13+ boarding SOS

[firstboard]

Dear moms,
My DS will got to Year 6 in Sept . My husband is being transferred to Switzerland and we may be moving countries frequently. We have decided to take DS to Swiss for 2 years and then send him to UK boarding schools from 13+ age.
I live in Manchester, so we don't have local boarding options. I have been franatically searching internet and have managed to register DS for Winchester, Westminster, Eton, Kings, Tonbridge, Harrow and Whitgrift ( Yes, I am paranoid !!) .
DS is very bright, managed to get through Manchester Grammar for Boys here. His maths is good and English is also above average.
I have received test dates of Eton and Tonbridge. Where should we begin preparation.
Getting registered and getting a test date all happend in span of 15 days and I am now wondering if I should prepare DS or leave everything to his potential because there is not much time left to shift gears.
We will be doing 11+ English, VR, NVR and maths - GL assessments . What else should I do?
Thanks for your replies .

[leftandaright]

Great thread! Felt like a little novel to while away a morning at work ;-)
So glad you have found a school for your DS.

[firstboard]

Hello everyone,
Hope you remember me. I just wanted to update you all helpful people about my final destination of Boarding School. We settled for Dulwich College London.
Winchester Reserve list wasn't moving at all and with our online tutions, it was clear that DS won't perform well in History and Geography. Only Science and Maths were looking good, English and French were also going to be average affair.
When we had a firm offer from Dulwich, we had to pay one full term Tution fee in advance ( being international ). I had a chat with DS's online tutors and also WinColl Registrar.
Looking at the situation of Reserve List, we took decision to withdraw from Wincoll and go ahead with Dulwich.

To all parents who want to prepare at home for Win Coll entrance exam, my advice is to do online tutions for ALL subjects for 2 years. I left History , Geography and French for last 6 months and that affected our chances to perform well in exam.

Thank you everyone who suggested me names of Schools and gave practical tips on everything.

[happygardening]

wang firstboard's DS would be going into yr 9.

[wangxiaosara]

I know Lancaster Royal Grammar do admit boys for boarding from year 7. It is a state school, the GCSE results are good.

[happygardening]

How frustrating for you.
As you probably know the Win Coll entrance exam is in May if your DS passes (which I was told everyone bar 1-2 max do) your have to pay the deposit securing the place before CE results are out, least you did when my DS sat. I would also have thought that a reputable prep school would strongly discourage a boy from holding onto three places and don't you have to say which school you definitely want about now if you sitting sitting CE in June.
Maybe boys will have a place a Win Coll but will get a scholarship at a less academic school and give up the place. I know of one that did that the year DS went.

[firstboard]

Happy - I have contacted Admissions, their standard reply is that they have no answers as in this year there is no movement in the list and they won't be able to tell us anything !! We have to be patient.
There is a General List before Waiting List, so I presume we will have to wait till June end.
I presume there would be some people who would be keep their Eton and Harrow applications parallel to Win Coll.

[happygardeing]

Election is at the beginning of May, Win Coll entrance exam for commoners is about 2nd week of May CE is in June. Thinking about it they might contact you at the beginning of the summer term as they know 14 boys will give up their places in houses but might not offer you a house till after Election has been sat.
firstboard contact the admission dept they were always very helpful whenever I called.

[Michaelahpurple]

But how does places coming up after election work for waitlist as don't the CE-equivalent boys take their exams around the same time i.e. Late April?

[happygardening]

I think there's most movement after Elections been sat at the beginning of May as most if not all successful scholars will already have a place in one of the commoners boarding houses.

[firstboard]

Hello everyone, I still have no news from Win Coll. Does anyone know when do they get in touch with Reserve list candidates?
The school tells me that there is no movement on the list yet.
Thanks

[EleanorRigby123]

I hope you get your place at Winchester - though I imagine there are not many who do not take up their offers.
Just a bit surprised that your back up is Whitgift. As a parent of overseas boarders I think you really need a full boarding school, particularly at 13. Otherwise your DS will find himself one of a very small group in the boarding house at the weekend and that can be a really miserable experience.
Did you look at King's Canterbury, St Edward's Oxford, Oundle or Uppingham?

