Alleyn's 11+ 2019

Hi 89fomveg, am an ex-Jags girl who was also a quiet bookworm. I really flourished there - was supported & encouraged to achieve things I wouldn’t have otherwise, and made great friends.

Happy to hear girls currently there say the same, and that the Head is putting renewed emphasis on activities with DC. Hoping to send my own DD there in the future. Good luck with your choice.

MTRT - congrats to your DD! Interesting re the maths - are these one year stats for the further maths A level? Guess the JAGs sixth form is a lot smaller?

Not sure any importance should be placed on current iGCSE/GCSE courses as it may well change in the next 5 years?

DC got scholarship at Alleyn's and it does appear all schools in Dulwich are in close competition with each-other. Schools have strong points in one way or the other over each other. thoroughly confusing for parents.
Based on my DC's interest i will go for Alleyn's as Maths seem to be preferred subject by many kids (highest proportion opt for Maths last year 31/45 scored A) from data available from gov.uk v/s JAGs 23 took Advanced Mathematics FSMQ. Computing is iGCSE than full GCSE making scoring bit more assignment driven .
Is anyone considering relocating to Dulwich or commuting?

89fomveg - we had the same JAGs/Alleyns dilemma for dd. We revisited both schools on the same day a couple of weeks after the offers came through. Having not had a preference, it was a really useful final insight into the culture of both schools. The registrars were both happy to fit us in.

I think bookworms/alpha kids/sporty kids/all rounders can flourish at any of these schools. There are no bad choices. DD seems to have a good mix of personality types in her class.

For us, Alleyns felt like the right fit because we were concerned how her perfectionist tendencies would sit in an all girl environment. Alleyns just felt more buzzy throughout the process.

Beaky - Y9 was a v smooth transition. They went from 6 classes to 10 I think, and ds's Lower School class was split fairly evenly into 3 so they all transitioned with a gang of their friends. It's a massive campus so even with 200 it feels spacious. The Lower School Campus is quite separate from the rest of the school - rather than just being a separate building like at Alleyns.

If your ds is sporty, then I do think DC offers more choices, especially from Y9 when fencing/rowing etc become real options.

Dr Spence - good point - no idea! Hopefully long enough to see ds through...

DarlingOscar - thank you for your message
My DS is very sporty so would be happy at either school I think as there seems lots of sport on offer at both schools. Obviously one does Rugby and the other doesn't. He would be an A Team boy most probably
One concern was the amount of children at Year 9, with DC having over 200 and Alleyns only 130 - do the children just adapt to the numbers? I was also very impressed with Dr Spence but wonder how long he will stay on post 400 Anniversary

DarlingOscar - thanks for your post. I was just wondering how your DD finds Alleyns? We are trying to decide between jags and Alleyns for our DD.

As our DD is a shy, quiet bookworm, I almost wonder if she would fit in better at jags but I prefer co-Ed schools.

She doesn’t seem to have a preference for one over the other.

Any thoughts on what type of girl would thrive at Alleyns would be most welcome. Many thanks.

Beaky001 We were in a similar position (no scholarship though) and chose DC. The comparison from our perspective was:-

Alleyns is a fab school. It's smaller and co-ed. For our ds this was a drawback as it meant he would be part of a cohort of 60 boys rather than 120 (and then 200) boys. The larger group has meant that a larger range of sports are played and that more teams are fielded. As a result our non sporty ds has happily played D team rugby, E team football and F team cricket!

Academically, Alleyns does better in the league tables. But we wondered if that was driven by the fact it is coed? Girls at that age are generally more studious and we wondered if our ds might end up
middle of the pack result-wise which might be demotivating. At DC he is doing well (placed in a scholars class despite not having a scholarship himself) and has consistently been in the top quartile which has done his confidence a lot of good.

Finally, we loved Joe Spence! Out of all the heads we saw at all the open days, he was the most impressive and has continued to prove himself a dynamic and inspirational leader. Mr Tanna (head of lower school) is similarly fabulous. Very driven and genuinely interested in each boy's progress.

DC offer cross curricular weeks from Y7 where the boys attend lectures, and the focus on learning is very broad with the exams quite a background thing. The Y8 Spanish course ended with a non curricular section on South American history for example.

DS has found his niche. He is loyal to his school, his house and his friends. His sister is at Alleyns, so I'm not blindly biased. Horses for courses I guess?

Hi
We are in a lovely position of having an offer from Dulwich College and a Scholarship Offer from Alleyns - can't decide which school would be best. DS open to either single sex or co-ed. Liked both schools. Any advice greatly appreciated

There are more academic scholarships available this year as the 13+ process has ended and the school has stated that the scholarships previously reserved for 13+ will now be awarded at 11+.

So quite possible that all 38 received something. IME they only turn down scholarship candidates who effectively demonstrate that they don't want Alleyns.

Hi, I just wondered if anyone knew how many academic scholarships Alleyns offered this year and what the amounts typically were. I know 38 were shortlisted for academic scholarship interview. I just wondered if all of those shortlisted were offered something?

Congratulations to all DC! well done.

DS got an offer from Alleyns and a scholarship offer from St Dunstan's. We are going to visit both schools again. Really hard to make decision as DS 1st choice is the other offer from all boys school! even though he quite like the idea that he could be an academic scholar and save mummy some money.

We are also waiting for the result from grammar schools. We could just manage if we accept an offer from one of private school, but still concern about Brexit. At this point, is anyone worried about Brexit that would have an effect on family financial circumstances? I do. ...

Good luck to those still waiting to receive the letter!

Does anyone know what lower school timings are?

WE rang yesterday as well but as usual they are not very helpful apart from saying it was posted on Thursday and we should receive it today

We haven’t received our letter from Alleyns either but I rang yesterday and the registrar kindly told us the outcome. Fingers crossed for good news for you.

If you haven't received any letter, suggest try and call school

Anyone not yet received Alleyn’s post like us?

Thanks! Strong preference to Alleyn's. However if we move to Dulwich we both will have long commute to the city.
Have decided on which one to pick up?

In parallel got offers from NBH, Francis Holland and St James too. Any pointers on how to choose? We have recently moced in the country and still in temporary accommodation. Obviously Alleys seem academically strong with good extracurricular as well.

Well done to mini Vargas, bagged 2 offers ! Good news for us today, got place offered with scholarship !