Upcoming girls’ independent SW London schools 11+ exams

@NoToMisogyny , the rate in Twickenham is over 900 but yes I was surprised too.
What to schools like Claremont Fan do now? They are open next week but those sitting the exam come
from all over the area.

That list is bizarre. Kingston has a higher rate than Richmond and yet isn’t on there!

Wow, I can so many schools scrapping the entrance exam if they can't make the move to online.

UPDATE: to above - the list of areas has just been published where schools won’t open as planned and most London Boroughs are on there from what I can see - so scrap my last comments. All still in an unknown flux!!!!

Been watching the LIVE news updates as they discuss and publish from the Commons...

www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/coronavirus-news-tier-4-announcement-covid-restrictions-oxford/#update-20201230-1508

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-55478521

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/948580/Contingency_framework_implementation_guidance.pdf

Wandsworth is on the blacklist so that’s Emanuel screwed too..

@MumsRule20 , there is a possibility that at lot of London / LBRUt primary schools will be on the closure list for next week. See a possible list on The Staff room thread. It makes sense if United learning who own Surbiton High and have direct Govt access got a sense of the proposed list and so cancelled use of prep schools for sitting exams
next week.

Gavin Williamson has just announced most Primary schools in Tier 4 will go back as planned next week. The full list of areas / schools will be published on Gov.uk later today...so guess this may mean any paper exams still scheduled with no changes yet (such as Emanuel, will still go ahead before they schools reopen again)? I would rather they don’t and had really hoped it would shift online or otherwise. I suppose anything could happen over the next few days and there may be public backlash???

@PatoPato get out on that run.. I’m just back from a 2 hour stomp myself and it does help! I’m so sorry you and DD find yourself here. As others have said, I think you need to supply each school with a mini CV for DD.

• Atom print out if you have one
• Mock results
• Wandsworth Test results (if applicable and out in time)
• Any extracurricular stuff (music grades / lamda etc)
• Any awards / other achievements

It might be overkill / unnecessary and they might not even look at it but it will make you feel you’ve done everything you can.

Also, make sure you have a full understanding of what’s in the interview. Will there be mental maths or weird thinking questions. (What would you do if you found a penguin in the bathroom etc) Practise with DD on a zoom, get her to do it with an adult that’s not you that might ask questions she is not expecting..

If you have sat the ISEB I’d make them aware of that too.. they could pay to access it if there were any borderline candidates.

Hopefully, @Corblimbea is right.. all our Woldingham candidates got offers.. here to hand hold though as I completely appreciate it doesn’t make the uncertainty any less stressful! xx

Just thinking.. if you have a first choice (and I realise this is hard if you haven’t visited them) then I think I’d make that very clear to them.

@Corblimbea - thankyou for your wonderful message which I skim read in my rush to punch out my last message. I'll read it thoroughly when I've calmed down!

Oh FFS - Ibstock have now also pulled the on-site exam on Tuesday and will do some version of it online. I'm literally stomping around the kitchen in a rage. Am going out for a fat 2 hour run to burn off some of my anger. I just cannot believe how shit these last minute changes are and it reflects very badly on these schools (with me right now).

@PatoPato I expect FHSS will offer the vast majority of those who have applied, so please don’t worry. Nobody from our (very mixed ability) prep has ever been rejected from FHSS and this is the same as woldingham, where I saw on another post they have basically offered to all who applied this year. It’s such a shame that our girls aren’t getting to show their revision has worked, but I expect schools in the ‘second tier’ will be more lenient this year for sure - especially given the upcoming recession. All schools need to fill their places. I think SHS and schools like SCHS will also be generous with offers this year - the whole landscape of independent education has changed this year. Have a look at offers of places that you can find on prep school sites (e.g. The Study, Roche, Ken Prep, Holy Cross). It’s very reassuring to see how many offers are made compared to actual places. Even somewhere like WHS/PHS make lots of offers compared to those who accept places, according to the prep websites. Look at the number of offers made by SHS, WHS etc here: www.thestudyprep.co.uk/page/?title=Leavers%27+Destination+School+Offers&pid=50 - this really reassured me/DD when starting this process. This one from Holy Cross also shows number accepted - e.g. SUrbiton offered 20 places and only 1 was accepted. These schools must be making around 20 offers per place to get full year groups. Even somewhere seem as highly selective, like LEH offers 14 with only half accepted. www.holycrossprepschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Destination-of-Leavers-2020.pdf?_gl=1136f8hw_ga*YW1wLWFVc05iMTVGUkplT1ZVaVczLWVoV0VxMkJsWmlpQ0k0MmNzdDdDSDFPWmxoc2liTjB1SEdpRUxyUXBKV2xYTDc.

@PatoPato I would be steaming in your position as well. How on earth can they select on that basis alone, given that, unless the school have asked very specific questions to be answered in their references, they will be of varying degrees of usefulness.

Bloody hell, what a shambles.

Talking of shambles, we still haven't received our SCHS creative writing assignment in the post, a full month after it was supposed to be sent.

