The Trinity-Whitgift-South London school 10+/11+ thread of 2014

[Ladymuck]

A few days early I know, but most of the entrance exams will be out of the way in a fortnight or so, and I'm sure there are a number of us who are in need of or or as we watch our (still very little) boys forget everything that they may have learned over the last couple of years. And there are many veterans of the process who will hopefully be around to reassure us that we will all come through this unscathed.

My DS has attempted all the DC practice papers and hasn't managed more than 75% of any of them in the time allowed so not overly optimistic. We have decided to not do anymore prep and go out for the day tomorrow and just have fun. It's not our first choice but Monday will be his first experience of any timed exam so should be good practice. As a matter of interest what are your boys wearing? Should I send him in school uniform?
Good luck to all your ds's attending DC on Monday.

There is school of thought that says boys work better in their school uniform as it puts them in the right frame of mind. So you will see a few boys in school uniform, but it will be a very small minority.

Ds will be in t-shirt and jogger bottoms as comfort is his priority. I wish I had thought of personalising a t shirt with all of his hard to spell words on it...

Hi Matlow, the information sheet that Sarah Betts sent says "Your son should wear what he normally wears to school ..."
It came with the letter with your boy's candidate number - did you get that?

Enjoy your day tomorrow! We're going to do just a couple of quick VR things to make sure that he can do them if he has to write out his alphabet himself (as opposed to having a printed alphabet supplied on a question paper) but otherwise we're having lunch at a tapas restaurant and will no doubt play a board game or two...

Whitgift have requested all boys were school uniform to their exam. This must be new as this wasn't the case when my eldest son sat two years ago.

Matlow, do you think boys should be reaching over 75% on papers for a pass? Good luck on Monday

Wear uniform, not were! Good job it is not me sitting exams.........

Yes, that's new since DSs sat for W. It was clear that they shouldn't (or needn't) wear uniform. Only boys from schools with a posh uniform wore it!

Yes the only boys in uniform were ones in blazers. My other son didn't pass which is why I am none the wiser on what they are looking for!

75%? Is that the Dulwich pass mark? If so, it's looking very unlikely for us... I thought the pass marks were lower, but didn't guarantee entry. For example, Emanuel quoted a 55% pass mark but said that in practice, to be considered for a place, you'd need to get something more like 75%.

Just out of interest does anyone know what pass mark is likely to be awarded an academic scholarship and whether you need to have high marks across all subjects?

As I understood it with T, the scholarships were awarded on the basis of the interview. I imagine the exam marks flagged up the potential candidates but the decision was based on how the boy performed at interview as they got a better idea as to whether they'd been heavily tutored. I also thought there were specific questions in the maths paper that would flag up a potential scholar but this may just be rumour.

I don't think there is such a thing as a fixed Dulwich pass mark. Obviously they only have so many places so they have to draw a line through the cohort of boys sitting the exam. If it is a particularly clever/well prepared group then the pass mark will be higher IYSWIM. Dr. Spence did say at the Open Morning that they are looking for the top 15% of boys academically. Our headmaster says that Dulwich and Alleyn's tend to draw quite a firm line across the list of children while Whitgift and Emanuel tend to look more at the extra curricular stuff in addition to exam marks. Not sure how true but that's what he said!

Most children from our primary will be wearing uniform to all exams/interviews. My DS will be in uniform. Saves on arguments and his uniform is very comfortable.

MrsSteptoe, I don't believe Emanuel's statement re 75% "effective" pass mark for a second. If that's what they implemented in practice, their results would be way better than they are now. I think the last couple of GCSE cohorts were already based on the current headmaster's leadership. Their papers are not super easy, they have some tricky questions - so if they have a cohort who achieved 75% across the board (i.e. 3 papers), then they are doing a really bad job with them, give the results. I don't know their offer/places ratio, so may be 75% is for the first round of offers (who with 75% are very likely to have other options and I am yet to meet someone for whom Emanuel is 1st choice), and it goes down as they move onto reserve list.

Bottom line, I don't believe that the cohort of those who accepted places achieved 75%.

irisha and ladydepp
Comforting, and also has the ring of plausibility. I suspect that Dr Spence's top 15% may have to expand slightly to the top, say, 18% by the time they've had a few knockbacks in favour of offers from City, Alleyns/Latymer (for those who want co-ed), generous bursaries from the Whitgift Foundation, getting a great state school offer for those where private's a back-up to a mediocre state offer, or any number of other reasons to prefer another school over Dulwich. If I'm right, that 20% is where DS might snick on to the waiting list if he has a good day tomorrow.
And I get the very strong impression that Emanuel are going to prioritise children with strong extra-curricular stuff going on, which I fear is where DS may lose out if his exam marks are rather run-of-the-mill. Emanuel is his third in three days, so I don't expect him to do all that well.

I did see the bumf from DC which said they should wear what they wear to school but like LadyM had thought because it wasn't strictly a school day he may be more comfortable in own clothes. Is the general consensus that they will be wearing uniform? No smart blazer for my DS, bog standard state uniform!
Also to clarify my DS only manages to complete 75% of paper so can only manage about 50-60% marks. Would be thrilled if he was getting 75% score!

Uniform for us: to prove to school that at least parents can read!

Sorry, my bad re the uniform. Have rechecked all of our paperwork and ds can be in his jogger bottoms for all 3, but we're not sitting Whitgift or Dulwich, going instead for co-eds and Trinity. The uniform thing does seem a bit divisive. It did seem a bit odd to see so many prep school (and Whitgift and Trinity) uniforms at the grammar schools. I imagine there will be a huge sea of Cumnor and Elmhurst blazers at Whitgift, and then lots and lots of odd uniforms (in every sense of the word).

I wish they could just wear their joggers with an aertex and school sweatshirt. Much more comfy. But I think it'll be wisest to conform and send him in his school trews and (fairly vile cotton-acrylic mix) jumper.

God luck to all the dc sitting exams tomorrow :)

good even ...

Hope it goes well today. Good luck!

God luck is fine BB
Thanks
DS now dropped off for his first !

Yup, DH has just got back. They arrived like drowned rats, apparently, but at least he's there.

What was the collection of uniforms like?

[Am envious of dh's being so heavily involved. I think dh knows which schools we've applied for... In fairness he will turn up for any interviews necessary, though again I don't think that any of ours officially interview the parents]

A few not in uniform (perhaps their schools don't have them), but the vast, vast majority in uniform. Prep school kids with their blazers (and prefect/monitor badges, natch) and state school kids in their sweatshirts. Perhaps 50/50 - don't know, hard to tell. One Hill House boy in his knickerbockers..... poor boy

I have seen children wearing Blue Peter badges for their interviews...