The Trinity-Whitgift thread of 2013

[hardboiled]

I thought I would start this tradition once again while we all wait? DS only sat Trinity...

Hi farmerbarleymow. I remember you from last year. So glad your ds is getting on so well

wjchoihk - I know what you mean totally, I have heard of a very positive interview where the parents have come away with a feeling that DS has gained a place only not to be offered at all. Im not sure that this over positivity is a good thing or the best way to be with parents unless there is a dead cert a place will be offered. We felt very positive today and had great positive feedback which fell short of an actual indication of an offer. at first we were swept away but as day wore on are realising that we may not be any closer as it was not a definite given!
When you say verbally given a place do you actually mean they told you would receive an offer for a place in the interview?

I believe yes. I can't misunderstand this even english isnt my language. Were asked to choose if we want DS join last year or this year (with more english pick up at current prep school) on the spot. Its the black and white that matter after all.

Sorry to barge in on this thread! Being slightly foreign myself, the entire secondary school process has certainly been bewildering. However, I do have to defend the schools to some extent. As much as we would like each and every one of our children to gain a place, that is simply not possible - hence the selective process. After dying at least six million deaths (and that is no exaggeration) we had our W interviews last week. We thought it was very positive and certainly came away thinking DS had a place - but, having said that, there was no direct offer. Bottomline is he came out of the interview on top of the world and his confidence got a massive boost. If he's not offered a place, I will be devastated - but I will still think it was worth it as his levels (state school) have improved drastically in the little prep he did. Most parents just want what is best for their children, whether it's independent schools or not - and I think it is a positive process even if they may fall at one of the hurdles. They are, after all, only ten or eleven!

I wonder how many come away not being given positive vibes about a place offer? Surely they cant tell everyone they are strong candidates - would that not be moraly wrong??

We also got positive vibes !!! Mmmm

Nothing is done until you get that piece of paper. All other parents were smiling leaving the interview yesterday. Keeping boys sky rocketing mood in check (just in case) is also important with W.

From W, I think with DS1 I got the basic positive spiel. It's difficult to remember now as it was 3 years ago but It was the "done very well... no obvious weaknesses... would do well here..." kind of stuff. We also got interviewed by the headmaster.

With DS2 it was "when the offers come in, and he will get offers from all the schools..." and "I don't often get let loose on the scholars". We had no headmaster interview this time.

DS1 got offered a full-fee place at W, DS2 was offered a scholarship. Whether anything can be read into this I have no idea :)

I think T is a little less forthcoming in this respect with far less feedback to you as a parent on your son's performance. I was told that DS1 had performed extremely well in the exam by the headmaster but had no feedback on DS2 until I phoned to negotiate his offer.

It was easier going through it a second time insofar as I know the routine. However, DS1 was called for interview within 48 hours after the exam so I was still worried when DS2 took a week to be invited so the stress is still the same!

nothingyummymum - I felt the same with my DS, he's gained confidence moved up two subsets in 6 months at state primary etc which could be seen as a positive. On the downside he has the impression that he has done really well and 'is in' (in his words). We want to stay positive about his achievements so far and at the same time try to ground him a bit but I fear that a rejection now would knock the stuffing out of him. Which is why I think that the feedback from the interview should be realistic.

Soup - I suspect that there are more that felt positive and gained a place than those who had positive feedback and didn't.
Although looking at it from with a positive Whitgiftian slant - the parents who post here are obviously very supportive of their DS's and want them to do well which has probably translated to their performance and they have all done brilliantly, had very positive feedback, will thrive there and will all be offered places come Feb!!!

Thinking about it (analysing again I know!), the boys who did well in exam should generally get offered places, middle of road would probably make the numbers up, and borderline may then make up some of the 'over offers' i.e. to get to the 120 or so offers for 60 places.
So maybe the first two groups get positive feedback and borderline feedback is not quite as positive.

Fatal and Suz742-the best of luck today at W!! I'm just back from night shift and thought of you both immediately.

Hope it goes really well today...why don't one of you shout "Fatal" really loudly in the hall and see if you can spot each other!!

Seriously, enjoy every minute of it....and don't forget to tell us all here exactly what happened!

the parents who post here are obviously very supportive of their DS's and want them to do well

Yes, supportive to the extent that we were planning on kidnapping peacocks for our DSs to take into T as their "thing to talk about" last year.

