Hockerill - less chance than a willy wonka golden ticket?

[Daughteroughter]

Been to see Hockerill dd loved it but won't get in on languages or music so is it worth risking second place as h&e

Well some people get in - I suppose it depends on how many siblings there are.

My friend's DD got in but I think it was on distance - they are nearly opposite the school

I knew someone who paid for their DD to be a boarder (even though she lived in the next village and never boarded) so that they could get her in. After the first year they just dropped the boarding.

Alicia did nt know u could do that

You can't anymore. They have got wind of that ploy. Once you have a boarding place you have to stick with it. If you think about it, it wouldn't be fair on the real boarders. If lots of the boarders went home all the time, it would be miserable for the poor children left at school. They are set up to provide state boarding for people who really need it, so they are keen to wheedle out people who are trying to play the system.

If your dd wont have a chance with the aptitude tests, is it the right school for them? I have read that recent research shows that children are better off in a school where they are able to compete because it severely effects their confidence if they are bright but struggling in a very academic school (better to be a big fish in a smaller pond). I have a dd who isn't keen on languages and I am wondering if its right to send her to a school which teaches history and geography in french, when stortford has so many other really good schools.

If you put it first and don't get a place, but are eligible for h&e as your second choice you will get a place there. If Hockerill is your first choice you don't reduce your chances of a place somewhere else, you just get offered your highest choice.

I know someone who got a place when it was their second choice. They were offered an out of Stortford school they didn't want so went on waiting list for all Stortford schools. Hockerill offered a place about May I think.

You can work out which pool your dd will be in based on primary school (assuming they still do this) and then ask for distance of last allocated place in that grouping. Some pools will have smaller catchments than others (although none are big!)