@PatoPato
I would send across anything you have that will show the ability of your DD. A lot of children have worked so hard in lockdown and their Y5 report would not reflect this.

@ PatoPato big hugs to u and I can fully empathise how distressing these changes are .

Does your school send the Year 5 GLscores along with the reference ? Those will give a reflection of the academic abilities on top of the written report

I feel like crying - FHSS have just emailed to say they have cancelled next Friday's exam and will be going on primary school reference and online interview alone.
I am so disappointed it hurts. I just wanted her to have the chance to show what she could do (and justify all the bloody hard work she's put in this year)
Also the primary school reference was written before her stellar mock results. Would you email these in or is that mad, deranged mother type stuff

@Iateallthesmarties894 3 devices? That’s bonkers! Big hug! I agree with you on the lack of empathy.. I wonder how it will impact those with multiple offers at the end... if we weren’t so local to Emanuel I think I would’ve pulled DD.. she already hates them for ‘messing up’ her Christmas!

@Stircrazyschoolmum I totally agree with you. Most kids have already sat ISEB which is pretty comprehensive as it covers all the main areas. Together with school reports this should be enough information and remote interviews can help to make decisions on the boundaries or in cases where school reports have not been sufficient. To be pressing ahead with these exams in the manner suggested by schools like SHS is show a complete lack of empathy regarding what people are having to contend with during this pandemic. They are demanding that the girls each have access to THREE devices in order to sit the exams at home - what normal family has 3 devices hanging around bearing in mind that some families will have both parents working from home and secondary school children trying to access (frankly more important) online lessons at the same time?! Then there is the problem of ensuring decent wifi bandwidth for the duration of the test and a quiet space to work. It all seems quite wrong to be honest, especially when some poor kids from deprived backgrounds can’t even get access to one device to keep up with their gcse and a level learning....I can imagine what the headlines would look like in something like the Daily Mail...

This all feels so unfair and stressful.. anyone with half a brain could have predicted a COVID surge in Jan that would put exams at risk.. Given a significant proportion have sat ISEB for one of their choices I wish the remaining outliers would use the data already available and then run a session for those that haven’t separately..

Yes, eggs all in one basket worries me, but I think there is enough background data on the children (reports, school performance etc) to process those who clearly had an off day.

Sorry.. just ranting!!

@PatoPato sending you a hug.. 4 exams next week would blow my mind given the current uncertainty..

@Trialsat11 we are doing SHS and have always been planning to do it at home as our prep can’t host due to lack of space. The only info we’ve had is a PDF explaining how to set up the computer(a) at home. Have you had that? If so you’ve had all the info they’ve sent out!
The exam is a one hour maths paper which is answered entirely online, and a one hour English paper which is answered half online and half in handwriting. You get ten mins at the end to photograph and upload the writing.
I’ll see if I can upload the PDF instructions here if you don’t have them?

@dinosaurinmybelly the exam is on 5th Jan and the office opens on 4th Jan. They just sent the change notification last night .
These last minute changes are off putting and we will b looking at sample paper for a new format instead of just doing last minute revisions !

I expect all will become clearer following today’s 6pm Covid meet held by Johnson with minsters determining if changes to Tiers and if the Teaching unions manage to push their request for school opening to be further delayed etc. Until then those schools will sit tight, such as Emanuel still planning to host their paper exams (we are due to sit on 15th Jan). They will all have a back up plan as this possibility of second wave was anticipated months ago. This is why some schools were encouraging the ISEB was sat earlier rather than leaving it later if applying for different schools...

Hello Trialsat11 - what date is he SHS exam? Have they just changed the plans today? I imagine admissions will make an exception if this is a late change and there will be someone to answer questions this week. Someone must have been there to send out the email update after all.

I agree, the uncertainty is only adding to the expected tension now that the time for written exams and second stages is here.

As far as I know, the written exams in SW London are KGS, SHS, Emmanuel, Dulwich and SPGS. Any updates from the others yet? In some ways it would be easier just to arrange industrial cleaning and bring the DC into the school, but I can see how some might be uncomfortable with that. I'm not a whizz with technology so would prefer DD not to be sitting an exam invigilated with a camera at home.

SHS has advised us to sit the exam remotely though it was supposed to be held at our prep . Does this mean that they expect the schools to b closed ?
This is becoming confusing by the day . We don’t have any idea of how their online interface works and their admission office is closed up till Monday :(

Hi All. I've been posting away on the 'will Jan exams happen' thread, repeating myself a lot as it's all I can think about right now. We've got 4 exams next week and it is SURREAL...going from this lockdown Christmas where we've really bedded down into tubs of Celebrations, tv, tech then straight into a full blown 3 paper exam on Monday next week followed by exams on Tuesday, Friday & Saturday. I do not like it at all!
I've got specific dates from all the schools we applied to for the date when they will communicate whether DD will be invited for interview. The only vague one is PHS who have said January letter for interviews on the (specified) 25th. I already can't stand the wait. I don't think I'll be able to properly relax now until this whole process is over.