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Original poster

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:
Original poster
FlumePlume · 19/10/2018 19:27

TheExtra Sorry to hear that (though it’s good your dd isn’t upset).

It’s a bit of an odd time, as there’s nothing for a few weeks, then lots (and different types of exam) in November. I think the crunch point is definitely November - at most (and if lucky) she would have two exams in January.

OP posts:
Teacakesandcoffee01 · 18/10/2018 15:29

TheExtraGuineaPig, sorry to hear your news but glad to hear your dd is happy. Will this help you with your Indy secondary school selection?

TheExtraGuineaPig · 18/10/2018 15:19

DD didn't get through, we were a bit disappointed she's very happy.. also good experience and all that :)

Original poster
FlumePlume · 17/10/2018 18:38

Dd got through to stage 2. I’ve told her I’m proud of how hard she worked and that she clearly didn’t panic, and I’ve also had the ‘don’t mention this at school unless someone asks you a direct question’ conversation.

OP posts:
Greenleave · 17/10/2018 16:55

Yes, 2nd round for us too.

Jimjam68 · 17/10/2018 15:38

@flumeplume, how did you get on with Tiffin?

KeepingTheWormsQuiet · 17/10/2018 14:21

The results are by email. The details for attending the second stage test will be by post.
DD got through.

Sweetnhappy1 · 17/10/2018 12:36

Just got the Tiffin Girls outcome by email, now on to stage 2 prep.

Glaciferous · 15/10/2018 20:15

That sounds much more sensible. Presumably you might have a day less waiting!

Sweetnhappy1 · 15/10/2018 14:26

I contacted the school and they said we'll be notified by email sometime this week

MRSMYM · 15/10/2018 13:50

So we will get the results by post not by an email?

Glaciferous · 15/10/2018 13:28

Yes, post. And I think we found out on a Thursday.

winterishereagain · 15/10/2018 11:56

Last year stage 2 was definitely by post!

Original poster
FlumePlume · 15/10/2018 11:50

I’m assuming post as that’s how the Stage 1 instructions arrived, but I could be wrong. I just re-read the website, I can’t find anything at all about how they send the results.

Maybe someone who did it last year will be able to tell us?

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TheExtraGuineaPig · 15/10/2018 10:35

Will the results for Tiffin come in the post? For absolutely no reason at all I thought there'd be an email. I also misread it as today being the actual date so am preparing myself for a few more days of waiting. Even though we're not really expecting her to have got in and don't mind what the outcome is waiting for results is still weird isn't it!

Original poster
FlumePlume · 15/10/2018 09:40

Tiffin results are this week - I’m assuming nearer the end than the start, but it would be nice to know when anyone else gets them.

I’m a bit worried about the post, as I had a (fairly crucial) letter not arrive over the summer, which took a lot of sorting out. I even wrote to the CE of the Post Office to complain. They did an investigation and said there weren’t any problems locally - but I still didn’t have my sodding letter (in the end I got the information sent electronically, but it was a hassle as it was much later than I would ideally have had the information).

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KaliforniaDreamz · 14/10/2018 10:17

Greenleave I am sorry to hear you have family stuff going on, this exam pressure on top is all you need.
Please rest assured you clearly have a highly intelligent (and musical!) child and will have the pick of schools. Wishing you well x

Edustar · 13/10/2018 21:32

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Greenleave · 13/10/2018 16:06

Kalifornia, she was very lucky I think, she went in without ever did a proper VR paper before, never knew there was a seperate answer sheet etc and never seen the type of table. Her strength in maths and English must have made it up. She didnt have any exam technique by then and left questions unanswered (didnt even know how many questions and how many she left, she said she thought 7 or 8) focusing on getting every question right. Few valuable experiences she learned from it. KGS staffs were amazing, made it all smooth and simple and stress free. We still have a long way to go, I cant wait for this to be over. We have family sickness so that is my top priority right now. She asked for grade 8 abrsm music theory but I really dont think she understands the level of exams in the coming Jan. I have agreed for the theory exam next Summer.

KaliforniaDreamz · 13/10/2018 15:12

Greenleave if your DD got into KGS on the 10plus she is going to have offers from everywhere.

Greenleave · 13/10/2018 14:14

What a situation @tickingthebox, how is she doing this year!

The hammersmith 3 schools are the same journey, either 20 mins on the public bus or 15 mins on the tube then 10 mins walk to school or something. We have KGS 10+, it will be similar to Tiffin. Then LEH which there is school bus, which takes 20-25 mins. Wycombe Abbey is a really different choice which I am not too sure if I can send her, it will break my heart, her little sister and her dad’s, but we all want her to have different choices and will try our best to stay fair and neutral. We did second round Henrietta too, the school is in the middle of a lovely subburb and small intake but we will have to move. Its still a long way till the decision time.

tickingthebox · 13/10/2018 11:21

@greenleave - no not the exploding offer, but for us the journey was a little different to that expected.

We had one stretch, one likely and 2 backups.

The first result back was a backup - with a NO!, then the stretch with a No, then the likely with a waitlist.... Backup 2 we didn't really want anyway as we hadn't liked the school particularly but did it as it's very local (like 5 minutes travel).

So when the waitlist came through we literally had to take it or leave it as they want to go to the next on list ASAP. Now we were sure at this point that this was what we wanted to I would have been down there within 2 hours regardless!!

HOWVEVER, we had already seen the schools and picked these 4 (out of about 8) as we liked them.

There really was no time to view once the offers were in.

Exploding offers are just another flavour of the same thing.

All i'm saying is that you don't quite know your DD's journey. You may get two offers and how do you choose if you can't get to see the school?

KaliforniaDreamz · 13/10/2018 11:04

Thank you, both!

We have looked round all the schools i mentioned, except PHS, but we are booked to do that. Every school she has seen she has loved!!
Yes, that's what i try to do - encourage her to thnk about all the drama, for example, that she would get to do.

Doesn't seem to work tho lol

Spectacularly bad timing with hornones coming in....

Original poster
FlumePlume · 13/10/2018 10:56

Kalifornia I do think that going around a school and really liking it makes a huge difference. Can you do a few tours?

My dd is also at a state primary with barely any homework (meant to be an hour a week, but it usually takes her nothing like that). She’s motivated to do the 11 plus work because she really likes the look of the schools (we’ve looked around WHS three times because she’s so keen!) - when she’s reluctant reminding her of the fantastic choir we heard, or the amazing sports choices on offer, or the interesting teachers we’ve spoken to really help her focus on why she’s doing extra maths.

She basically does two hours at the weekend going through workbooks and past papers with DH, maybe another hour or two of practising things she finds hard during the week, depending on what else she’s doing (this has replaced instrument practice, which is mostly on hold just for this term). So nothing like the hours of work that we hear about others at school doing. I don’t know whether this is enough - we shall see.

OP posts:
Greenleave · 13/10/2018 10:44

Kalifornia: my message about KGS was for you, sorry I had mixed with Teacakes. Mine is very strong in English too and wasnt great with VR. Later on when we know VR better then we realised that strong vocabulary really helps. Others only need some practice to get familiar with the style. My daughter outstanding primary is very anti homework, she has maximum 30mins homework every week too. They learn their own way at school, sometimes we cant judge it just via homework. I am just trying to say, there is time.

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