still had been so suckered by the private school process that we didn't take it in the end. If we'd known we'd have been offered a place (was v unlikely) we'd have never gone down the stupid hateful stressful 11+ route.

And yet because daughter did so well by the time we got the (July) offer from the desirable state, we'd already emotionally committed to the private.

Such a racket!

Glaciferous · 08/01/2019 22:31

My DD did not finish the maths when she sat St Paul's and she got a place so I think not finishing is OK, and girls who did not finish are still in the running provided other stuff is good. She is absolutely not struggling with Maths now she is there, btw, so I suspect it is pitched fairly high. They may in fact be interested in what children do when faced with something they don't know how to do, as well.

I suspect the Comprehension paper is quite important. I remember DD really loving it and her performance on this was mentioned in her acceptance letter.

Re marking everything fast and deliberating over the interviews, I think the interview is important in terms of them selecting children they actively want to teach. So do encourage your daughters to enjoy it and speak up and not worry about getting anything 'wrong'. I think they want children who will participate fully and not be afraid to give an opinion.

DD really enjoyed her interview (she is a talker by nature) and they don't ask anything terribly hard or designed to confuse. It is just a good chat as far as I could tell. They do do the thing where they show them a picture and ask them about it. DD got a surrealist thing with lots of meat, possibly Dali, and misidentified the whole business as marshmallows and sweets which she thought hilarious, both during the interview and afterwards - so it doesn't necessarily matter if you get it 'wrong'. I think they also talked about religion for some reason, and DD was asked how she'd convince someone religious to question their faith. DD is interested in philosophy so this was right up her street and they probably had to kick her out the door still talking. She was still actually talking as they delivered her back to me, at which point she switched to talking to me.

Pa10ma · 08/01/2019 22:02

Hi Flume - DD also came bouncing out of SPGS. She said she thought the Comprehension was great fun and she drew an invention Confused. Also deciphered Cornish and Old English? She said the first two maths sections were fine, but the third was more extended questions. She did LU today and found that maths harder. Anyway, She is generally quite upbeat so I guess regardless of how it actually went, that’s the main thing. PHS tomorrow and then just one more Fri. Bring on the weekend! I also have elder DD doing GCSE mocks so all fun here.

Janehoop · 08/01/2019 20:35

Flumeplume, mine didnt do too well in the 3rd maths section for SPGS, she only could attempted 3 out of 7:(, there was no time for the 4.

Sweetnhappy1 · 08/01/2019 18:35

Kalifornia, best of luck for Putney tomorrow. I'm sure it won't be a waste of time and your DD will have a better experience xxx

KaliforniaDreamz · 08/01/2019 14:39

I am certainly hoping for a good state option to come through!

TheExtraGuineaPig · 08/01/2019 13:16

Ah thanks - and I didn't think you were being a downer!

It ended up being ok for us because DD seemed to positively enjoy all 3 exam days she did (unlike Tiffin which she did find overwhelming) - I am still worried in case for some reason she doesn't get in as I think it might upset her but she's absolutely fine and says she will be perfectly happy (helps we have a good state option)

KaliforniaDreamz · 08/01/2019 13:06

Sorry don't mean to be dolly downer. Best of luck to all your DCs xx

FlumePlume · 08/01/2019 13:03

TheExtra Woohoo! I’m so glad it’s over for you.

Kalifornia I’m so sorry it’s been so stressful for you. How is your dd feeling?

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KaliforniaDreamz · 08/01/2019 13:00

I still have those doubts TheExtra

if i had my time back i would not do this again

PHS waste of time tomorrow then done

TheExtraGuineaPig · 08/01/2019 12:26

And she's done... phew! DD had Surbiton yesterday and LEH today and seems pleased with both days so fingers crossed. I'm more glad it's over than she is I think. I was having major doubts over Christmas whether it was sane to put 10/11 year olds through this and risk rejection!

Good luck to everyone else

FlumePlume · 08/01/2019 10:23

Dd bounced out, fizzing. Apparently it was fun, the singing was great and there was chocolate cake for lunch. She thinks she did well, but from what she says about missing questions / running out of time, I’m a bit more realistic. How did your dd find it, Pa10ma?

So now that’s over, I’m wondering how SPGS can mark ?500 papers in just over a week (given the no / interview invitation e-mail will be sent next Wed), but then take nearly three weeks to make a decision on the many fewer girls they interview. It seems the wrong way around.

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FlumePlume · 06/01/2019 19:07

Pa10ma I thought the SPGS comprehensions were very interesting - much more about how you think than about what you know. But they do draw on skills in evaluating evidence which I developed at degree level (history), so it’s fairly familiar stuff. I did have to give dd a quick ‘this is how you evaluate sources’ chat. Her primary doesn’t seem to have covered that sort of thing, though apparently they have done putting both sides of the argument and then coming to a conclusion, which is (I think / hope!) what they’re looking for.

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Pa10ma · 06/01/2019 17:52

Good luck to everyone for this week!

DD has SPGS all day tomorrow, then LU Tue morning and then PHS on Wed. Plus the Consortium exam on Fri!

She did nothing today because I thought she needs a rest before tomorrow!

She was given about 7 practice maths papers from he school over Xmas, which she’s done. She also had comprehensions which we haven’t done because I thought it would be more useful to do the sample papers for the actual schools she’s going for.

Flume - What did you think of the SPGS comprehensions? Confused I think I would struggle to finish in the time given!

FlumePlume · 06/01/2019 17:35

And good luck to your dd, too, Kalifornia!

My dd is delighted that there will be no more maths practice - today was the last one! Given that she was asked about Brexit at a previous interview, I’m thinking that I should make sure she watches Newsround (it’s usually shown at school, but I’ll check she’s seen it as sometimes they run out of time), but that’ll be it for 11 plus stuff from now on.

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KaliforniaDreamz · 06/01/2019 15:21

Thank you x

Teacakesandcoffee01 · 06/01/2019 14:11

In the past it's been a short written questionnaire, ie What are you a star at? Bullet point answers seem to be fine.