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Original poster

This is the pushy parent Tiffin tutor thread.

469 replies

uwila · 22/01/2007 13:28

Okay, so wh ohas used a Tiffin tutor? Did it get your kid(s) into Tiffin? How old were they when they strted tutoring?

Okay, so my DD is only 3 1/2 but I like to plan ahead/. I've heard you can sign up for tutors that increase your chances of getting into Tiffin (boys and girls schools).

Any experience/opinions welcome.

Thanks.

OP posts:
bettys · 07/02/2007 15:49

Thanks for the link, Hallgerda. I wouldn't be half so concerned about the situation if we weren't in this part of London, but the competition for decent schools of any kind is fierce. Which grammar school is your ds at, if you don't mind me asking?

Hallgerda · 07/02/2007 16:27

One of the ones in LB Sutton - I'd rather not be too specific.

My BIL lives in your area - his son went to another of the grammar schools in LB Sutton (having failed to get into Tiffin despite tutoring).

bettys · 07/02/2007 17:06

Yes, sorry, I was just after a clue really. LB Sutton is a long way from us though.

Celia2 · 07/02/2007 19:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Hallgerda · 07/02/2007 20:44

I live in a far more laid-back area, and was quite surprised that most parents round here didn't bother with practice papers. But then the local comp had a wider "circle" for Band B than Band A, so aiming for excellence might have been counterproductive.

bettys, I wouldn't have thought tutoring was necessary to build up speed when doing practice papers - most of us have kitchen timers, after all...

singersgirl · 07/02/2007 22:48

If you want to start early yourself , you can buy Bonds assessment papers in VR and NVR from Y2 (age 6-7). These I think are similar to the ones used in 7+ prep school entrance, but there is one for ever year.

bettys · 07/02/2007 23:32

Kitchen timers, hmm that would definitely be cheaper!
Singersgirl, thanks for the info will be looking for those Bond papers, they sound like they might be the kind of thing my ds might enjoy in a weird sort of way (!).

amidaiwish · 08/02/2007 00:12

i do know girls who didn't get into Tiffin but did get part scholarships to other local independent schools (LEH).
not getting into Tiffin was believed to be down to no tuition (the unpushy parents!!)

Hallgerda · 08/02/2007 10:45

The girls who got part-scholarships to LEH and didn't get in to Tiffin could have been better at English and Maths than VR and NVR though - it might not have had anything to do with tutoring.

bettys, have you looked at your default option? Knowing my local comp was OK did take the pressure off me quite considerably. (I'd look at actual results and the school itself rather than relying on gossip).

bettys · 08/02/2007 11:11

The local school is the one that's 3rd from the bottom in the RuT league table with only 34% getting 5 passes at GCSE. I see these children every day - they're not local, they're trouble. The school was in the paper recently for truancy, drugs, assault etc.
It's not an option.
Tiffin wouldn't be my first choice, one of the nearby independents would be. Just sussing it all out.

Hallgerda · 08/02/2007 11:20

Oh dear. I can see why you wouldn't be too keen on that one. I'd take a look at any slightly less local schools that might be OK and possible to get in to - there may be some. (Your second nearest secondary school, CTCs, partially selective ones, ones that have some places for pupils with particular aptitude at art, music, languages etc - there's quite a bit of variety around)

singersgirl · 08/02/2007 12:24

The results for Christ's are also still quite bad but it's supposed to be improving rapidly as the 'new children' move in. But I know someone who pulled her kids out of Y9 and Y10 at Christ's and moved them to a local independent as she wasn't satisfied.

I hear quite positive things about ADT. Bettys, will you come and talk to my DH and explain to him about why that other school in Hertford Ave is not an option?

bettys · 08/02/2007 13:11

Ah hah - I think we know each other in RL Singersgirl!

singersgirl · 08/02/2007 14:38

You know, I thought that too!

lemonysnickett · 11/02/2007 22:21

Am looking for a tutor for tiffin can anyone recommend one? Daughter currently at a state school we are just not happy with. We are moving to richmond and for obvious reasons private out of the question. Would be grateful for any tutor contacts.
Thanks

AtheneNoctua · 26/03/2009 16:27

WEll, almost 3 years later, I thought it would be good to revive this thread. I've been through a few MN names and few matching e-mail addresses and haven't a clue where my tiffin tutor info has gone. Can anyone help me recreate it? DD is 6 now. When should I put her on a waiting list for a tutor? And how would I know at this age if she is Tiffin material? Or shoul dI know at this age?

discuss please...

