Is it too early to start a 2016 girls 11+ W/SW London thread?

[orangina]

What do we think? DD is sitting 11+ for various consortium schools in January 2016 and I am slightly desperate for a thread to compare notes, pat each others shoulders etc..... I lurked on last years thread, but it didn't start until much later....

Just booking up open day places and filling in my registration forms now.....

Thanks GoddessE - that's very helpful. And thanks to everyone else who is sharing experiences from last year. It's very reassuring to hear from people who've gone through this and come out the other side - with a school place!!

Having smugly got all three of mine into secondary () with hindsight I'd say

A) don't do too many exams - you don't want your children to be under any more pressure than necessary and multiple exams/interviews are exhausting

B) don't send your child to a school which involves a long, complicated journey - just because something's technically feasible doesn't mean your child will thank you for it five years down the line when they're waiting on their own at a cold wet bus stop in the dark at 7am in February (you won't be too delighted either if you have to give up half your weekends to ferry your dc to friends who live at the opposite end of the catchment...). Imo no school, however fabulous, is worth spending hours of your life commuting.

And C) don't get hung up on the numbers sitting for each school. The schools love to be able to say that record numbers took the exam but in south London at least it's the same few hundred children doing the rounds of the schools and each child can only take one place after all

That said, I'm glad we're not going to have to do it all again

Am very grateful for all the voices of reason on this thread.... thank you! The mother who told me about FGM and abortion as interview topics totally horrified me, but I THINK it was in relation to SPGS only, as I mentioned. I will now put all of that out of my mind.

Am hoping we can restrict exams to the Consortium, which means 2 sets of english and maths papers only. Would love to avoid the VR and NVR if possible.

I am assuming that everyone will end up with a place at a school that is right for them, so that has to keep me going throughout this process.

Can 10 year old children really have been asked about FGM and abortion in a school interviews? I find that so hard to believe! There is no way I would want my DD to be thinking about these things at this age - certainly not FGM - I can only begin to imagine the impact this would have on her.

It seems barmy doesn't it? The mother in question seems very nice and had certainly sheltered her DD very effectively up to that point.... I can't believe she would have told her DD anything about those subjects if she really didn't feel it was necessary.

I will see her again next term (younger DS still at school) and check my facts!

My interview aspirations at the moment are limited to getting DD talking about something OTHER than how she likes to paint her nails at the weekend..... [hmmmm]

Our interview prep is nothing more than pleading with my DD not to say "dunno" to everything! We have tried doing a bit of work at the beginning of summer - 30 mins or so but I feel like I should be structuring it more.. also not very good at finding that balance between stressing her out completely and too early whilst getting across the point that she will have to focus and do some work if she is going to stand a chance in hell of getting in anyway! Any tips on how to motivate in a relaxed way be most welcome!

I'd love to join this group. I have a boy and girl sitting and we're doing single sex....lots of schools to keep up with aaah

I was just thinking of resurrecting this thread... Welcome pearlmummy!

We are starting the Open Day madness next week and it will be interesting to see the schools we haven't seen yet, re-see the ones we have, and have dd see them all. Am hoping it will be motivational without being stressful for dd (c/r your comments Giraffe44....). I am not finding it desperately easy to hit the right balance at the moment....

pearlmummy, what schools are your dc sitting for?

Please can I join too? Did it with my DS couple of years ago, but DD this time.

Just compiling a table of possible schools, open days and exam dates - and am scaring myself! Interested to read the don't do too many exams - how many is too many? was thinking 4/5. I remember reading somewhere in last years thread that with girls it was a numbers game, ie do loads and you'll get something!

Tried to get back into VR and NVR yesterday, ended with DD in tears and telling me she needed glasses as it was all blurry! Off to optician tomorrow.

January feels like a long run in!

bumping this up the line of threads.

Anyone have views on how many is too many 11+ exams? I realise all DDs/DSs are different, but interested to know some thoughts. thank you

I would do four maximum. One which is a stretch, two which you are happy with and which dc has a good chance of getting and a fallback option just in case. There is really no point in doing more than four, in my opinion.

Hi mummyinatizz. We are limiting our exams to the Consortium group and possibly one other. So, 2 sets of exams hopefully, maximum 3. Any more than that seems too much at that age. Haven't yet decided how many schools to apply for though.... this week is the start of the mad dash around all the open morning/evenings.

Saw FHS SW1 today and thought the headmistress was fantastic....

thanks for input orangina abetes. I had to google Consortium group - what a good idea batching up admissions/exams.

We're south of river, so thinking about PHS, WHS, JAGS, SCHS, Old Palace, Emanuel, although am visiting few others in autumn open day frenzy.

If you've not already registered for Emanuel, you may as well cross it off. The list has closed, and although there's a waiting list to register you can't count on it moving (but you don't pay the registration fee unless it does and they can take your application).

thanks anothernewt we're already registered and paid the money!

