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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:
Tiffinmad · 04/04/2012 19:04

Can someone please provide me with a tutor name for tiffin girls entrance exam for September 2013 entry? I'm very very desperate! I heard of a Ms Burgess? Anyone have the details? Or anyone else with a proven track record I really really will appreciate it!

legallady · 05/04/2012 19:47

Tiffinmad,

The problem you will find is that no-one now has a proven track record for Tiffin Girls as the exam is completely different for 2013 entry. You may find someone who has a proven record for VR and NVR but even if your DD gets through the first round of the test, she will still have to sit a maths and English paper for the first time.

Is your DD strong on maths and English? Are you just looking for help with VR and NVR? The well known Tiffin tutors round these parts have just focused in the past on VR and NVR - even the Walshes have advised girls sitting for Tiffins for 2013 to get separate help for English and mathematics if they feel they need it. Hopefully someone will get back to you with a name, though most of them will have started tutoring in January for 2013 entry.

SC32 · 25/04/2012 13:23

Hello ladies,
I am new to all this. My son is in year 3 and I would like to add his name to a waiting list with someone for when he is ready to start studying. I saw an advert for 11 plus tuition, their website is www.11plustuition.co.uk/. Has anybody used them or can anyone recommend a tutor i can contact? Many thanks.

nals · 14/05/2012 20:05

Hello. Could someone help me with tutors names as well. Would much appreciate your help. I am also looking for someone who could help with the English tuition as well. Many thanks for the help
Nals

Year6 · 20/07/2012 01:23

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BeingFluffy · 20/07/2012 07:12

Reported.
What a exd. The exams are changing this year - sounds like you don't even know!

The last day for registering for the Tiffin Girls' exam is today.

BeingFluffy · 20/07/2012 07:16

iPhone

It is bollocks that anyone can pass with enough practice. You are an exploitative creep. Btw there are now 2 stages which you obviously didn't know about.

I home prepped my DD. If anyone wants good free advice head to elevenplusexams.

BeingFluffy · 20/07/2012 10:20

Sorry that my last message was rude. I recently heard of a poor little girl who had been tutored for 3 years and hadn't got in after twice a week tutoring (she was not even close).

Bearing in mind the TGS exams are changing, I would prep at home and use one of the PROVEN Tiffin tutors for the VR/NVR if you absolutely need to. The maths and English are anyones guess. There are a lot of free resources on the internet. I used the website I mentioned before for advice and my DD got in.

TheWomanOnTheBus · 23/07/2012 13:22

... I recently heard of a poor little girl who had been tutored for 3 years and hadn't got in after twice a week tutoring (she was not even close).

This is one of the reasons I've opted out of this hysteria. Its just crazy. Tutoring may (or may not!) make much of a difference, but can you imagine the disappointment on all sides if after 2, 3, or even 4 years of tutoring, there is still a failure.

The NVR/VR needed for Tiffin Boys (I know girls is different) is so educationally irrelevant except to pass the test, that there is simply no other benefit in tutoring for it. (Tutoring for English / Maths of course not so - it could produce long-term benefits and may be worth doing in its own right.)

If you look at the 11+ forum website you can go mad or get swept up in his hyseteria. For my part, I'm convinced that many of the people who post there (and some that post here) are (i) tutors; or (ii) moderators with a vested interest in selling practice papers. Of course, its all portrayed as helpful support. Hmm.

Just witness the desperate pleas on this thread for phone numbers of Mrs X, Y, or Z (not forgetting Mrs or Ms W).... Crazy - but I've already said that.

For my part, we will give it a go. We will practice a few 11+ papers nearer the time under timed conditions. If he gets in, great Smile, maybe we will take it up. If he doesn't, disappointing Sad but no so disappointing as it would have been had we made the same investment in "tutoring" that that poor little girl had.

BeingFluffy · 23/07/2012 14:26

My DD is in an upper year at Tiffin Girls', several of her contemporaries were tutored by the legendary Mrs W. Many others had some form of tutoring. DD can identify a few girls who appear to have got in because of good tutoring rather than natural ability.

DD got in by practising at home, but I did find out the necessary info from elevenplusexams. In those days to get it you needed somewhere over 85%, now I believe it is well into the 90%s. I doubt many get in nowadays without intensive preparation. Ironically I think the unintended result of elevenplusexams has been to raise the bar so high, that you have to be very able and well tutored to get in.

