The Trinity-Whitgift-Dulwich-Alleyns 10+/11+ thread 2015

[Firefox1066]

I thought I would take the plunge and start early the 2015 T/W/DC/A 10+/11+ thread that has become an annual staple MN!

This thread has been inspired by the likes of (among others) Ladymuck, Seeline, SoupDragon et al, who have been an amazing resources to people like me in previous years' threads.

Although T & W tend to dominate, I have also included DC and Alleyns as I know a lot of parents these days have DC's sitting for some/all of them.

I hope this thread will continue in the spirit of previous years' thread, with the support, hand-holding and knowledge that has been the hallmark of MN generally but this thread in particular.

Let the fun begin....

Hi all,
Have been reading your posts with interest over the last couple of weeks, but only now we know that our ds has his place at T, do I feel happy to join in - it has been such a stressful time. So pleased he has got in....it is a really great school. Only concern is that he knows no-one else going. Any boys around the Caterham/ Whyteleafe area going in at 11+?
Thanks and good luck to all your children, wherever they go. Sure there will be places on waiting lists to be had.

burntoutdad Fantastic! DS is really looking forward to the Lake Garda trip... In fact he asked about it at his interview!

We need to have some form of secret sign of recognition at the new parents meeting!!

I wonder if we were in the same room on the day of the interview? Just have a feeling from information in some of your posts!

Burnt We were in the interview room around noon

We are looking for advice from parents of kids at Dulwich College. We sat the private schools as a back up, hoping for a grammar place for our DS, which of course we don't know whether we have or not yet. Our DS was awarded major academic scholarships at all 3 of the schools he sat, and with the fee reduction DC, which we were very impressed with and which is much closer to our home than the Sutton Grammars, suddenly seems achievable. He is very academic, not at all sporty and not musical either. Any advice or thoughts? Anyone with experience of a very academic child at DC? Thanks for any help!

Aerobic my Ds knew no one either and settled into T very quickly.

10+ entry - We too did the test to see where we were and were not expecting the two offers we got. All I can say is that for my D's it was entirely the right decision accepting T. He was getting bored and disengaged at his state primary and if he had had to go through all the endless SATs prep that his poor sister is currently undergoing, as well as all the 11+ prep, I think he would have lost all interest in education, along with his chances at future success. Starting a year early reignited his interest in everything, gave him a chance to adapt to secondary school without the pressure of Y7, and get used to homework etc. The school (staff and other pupils) are fantastic in settling and looking after their JBugs and are very protective towards them. They are part of the school in every way.

Setting boys are put into sets from first year, with less able sets having fewer boys. They are frequently reassessed. There does seem to be some sort of grouping in the languages, but not sure if that is based solely on which they choose, or if three is some ability involved too.

Glad to hear people are making decisions - such a relief once decided, isn't it? Wish we could just decide and start working out practicalities etc. We will be letting W. know today as we decline their offer so hopefully someone on their waiting list will be happier a bit sooner! Our heart lies with T., another huge advantage with T. for us is close proximity. At the moment we are agonising between T., RR and possibility of Grammars, with Grammars being amongst the top 5 London schools (Wilsons & Wallington) there is no doubt they are fantastic (although, I believe, academically pressurising for children as the schools cherry pick the brightest of the brightest in core subjects and they have to keep up with each other academically) but they are fairly far for us. With lots of active school life and masses of homework thrown at them next year, we tend to think it is worth paying for closeness and accessibility (as well as everything else T. offers, of course). To simplify the dilemma for us at the moment, it is (money + close distance) vs (free + long stressful travel, constant pressure to keep up academically). olguis - we did not prepare for 10+ last year at all and we are from state school, he passed the exam, just not the interview I suppose . After that we did a lot of preparation, with a bit more relaxed (from DS side, not us!) approach until summer holidays (1 hour tutor once a month, bond books - 1-2 paper a week). During summer holidays we intensified preparation a bit, I did my fair share preparing him myself - we never gone mad in amount of preparation, he is very bright but still it felt like a lot of work for several months. I guess it paid off as i know how much progress he made in that year but it was not easy. Liquorice12 - we did not do a small tour before - just an open day, would appreciate any advice from you or others as what to ask or look for when we visit T.

Sorry to bother anyone with practicalities, can anyone from T. kindly share what the cost of everyday school lunch at T. amounts to in a year - I can not find it on T. site...

a2b3c4 DS started W at 10+ last year and they had formal afternoon in school on the last Friday of Aug, guess thats the 28th you've been given, but 90%(or more) of the new year 6 and year 7s also attended fun induction days on the Tues/Wed/Thurs of that week too.

The 3 dayer wasn't compulsory, and some boys did couple of days but good orientation and get to know you opportunities for all boys who attended and as I say over 90% of boys attended.
I had to change our flight plans too!

