SW London boys, 11+ grammars and independents

It’s 5:47 PM and we haven’t heard either from Hampton’s.

Also nothing here, but I'm not surprised. I know of a couple of other boys who are still in the running, but I don't think they'd let me know if they got an interview (and to be fair, I don't think I'd do it the other way round - it's all a bit awkward!) so that's no help either I'm afraid.

Hey ho, it's not bad news as such, just means we're waiting a bit longer...

Just checking in for Hampton pulse, appears my email has flatlined ..

Nothing from Hampton here either, I guess the wait continues until Feb 12th 😬

@EnolanotAlone look closely at the travel - esp school bus options and how late the bus home may be
Look again at the subjects offered esp languages
Will you want IB or A level for sixth form?

I have not heard of anyone getting a email for Hampton yet

All, any luck on receiving Scholarship interview invitation for Hampton ?

DS has just started the Pendragon series:

Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure through Time and Space, commonly known as Pendragon, is a series of ten young-adult science fiction and fantasy novels by American author D. J. MacHale, published from 2002 to 2009. The series chronicles the adventures of Bobby Pendragon, an American teenager who discovers that he must travel through time and space to prevent the destruction of the ten "territories": critical locations throughout the universe. The series has sold over a million copies.

He will only read for pleasure before bed, and no other time, if he can help it. Time must then accurately be recorded in his reading book and weekly totals summed up and signed for

The other series he enjoyed last year was The Saga of Darren Shan (known as Cirque Du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan in the United States) is a young adult 12-part book series written by Darren Shan about the struggle of a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires.

We used to say no to screens in morning but gave up on that to focus on trying to stop use of screens in school hours - ho hum

A couple of action adventure series my DS is enjoying curled up under a blanket (and with the bonus movie also on tv) the Maze Runner - James Dashner, Hunger Games trilogy, Alex Rider series, this leads into James Bond (Daniel Craig sanitised editions) . I would prefer classic Sherlock Holmes or Charles Dickens but with home schooling that is above my pay grade and patience..

Have a look at UKMT - Junior Maths Challenge for maths extension during lockdown. The challenge is the end of April, although you may need to ask your school to allow your child to sit. My daughter has taken the challenge since year 5 and is now in year 8. I wish all junior schools would allow children to sit in year 5, as it really helps with 11+/13+ prep. It is a challenge that needs to be practiced beforehand though. Hope that helps!

With the days grinding slowly towards offers day, can I ask parents with recent experiences for DS at W or T provide any insights or ‘things they wish they knew now, before accepting the offer” I need a reality list of pros and cons to process with DS before being swept up in emotional decisions.

@Growupsofast I’m so glad you said that about your DS’s books not necessarily being intellectually demanding! Mine is a keen reader but loves stuff like Dogman, Big Nate, Wimpy Kid etc. Definitely not classic literature

It if helps, re screen time, we’ve found what seems to be a reasonable happy medium - no screens till 12, which is when I go to work (in a school, so physically have to leave the house, and am not back till 5). Between 8-12 they get home learning done and have “reading breaks” of 15 minutes at a time between lessons.

The down side of that is that they are then pretty much glued to a screen from 12 onwards, sigh, but at least they get a screen free morning. DH (wfh) tries to block an hour out of his diary in the afternoons to play a board game with them, or take them out for a walk but quite often that doesn’t happen...

But they do seem to have accepted the morning screen ban (after initial protests!). Might be worth a try anyway.

Not saving it is easy. I often catch him, and we both work at home as well. Broadly our line is - school hours - no games or YouTube game videos - ie what would you do at school. We let him do whatever he wants while he eats lunch, before and after - within reason.

We let him choose his books, not suggesting they are intellectually demanding! I might try the educational YouTube videos suggested upchain.

Our problem is for some things he won’t engage if they are too easy - this is especially true as some of the maths is pretty straightforward. I’ve given up trying on that, not sure I have a great argument for why he should do it

Well done, better than us!

Home learning crap here, though better than it was in the first lockdown. The school is setting one lot of work for the whole ability range and not marking any of it anyway. DH is finding science and travel documentaries to watch with him, and he’s still doing some Atom stuff. But it’s not education, it’s just marking time.

We’re about to see if he’ll go for the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes adaptations, as we’ve got the whole lot on DVD. I’ve also been looking out old films to broaden his education a bit - we’ve had some success with Humphrey Bogart, particularly the African Queen.

Very much the same here on the home learning front. DS does all the work quickly and without much gusto, as doesn't see the point. Plays some Tetris and Temple Run, watches his various knowledge-focused YouTube channels and then in the evenings we compete in MathTrainer (mental maths website) and occasionally do a few challenging problems from past Olympiads (before you think we are some super clever boffins, think again, we tend to struggle,m which is more embarrassing for me! ;))

Oh, and thanks God there are many series of Dr Who, which we only started with a few months ago!

Thanks for the wise words and advice. Good luck to everyone over the next month, will be checking back to see how you all get on.

@BookShark

All true. I wonder how well distributed the ISEB results have been at the top end for them to know who to offer scholarship to.

I’m pretty sure DS would groan if I told him we had another interview . Agreed, am not too bothered apart from it offering some positive news in the waiting period.

Give us an opportunity to focus on home schooling

From the website, I think their usual process is to call you back for an additional interview. But this isn't a usual year, so who knows?! As I said earlier, while a scholarship would obviously be lovely, we don't expect one, and it wouldn't be the deciding factor in picking a school, so other than it being a positive sign, I'm not going to worry about it too much.

@BookShark I don’t know anything about Reeds and their scholarship process. Have they decided who to call back for scholarship? Maybe their criteria might be different?

The big hope for scholarship interviews in my mind is that it is definitely positive feedback during this wait period. Anything to fill the wait, but not hopeful!

At least not getting an invite isn’t bad news as such....

Good luck to the Reeds applicants btw...keeping fingers crossed for good news for you all this week.