I'm a weeny bit cross that there hasn't been a SW/W London Independent schools thread this yr.

[SonorousBip]

Every blinking year there is one - and I read, and nod, and note. Sometimes they go on for months and pages. But this year, when I'm actually doing it - pah, not a sausage.

If anyone wants to do a last minute SPGS/Latymer/Godolphin/ KGS/LEH/WHS/PHS thread, please do! (disclaimer - I'm not doing all of those.). But views welcome. Because I've got several days to form my final views

're numbers for KGS, my friend in the know told me about 650 but she said out of the 15-20 who were sitting at our state primary, only 2 or 3 would take the place, assuming they got their other choices. Has anyone had a call yet?

Your dd must be a VR whizz! Dd usually is but said this was more logic than the bond book VR ( which is all the VR she has done) and struggled.
No one has a call at our primary (about 20 sat) and there are a couple I would expect to be called for scholarship.

There is a rise in the numbers coming out of schools aged 11, the pupil bulge, hence the particular willingness to approve Free Schools in this area. It started last year and by 2017 there will be 17% more pupils looking for places at 11 in Richmond than there were in 2013. Similar figures in most London boroughs. Certainly in Richmond they have failed to plan for it (long saga) so the numbers not getting places in the good state schools and going private is increasing and Richmond has one of the highest proportions of pupils going private. The site for the new Free School is still up in the air so that will be getting on for the 300 or so (if it is as oversubscribed as it was last year) doing the private school exams as back up.

Having said that there were 700 doing KGS ten years ago, and as others have said there is definitely an increase in numbers of schools sat for, if not the levels of parental anxiety. The Head at LEH then said to me that the increase in numbers of very bright applicants was astonishing so it does seem to be a refrain.

I saw that article with the quote from the Head of Kensington Prep and thought it was an irresponsible bit of self promotion. Very unhelpful for the levels of anxiety amongst those with children in state schools. I'd bet she will have annoyed the Heads of the Senior Schools.

That's interesting. I remember last year KGS were a bit slow over the 11+ calls/letters and parents were getting anxious. I hope it's not the same this year: I will be a nervous wreck!

My DD is fairly good at VR. The feedback on it from KGS 10+ last year was good. Rubbish for everything else She has practiced quite a lot of logic stuff but I can't imagine she is that good. Her spelling is appalling: keeps muddling words up with French which isn't surprising I suppose.

amdai castles as I said before decent VR tests should be a surprise, one of the measures of quality is that someone cannot improve their score by practising more than around 6 papers, so that they do measure ability not preparation, it is just that the ones used by the Grammars and replicated in the Bond papers are rubbish.

My.post was replying to amidaiwish but your is very interesting too poisonwood. We definitely need a boys version of Waldegrave in Richmond. Is Turing House a new state school that is due to open once they've sorted out a site?

I lived with a bilingual housemate, some of her mix ups were hilarious, her Grandmother died of combustion apparently, and she kept referring to the immersion heater as the ignition..... I am sure they are used to it.

I hope so poisonwood!

castles yup Turing was approved as a Free School to open last year with very much the ambition to be a co ed Waldegrave. Very inspiring Head means it had 346 applications last year but it had no long term site (though a short term one that would have seen it for the first three years) so the Education Department wouldn't allow it to open. I gather some parents who couldn't afford private resorted to Home Ed. The Council are supposedly pulling the stops out but it is taking them a worryingly long time to say which long term site they are going to persue (they all have Planning issues eg Metropolitan Open Land ), and they are having to plan contingency bulge classes. All a bit of a mess..... More Waldegraves would certainly mop up quite a lot of the demand for private school places, a lot of parents go private here because they do not have a decent state option.

Thanks amidai and castles for reassuring me I'm not the only one wondering about how well (or otherwise) DD did.

WHS tomorrow and then no more (unless she miraculously gets KGS interview and then has some scholarship assessments to sit for skills-based stuff) , so hopefully she will finish the VR (or her NVR score will make up for it!)

At least it is good that there are lots of DCs sitting multiple schools so the chance of an offer at top choice schools for each family might be w little more likely. I mean, all the schools can't offer only to the same children and leave all the others out, can they??