PHS is the only other school we are considering outside of the consortium, but as I haven't been around it yet, we haven't decided whether to sit for it.

Saw Queens College Harley Street this evening, and we also all liked it...

The interesting thing about PHS is that they finally have a new head.

It's an interesting school. I don't like dissing schools and totally get its horses for courses. We live extremely close, my dd did 11 + last year and it would take her literally minutes to walk there but we didn't even apply. We know a lot of people with dds there and the best I can get from parents is lukewarm. Did a lot of asking around and I just could not find anyone being positive, let alone enthusiastic. Believe me I would love to love it because it is so close. Also I'm not in the slightest bit chippy, dd was eg offered at Godolphin and others of that ilk so I'm pretty sure she would have got in.

I really hope the new head can just 'zhuzz up what is clearly a good school

Interesting RascarCapac, I don't know a lot about Putney.... the impression I get is that people seem to either love it or hate it. I am not very fond of the constant quotations from the Tatler Good School Guide on their website (), but I feel I ought to see it before I dismiss it.

Where did your dd end up going to then?

we are applying from abroad and am already having nothing short of a nervous breakdown about this...and my DD is Jan 2017...somebody rescue me from myself!

mummyinatizz we're bang in the middle of south of the river and did did the 11+ a couple of years ago

The standard 'hierarchy' for the pupils at dd 's school was Alleyn's, JAGS, Emanuel, SCHS and the vast majority ended up going to one of those. A few also sat WHS, PHS, Harrodian, Ibstock Place or tried for boarding schools but generally because transport was easier from where they lived or they already had a sibling there

Her school strongly advised taking no more than four, preferably three though there were some parents who ignored that - one child was exhausted with seven and there was a child at another local school doing ten

There's no point making them sit exams and paying large registration fees if there's no way they'd end up going to a particular school if offered a place

I just popped in to say good luck to everyone for this year. We did it 2 years ago with DD and as I commented last year pretty much everyone received at least 2 offers, post waiting lists etc. Last year people were dubious about this but if you read the whole thread by the time the waiting lists had moved it was pretty much the case then as well.

Regardless of how many schools you sit it will be fine provided you have a "safe" back up. But please note Emmanuel is NOT a safe back up because of the very low numbers they admit, sibling policy etc.

The only bad experiences I have seen over the last few years have been people needing bursaries and applying from overseas. S999, you should be in plenty of time to prepare but ignore any school admissions officer who tells you they welcome overseas applicants and implies they make allowances for them, they do not. - read last years and previous years thread. If you can wait another year, all these schools have places for the start of Y8 and you can pick and choose.

Good Luck everyone, it is a very stressful time.

If you can wait another year, all these schools have places for the start of Y8 and you can pick and choose.

I am really not sure this is good advice to rely on from abroad.

Based on my limited knowledge, including desperate friends overseas just now in that situation, I would suggest applying:

• for the large, main intake to year 7 when your DD is at the right age
• utilise one or both of the London consortium groups to apply for several schools in one "go", and travel to London for multi-school tests on 1 or 2 Friday(s) in mid January
• then when you have received some offers (and learned more about and hopefully visited the schools) in the early spring, ask for deferred entry and explain that you are not quite ready to move yet
• if you get deferred entry agreed you are all set, but even if the school does not agree this, I think you would be in a very good position when a vacancy appears: Your DD will be a "proven", low risk, low hassle candidate assessed on the same basis as everybody else.

Yes there can be some turnover in London, but very risky to be a "one-of-a-kind", hard to test, outside the normal cycle applicant from abroad. Better to be known, top of the waiting list.

Another point is that your DD should choose to sit the consortium test at a school you (think you) really like and have a fair chance at. This is because the school will have the full test papers and not just a score, which might help them have a "richer", more solid view of your DD

NWgirls I do take your point about the main entry points and I would agree if I hadn't seen what parents have gone through in the last couple of years. My point really was for overseas parents not to be fooled by stories of how accommodating schools are to returning families, that may have been the case years ago but it isn't now as a read through previous years threads will tell you. 11+ is 100% competitive entry, whereas there may be some wriggle room if they have a space in another year group and they need to fill it.

There is always some movement, one of the largest girls school has lost so many pupils in the last 12 months that they are advertising for Y8 and Y9 entry.

Cake, we have both given S999 some inputs to mitigate desperation.

If you you are happy to name schools - e.g. by PM - I would be interested in where such spaces are appearing/being advertised.

I suspect registrars at different schools do things in different ways wrt occasional vacancies. It is dangerous to fall in love with one particular school, as luck would have to play a big part - and perhaps you are right, but I am not sure occasional places at popular schools always (or normally) will be less competitive than 11+ places - which should at least be more predictable.