I think the exam changes at TGS to include maths and English may have the undesired effect of making the tutoring even more intense. I would be happy if they changed to a simple aptitude test that no one could prepare for.

perfectparent1 · 16/09/2012 17:24

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BeingFluffy · 16/09/2012 17:43

I have reported your post. There is an ads section if you want to post there but you have to pay.

What is it about bloody Tiffin that attracts charlatans trying to get the gullible to part with their money? My dd goes to Tiffin Girls and it is just a school! Not some mythical place with unicorns frolicking in rainbow meadows next to the school. Some girls like it, some hate it. It gets great results because the intake is very clever. The teaching is not different and probably worse than some schools.

The exam has changed this year at the girls school, so no one should know the best way to prepare - it is all a matter of conjecture.

breadandbutterfly · 16/09/2012 22:51

Great post,BeingFluffy.

Yellowtip · 16/09/2012 23:17

Fluffy so how have GCSE results changed over those five or so years? Do you have that info? Any change?

chickydoo · 16/09/2012 23:20

It's not that great. My Ds 2 was offered a place, we turned it down.

MrsRobertDuvallHasRosacea · 17/09/2012 10:36

Beingfluffy.....best thing I've ad on MN today.
"unicorns frolicking in rainbow meadows'

Should be adopted by the school for the website.

MrsRobertDuvallHasRosacea · 17/09/2012 10:36

Heard, not ad.

kookeethecutey · 04/01/2013 00:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Muminwestlondon · 04/01/2013 11:17

The second test is currently an unknown quantity as this was the first year it was run. I have heard that the hairdressers in Ham Parade (don't know name - I think there are two) are a good source of info about Tiffin tutors and gossip but I cannot verify it! Just an anecdote from another parent!

Strix · 14/01/2013 08:03

Can I bump this for some more recent experience with the turing and tests... especially as they have changed.

Strix · 14/01/2013 08:04

turing tutoring

Muminwestlondon · 14/01/2013 13:37

I would head over to eleven plus exams. Though I think parents agreed not to post until the last tests had been done, not sure if that is now or when the results are out.

Schmedz · 26/01/2013 21:09

Even with all the tutoring in the world, the reality is that at TGS there are well over 10 applicants for every place. This means that over 90% of applicants will be not eligible for a place.
TGS does not have a monopoly on A* grades or Oxbridge success. Many of the girls who 'fail' their entrance exams will end up doing brilliantly well at another school.
My daughter did appallingly on the VR and NVR papers for this year's TGS entrance exam and has just received two scholarship offers to fantastic Indie schools to which she applied (no tutoring...just plain hard work on her maths and English and around 10 practice papers for the VR and NVR tests)
Of course, the best advantage to TGS is that there are no compulsory school fees!
If you really feel Tiffin is the best school for your child then all the best of luck in preparing (as much as possible to prepare for their tests) but after having taught there and spoken to many girls who go there, it is not the be all and end all of schooling. SOOOOO many excellent options in this region.

londongirl5 · 24/02/2013 15:08

I just left Tiffin Girls' School and I'm so glad I did! They only girls they allow into the school are either extremely clever, or extremely hard-working (at their tutors). This means that all the girls going to the school will get good grades at GCSE and A Level naturally. Therefore, as all girls will do well anyway, the teachers don't need to bother teaching them properly. The teachers see their only job as making sure every girl gets an A* in everything which leaves no room for creativity, or even a thing called fun, which you don't seem to hear about at Tiffin. The rules are ridiculous, the workload is unbearable, their methods of dealing with bullying are non-existent. Everybody I knew at the school with me hated it and it seems like a massive taboo that the school is, in fact, awful. Now I'm at college my eyes have been opened to the REAL world and I am happier, enjoying working, and making friends with normal people. I just wish I'd never gone to Tiffin in the first place.
Message me for details.

OhDearConfused · 26/02/2013 14:07

Thank you for that view, LondonGirl, and sorry you had such a bad time of it. I have heard it said before about Tiffin Girls.

I only have DS so I do hope that Tiffin Boys is not quite as bad as that. I would be interested in your (or other's) views before we give it a go next entry point.

ODC