The Trinity Whitgift Dulwich 11+/10+ thread 2014 pt2

[LadyMuck]

Anyone still out there?!

dippingbackin I wondered the same thing and asked ds if everyone knew who scholars were. Apparently sports scholars know each other due to sports mentoring programme but beyond that no one has a clue. This may well change as they get older but I really don't think it's a big thing to the kids - perhaps far more so to the parents!

Well, the teachers, some of whom are also parents, all know, and scholars and bursary holders are now all tracked to ensure that awards are being given to best effect. So yes, it leaks, and obviously the co curricular awards usually result in additional opportunities. Some schools do in fact publish their scholars in The Times registry or equivalent, thought not the Whitgift Foundation schools. I suspect that the parents may be faster in picking up the info than the boys are to be honest, but that is more to do with the nature of 11 year old boys I think. Certainly ds is aware of who the scholars are in his cohort. I suspect as ever W are a bit more opaque than T.

Hello LadyMuck, thank you for your ever interesting comments.

Perhaps this had already been discussed in Part 1 of the thread, I cannot remember: is there a chance for a scholarship or award later after 10+ or 11+? In other words, if a pupil shows excellence or talent that had not been spotted at admission, do T and W recognise this and offer him a scholarship / award?

It is true that they have the inside leg measurement of our DSs by now ...

Other current parents may have different experiences, but I believe that there is some scope on the co curricular side, especially to get free music lessons etc. But usually the awards would be at key transfer points (with 16+ becoming increasingly generous). I've heard that it is pretty impossible to get an internal academic award except at a transfer point when you might well get one elsewhere.

Struggling and dreading Friday. DS keeps saying he doesn't feel well, and it's looking like a very long week.
Since we have a somewhat capricious postal service here, it would be in line with experience for letters not to arrive on Friday - anything from one to all four that we're expecting. Given that Friday is the last day before half term, is it in order to telephone schools on Friday afternoon if we don't get anything in the post?

Hi all - hang in there. This last week is the worst!! Two years ago, due to an early Easter, Feb half term was a week earlier so my DS was actually at home on results day which was a nightmare!
Dipping - my DS (T) seemed to find out very quickly who were music/sports scholars - I think the boys were happy to tell! I'm not so sure about the academic awards - he's never mentioned any, and certainly never referred to a bursary.

No! Can you send him home with a mate from school so he doesn't go home?

And thanks for answering my question. I knew you'd have a sane answer.

Don't worry, I'll make sure that I'm here or at least have examined the envelopes. Seeline thanks for the best wishes - is it definitely thick envelope good, thin bad?!

I guess that I haven't overly focussed on Friday as there is still some time to wait for the 3rd March results, then waiting list movements etc.

Ooh, I remember this from last year and was waiting for the envelope question to come up.

I think the consensus is thick is never bad, but thin could go either way.

We were waiting for two, got a place and a waitlist and both were thin.

"thin could go either way"

Sigh.

Oh well, he can only go to one school at a time....

Oh God - the envelopes!!
From memory, I think we had two A4 envelopes (T & W). Both were offers, neither were particularly thick. Both had forms to accept the place (W rather arrogantly didn't have an option to turn down the place ). I think both contained separate envelopes addressed to DS, congratulating him on his success which I thought was a nice touch. I don't think there was really much other info at that stage. We weren't involved in scholarships/bursaries so that might bulk things up a bit

OK, quite glad I read this exchange as I think I'll put no faith in the format of the envelope. I have plans to set up the deckchair in the hall with my duvet and a book and just stare at the letterbox. Somehow I think that'll be less stressful than sitting in the kitchen, with no radio lest I miss the click of the letterbox.

I do wish St Benedict's were sending out their offers on the same day as everyone else. If we get four nos on Friday, it's a week to wait to see if he gets a place at St B's, and the tension's going to be far worse.

Love this thread. It's my guilty pleasure - I know I should stop reading it and get on with some work but I can't keep away knowing that we're all in the same boat and going through the same angst.

We're all sensible, intelligent and thoughtful women who have become ever so slightly obsessed!

Can tell you haven't done this before MrsSteptoe. No point in staring at the letterbox from inside the house, you have instead got to be stalking your postman and tracking where he has got to (a bit like the NORAD Santa tracking website). I think one of the mums was looking at those storage boxes on the side of postboxes, (where the postie stores his sacks which delivering a road at a time) to see whether she could break in, but I suspect that that may be a criminal offence - if you get caught.....

My usual postman was on holiday last week. I'm waiting to see who I've got this week. I'm sure that I haven't really scared him off already...

Oh this thread makes me laugh , I love the deckchair in the hallway idea!!

I plan to take all the envelopes (hopefully 4) and lay them out and photograph them for future 11+ threads .

We probably need photographs of all possible combination though - a yes, a no and a waitlist...

Am I the only person who has checked Friday's weather forecast to see how damp one will get tracking the postman?

No, I haven't checked the weather forecast yet!

I was thinking about asking DS' friend over for a play after school on Friday (forgetting what DAY it was) but realised I probably shouldn't as DS has already mentioned how excited he is about Friday. Probably best to keep ourselves to ourselves!

There has been a note sent out at our school to ask all Y6 parents to share school entry info with their children AFTER they have left the school on Friday....rather than in the playground...

That sounds very sensible ladydepp, though I suspect that some parents will end up cracking... Ds is in odd position where all the girls are already holding at least one offer, and most of the other boys are really waiting for the grammar results on 3rd March, so whilst lots of the girls have applied to the main local co-ed and will get a letter on Friday, it is only the main offers day for him and one other lad. In some respects I'm grateful we just head straight into half-term.

ladydepp good luck with the playground thing. I remember last year someone who had barely spoken to me before breaking the 100m sprint record across the playground to tell me how well her ds had done.
ipreferletters ladymuck pretty much spot on with scholarship advise but w will possibly review sports scholarship after 2 years if not awarded initially depending on how ds develops.

Good luck to everyone waiting - 4 sleeps to go. Fingers crossed you all get the offers you are hoping for.

Actually offer day isn't the worst I think, it is the endless round of "weighing up our offers" discussions that continue until the 5th which means that I will be trying to avoid the playground at all costs...

I have taken afternoon off work to reach envelope before my DS plus I can't bear not knowing all day! Looks like his father may gets his mits on it before me as home on Friday- not happy about that! Grrr!

The schools must have made their decisions internally by now....

Oh, the decisions were made by some schools eg Dulwich weeks ago. But there is an agreement across a number of the competing schools as to when offers get released and acceptances are due to avoid parents being forced to pay deposits before other schools give out offers. I would imagine the letters have been printed, signed and are sitting in envelopes already.