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Original poster

ALL NEW; WHITGIFT/TRINITY/DULWICH/CATERHAM 10+/11+ 2017

748 replies

123littlepigs · 24/12/2016 01:53

Every year I have watched with interest and excitement as all of these types of threads have progressed to offers.

Finally in the same boat. The Christmas prep is wearing...And couldn't find anyone to share the experience with.... hence this attempt to start one....

Anyone else want to join? If I have missed a school... please feel free to still join in and add your school of interest.

Currently burning the night oil trying to find more comprehension material... anyone have any online suggestions?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 15/02/2017 17:31

When DS1 is on form, he costs me £30 a week in food money but he is nearly 18 (there are snacks involved at break times which I think costs more than actual lunch! I often send him in with a snack supply to reduce costs). As I said, you can avoid this by packed lunch or sending snacks.

I paid to sponsor dinners for a school child in Malawi for £12 for an entire sodding year when I realised how much he was costing me.

Jody867 · 15/02/2017 18:58

DS1 brought packed lunch until 6th form when he could.leave grounds and get some £3 lunch deal locally. Costa is on site in the 6th form centre which ended up being quite expensive. This was at W. Not much else in terms of extra costs. Big trips not compulsory - and on occasion have been cancelled due to lack of takers. Music trips and I assume sports trips are heavily subsidised so don't end up costing the earth.

Jody867 · 15/02/2017 19:00

Also W operated a pay by instalment scheme for the trip my DS went on so it was manageable.

woodlysmum · 15/02/2017 19:15

SoupDragon when you say extracurricular activities, do you mean all the clubs?!
I thought those were included? Blush If they aren't that's yet another expense on top of fees...which are already proving hard to afford :'-(

SoupDragon · 15/02/2017 19:32

There's a one off fee for CCF and I had to pay an amount for DS1's membership of the British Sub Aqua Club for scuba diving club. Once I've had to pay for a whole set of activities arranged for pre season rugby training but that was only once. There may be others that require a fee of some kind but I think most are free.

woodlysmum · 15/02/2017 20:35

thanks SoupDragon phew that's a relief! Out of interest how much is the SubAqua membership- DS is very keen!

GavelRavel · 16/02/2017 06:37

I notice a few people have asked about transport to T from the Caterham area. My ds started last September and I remember being quite anxious about this. I didn't want to pay extra fro the school bus, as I felt it was pricey on top of fees.

if just like to offer my reassurance as we've been amazed at how straightforward it is. Lots of them get the train from Caterham, whyteleafe or upper Warlingham then hop on a bus or tram. there's lots of help and the school offer a chaperoning service from CJ or EC for the first few weeks. though the boys all want to ditch it and do it themselves very quickly. you'd be amazed at how quickly they all get the hang of it. we've had no problems whatsoever, outside of the southern trains dicking around, which hopefully would be finished by the time yours start in September, and on strike days we've just driven him in which only takes me 25 mins or so, surprisingly.

we turned down a very local C place in favour of T which felt a bit mad, but we don't regret it for a minute, DS is very happy and the travel to school has been way easier than I expected.No sign of any Croydon related problems, they pass through EC in seconds and it's literally full of school kids for about 15 mins around 08.00.

we went to both the C and T offer holder mornings next week, if they're on this year, which we found very, very helpful in deciding between C and T. It was obvious as we left them which was the school for DS and us. Both schools were doing more informal showing rounds as well if people wanted a final look round before making a decision.

SoupDragon · 16/02/2017 08:08

woodlysmum the external membership fee to BSAC was £28.50 and I appear to have written a cheque for T Diving for £45. Both one-off fees (although I wonder if the BSAC membership fee was meant to be annual) I have no idea what the latter fee was actually for!

DS was in L6 and doing the qualification so it might be that lower years don't pay one or other of these.

whizzymummy · 16/02/2017 11:34

Hello everyone, I hope you're all making good progress on decisions.
We have the Whitgift vs Emanuel choice and are getting closer to deciding. Our DS is the eldest of three and we live one train stop away from Emanuel, so a max 30 min commute, vs an hour away (tube and train) from Whitgift. I think we are going to go with Emanuel being the more local school. I'm wondering if anyone else is going through this? It's so hard because I just feel like Whitgift is too far away for our DS to get the best out of it and I am worried about the impact on all of us. I want all our kids to be happy and I don't think I'd want that commute.
Is it wrong to make the decision down to such a simple factor in the end?
I really feel he will thrive wherever he goes and we definitely don't want to move house.