It's difficult for me to judge what the feedback was like if your DS didn't go onto get an offer as I was lucky enough not to be in that position. I do think that, as parents, we read far far too much into what is said though - how else are we meant to fill the time between exam and interview/offer though??

I was one not left with a positive vibe at W - previously posted. However, don't read to much into that either. The interviewer was not forthcoming on anything, really hard going.

Good luck all interviewing today. Fingers and toes crossed.

And good luck to anyone else having interviews today - at any school.

soup - saw a lone peacock looking lost wandering around the car park the other day. Could've easily slipped it into the boot (well as easy as it is to snatch a bird with a 4ft tail!) loaned it out for T interviews, and then made pie . It wasn't my DS btw but someone posting on a previous thread.
Good Luck to all today.

Been lurking and re-living the anxiety from last year... Good luck to everyone! It is agonising. We accepted a place at T for 11+ and, to echo FarmerBarley, have been really impressed. The standard of teaching is excellent pretty much across the board and the school has a solid, well-implemented ethos. It IS hard work, and those boys coming from state schools will a significant step-up in expectations, but lessons seem to be made interesting and homework is varied.

A few things to mention about the interview. Do not imagine that it suddenly becomes a level playing field at interview. They still rank according to exam results and offer from the top, unless a boy comes across as completely unsuitable for the school at interview. They use some content questions (maths and English) to reassure themselves that boys have not been over-tutored in exam technique. If the school does make you an offer, they want you to choose them (they want a healthy acceptance rate from offers, and I think it is quite competitive between W and T), so they will go out of their way to make the whole exam experience / interview as pleasant as possible -- do not read too much into the manner of staff at interview.

My son was not asked which other exams he had sat, but the head in a very roundabout way managed to elicit information from us 'Is this the last interview he has this week?' type question. I don't think they record and use this information in making offers, but they do like to know what their competition is and get an insight into what motivates parental choice. This is one of the things that makes these schools so successful -- they listen carefully to answers from parents about 'what expectations do you have of a school for your son?'.

I know it's difficult, but try and keep a sense of perspective. If your son doesn't end up getting in, consider yourself as having won £14,000 on the lottery for the next seven years! Become an active parent in whatever state secondary your child gets into. Watch the news. Realise that not getting into independent school might seem like a tragedy of epic proportions at the time, but it is a minor setback in the big scheme of things.

Morning all! Just to re-iterate what others have said, the interviwer at W last year, told us that he would be very surpirsed if we didn't receive an offer, and repeated this again later in teh interview. We did receive an offer at 10+, but no scholarship. No feedback atall after the interview at T, other than what DS reported
FarmerBarleyMow and Asterisk hello again. Didn't realise you had a JBug too Farmer
Good luck to anyone interviewing today.

Asterisk - Can't agree more with you on why schools (especially W) do give very positive vibes.

Someone raised this question (but not quite answered), but I also would like to know why W and T are SO popular at least on internet? On purly academinc standing, they are one of the very goods, but not very very top. Is it more generous scholarships and bursary schemes, making these independant schools more affordable?

I have visited many good UK inde schools around London myself for my son. And W has probably the most "diverse" looking one in my eyes (both in skin colour and in "poshness" about the boys) though.

Is it more generous scholarships and bursary schemes, making these independant schools more affordable

This. I would say this also makes both W & T more diverse than many independents which makes them more appealing.

Also I think because of their close proximity, (and to a certain extent their history as part of the Foundation), there has always been competition between them. Because of their locations many people will be considering both schools as possibilities. From our own point of view, they are just as much our local secondary schools as the states. In Croydon, the state schools are not particularly good, and the competition for places at the near-by super-selective grammars is extraordinary. For an academic child, if you are lucky enough to be able to afford it (nad yes they do offer generous burseries/scholarships), they have to form part of the options to be considered.

Yes - there are a few good secondaries in Croydon and a lot of dreadful ones. Take out the good ones that have religious entry requirements and the choice narrows further.

@Notadragon... Indeed... but 1W here. I think our sons both took in crocheted good luck charms last year, if I remember correctly. Probably what secured them the place.