SW London Independents - where do the "bottom" 80% end up?

[Shirleycantbe]

My DD is in year 6 and preparing for the 11+ in SW London. A daunting process not helped by the fact that she has processing speed issues. She is however very bright - top 5% and higher in standardised tests (eg CAT). So we are just hoping that this will be recognised and some allowance made on the basis of her ed psych report.

As part of my obsessive panic research, I've been looking through the mumsnet threads on the whole 11+ topic and secondary schools in this area and all I read seems to imply that even the slightly "less" scarily academic options (from this I'm assuming Surbiton High/Emanuel/Ibstock/St Catherines) still look for kids in the top 10-20% of the cohort. Stories of children with level 5 and 6 SATs not even getting interviews etc etc.

Where does this leave the rest of the children in the year?! I am personally interested because my younger DD (yr 3) is not top 10%. Maybe top 25% ish at this stage. Will she seriously get in to none of these private schools? Or is this categorisation of which schools cream off which % of kids by ability somehow flawed? I know it is getting more and more competitive but it seems insane if the majority of children sitting the tests are basically wasting their time...

This thread reminds me why we moved (just) out of London. High performing state grammars that take 30% of all DCs in the county and private schools as back up if they don't get in. wide for that awful scramble for school places. The schools here are by no means perfect, but at least my DCs can go to a local school unlike those scrambling to get into completely oversubscribed private schools in London.

Think this supposed scrambling to get into oversubscribed schools... is all a little exaggerated and has become the self-fulfilling prophecy of those that are entering more and more entrance exams each year as a way of making sure they get a place. Over the last 7 years everyone I have known has managed to fins a place, and more often than not in the school that they (probably) preferred their son or daughter to end up at.

(I say probably as we will all in hindsight bend our thoughts slightly and not admit that our child ended up in the school that wasn't the absolute number one choice...)

An awful lot of people go for boarding who wouldn't otherwise, though, Waiting.

Morning all,

Thanks DC will be sitting the 11+ this Jan and I'm stressed as I just not sure I've exposed him to the right type of questions. Thanks for the advise - looking into 'First past the post' right now.

Any other information would be great, thanks! Trying to seek a maths tutor who is familar with these schools too.

TW2, is your child at a prep at the moment? What do they say?

How is s/he doing on sample exams?

Hi, No. He is in a state primary - so, no support for 11+ :(

You'll do well to find a decent tutor at this stage. I taught DS his maths and went through to the end of KS2 and a little further and just did the harder questions from the past papers of MGS, Dulwich, Habs etc. also. I think (through a vague grapevine) that they put an extra weighting on the maths paper at Hampton also, but not 100% sure.

The kids sitting Hampton will have been tutored. What are your son's skills in maths, english, NVR? I've had great luck with Skype tutoring (admittedly with language rather than maths). If you could go the Skype route you could tap into the university students who are not in London who are familiar with the curriculum.

I wouldn't worry about him being at a state primary, either.

He is in the gifted and talented stream for maths but it is exposing him to different type of questions. I will download the past papers for the schools mentioned by Waitingandhoping2015. Thank you

For the NVR (not done much), would Bond and GL papers be good enough to use or should I be looking at others?

In this case my advice to you is to download some past papers, order the Bond NVR papers (this is what we used), and get an English tutor. As I said, consider Skype.

Excellent:
Got an English tutor - covered.

Working through NVR (done 1st Bond paper) - covered
VR - Have worked through Bond/GL papers - covered
Maths - Will look into Skype tutoring/downloading past papers

Thanks, fingers crossed X

TW2 Hi - I think it may be a bit late and also counterproductive / confusing to find a tutor for your son 2 months before the exam. The most useful thing you can do for him at this point would be to get an accurate assessment of where he is in maths and literacy from his current school. I agree with what Waiting said that Hampton seem to put extra weighting on maths. He will need to be a high level 5 / level 6 in maths and at least level 5 in Literacy.

Don't bother with any VR or NVR practice for Hampton as their paper does not follow the Bond papers' format - it's more along the lines of deciphering timetables, etc and not something you can prepare for at all.

Tbh all a tutor would be doing at this point is working through sample papers with him and setting them for homework. You can do this yourself. Someone very helpfully posted the link for independent junction.co.uk further up this thread. Print off some papers so he will be familiar with the format and if poss try them under timed conditions.

The Hampton English paper is the usual comprehension followed by a piece of creative writing. The maths paper is apparently quite lengthy, but not to worry if your son doesn't manage to get to the end. There is no separate scholarship paper so the last questions are designed to identify scholarship candidates.

Good luck!

Thank you minoula. Printer is busy :)

I think about 60% of boys that go to Hampton are from state primary... hence one of the reasons why football is so popular compared with rugby.

at the 11+ entry point that is.

the 13+ intake is all prep school boys

Yes I meant at 11+.

It would be a bit odd to get a primary school pupil entering at 13+...

Surely the boys coming from state can sit the exam whenever suits them?

might be a bit obvious to you waiting but not necessarily to all.

Sarahsavestheday boys leave state schools at 11, so would need to have then gone to a prep for 2 years or be moving from state secondary (difficult i imagine to be at the required level?) at 13

TW2, Hampton throw in a few higher level questions in the maths test. The boys are told that won't be expected to answer all the questions. Presumably this is to identify any boys with a genuine interest in the subject beyond the classroom. I don't think this is something a tutor can help with.

Our DS found things like the Murderous Maths series of books an entertaining introduction to more advanced maths concepts. From there, some of the problem solving books on the Junior Maths Challenge website also helped.

Don't panic if this isn't your DS. Despite what you may have heard about the maths, Hampton are looking for a balanced mix of bright boys, all rounders and those with specialist skills. If he's up to speed with KS2 stuff, he'll be in with a chance.