Trinity/Whitgift 2019 thread

You can buy white shirts, grey sweaters and grey or black trousers anywhere. The biggest expense is the sports uniform. The test of it is quite cheap.

Non-logoed Trinity uniform (trousers, shirts) can be bought from anywhere. I think DS said they can have non-logo base layers for sport - he's certainly had them and played for the A's with no repercussions anyway! For some reason I think the logo school jumper isn't a Must Have either.

One thing that surprised me was paying for GCSE/A level entries. I had assumed that would be included in the fees.

Musical instrument tuition is extra, although T do have a scheme where boys who have not played an instrument before can have a free term of group lessons. They can hire instruments.

Not all trips are included. I think the "field day" trips are but there are some extra ones that aren't - a trip to the WW1 battlefields is one that springs to mind as being extra.

All the clubs my DSs did were included - mainly sport. There were some fees involved in the sub-aqua one but that was membership of the British Sub Aqua club I think. I remember DS1 going to the religious society club purely because they had free food 😂

Can anyone help / shed light on hidden costs at both W and T.

What exactly does the fees cover? Books, and trips (some extra curricular ones probably not), after school clubs?

The obvious ones that are extra I'm assuming would be, uniform, lunch, travel. Do you have to buy uniform grim the schools or is it grey trousers can be from anywhere but logo blazers are a must. A friend of mine told me how she spent over £500, when her DS started and realised she could have purchased some non logo items elsewhere but the school insisted on purchasing from their shop.

Am I missing anything? Having to wait and look at all the options (particularly if no scholarship is offered) so that we can re-adjust non essential spending.

#confusedandanxious

Are all of the interviews completed now?

16 days to go now - not that I'm counting...

chandellina, thanks for kind update - always helpful. what were you asked in W interview?

Just jumping in to share info. My son had his Whitgift interview Jan. 18 for 11+ entry. It went really well and we were told to expect an offer based on his exam, school reports and interview. May end up at a Sutton grammar though much as we love the school. We didn't apply to Trinity.

MWMummy how was the recall ? We are there tomorrow for the sports recall. Was it busy or slightly smaller?

We also had Mr B and he was very good. He didn't give us any hints though.

If DS doesn't get an offer, having been to the school now 4 times (assessment/interview/sports day/recall) I think it will be pretty hard for him. But I guess it does happen...

I think Mr Beck interview both my DSs when we were doing this. He was lovely!

It's going to seem like a long wait. Mr B really does his utmost to make it a pleasant experience doesn't he. Such a great representative of the school.

Walking .. I think I feel the same way! W liked DS with the academic ability and potential yet T have asked him back for sports assessment. It's soo hard to tell in if we will get any offers at all. The smiles and thank yous are very deceptive.

W shared exam results but only on the subject that DS didn't do as well. I did ask for the other 2 areas but simply got 'he did well' without revealing the actual numbers/percentage. I didn't want to sound too pushy and didn't pursue further. Our interview was this morning with Mr Beck at W.

Hi our DS had an interview with mr. Yeo at W he was totally impressed with him and even had a chat with my DH asking him to get in touch if needed .. at T it was a sayurday interview.. so don’t know what to make out

I guess them is some logic to the timing of offers as they won't be in school the following week. I've told DS that I won't tell him about offers, or lack thereof, until we are outside school gates and on our own.

I think W like DS academically and T liked him in terms of sport. I can't second guess whether either will make an offer - could be both or neither.

I'm glad the assessments are over though. Things were starting to get fraught at DS's school with a bit of jealousy cropping up with some boys getting interviews/scholarship assessments - and others not.

Interviews for both W and T now officially over!! What a massive relief! Did anyone get any positive vibes from either or both schools? I found W to be a lot more persuasive in accepting if a potential offer is made.

Thanks soupdragon - will hold fire till after DDay and msg about a young guide whatever the outcome for us.

It's not going to affect your application either way.

I think it's fine to compliment/thank the pupils as they're volunteers. The staff are doing their job. If the pupils did a particularly good job of putting you at ease I think they would welcome the positive feedback.

Very creepy and desperate!!!

Hi all - should we write to thank staff / pupils who we saw at interview? Would that seem as tho trying to be too creepy?

When I went through this with DS1 (he's 19 now!) I started out wanting W. I absolutely loved it. By the end of the process I had switched to T and haven't regretted it for a single moment.

This is a really good question Walking. Our views have definitely changed based on what we have observed through this process. Credit to most of the schools involved, they have done their best to make the experience enjoyable for the boys. However one of the schools we went for (not W or T but a co-ed in S London which is known for being "nurturing" and I believe not as academically selective as W or T) had a really horrendous on-line test and many children came out in tears afterwards - which is completely inexcusable in my view. My DS said it was the hardest thing he's ever done. It ought to be very possible to assess academic standards without destroying a 10/11 year old child's confidence in the process. This school is now right at the bottom of our list and I wish we hadn't put our DS in for it.

Hi walking. I’ve definitely changed in the way I feel about all the schools we applied for! Don’t want to be too specific right now (waiting is fuelling paranoia ) but one school has gone down in my estimations as I thought they were the least parent/child friendly in terms of the process (if I say exam in a big hall and evening before notice for sports scholarship attendance some will know who I mean )

I really like the way Eltham interview on the same day as the exam - half the stress and time off!

Whitgift I can’t help but be wowed by every time I go!

Can’t stand the waiting! DS has written a countdown on my whiteboard organiser which is not helping either of us!

How's everyone feeling?
Just 18 l-o-n-g days to go.

Has anyone changed their preferences/views of any schools during the process?