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.....

Interestingly The Hall school, which is one of the few (only) non selective schools around in SW London, is barely over subscribed at all, indeed the head said on the open day that they barely turn anyone away. So anyone wanting a true banker - apply there!

Not surprised the Hall is undersubscribed given it's general reputation - it also only goes up til 16

I have a DC who is on the waiting list for Radnor House School in Twickenham and is exactly the kind of child who requires the smaller setting and more personalised approach that this school claims is its USP, setting it apart from the larger better-known schools in the area ( Hampton, KGS etc). I also personally know 5 DC with confirmed offers at Radnor who have no intention whatsoever of taking them up - they've all had their "general" interviews at KGS (which invariably lead to offers) and some hoping for schools like LU or LEH. They are very clear that Radnor was their fourth or fifth choice school. I suspect this kind of thing is happening across London - smaller schools that set out to fill in the gap in the market in providing places for the more academically average child end up missing out on their target market. The academically average child in South-west London seems to be increasingly being squeezed out of the private school system. Yes we may get offered a place in March when the waiting list moves, but if anything else comes up before then we will have to grab it.

Squirm: For the most popular schools I agree it is unlikely. But I don't think all schools are as popular as they seem - and many want to climb the league tables. If someone missed out on a top school (say City) by a whisker (say had 84 points vs offer cut-off of 86 - made-up numbers) and "forgot" to apply for a (real/safe) back-up, then the registrar at a less popular/academic school in the same consortium group where the offer cut-off was 64 (or 54) might just bite and see the DC as a great catch that helps up the quality of the intake. Speculation on my part, but might work once in a while - there is a lot of time between mid Feb and September for extended offers to be rejected and a spot to be freed up. If my DC had zero offers I would grasp for this straw, and hope to be added to the (top of the) waiting list.

One thing is certain: Offer cut-offs are much lower at some schools than at others. And most schools are keen to admit clever kids.

Parents who apply to one school only must be vanishingly rare. And trying to winkle places out of the system right up to the September happens anyhow.

I didn't know there were any schools in London that took late applications actually during the active part of the admissions round.

But you seem to know some that do, and also know schools which are not as over-subscribed as they seem. Presumably they could function as a banker. Too pointed perhaps to name them now, and too late for this year's round but you'll be able to do an enormous service to parents going through this for Sept 17 by pointing the in the direction of those schools. (please)

Squirm: You are being unnecessarily difficult with your "Parents who apply to one school only must be vanishingly rare." Obviously the hypothetical DC with zero offers may also have been rejected from SPGS, NLCS, LU and other non-consortium schools in this scenario - the point is that if (and yes, it is a big if!) you find a registrar willing to be flexible, then the City score might be "trusted currency" for other schools that are in the same consortium group as City.

No sane registrar will broadcast such flexibility (it would upset their waiting list!) if indeed any exists, but unlike state schools I believe they pretty much can do what they want. My guess is that the chances are higher the lower down the school is in the league tables (see Telegraph online with ca 400 independents listed) and the more they have overestimated their likely acceptance rate that particular year. At least one flexible school has been named on MN in the past but I will not repeat this name as it is a couple of years ago and therefore quite likely to be unreliable.

It would be optional to try this, and I am certainly not promising that it would work.

Sorry, when it said 'and "forgot" to apply for a (real/safe) back-up' I thought it meant 'had only applied for one school'.

And I was under the impression that heads did the horse trading with their near misses anyhow, and introducing limits (by grouping schools) would only make it harder, wouldn't it? (I was assuming that the current levels of this activity would continue, whether or not extra layers are introduced. Happy to be corrected on that too).

Is The Telegraph Guide these days better respected than it was when it didn't include schools like St Paul's, but did have Queen E in the top 20? I thought that was quite recent, but it's probably me misremembering when.

Given the increase in the number of schools applied for per DC, have schools adjusted by increasing the number of offers because their "yield" is likely to be lower than in the past?

By the way, why isn't the Common Entrance exam more popular at 11+? Such a test could help 1) reduce the number of exams a DC has to sit and 2) parents better assess their DC's prospects of being admitted to different schools.

Squirm: No problem, thanks.