ICANDOTHAT · 26/03/2009 17:01

I would say if she was Tiffin material, you'd know by now. She's be in the top group in her class and the teacher would be tewlling oyu how bright she is - my son's in yr1 and they were streamed from reception. My oldest son is in a private snr school which is fairly academic, but not Hampton or Tiffins standard. Several of the lads in his class were tutored from around yr4 for Tiffins. They assess your child to see whether they have a chance of passing prior to tutoring.

I would not let your child anywhere near a tutor until that time and if they want her now, you are being ripped off and she will be under a lot of pressure (too young!). There are several 'high flyers' in my sons yr2 class that would be likely candidates.

Lucky it's Tiffin's Girls, not Boys - in big trouble financially Had to be bailed out by Kingston LEA.

cherryblossoms · 27/03/2009 00:48

Athenenoctua - If you mean the W people, you can get hold of them if you think laterally and hunt down a copy of one of their books.

I don't have CAT so I can't do that.

They seriously do have a waiting list.

I personally have not used them for dc.

themildmanneredjanitor · 27/03/2009 00:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cherryblossoms · 27/03/2009 00:56

I feel you may be right, mmj. [wry smile - I have joined in -belatedly]

I wasn't here 3 years ago and I've very much enjoyed reading through it.

I would love it if parents would come back on and say how the dc are doing in secondary now.

NotanOtter · 27/03/2009 00:57

3 years old????

my dcs are at a school not far below the tiffin...

i decided the year before they went that this was an option

they did not have tutors

its school

its good

but really some folk need to get perspective

cherryblossoms · 27/03/2009 01:17

Notanotter - this is a resurrected thread - the child is older.

The mad thing about the whole Tiffin tutor thing is that the waiting list closes (officially, anyway,) around reception/year one.

Yes, really.

I'll never forget the day I found this out. I laughed. It seemed utterly surreal. I thought I'd wandered into a book by a male comedian about pushy parents.

The actual tutoring doesn't start until way later.

Tiffin is a weird, surreal, alternative reality. Just be glad it's not your reality.

mrsmaidamess · 27/03/2009 06:28

It's my reality!

We (grudgingly) did the tutor thing . And dd is thriving at Tiffin. It seemed the tutoring was a 'necessary evil'. It gave her practice in speed and technique, not intelligence.

But with ds, we won't bother, not because he's thick, but because the 'mystery' of the process that we didn't know about with dd has gone. So dh will get some assessment books from Smiths, if thats the line we want to take, and do it ourselves.

We live 10 walk minutes away. Unlike 90% of the out of borough girls! But thats another issue.

It was approx £24 and hour, and W assessed before taking on, to not give parents 'false hope', altho one guy insisted his boy took part.

singersgirl · 27/03/2009 11:14

DS1 didn't take the Tiffin test in the end (my choice - didn't like the vibe, didn't think DS1 would fit in very well and don't think they seem to do that good a job with the boys' results considering how difficult it is to get into) but got places at several selective private schools.

The actual tutoring is only for one year (Jan of Y5 to Jan of Y6) but the waiting lists are full much earlier. The waiting lists for the excellent tutor DS1 saw are full by the end of Y2; I'm lucky someone gave me her name when DS1 was that young. I've realised the tutoring was pretty much the only stimulating work DS1 did for the last 6 months. And all his friends, apart from one, have been tutored too. So it is the new normal in SW.

It is madness, and I have bought into it wholesale. DH just shakes his head sadly.

AtheneNoctua · 27/03/2009 12:41

cherryblossom, can you e-mail me on thenenoctua at live co uk?

Am dying to know who W is? (assume it is not George Bush)