Part 2: SW London Girl's Indies 11+ Pandemic Panic!

@Stircrazyschoolmum yes sort of caught up in the Emanuel exam fiasco although I think luckier in that DD sat on the 15th not the 9th so at least she didn’t have technical hitches during the exam, it must have been so unnerving for those kids.

@WarmAndco3y Emanuel has also postponed sports scholarship assessments for the moment.

Thank you all for the welcomes and best of luck to those with interviews coming up, and congrats to those with a few under the belt already!!

@littleblackbear I dread to think how many girls are involved!! DD is quite extrovert so I think she might enjoy it but I just hope she doesn’t get too overexcited and shouty 😂

@dazedandconfused11plus and @Stircrazyschoolmum thank you both.

@Trialsat11 well done to your dd, that’s amazing. Wishing her all the best.
For those with interviews tomorrow, all the best.
On sports scholarship assessments, it’s seems like JAGS is the only school doing the postponement to next year thing. I wonder if this will be a deciding factor swaying people to other schools. A scholarship in hand being better and all that. I know it’s not usually a substantial discount with JAGS

@Yossahughes my DD has her WHS group interview tomorrow! Trying to image what it will be like online and get nervous... Has anyone heard any more about it? Particularly thinking about how many girls might be in a group. 5 or 6 max?

@tr0ubled welcome to the group! DD is also doing a sports scholarship application for Wimbledon and had the interview this morning - seems pretty odd to be doing it as a discussion but these are odd times. The teachers that interviewed her were lovely and friendly though so it was an enjoyable experience. I doubt she will be offered the scholarship but I am hoping it might make her more memorable before she goes into the scary sounding group interiew/task! 😂😂

Thanks @stircrazyschoolmum. I had almost given up hope after the first pretest debacle but this forum was such a big support.
She has cleared all our other schools after that and I'm hoping that she manages to convert some because these interviews raise their expectations so much and this is a strange year !

@dazedandconfused11plus thanks a lot . The number of applicants this year is just adding to the anxiety of how many final offers will be made.

Im pretty sure the ISEB introduction has made people apply to multiple schools and there will be a lot of movements on the waitlists

Well done @Trialsat11 your DD is doing amazingly with interviews!

Well done @Trialsat11 Great news on the interview!

@WarmAndco3y argh!!! Why would they do that?!? Surely better to tell parents the day after posting or to flipping email the result with a note that formal postage will follow!

@stellagibbons we are in borough and wondering if the school will pass it on.. I will obviously post if I hear anything!

Welcome @Tr0ubled! Lots of crossed over in terms of schools we’ve applied to and others on this thread too so I’m sure you’ll find good support and intel here!

Amazing news @stellagibbons what a great recognition of all your DD’s hard work!

X

Just received the KGS interview . 1000 applicants this time !

Welcome @Tr0ubled - I've found that everyone has been pretty cagey about school choices in general - 11+ and state!

@Stircrazyschoolmum yes - we're waiting for WT results as well for Graveney - we're out of borough so I have no idea how they'll let us know! I get the impression from friends in Wandsworth that they couldn't get hold of the education department at all in previous lockdowns, so hopefully it'll be straightforward!

@Tr0ubled I seem to remember someone saying up the thread that not everyone had been called back by Putney for scholarship entrants (maybe it was a music scholarship application?) so I'd say that's good news if your DD was called back for the sports scholarship application.

Good luck for tomorrow on the post @WarmAndco3y Rooting for you!

Welcome to the thread @Tr0ubled, did you get caught up in the Emanuel fiasco?

@stellagibbons when you mention state options does that include Graveney? I think the Wandsworth Test results are (finally) out next week but no idea how they will be communicated.

Just received an email from one of our non-ISEB schools. They’ve sent out decision letters by post today. ( really wish they hadn’t said).
If we haven’t received it by Monday we can contact them. ( lovely!!!)
I guess it’s good they acknowledged that posts are not reliable at the moment

@Tr0ubled welcome to the thread. Well done to your DD getting this far

I think it will be mean of the schools to invite you back for scholarship assessments if you haven’t passed the initial stages, so hopefully that means she has done well enough on ISEB
I know Alleyn’s got everyone to do sports video recordings early on in the process. And yes that email made my heart skip some beats when as I saw. As did the JAGS one a couple of weeks ago. I notice the Alleyn’s email made no mention of creative writing this time around, but I’m not holding my breath as they sprang this second round on us unexpectedly!!
What are we like eh?? I’ll be glad when this is over and done with.

Should add she’s already interviewed for Putney via Zoom as part of the sports scholarship assessment on 5th Jan. They held a 15 min general interview ahead of her 10 min sports interview.
I’m not really sure if that means she did ok in her ISEB or if they were interviewing everyone who applied for music, art or sports scholarships.

She’s trying for Alleyn’s, Emanuel, Putney, Streatham & Clapham and Wimbledon.
She’s been quite stressed at times about the whole thing (as have I!). She’s also been trying for sports scholarships and that has sadly added to the stress as instead of just bouncing off to the schools for a mornings fun we’ve had to do drills on video to send in. Also drama scholarships and again her monologues had to either be captured on video or performed live via zoom.
So ironic as I only entered her for scholarships as a way of demonstrating another string to her bow at an assessment morning, and in the end that was never achieved just lots of stress!
Fingers crossed she’s nearly done though, just waiting for Friday to hear about Alleyn’s interviews. Had a holding email this afternoon which put the fear of god into me when I saw it in my inbox!!

@ Tr0ubled welcome! I’ve been surprised by how cagey people can be about the 11+ in real life. Like you I don’t know much about how it’s going for most of DD’s friends. I like that there are people here who are happy to talk openly about the whole thing!

Welcome to the thread @Tr0ubled How has your DD found it so far? Know what you mean by feeling isolating, think the lockdown makes it worse as not much else to get distracted by! What schools are you waiting on? Good luck with it all!

DD just had her FHSS interview and came out really happy. Although that might be partly because she ate a lot of the marshmallows! Still, a positive experience for her.
We have WHS on Friday, PHS and NHEHS next week and then we are DONE. Woohoo!

I’ve just come across this thread and have read all of part 1 and now up to date with part 2 as well.
Gosh it’s nice to find you all!!
I have found the last few months so isolating on this topic; quite a few in DD’s state primary trying for independent secondary but no-one’s been talking about it, I don’t even know which schools her best friends have applied to!
I look forward to joining in a bit more over the coming weeks.
Wishing you all the best.

@stellagibbons it really is nice to read it’s worked out well for your DD. Really wish her good success for the interview.
I know in the update letter from JAGS, they said they wouldn’t be holding the offer holders fun day, but perhaps nearer the time, they’ll organise a virtual one.
@Oceane11Plus well done to your DD and all the best for next week.
And all the best to everyone on here