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.....

Thin envelope.

A mum at the gates without a DC currently doing 11+ said that 11+ is the worst nightmare for us SW London mums due to our complete lack of control over the process, no transparency and tons of competition ie the perfect storm for a complete freak out

I work in one of these schools and have to say that the interview process is really to check for behavioural issues. Thereafter it is back to the entrance exam results.

Heads also try to get a feel for whether the school is top of the list or just a backup. This can be judged by quizzing the pupils about where else they are sitting. This helps in the incredibly difficult formula of how many places to offer .

That all makes sense jeane16 except my DD has not been asked by a single school where else she has applied and I never put other schools down in registration forms for exactly that reason ... I don't want other school applications to get in the way of a decision by any particular school

I thought the schools must go back to the exam results after the interviews.

I put down all the 'other' schools on dd's applications. I shouldn't have.

Mine has not been asked about other schools either. Is this because the places have already been allocated on the basis of results and we are too far down the list? There has been one particular interview for a very selective where the interviewer showed no interest whatsoever. So discouraging. We had no chance perhaps ? The whole thing is so negative and depressing. Has it always bee like this in London? Was there grammar schools once upon a time? Why has there been no new schools opening up? There is a fortune to be made surely ?

Schools, including the most selective ones, all have different types of children - imagine the chaos that would result if everyone at a school was outgoing and talkative.

In my experience, it is not a problem for a DC to be shy and quiet (and seemingly lacking in confidence) but it is important for him/her to show a keen interest in learning and a "spark".

Mine had the same experience at a very selective one where she came out feeling that whatever the interviewer has said was somehow wrong... Very discouraging. The process has been far worst than I could have imagined!

Sorry whatever she said to the interviewer!

The Emanuel list for 2017 has closed already - unless they change then they will be selecting the early birds only. Last year it closed end March, and it was June the year before.

almostdone I put all schools in the forms and DS mentioned them in interviews and was very honest about preferences. He still got several offers. There is no formula.

Almostdone2: Likewise, we put down all of the schools DD applied for (6, including a grammar school and a couple of IB options) on every application that requested it and it was not a problem in terms of getting offers.

sdavlistentomother: "There has been one particular interview for a very selective where the interviewer showed no interest whatsoever" - I think I know which school you are referring to. This was also the case when my DD interviewed there and is not indicative of how well your DD has done.

I don't mean to suggest that your DC will be discounted because you have put other schools on the list. The Head is merely trying to judge whether you are likely to take a place if offered. If your DC is high enough in their entrance exam but the Head thinks you are unlikely to take the offer, he/ she will still give an offer but will 'discount' it in their own formula for how many places to offer. All schools over offer. The very sought after schools over offer by only a few and the ones at the bottom of the popularity list over offer by a factor of 2 to 3. It is an incredibly difficult formula for the schools and they often get it wrong!

Thanks! I just never thought of not listing the schools!
When there is so little information you end up second guessing everything.

Thanks Jeanne, that's a really helpful insight into what's going on. It makes it feel far less personal to be rejected post interview to be reminded that marks still count more than anything else.

On the one hand it's less personal to be rejected on the basis of the marks but on the other hand are we there just to make up the numbers? Neither is good. Anything other than an offer causes upset all round.

my understanding of the interview process from an insider at a very selective girls school is this:
those that get above a certain mark in all papers are put in a pile to be interviewed.
those that get a high mark in one paper are interviewed with a focus on that strong subject but also an interrogation into the areas of weakness

the interviews then have a yes/no pile (the no pile is not influenced by exam grade)

then within the yes pile they are reordered by exam performance and offers made accordingly.

therefore the interview is really a tick box - the offer all depends on the exam.

they also need to know the schools applied to to know which other schools they are competing with - "their bucket" to try and avoid clashes with open days, exams but also to keep abreast of what the other schools are offering to ensure they remain competitive.

re the number of schools they need to know this to work out the average and to calculate the ratio of candidates to offers year by year.

or so it's been explained to me

TeddTess - so is it the case that a high scoring child could very well end up in the "no" pile after interview based on performance on interview alone? What factors are likely to lead to such a rejection? Behaviour? Lack of Interest? Would it be something extreme & obvious? What about a genuinely shy child with excellent behaviour who is interested but perhaps a little intimidated? Or a sparky outgoing child who gets all the academic questions wrong? What l think causes the most confusion amongst parents when they are sending them in is how to gauge the importance of the demeanour of the child (you can't give them a personality transplant) and what would they say that could led them being dropped into the "no" pile. These are 10 year old children who do not think like adults and are only just beginning to understand the world around them so can come out with some bonkers answers. Some children are excellent actors and can be coached to say all the right things. Not mine though. Sigh.

East Londoner here place marking!

Sdav, In my experience, based on boys rather than girls, the ones who don't make it through interview are either a) very reticent, not just shy, but almost mute, b) rather immature, and have the possibility of a further entrance stage ahead of them eg 13+, c) much weaker in one paper than the others.

It's a no to interview for us for Latymer. I kind of knew it was coming but still hard to see in writing. It's all the investment of effort and time and work which feels like rather a waste...

Can I just ask, does an interview for a scholarship mean the DC has passed the exam? Prob a stupid question but at this stage I feel I can't rely on assuming anything...

Sorry, should have added, '(not academic) ' scholarship...

Crazy2016 - feel for you, especially when you've been waiting all day to open the envelope. I've been there. It sounds like you've had an interview at a selective already - maybe you could focus on that? Maybe your investment will come good there? The whole thing is bonkers.

Thank you sdav - yes applied to quite a few of the consortium schools and had a number of interviews where they interview all candidates. This is the first rejection which has made me feel really really worried about the rest and the effect on my DD if it's a no everywhere... Can't bear it!