Yes, I am sure some prep heads apply dark magic to boost your DC's chances on a waiting list and perhaps even mysteriously drum up back-up opportunities out of thin air for unsuccessful pupils - including by using secondary head relationships, where they have them.

This is where state primary parents like me get zero help - we have to fight our own battles without the same relationships and knowledge. And for us the registrars (rather than heads) will normally be the contact points. (BTW, I don't think some schools being in a consortium hinder people from also trying their luck with non-consortium schools, though.)

Ha, you are right about taking rankings with a pinch of salt or even a truckload of salt in the case of QE with its fancy footwork of splitting the school in two parts and also getting many of their international pupils to take exams in their mother tongues

No, I am not sure which source is best - Financial Times was great but I think they stopped it a few years ago. Yes, just add the schools you are interested in that have refused / been omitted; a quick check on their website. The point is that it is a very long list, and there can be "good fit" schools in the middle of it, especially for average ability pupils, even if a rank of one or two hundred and something might seem a bit scary. ("Top 100" lists omit most of the schools; many real back-ups may be placed 100+).

Results week for us this week - Putney High, WHS, plus Streatham & Clapham on Friday. Feeling nervous although the odds at PHS and WHS are against us, probably SCHS too!

Best of luck mummyinatizz. We're waiting for WHS and Putney this week too. The waiting is horrible!

Ho hum - not looking forward to the post tomorrow (WHS) as DD definitely has the odds stacked against her with known SEN issues but has decided that WHS is her absolute favourite ... I'm guessing it is thin standard size envelope for rejection ... and in unlikely event she got an offer we would be very worried about level of support being sufficient for her to keep up in such a school. oh well - less than a day to go!

and good luck to everyone else posting or lurking on this thread for moral support

Empress I posted up thread as someone whose DD went through LEH with SEN issues. In fact by GCSE around 10% get diagnosed with some form of SpLD at all the most selective schools including Westminster and get support. The support actually tends to be the best at the most selective schools Hampton, Latymer and Westminster have especially good departments with walk in centres etc. They are looking for the brightest to enable them to achieve their potential which they can with the right support. Some of the support can miss the mark, no denying you have to support your child and keep making sure their particular needs are met, but theses schools certainly have proactive strategies for supporting SpLDs.

Good luck all, we are also expecting a WHS envelope tomorrow. It was WHS who spotted dyslexia in a friend's daughter. She was v high achieving and it had gone unnoticed up till then. The school were very supportive and she's now at Oxford Uni

Good luck to everyone expecting results this week. We have only sat Consortium exams, so we have to sit it out until the 12th……

(bites nails)

Best of luck to all of you waiting for results today. Your DDs have done so well to endure this horrible process - it's a big 'well done' whatever the outcome.

Sadly a no from WHS for us, was always a long shot.

Hope others have faired better.

Oh I'm so, so sorry mummyinatizz. Fingers crossed for better news soon.

It's a yes for us, I wasn't sure how much of a chance DD had given the numbers. I'm happy for her but my heart really goes out to those who've not had good news after just as much effort, anxiety and waiting.

well done shirleycantbe to you and DD, pleased for you

Thanks mummyinatizz. Are you waiting for Putney tomorrow as well?

Yes shirleycantbe, expecting another thin envelope tomorrow. Letter from WHS said over 500 girls for 90 places, but of course in reality it is was only 45ish after those allocated to the junior school girls.

How did you get on Ashers40? well i hope

The WHS website says 450 applicants for 50 places (I think) - which must be the external applicant figures and actually really tough odds.

Hope your DD is OK about it and really hope you get a big envelope tomorrow.

We had a yes from WHS, so we're very pleased. Wishing for better luck for you tomorrow mummyinatizz.

I'm sure the WHS website said last year it was 5-6 applicants per place so the numbers have really gone crazy this year.

A no for us from WHS, which DD is sad about but she seems to be coping with the disappointment better than I expected . I saw the "450 applicants for 50 external places" had appeared on the WHS FAQ the other day, which is when I gave up hope!

We've still got Emanuel to come on 12th and she has an offer from SWPS in Chertsey, so all is not lost. Whatever happens she will become a South-West trains commuter