ALL NEW; WHITGIFT/TRINITY/DULWICH/ALLEYNS 10+/11+ 2016

[MrsPatmore]

Thought I'd go ahead and start. Found the old threads really interesting and would welcome ongoing input from those who've been through the whole process.
Ds in Year 5 and we are looking at a mixture of grammar schools and indies for 11+ Whitgift recommended this year - we've been told there is a drive to raise academic standards. We're going to the Open afternoon on 10th Nov.

Homegirl1, yes, I did notice that clause was not in an offer letter this year, but if on Monday it looks like there may be a chance of a place at T, I would ask them, just in case, what would happen if you accepted W and then a T place came up....

Interesting that T has a higher than expected acceptance rate this year - is it the excitement over the new Head or people not getting grammar offers they were hoping for?

Anyone else heard from T re waiting list?

For 10+ I was in correspondence with Trinity on Friday. They said it was looking unlikely that they would be going to the reserve list this year, however that was based on several assumptions which may or may not prove to be valid over the weekend. They said they would make a final decision on Monday after the post had arrived.

We had been told that DS was in 1st position on that list. However at the last minute we have now firmly decided to take up a Whitgift place so won't be chasing a Trinity place any more on Monday.

Yes that's basically what they said to me re 11+. I think I'd better call W tomorrow to check if there is a deadline on when the letter has to be in. I was told Emanuel state an 11am deadline! Althought the W letter does not state a time.

jgjgjgjgjg will you be handing in your W letter by hand?

Homegirl, yes we've notified Whitgift by email that we will be taking up the place and I will be hand delivering the hard copy and the cheque on my way to work tomorrow morning. We literally live a few streets away from Whitgift so it's not a problem.

Any news on the Wait Lists?

I am getting slightly panicky that my recorded delivery acceptance letter and cheque for T 11+ won't get there in time today. It's guaranteed before 1pm. they won't start releasing and WL places before then will they?!

foragogo, I'm sure it will be fine. But you could always maybe phone them to check/verbally accept, just to put your mind at ease? I think that's what I would do not a paranoid worrier at all, no, not me

I verbally and email accepted last week - and yet still I worry! This process has turned me into a basket case :)

Good luck to everyone still waiting for news - fingers crossed for you.

foragogo I think our DS survived the whole process better than we did!

No places available on T waiting list..hubby has hurried to W with cheque and letter. If a place does come up now we would loose our £800 and first terms fees!

homegirl - you'd only lose the first term's fees if you changed your mind after the start of the Easter term surely? If it's before then, you'd be giving a term's notice.....

sorry to hear that homegirl though I'm sure your ds will have a greet time at Whitgift. 4 of my son's friends are going there for 11+ and are good kids.

I'm not surprised T didnt go to WL as they had 10 less spaces than normal I think? What about W - are they more flexible with numbers?

fleurdelacourt - the W T&Cs are clear - if they don't start the school in Sept you still owe them a term's fees. Doesn't matter how much notice you give.

Thanks for your insights about Wilson's @Supermummy1674 and @SelfRaisingFlour! Very useful.

Since we only finally decided on Whitgift for 10+ over the weekend, we don't yet have any joining information. Does anyone who made their decision a bit earlier have any more information?

For example, the dates of the Lake Garda trip?

And I gather we have to book an appointment with the uniform shop before end of April?

jgjgjgjgjg, we accepted our 11+ place about 2 weeks ago and the confirmation letter we received states that more details will be sent over the next few months. Parents' Information Evening will be in June, pupil induction course 30-31 August and boys will meet their tutors on 1 September. Lake Garda trip is usually early September. I'm a bit surprised about the uniform thing in April - ours is at the end of May...

jgjgjgjgjg

For W new 10+ boys, there will be 4 induction days the week before school starts. The first three days are optional but the 4th day is compulsory if my memory serves me right. The Lake Garda trip is one week after the school has started.

anyone know and Trinity induction info?

SJ69 - is the 10+ induction course longer than 11+? It used to be 3 optional days for 11+ but they have now shortened it to 2. I don't know whether the new shorter version applies to 10+ as well.

jgjgjgjggj, things may have changed, but DS1 had mainly sports activities (inc. swimming), plus library and music induction during his optional induction days. Boys wear their own clothes. The course being optional means there is a cost involved, but I don't remember how much it was.

As SJ69 pointed out, the last induction day is compulsory. It is just an afternoon of academic induction, with boys attending in school uniform, meeting their form tutors and being allocated lockers in their classrooms. Parents were invited to join and meet staff members towards the end of the afternoon - I hope it will be the case this year, too. It was nice to meet all other parents and useful to find out who lived nearby.

Your DS must be getting really excited now.

foragogo T usually just have the afternoon before term starts for induction for J, 1, 2 and 3 years. They seem to start back on a Monday this year though, so not entirely sure when the induction afternoon would be.

We paid deposit and sent our form to Whitgift. I was worry if we have done it in the right way and wrote him the letter. Likely W was very kind to answer me and give a confirmation of receiving our letter and deposit.

Berora and jgjgjgjgjg

It was back to 2014 so I have no idea if the new shorter version applies to 10+ as well.
They did sport, music , science etc. for the optional days. The 4th day, beside what Berora mentioned, I remember in the morning, they did something called orientation that help them learn how to find where the classroom is.

foragogo - I forgot. There is a parents and new boys morning, usually at the end of June, when the boys meet their form tutors and the rest of the new forms, parents get talks from some of the staff (head of year etc), and then also meet the form tutor.

Thank you, BJ69. Yes, learning how to find their classroom will be very useful; I wonder how long it will take before the teachers stop accepting 'sorry I'm late, I got a bit lost' as an excuse