RGS Guildford entrance 2013

[BleakSpouse]

Anybody know if any rejection / second interview letters have yet been received?

There will need to be a lot of work put in to prepare for it for sure, but agree not so big a deal re the fees amount, for me it was more a question out of interest, as they seem to have some sort of scholarship programme in the school ..i don't know what that entails so will have a bunch of questions when I visit

:)
I gave in and rang the school Unless u were a may be/scholarship, all the NO letters were sent and we should have definately got them before now. :)

Well done everyone...

Very very happy for you Fayerfield and everyone who's DS got in .
Have been lurking on this thread regularly and willing all the postmen to arrive empty handed each day but have been too embarassed to post until now as I would love RGS for my DS but he is still only in Yr3! Too early to say but he is bright and loves his maths and reading etc so far, so I hope it will be the right fit when the time comes and I always enjoy reading RGS threads in the meantime
Can I ask - what sort of National Curriculum level are we talking here for boys who get in? I know the test literature says level 5 but are we talking more like level 6 in most cases to actually get in due to the academic standard?

Thanks TheVipperofVipp

My son is level 6 maths and level 5a/b English depending on his mood and the content of the paper ie hates subjects like Dickens, The Hobbit, Secret garden etc.. Spelling age 16. Hope that gives you a rough idea. Also we are from a state school so no prep just GL and Bond papers which he usually refused to do! Good luck for when your time comes :)

That's really useful info on several counts - Thanks! And particular well done to your DS then if he hates Dickens and that was the test wasn't it? (If I've remembered that right). We are in same state school boat and would have to provide support ourselves too so good to know it can work. Good luck for September - hope your DS loves it .

Fayerfield I can't believe you had the wits to do that! Thank you.

Does this mean that some maybes still aren't accounted for? Or does it mean, can it mean, we're in? Can't believe it if so.

Oh my goodness. You've almost made my day. I need the letter first. But still. Wowza.

(DS state school, solid 6s. Did one practise paper a week, alternating between maths English VR and NVR for a year, so one of each per month.)

I am lurking too for same reasons .....and threads like this are useful...Dickens is difficult ...the vocab and literary techniques such as irony are advanced reading material for a 10/11 year old. My DS is a good reader but not sure he would really "get" Dickens in a comprehension exercise.

I will also rely on some DIY with DS ...and reassuring that others have got through without paid tuition...IMO, maths is easier to prepare for, its just practice and more practice but the vocab/English aspects of the 11+ is more tenuous and I find that less easy to ascertain as to what level that will be required to be in the top 100 taking the test since it's competitive and not merely pass/fail.

Racingheart don't know about anyone who was called back in....but told that if not called back, that all the NO letters would definately have been recieved by now. As not a may be, I did not ask if their results had gone out but they have more interviews I think Friday so may not have made those decisions yet but I don't know. The LOVELY Mrs Sweet is very understanding :) I just had to call. :) so happy

First time on....but have been following this thread closely. My DS1 sat the 11+ entrance exam more or less on a whim! as a last ditch attempt for us to get out of London before the secondary schooling thing takes hold. Fully fully fully expected to receive the rejection letter but not yet arrived (must be lost in the post shhurely.) So, I see you love RGS but "how much?" is my question. Would you up sticks and move for it? How about the maths/super geek question - do you think there is pressure on the boys to do "boys" subjects? Maybe this is a good thing?

My DS left 2011 but with hindsight I would have moved for it. He was very happy there and loved it, he's not sporty, more into drama etc outside school but he did really well.
He's now doing Spanish at university and it does seem that their modern languages department is very good.
He did do Maths and Physics at A level too which I was pleased about but I wouldn't call him or any of his friends super geeks. They all still meet up during holidays which I think is really good even if it is to play poker and board games.

Thank you for phoning the school Fayerfield, I was thinking of doing that too! Hurray, it looks like our boys are in!

TheVipperofVipp - great name - and Amber2, my boy is at a private school so I don't know what level he is - but I know that he is light years ahead of state school year 6 maths (and I work in Year 6 so do know this!). His weakness is his creative writing - like most boys, not much creative thought going on, apart from if it is related to Minecraft... Having said that, he said he found the writing task in the exam straightforward.
I would recommend concentrating on comprehension practices and verbal reasoning papers - both are done regularly at my boy's school but not much in the state system - and concentrate on vocabulary building - there is a useful list of words for 11+ papers we found on the 11+ website. Also get a good varied reading list together - again 11+ website gives some good lists and get your boy reading as much as you can. Having said that, mine only seems to read the Guinness Book of Records these days, despite my best efforts! so he only ever came across Dickens in these exams.

Schools seem determined to use classic texts with very old-fashioned language in these exams, so it's worth getting comprehension practice books that cover a real variety of text types (in case you can't tempt your son to read Dickens in his spare time!).

