SW London Girls' Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023

They want to know how serious you are about their school. Are you using them as a "safety" or is it a genuine application? That's why they ask.

We have managed now to view all relevant schools and are making our way through applications (have submitted already some, as deadlines were quite early). First interview already next week and first exam in one month!!
I have found quite 'interesting' that some schools are asking which other schools you have applied for - which I answered on basis of best available information at the time (our list is still not fully finalised), though I am struggling to see how that is relevant.

Coming from a state school, there was quite a lot of maths in the entrance exams that my dd hadn’t been taught. So we did about a year (more if you count some of the lockdown learning that we did as extension to what school provided) of about an hour a week, with most of it just being learning the maths she hadn’t yet been taught. We also did a bit of NVR, as she’d never seen any of that.

For actual exam practice, I think summer of Y5/Y6 is fine, but it does rely on knowing the content. And it would be different if you had a child who wasn’t a big reader, as we did barely anything on VR and English, as that was all covered off by her reading - she just needed to learn how to answer comprehension questions that were significantly more complex than any she’d been asked to do at school.

Thankfully, it did work out in the end and she's very happy. Whilst I think we handled the examinations well, the school visits we messed up. I blame my DH LOL

@bjmin I think that there is an element of luck too! Hopefully it worked for you and your daughter at the end.

I have to say, I agree with your approach @QuiteAJourney. I do totally understand the dangers of them falling in love with a school and then getting rejected @bjmin but equally this is the next seven years of their life, and they need to feel invested in the process. We're only just starting to look at schools as our DD is in Year 5, but our philosophy is that rather than the 11+ being an abstract thing about exams with no tangible outcome, our DD would benefit from seeing secondary schools and really get a handle on what the 11+ is actually for! So far, it's been a good strategy, and her being enthused about the schools she's seeing is really helping - weirdly - take the pressure off because she can see for herself that there's not one "best" school (despite all the chatter in the playground about that, which is infuriating), but that there are multiple schools she'd be happy at.

I so wish we did what you did. You handled it seamlessly. We ultimately let her make her own decision, but it was not easy "steering" her and making some "suggestions" for her to consider. The school first on her list was nearly last on ours LOL

@bjmin I agree that the visits needs to be handled carefully. We made sure that ahead we pointed out that it was not about the students showing us around, the cookies (!) or the freebies (!!!). We also made sure not to make any comments to her during the visit and/or to refer to where the school sits in the rankings or supposed difficulty of entry. Interestingly, she ended up with a preference ranking very similar to ours where, luckily there is no absolute top, but more bands of preferences. And, like us, she would be happy if she gets an offer from any of them (that is our litmus test for applying).

I think those are some great ideas, especially keeping the activities going. It can really help everyone keep calm. One note I'd make is that I found that by taking our DD to the different school tours to get her input, in some ways it backfired. Let me explain. 11-year-olds are very impressionable, and so we'd go to one school and have a super chatty Year 8 show us around and my DD loved it. You go to another school and the student giving your tour is not so exciting...she didn't like the school. Yes, meeting students is important, but it's hard for an 11-year-old to remember that there might be 100 kids in a class and just because you were shown around by someone quiet or unexciting does not make the school a bad fit for you. If I could do it again, then I would only take my DD on school tours where she already had an offer from. This also prevents them from falling in love with a school, only to have the school reject them, which is not nice for such young children. Just a thought. Good luck.

@1forward2back I recognise your user name from last year's threads (I was lurking and found the information so valuable). Really glad that your daughter is happy and settled - I seem to recall that you had Sutton in your list / spoke positively of it. We have applied for it this year, so really interested in your views (including, if you chose it, what was the main driver). TIA

We went through all this last year so happy to advise :-) DD very happy and settled and I promise this time next year yours all will be too - the right school is out there for everyone.

On the preparation front, I think it all depends on the child and circumstances. We are not going down the route of mock as her prep is giving DD some practice that front and we do not want her to get too stressed and/or burn out. But I appreciate that others might be in different circumstances.
One thing that has been very important to us is to keep other activities going - it is very clear to send a message (both explicit and implicit) that the exams matter, but so do other things. And doing different things helps her (and us) relax.

We are also making very clear to DD that we really value her views on what schools she likes and that the non-academic dimension of schools is really important (some of the most academic / difficult to get in that we are considering are not our favourite and we will probably, if given an offer, not take them up). I think that helps also to take pressure off the exams (I have heard some pretty concerning comments along the lines of 'I want to get into school x rather than school y because it is higher in the ranks and more difficult to get into', which is rather concerning, especially when they come from the girls!!)

Thanks @bjmin really helpful. Think I'll stick to doing the lands and customs test for now and do some mock tests in a few weeks. Thanks so much!

@bjmin thanks so much.

I've read that state students can be behind those at prep schools so it's a balance of wanting her to do her best in entrance tests but not wanting to make her hate the school before even being offered a place!

If your DD is a strong student, then starting in the summer after year 5 is fine. I'd recommend M-F 1-hour in the morning and 1-hour in the afternoon and weekends no work. Regardless of a DC's abilities, do NOT burn them out. You know your DC best, let them guide you as to what appropriate.

Sorry to jump in on this. New to it all.

How many months of Atom work did you find was helpful? Am I unrealistic thinking that starting over summer (between y5/6) might be enough for a child who is exceeding in all subjects?

I don't want to ruin DDs childhood for the sake of entry exams.

The best way to use Atom, if you ask Atom, is to first have your DC "learn" by going thru the different lands for all the subjects. Next, if you can do some targeted custom exercises. The last thing is to do the mock tests. The question is when is your DC's 11+ test? If it's 6 weeks away, then I would start doing mocks. However, do not abandon the customs assignments. Let the diagnostics help guide you. Good luck.

I'm using atom currently and working through the different lands for maths, English, VR and NVR. We haven't done many mock tests though. Should we be doing a mock test each week? Advice gratefully received.

Definitely, Atom is the single best resource available. We used it with good results last year. Good luck.

Thanks so much for setting up this thread. How you mentally prepare DD? Do you think working on Atom would be good enough?

Been through all this twice! I have DCs at WHS and LU- happy to help with any questions etc. Good luck!

@SpringCalling Definitely her then. My daughter really enjoyed the experiment. Thanks for your kind offer - I think that after this morning, it is quite firmly in our list.

@QuiteAJourney If it was this morning you may have done! She was doing the splints with chemicals on that changed colour. If you have any questions about KGS, feel free to message me.

Just back from WHS and KGS. WHS tour was very rushed and did not give us much sense of the school. KGS has gone up our list on account of a tour that allowed us to get a sense of these school ad speak with lots of the current pupils (@SpringCalling, I think that we interacted with your daughter - there were some lovely Y7 girls doing experiments - I assume your daughter was one of them...)

Thanks so much for setting this up!

We went through this a couple of years ago with DD1 but it was all a bit different as it was lockdown so almost everything was online and nicely spread out. This feels more daunting.

Still haven't decided on our final list for applications but most likely KGS, PHS, Surbiton, Radnor (or Kneller Hall), Harrodian and a few others. Going for quite a range as DD2 is a bit hit and miss with exams. DD1 at LEH but not sure DD2 will sit that one.

DD2 has sat a mock and we might do one more next week, just so she's used to the process.

Good luck all!