[firstboard]

Hi all,
Hope you remember me.
I am still sitting on Reserve list of Winchester. There is no moviement on this list!! Being not in a feeder school and being outside England doesn't help much :(
Got a firm place in Whitgift , this is our backup plan.
Hope someone sees this post . Has anyone done a mock test in November for Winchester. Any clue what it is and is it good idea to take it.
Thanks

[firstboard]

Thanks HG. I have ordered CEM history and geography books. Still waiting for Registrar call. I guess he has to speak to this year's pupils first, so we are not a priority.
Had some good news from DS's Ch school. They have sent pupils in past to UK boarding schools and will find out if they have sent to Winchester. So we won't be the first experimental ones.
My next stop is admissions department !!
Ta

[happygardening]

The history is very general e.g. Great men don't always make great leaders discuss with examples from history, the geography is international for those outside of the UK.
The admission dept will happily send you past papers.

[happygardening]

I think they do English Science math geography history French including an oral and Latin/Ancient Greek is optional. There is no pass mark the papers are graded A -D most get a mixture of B's C's and D's with the odd A.

[firstboard]

What subjects do Overseas candidates do in Winchester exam? I presume Maths, English, Science, French, German will be there. Latin can be swapped with German. What about History and Geography?

[ZeroFunDame]

That must be the serial IndridCold referred to upthread. I'll get round to it eventually.

[pusspusslet]

Zero - did u see that brilliant BBC adaptation back in the (I think) early 80s? That's where I first encountered it. Couldn't believe it when I then found it in the school library! Have spent the rest of my life hoping the BBC might repeat it, but I think they must have deleted it :( Will soon be time to re-read the book, I think.

[ZeroFunDame]

pusspuss That makes four of us on this thread!

I wonder if there's another living person on Earth who has read and loved it.

[summerends]

firstboard I don't know very much about the entrance syllabus and how it changes for non CE schools nor anything about tutors. As you say the school will inform you for what he is expected to have covered for sciences and humanities etc.
However as general advice over the next year - ensure that his maths progresses at the level he is capable of, make sure that his French / MFLs are sound grammatically (not just learnt parrot fashion) and finally decide how much extra effort to put into Latin depending on if it is a subject he is likely to enjoy at senior school. The publishers that every one mentions for CE type material is Galore Park.

[firstboard]

HG and Summer -From your posts, it looks like there will not be much movement in the list till year 8.

I had a chat with DS and he is keen on preparing for exam, irrespective of outcome. Where should we begin? I will ask school about syllabus and past papers for overseas candidates. Do CEM books help? I would buy them here rather than paying for extortionist delivery charges in Ch.

Are there any tutors who will take lessons on Skype? Please PM me if anyone has used Skype tutors.

[pusspusslet]

Just had to post to say EustaceandHilda my favourite book of all time! Have never met anyone who's even heard of it before!

[firstboard]

Thanks everyone. We are very keen on Win coll, so its a relief that there is still some hope. It could have been worse.

HG- I will get in touch with admissions tomorrow to understand our chances realistically.

Peteneras - I knew the process, it could have been worse. DS is keen on Winchester.

Zero - You're right about confirmation part. If we drew a blank here, I would have gone in introspection mode . He is enjoying MGS and still sulking about having to leave . We have a moving date, in fact in 19 days, we'll be packing.

Thanks Leeds2

Summer - Have registered for Kings, but its a Co-ed, so DS is not so keen. He may change his mind after going to a co-ed school in Switzerland !!

[summerends]

firstboard I posted this on a previous thread - I heard from another mother that the previous Winchester registrar said that the boys who are on the waiting list for Winchester are "bona fida" candidates for the school and that they did n't usually get much movement until October of year 8 (assume parents at that stage are starting to fix on their CE/scholarship choice). I think perhaps deciding who is a firm candidate compared to a waiting list sometimes comes to a housemaster making a choice of a balance of boys with different talents / personalities. Somebody who has a very strong talent may be put on the general list rather than the waiting list if the housemaster already has the right balance and there is no gap in another house. However if a boy is on the waiting list, from that phrase they must think they are academically up to it and potentially good candidates.

So basically your DS has done very well. You will get more idea if your DS is really keen on Winchester and it's worth hanging on for because of that by this autumn. He may well have several choices to decide between. Did you to apply to Kings ?

[Leeds2]

Well Done to your DS, firstboard. I hope the reserve list moves quickly!