I doubt there's pressure to do 'boys' subjects but may be a tendency towards them because they are boys!
RGS English dept is very strong, so's drama, music and art.
Lifeisontheup - what was the sport like? My only misgiving is the lack of open space at the school.

So pleased for all of you and your DSs Aboleyn, racingheart and motherofallwimpykids , and thanks too for taking time to give such great info' on the levels and prep you did - will have to download this thread and save it for a couple of years! Good luck for next year too Amber2.

Lifeisontheup

I have another question for you...given a lot of the boys come in on the train and also from wider area rather than being dropped off at the gate - I am wondering how much parental involvement is there and and presumably not so easy to get together or do you make a special effort to get to know each other ?

TheVipperofVipp

Tbh, RGS was not even on my radar until I realized DS only recently could go on a direct train route there and if we do decide to go day school, it was one school I would not have to move for! I am still in a quandary about day vs boarding and about entry at post 11+ or CE...ho hum..but RGS is now up there for me on the wish list of day schools. Deadlines for registration for most schools come up this year given 11+ pretests, so may still try and keep a day vs boarding option. So far not heard anyone say anything negative about RGS (a rare thing on this board) all good, apart from the lack of green space on site. DS has acres of it at current prep...but I guess that's the compromise and is far outweighed by the benefits

To be honest one of the things I thing you have to get used to at secondary school is the independence of the boys especially if you work. I work shifts and I found that I didn't really get to know many of the parents although that may be different for boys who are into sports and you meet other parents on the touchline.

I think that this is common even at schools where children don't travel as far, they make there own way to their friends houses and that is as it should be, their social lives become steadily more independent of their parents. As someone said, parenting is the one job where you're aiming for redundancy.

Your level of involvement depends very much on how much you want and on how much your son wants you to be involved, obviously that doesn't relate to parents evenings etc where your son doesn't have a choice!

There are new parents evenings and events that you can go to if you want to become more involved but it is a whole new ball game compared to prep/primary schools and can be a bit of a shock to the system. It's possibly best to play it by ear especially as your son gets older and doesn't want you muscling in on his friendships, or at least that's how my son describes it, the little darling.
I sometimes hear names come up that I've never heard of before even now he's been left over a year.

Aboleyn

Thanks for the advice...I tried reading some of Oliver Twist with my DS ...had forgotten from perspective of that age, how hard the vocab is...a lot of new words that DS did not undertsood ...had to point out how the irony works also as DS probably would have read it literally ...he is in top sets for most subjects including English at prep school but the comprehension and vocab defintely needs work,,,he reads fluently (too much of a speed reader actually) but not sure he gets everything he reads and he usually guesses at words rather than ask or look them up...so imo, it's not just reading, but vocab building, and gaining confidence to stretch own vocab by using those words in writing, understanding literary technique etc. I think appreciation of Dickens comes with maturity..

had not understood!

Lifeisontheup

One of the problems I did consider may be the (lack of) social life, we live quite some distance from Guildford, so not sure he could just pop round to friends houses or vice versa,,,it's just the fast train that takes 30 minutes or so that makes it feasible.

I imagine the boys who live locally to Guildford get together more often than ones who travel from further out.

We lived a 30 minute train ride from Guildford and because of work commitments it was difficult to drive him to friends at weekends and evenings but it was only a problem really in the first year but he still had a good circle of friends, they become amazingly resourceful about getting to places.

Once he was 13/14 then it was trains or arranging lifts or sleeping over. He seemed to manage a perfectly good social life although possibly not as much clubbing as some but that may have been his choice and the fact that he wasn't 18 until the first week at uni.

Thanks

That is reassuring ...yes the home taxi service will no doubt continue for a few years yet !

Amber2 - can I second Lifeisontheup?
My boys go on the train to school and actually prefer it to being picked up (even when they have to wait 30 mins for the next train!) At the weekends DS1 goes to Guildford to meet up with his friends who come from all over the place. I like the fact that they are quite independent by the age of 14/15 and that is the beauty of RGS being in a town rather than the 'Campus like' schools in the area. Agreed, the lack of green space, initially, is a little off-putting but visit Bradstone Brook and you have all the greenery you need! It is a fantastic facility which has a marvellous Club House to boot.
Wrt involvement of parents - it really is up to your class. I'm involved with both my classes parents. We meet up for Christmas dinners, at the Social events run by the school and some of the Mums do lunch. It is very 'Class' oriented - particularly in Year 1 & 2 as the boys do lessons only with their class group, but I've met other parents at Sports Events, but you have to want to be involved, some parents are quite happy not to be, I guess it's what you make it!
p.s. I believe all the rest of the letters go out on the 14th..

Thanks for the insight Harrison. Not seen Bradstone Brook yet.

Can I ask about rowing? Does the school do it?

Rowing - no, which I think is a shame as Guildford rowing club is just down the road! They do canoeing, and sailing....

Never too late to suggest they start rowing then. I just presumed there was nowhere nearby when I didn't see it on their details, but if there's a local club... DS would love to row.