Chillaxalready, no they don't make limited offers as they know full well how it all works. Even schools like KCS and St Paul's over-offer, though not as much as some. When DS had his interview at KGS the first question he was asked was how many other schools he had sat for and which was his first choice.

Any advice on how best to answer 'is this your first choice' if the answer is 'no'. I don't think lying is a good idea but don't want DD to scupper her chances!

Do you think they ask that directly? I can imagine a dc's first choice and their parents' first choice may not be the same!
Saying that I know one girl who said in the LEH interview that she wanted to go to Guildford High and she didn't get an LEH offer!! But did get GHS so it can't have been her academics

Just reading this and remembering that last year about 650 sat KGS. They call the girls for interview before the boys - I think we had to wait nearly 2 weeks. Then there are 2 kinds of interviews - if you are a bit "borderline" in maths or English they may probe a bit further at the interview and you are told that this will happen when they call you for interview. Otherwise, its a very straightforward chat about hobbies etc and the interview takes about 5 mins.
They do go down the waiting list quite a bit too as there are the grammars in that area and everyone is doing about 4 schools. From my sons school, everyone was eventually offered a place - and nobody finished the reasoning!

For Latymer Upper 1100 sat, but they interviewed 450 for 120 places. All the interviews are on the same day and they ask you to keep that day free in case you are called for interview and then only give a few days notice if you are (!). They put quite a lot of emphasis on the interview and it did happen in our year that 2 super bright girls (although on the "quieter" side) were not offered places. No loss for them though - one went to Godolphin and the other to LEH.

For Hampton they contact you by school and call all the boys from a particular school on the same day for interview.

Hi Amid ... yes apparently some do. It's happened to a few DC's this year at our school.

Yes minoula and then "interview" the parents at the same time!

I teach Year 6, and had 12 children sit for Latymer last year. All were interviewed.

10 got places (1 after a few weeks of nervous waiting list).

The two that didn't were the ones who I suspect would not have 'shone' at interview - not forthcoming or enthusiastic when talking about their learning.

Both got places elsewhere, though!

KGS are interviewing all on 24th Jan this year so the wait won't be too long. Only problem is this is a direct clash with the Ibstock (all day) exam day.

Fingers clashed the clash is one we have to worry about, iykwim.

castles, I remember 2 years ago when DH and I were 'interviewed' for St Pauls. We were far more nervous than DS...

The art scholarship interview/exam is 17 Jan, so presumably they won't do this for anyone who hasn't passed the academic requirements?

Seems as if a few days notice is what we should expect then...it's next Saturday!

Alleyns and Latymer seem to be schools that regularly throw up the biggest surprises. It is as if they have an idea of the type of child they think will thrive in a co-ed environment. We know several who got places at Westminster or SPGS but who were rejected by one of these. Equally some who weren't top of the form who were offered places.

Its just as well different schools are looking for different things. The hope is that the right child goes to the right school.

Needmoresleep - this was the conclusion I reached when my older boy did the 11+. At his primary it was uncanny how many got into Hampton but not Latymer and vice versa. I can only think of one boy who got both, everyone else got one or the other, and only two or three got neither.

Needmoresleep and Beingfrank. I think you're both right. When my son said at his Hampton interview that football /rugby were not his thing as he was more into drama and singing, the response was "you're quite an unusual boy, aren't you". At Latymer they would not bat an eyelid at that kind of comment. He was offered both schools, bit we knew co-ed was better for him. The chat on Monday mornings is more likely to be about pop music, video games etc than the weekend's sports results!

I think people found this quite reassuring when I posted it on another thread, for the parents of girls anyway. The destination of leavers from a non selective Prep. It does show that there are places for just about everyone between all these schools. I know that when you are applying from a state school it can be hard to gage where to target applications but there really are enough places to go round for girls, though there is less choice for boys www.oldvicarageschool.com/admissions/destination-of-leavers/

KGS-they are looking for 45 bright boys and 45 intelligent girls more or less.They already have 25 from 10+.From 650 they will find them.