Ghmum06 · 16/02/2017 12:14

W mums...what time do students need to be in school. Just trying to work out commute times from Wandsworth town. Thx

AveEldon · 16/02/2017 12:31

The W bell goes at 8.25am

Ghmum06 · 16/02/2017 12:57

Thx AveEldon

Gettingthroughtheweek · 16/02/2017 13:06

Soupdragon and Seeline - many thanks for the info; that's very reassuring. Knowing my DS he would be at the upper end of eating costs, but that will be the case anywhere! We;'re going on a final tour in a week or so, and will hopefully make our mind up finally then (well, we have to have decided by then really, don't we). Decisions, decisions...

AnotherNewt · 16/02/2017 13:11

whizzymummy

Are all your DC boys? And what is W's sibling policy like? Emanuel's is the most inclusive I have ever come across. How important might it be to you to have all your DC in one school?

Jige · 16/02/2017 13:28

Whizzymummy I do really feel for you but I do think you are making the right decision. You have to think about the logistics of how your going to juggle DS1 and your other 2 children, life is challenging in itself to add further things to complicate your everyday life.

I thingk your DS could manage the commute like so many others do. However, if you've got a perfectly excellent school on your doorstep then it would be a shame not to take the offer of E. Also got to factor in all those after school activities and then later on when they do their GCSE's that's when the time element will/may have an impact. Let's face it as adults a 2hr commute on a daily basis is bad enough can you imagine a child having to do that. If you don't have a choice then that's one thing, at least you have choice to mull things over.

Also do you know any other children, or if DS's friends going to E or W? Also the benefit of being local you'd think that there would be a good chance of local kids going there, if friendship is another thing that you'd have to consider depending on his personality.

Decisions, decisions, it's not easy is it. Good luck with whatever you decide, but I do think your on the right path in getting there. 🙂

fabfortysomething · 16/02/2017 13:32

Gavel - that is very, very useful and reassuring. Thank you!

GavelRavel · 16/02/2017 20:56

fabforty glad to be reassuring about the transport. it was our biggest worry this time last year (longest week of my life!) and it actually turned out to be an absolute non-issue. Such a difference this year, we really couldn't be happier with DS decision to go to Trinity. (it was him that finally decided as we couldn't). Also, plenty of opportunity for parental involvement (TPA, form reps, termly meetings with head and head of year) all sympathetic to working parents in terms of timings. Not to put you off C, DS has friends there who are also very happy, we just liked the ethos and vibe at Trinity which, as you say, is very diverse and vibrant.

whizzymummy · 16/02/2017 23:28

Thank you for your messages.
My other two children are a DD (year 4) and DS (year 1).
Other complication is my DD has social communication issues, she's thriving and doing really well at the moment. She is having speach therapy and has had occupational therapy for other issues, but she really needs support.
As it stands we've tried not to think about whether either of them would go to the same school, but we are trying to factor in the whole family. We need to share our time out, our little one is still very young and the schools the older two go to will impact in him especially (thinking parents watching sports matches at weekends by fields rather than taking him to the playground, etc).
I've spoken to parents at both schools and there is no doubt about the fact that there are very happy kids at both. Our DS is a very happy child and makes friends very easily, so I don't really worry about that for him.

sbmum2017 · 21/02/2017 10:36

W mums - can you please let me know how much is the approx cost for the Uniform for the school including the sports clothing .. i am aware of the current fees which might change next year and the lunch fee as almost £4 as extra .. anything extra am I missing other than the school tours ? Also the lake Garda trip is always in September ?
Sorry for asking so many questions but we want to be 100% sure of all the cost at least approx and decide upon whether it's a feasible one for us or not for the coming 8 years !

SoupDragon · 21/02/2017 11:01

There's a 2016 price list for Whitgift here

AveEldon · 21/02/2017 15:18

The second hand sale is definitely worth going to if you can
I went for spares/replacements for lost items
Blazers £10, shirts £2, tie £2, PE shirt £3, PE shorts £2

mydaddy · 22/02/2017 23:55

My DS is now in senior school. Still have loads of good quality uniform/sports kit available. Drop me a line if interested.

RainbowBabyMum · 24/02/2017 23:06

Hello
I'm sorry for an unusual question. We are still hesitating in making choice between Trinity school (from 11+) and Royal Grammar Guildford (13+).
We already collected all external information about schools and now we desperately need to speak to somebody who has DS in Trinity at the moment.
I would be really grateful if anybody could be so kind and help us. If you could do it, please, drop me a private message. Thanks in advance.

AveEldon · 25/02/2017 07:56

Bumping the thread for you

sbmum2017 · 25/02/2017 09:11

Thanks everyone for your reply ..
Thanks @mydaddy .. we have decided after much of consideration not to go ahead with the offer and approach it next year with more preparation again .