As the Tiffin results day looms, a second 2019 SW London grammars and indies thread

@sweetnhappy the main difference really is the money...

So, we have this dilemma now and until noon tomorrow to decide.

WHS vs TGS. 20 minutes on one bus vs 1 hour (walk then train then bus). Local friends vs very geographically spread. I think Tiffin comes with some pressures that may be more cushioned at WHS?
I haven't tried the biscuits at WHS but DD loved the chicken nuggets at Tiffin.

We are veering more towards WHS. Mainly because DD preferred it.

grape i would take a great state option if offer on the table, for sure.

@KaliforniaDreamz
I think you are right. Lots of biscuits and brochures and cool facilities at the independents.

I was never going to turn down TGS though because I couldn't really afford the independents. Really we did the independents as a back up if we weren't happy with the state option. Also I hoped for music scholarships but DD only got one that didn't make a massive impact on the fees.

It felt sad at the time to turn down my preferred independent but I now feel happy not to have chosen that path especially when quite a few girls from their prep school showed up at TGS!

Dunno but the girls' school has historically always been stronger

I never applied to Tiffin because it’s not our area and I didn’t really know about it tbh, but it looks like it gets amazing results and it’s free! 90% ish A-A is very similar to PHS and WHS. Also, it looks like TGS gets much better results than the boys school which is around 75% A-A - I wonder why this is?

I think once you get invested in the indie exams/open days/glossy extras etc etc you end up going that way whern you swore you never word
(bitter experience but in my defence didn't enter TGS and also only got 4th choice state...)

It does seem like there’s been quite a few TGS offers in this thread, yet nobody seems to be taking them up?

@Geogra

May I ask why you declined TGS? Is it a distance issue? Feel free to PM me if you prefer (or decline to answer, if that is your preference ;)).

There's often quite a bit of movement between April and September - with DD1 the pupil/parent list given at the new parents meeting in April had a fair few changes when they actually started in September...

If it gives anyone WL hope we withdrew from a deposit-paid place as late as 18 April (just checked my old emails!) so there would have been at least one place released 6 weeks after state offer day that year...bad form on our part but ultimately best for our dd, which I'm afraid is what takes over in these situations.

So tomorrow is the day when things will move then. Certainly must be for PHS but also maybe for others too. Yep nuts is the word!!

So tomorrow will be the day. This process is making me slightly nuts too.

Day after the state offers although I think some of the WL moved slightly earlier than that. State offers were Thursday last year so had a bit more time before the Monday acceptance date.
We were at state primary so no help from prep school heads!

Thank you. All this is slightly driving me crazy!

In response to the q about Tiffin music upthread, the newish Head of Music (2017) is extremely able and is continuing the very strong tradition. I would have no concerns there.

Remember there may be indie WL movement later in March - when dd went through this we spent a long time dithering about private/grammar options and I'm afraid did hold on to private places longer than we should have - the deposit cost was worth it to us for thinking time.

From what I can tell , bring on the wl has no bearing whatsoever on how a child progresses through the school. Children “peak” at different times. I’m seeing it now at LU, some of those who came in on scholarships seem to have crashed out. A few are asking to drop certain GCSE courses or really needing a lot of support. The teen years are precarious and there are so many factors that can affect progress.

As well as DD I know other girls at WHS and lots of DC's at other schools who got in on WL's. All doing absolutely fine. I really wouldn't worry about it- it may have been that they answered one more question wrong on the maths paper than someone who got an offer outright!

Out of interest SW, were offers made in the days after the deadline and once Grammar results had come out? I think this week will be when all the change happens.

That’s really interesting to hear and it seems it really just comes down to ranking on the list.

We have been actively encouraged at school open mornings to get in touch and tell them how much we want the place if we get a waiting list place. I guess this is just so that they can gauge their position rather than have any positive effect on those waiting.

Regarding acceptance of a waiting list offer, please could anyone shed any light on how the child fits (academically and otherwise) in as oppose to those offered straight away. This is a concern of mine dd has KGS and on the waiting list for Leh. Dd is from state school so no real guidance other than you lovely people.

Geogra - I don’t know about your friends who got wl places without any action. Maybe they were at the very top of the list; maybe they did call - who knows? I would still think that some action is better than none in this kind of situation. Despite the fact that nobody can tell how seriously school adhere to wl rankings, it’s obvious that this kind of thing can never be an exact science. Also, as deadlines are imminent, schools will be less in a position to pick and choose because people may well have paid deposits elsewhere.
Our head emailed everyone just before the main results day to say that if anyone is put in the wl for their preferred school, they must let the head know ASAP so that the head can push their case. This is not fair obviously, but it happens and is widespread. Many of the heads know each other - for instance, at our school, the heads of LU and PHS have been among those who are invited to give the prizes at prize-givings or judge other competitions, etc. I think the senior schools know that state school heads will not get on the phones and they factor this in, but still, I don’t think calling the school puts you at a disadvantage at this stage, no. Surely schools want families who believe in their ethos and have actively chosen their school.

Genuinely not sure! It was a frantic 20 minutes with calls all over the place! Coupled with lots of snow and forms filled in for other schools etc!

Who did they call first SW?!

Geogra- last year we were on the WL for WHS as was a good friend's daughter. She was in constant contact with them and they knew she was very keen. They told her she was in the right 'zone' etc. I just let them know that we wanted to be on the WL but did have other offers. Wasn't particularly effusive (primarily because DD wasn't too bothered).
Anyway, we both got offers from the WL within about 20 minutes of each other so it didn't seem to make a difference however we played it!