Lunch at T is paid for via a cash card which parents can add to via the web, or boys can add actual cash to via machines at school. Boys can purchase food/drink before school, at break (which is actually quite late at T - my DS often buys more at break than lunch), lunch and after school briefly. It is up to them/you how much they spend, and it is something my DS found quite hard to cope with to start with - I found I was constantly topping up his card.
To give some idea - sandwiches range between about £1.50 - £2.50, hot snacks (sausage rolls, cheese on toast etc) £1 - £1.50, main course about £2 or a meal deal for about £2.50. Unfortunately, there are lots of biscuits, cakes and crisps etc available which are proving too tempting. I know it is something that has been raised with the school who are looking into it.
All boys can of course take pack lunches if they prefer.

I'm also wondering about Vik's grammars-in-the-bag comment. Unless it's Tiffin where you get told the score, how can you possibly know until Offer Day? I hope you haven't told your son that he definitely has a place at Wilson's. It could be a big shock if he doesn't get in.

On another subject, my son is in Year 7 at Wilson's and I don't think it is as pushy as people on this thread have been saying (not yet anyway).

andieen we gave her the choice, I think she liked that Alleyn's is mixed, has a cooking class and a costa coffee for the sixth form!! My preference was Alleyn's over JAGS simply because I feel all girls environments can be more "dramatic" than mixed though of course there's no guarantee that peer pressures could be any different at Alleyn's. HTH.

Thanks, Seeline. So there is not a sort of set price for a daily meal & they are given a complete freedom to choose? At DSs primary for a set price we pay online he gets a healthy meal with a hot main (or baguette) and pudding. We would be keen to continue with a habit of getting a healthy hot lunch for him but from your description I worry that he will end up snacking and we will not have control of what he is choosing... All that talk of lunch is making me hungry now!

Mum3047 - yep - their decision (I've tried the healthy eating chat with DS and it doesn't seem to work with so much temptation). As I said the late break (11.30) means that they are quite hungry then so grab a quick snack, and then don't really want a proper meal at lunchtime (1.10).
Obviously you may have more success with your DS - I tried saying I've put £x on your card, it's up to you whether you have anything left for Friday, but couldn't really let him not eat for a day when it came to it

I doubt I will have more success Seeline - they are all the same at that age, don't think they should be given a choice by the school between a healthy lunch and snacks - easy to predict what will win! 1.10 is indeed really late for lunch, he is usually starving by 12!

VivienneWestwood, I have a ds at dulwich. It caters for all types, bookish, arty, musical, dramatic and sporty - there's no niche type there and all areas are encouraged equally with opportunities to grow in all areas. My ds not particularly interested in sport, but he has enjoyed taking part in team sports - their teams go from a to h so all abilities can take part,. Equally those with no interest in sport at all are not pushed into a team and become part of the devs (development) team who don't play competitively. They recently had a week devoted to art and they are very keen to encourage academic pursuits. Hope that helps.

Every parent I know with a DS at DC is extremely happy with Joe Spence. Apparently he is doing wonders for the school, which is very good to see, as Ive always really liked it as a school. Sadly, there was not a 10+ intake this year (save for the odd place) and thus it didnt come into our considerations.

Vivienne - joe spence is great and very keen to improve the academic side of DC even further. They recently had a fantastic inspection report. Not only is the academic side v strong, but the pastoral care is excellent. My DS is in Y7 and has settled very well despite not knowing many other boys. He is sporty but many of his friends are not and there is lots for them to do too.

Firefox1066 My DS will be starting W in September in 10+ cohort, didn't try any others as eldest is finishing there this Summer and have had a really good experience.

Cheshire1996 before I sign on the dotted line, anything I should know about W? What has been your experience on the pastoral side. Ive never believed the stereotype that "W are only interested in their stars" but it would be interesting to hear from someone who has been through it

Firefox, we have been really happy with all aspects. Our eldest was bright but never really shone at prep school but has gone from strength to strength at Whitgift especially in the later years, he's been in the Corps of Drums and CCF which he has particularly enjoyed. When I've had concerns I've emailed his form tutors and they have been more than happy to help. He had been down for Tonbridge but we felt his PS wasn't stretching him so we applied 4 weeks before the exam and he moved in the Summer Term of Yr7, in the process we lost the very large deposit at Tonbridge but have never looked back. W has something for everyone and equips them for the wider world, we're hoping the same will be true for our youngest and he'll make the most of all the fantastic opportunities available to him. I sent our deposit this morning! Hope this is useful.

Cheshire Thats great to hear and very reassuring..Thanks!

Does anyone have any experience of being a full boarder at W? I know its an emerging boarding school but any practical experience would help?

Good point InaSchools. Know what you mean about the lunches Mum. My DS would snack to high heaven if he could, like most of them I expect. And as you say mine is also starving at 12! Aerobicmum, I don't think my DS will know anyone either but Trinity constantly makes it clear that it is a friendly school, I felt that when looking round as no doubt others did, plus people we know whose DSs go there say it is plus of course mums on here with DSs already there.

Thanks all for the comments on DC. I agree Joe Spence and his vision for the school comes across extremely well, I was incredibly impressed with him at the interview. Many thanks - we will see what 2nd March brings...