11+ Sept 2017 London Independent Girls School applications - all welcome!

[Pradaqueen]

Hello All!

Inspired by another recent thread and last year's SW London Girls thread, I thought I would create a thread for those of us applying to London Day Schools. I have put independent as I think 11+ has passed for most of us. Anyone care to join?

I have a DD (10) who wants to sit CLGS and SPGS. Ideally she would like to be a music scholar so looking at schools with a strong music department that is a commutable distance.

[fleurdelacourt]

Empress - agree it's draining. Also with all the different stages to the process, if you apply to 6+ schools, then the logistics of exams and interviews get really hard.

[Pradaqueen]

We are recommended 4 max here too. I have chosen 2 London Days and 2 weekly boarding but two have exams before December and 2 are after December so that feels more manageable. Agree 6 is a assume strain if call backs are the same week!

[Pradaqueen]

*massive not assume

[Pradaqueen]

Does anyone know how many sit the SPGS written paper after the computer round?

[S999]

Was wondering the same...am thinking majority of those who sat the pre-test.

[TRL]

I think when we looked round the registrar said they lose up to 20% after the pretest so that about 450 take the written papers; it's not an exact number but that's a rough guide she gave.

[S999]

Ah thank you, sounds right.
Now back to the grind...

[ChittyBB]

Hi All

I have an untutored, state school educated daughter who is sitting exams for Godolphin and Latymer and Latymer Upper. I got her to sit old papers for both schools last week. Does anyone know what indicative pass marks are?

On th G&L paper DD for 80% in comprehension, 68% in maths and wrote a lovely essay with no mistakes and lots of imagination. Is that enough?

For Latymer she got 76% comprehension and 60% maths which I imagine is not enough.

[TRL]

Hi there Chitty,

(DISCLAIMER - I don't know for certain, just past marks from my kids/prep school's advice ... I could be WAY off!!)

DS last year was not at all certain for Latymer Upper (didn't apply in the end) and was scoring upwards of 75% on Maths in Sept/Oct when we were deciding. English comprehension wasn't too tricky for him (80%s) but essays was low (60%s). School thought 'possible but unlikely' from their experience, mainly because of his essay writing - the Maths & comprehension marks were enough.

DD is sitting G & L (amongst others) in Jan and is scoring anywhere between 65-80% on past Consortium papers for comprehension and around 75% for essays. Her Maths hovers between 65-70% for Consortium 2. She's definitely an 'unlikely' candidate according to school although she's incredibly musical so may make it on those grounds. School marks English very harshly and Maths more realistically, I think. DD is in the top 5/25 for English and around 15/25 for Maths. Her Maths will let her down unfortunately.

It sounds like your DD has understood the different levels of meaning in the G & L paper which isn't always easy, and getting those high mark questions nailed, again isn't easy - she's doing well to be hitting 80% as a first shot, clever girl. The Maths is fairly formulaic in that pretty identical topics are covered year in, year out, so can you identify one or two topics which she could go over with you through the holidays and then get right in Jan - that's what I'm going to do with DD rather than try to fill in all the gaps in the hope that that will raise the mark by 5-10% and give her a better chance?

I don't know Latymer Upper's Maths papers well enough to know if they also follow a pattern of topics. It may be that she's lost marks on similar areas on both papers and a little work on those areas raises her chances at both schools.

To go in cold and get those marks sounds pretty promising to me.

[Pradaqueen]

Thanks TRL, her school has been asked for a reference so I took that as a good sign. As you say S999 back to the grindstone!

[ChittyBB]

Thanks TRL, that is rally helpful. Can I ask whether your daughter is at a private or state school. And do the schools give state school kids any lee way or must they get the same scores?

She did another Godolphin paper tonight and got 65% which is not great. She's the best in maths in her class and got 100% on a ks2 maths test paper. But it's obviously not enough.

[TRL]

Chitty, my DD's at a prep, and I can't answer your question re: leeway for state educated children - I have no idea at all.

The KS2 Maths & English papers are a different format and my DD scores quite highly in Maths for them. I don't think they're asking the same sort of questions - certainly not in English where DD reliably scores 100% for reading comprehensions; she's never managed that for a Consortium paper ... nowhere near!

The Consortium 2 papers are designed to be challenging; it may be that she needs some guidance on how to time the paper or how to max her marks for each question type (she may know the Maths topics well but not be including the steps for working?) or perhaps there are a couple of topics she hasn't yet covered at school which she could pick up quickly over the holidays?

She sounds like she is a decent mathematician AND good at English so it's probably just lack of familiarity and a little tweaking that's needed - remember they've had the same format as the KS2 papers regularly since Yr 1 unlike the Consortium ones.

[QGMum]

Chitty afaik Godolphin and Latymer interview all girls very carefully to spot potential so this may work in your dd's favour.

[S999]

I think SPGS asks for references for all the candidates who passed the pre-test.

[MagicMarkers]

Chitty - I don't know about levels for private schools, but my sons are in a super selective state grammar from a state primary school.

If your daughter is getting 65% in maths in these tests, surely you need to be teaching her the maths she doesn't know? Lots of kids get in from state schools, but they do need to be taught the maths rather than just doing lots of tests. It doesn't have to be a paid tutor. Most of us can do the maths for a 10/11 year old.

[Pradaqueen]

Hi all, anyone sit SPGS yesterday? DD seemed to think tougher than expected but English easier than CLGS?

[tangerino]

Hello

We're not at this stage yet but I thought this might be a good place to pick brains. My daughter is in Y4 and we are considering either NLC or City for 11+. Does anyone have a view on how these schools compare? She is academic and a good all rounder.

[Phaedra1234]

Hi Pradaqueen, same feedback here re SPGS English comprehension being definitely easier than CLSG. Maths sounded Ok-ish but the other paper sounded pretty hard so not being very hopeful!

[Pradaqueen]

Phaedra - agreed that the maths definitely was very hard esp. Section C. She loved the comprehension though (even though it 'made her brain ache'

Tangerino - hi, you might want to start your own thread on this as your query might get lost here. I would say visit the schools and compare each to your child's strengths and personality. Consider her likely commute and the prospect of how many exams she is likely to sit when the time comes. I have no experience of NLC so I cannot comment. CLGS and SPGS however does have girls similar to my own DD hence why it's on our list. Good luck!

[HeartsTrumpDiamonds]

NLC is slightly "more academic" than City but has better grounds. The commute to both can be hairy for different reasons!

[highclere]

Similar SPGS here - Section C had some v tricky parts but the two comprehensions were pleasantly challenging!

[DiHappy]

Hi, I've been driven to this wonderful thread by google while being really anxious to hear back from KGS. That said, did anyone hear from them?

[sw15mum]

We're waiting on KGS 10plus. Not hopeful!

[amidawish]

nothing from KGS yet, scholarship paper is this Friday for those hoping for a call! 2 years ago DD got called for it, but only the day before, so don't lose hope

[SquirmOfEels]

I saw what I presume was a gaggle of aspiring Dolphins yesterday.

Some were in capes.

Is there is London branch of Hogwarts?