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Secondary education

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Original poster

So where's this years Trinity/Whitgift/Dulwich/Alleyns thread

999 replies

soooooooknowwhat · 05/01/2018 21:18

And any other schools you may wish to add... Have used threads from the previous few years as part of my research and ds sat Trinity today! I'm more of a lurker than a thread starter but decided to bite the bullet and offer a hand to hold. Good luck to all dc's sitting exams over the next few weeks! Grin

OP posts:
Amonzo · 15/01/2018 19:48

Thanks all for the great advice - appreciate it. PS checked junk mail as advised, but nothing so will just wait till the end of the week for a response before calling Whitgift.

MeetieVonWrinkleSqueak · 15/01/2018 19:51

We had DS2’s interview at T today (10+).

It turns out he did AMAZINGLY in the entrance exam, so we had a lovely talk with Mr Kennedy Smile

Just have to hope that he lived up to that performance in his interview!

Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone with interviews this week, and also for those still waiting for news either way.

spacecadet48 · 15/01/2018 20:16

Thats brilliant MeetieVonWrinkleSqueak!

sooooooonowwhat · 15/01/2018 20:29

Hello all! So tired from driving ds around to various scholarship assessments/exams etc. ds cheered up after depressing Saturday exam as he had art and drama scholarship assessments today at the same school (they do interviews, scholarship assessments and everything first and then tell you overall if dc are going to be offered a place or not) - not saying which school as v identifying but is an academic one and ds had a full day there on Saturday from 8:30-16:30 and another full day today which went a lot better as he was in his element doing the extra-curricular stuff. Interviews for said school on Weds so not getting hopes up too high based on ds's insistence that Maths paper was a disaster but have spoken to a few mums at the school and quite a few dc didn't finish the Maths paper so perhaps all is not yet lost - fingers crossed! Meetie so happy for your ds and hopeful for everyone else waiting on T! We have our T interview tomorrow as well as drama scholarship assessment so another busy day ahead! Sounds like everyone is having a very positive experience with W - wishing you all the best.

sooooooonowwhat · 15/01/2018 20:36

Also Jenna thanks for the info on Alleyn's. We haven't yet heard if ds will get an interview there or not but read the q's you wrote out to dh and he said the last one is used by Google when they interview prospective employees! I think it's a brilliant way to interview kids actually as they can't be coached on these things and it gives them a rare chance to pretty much say whatever pops into their heads! Ds has an interview at DC next Monday and it is ds's current 'joint' first choice - dh and I also love the general liberal arts feel, Dr Spence and the really lovely admissions staff.

isa2 · 15/01/2018 20:42

I think this has already been debated but do people think there is any disadvantage in both parents not coming to a Trinity interview? We have been called with a time on Saturday and my husband is due to be on a weekend away. I already met the head with my son at an open morning and chatted quite a bit. My husband is pretty engaging, currently a school governor etc so would in general contribute to a positive impression I thinkl Smile. Should he ditch his weekend away and come along or should we attempt to change the date or just not worry? Thoughts welcome! Trinity is our first choice overall.

spacecadet48 · 15/01/2018 20:52

Isa2 due to circumstances outwith my control my OH has attended all interview without me for child 1 and 2. With no impact on negative impact on outcome. He also did DS today. I am a confident and articulate woman however my OH is a bright and engaging and a well educated gentleman with a research background who always ends up getting into high level intellectual discussions with teachers. So I am happy to send him! Whether it makes a difference I dont know as he was offered all schools where they had interviews.

Cherryburn · 15/01/2018 21:03

I did T and DC interviews on my own as DH couldn't make them. DS was offered scholarships at both. I really wouldn't worry.

MeetieVonWrinkleSqueak · 15/01/2018 21:17

Hi isa, I don't think it makes any difference at all whether you both attend.

Just so you know what to (possibly) expect on Saturday:

We had a Saturday interview 2 years ago, and there were loads of boys being interviewed at the same time. Whilst DS1 was being interviewed, we waited in a large meeting room with all the other parents, had tea, coffee etc. There was no interview for us with the head or any other teacher, although all the senior leadership team were there mingling and talking to the parents, so we did have a chat to Mr Bishop, Mr du Toit and a few others. But they probably wouldn't have even known which boy was ours.

So if it's the same format this year, then it really shouldnt matter at all if only one of you goes on Saturday.

(When I say "loads of boys being interviewed at the same time", there might have been 20 boys all having interviews at the same slot as us, but they were all interviewed individually).

Familyforever2002 · 15/01/2018 21:44

Hi all,
Another lurker - not much of a poster :-)
MeetieVonWrinkleSqueak I am just wondering if there were other boys being interviewed today at the same time or were you able to speak with the head one to one instead of catching whilst he was mingling with other parents?
I have experience with the Saturday interview just how you explained but a Monday morning one is all different to me!
Thanks!

MeetieVonWrinkleSqueak · 15/01/2018 22:35

Hi family,

Today it was just DS2 being interviewed. Well, i mean, there was a boy there waiting when we arrived, and a different one waiting as we left, but essentially it was maybe 1 or 2 at a time.

We were taken off to speak to Mr Kennedy and had a 1 to 1 talk with him in his office for about maybe 15mins. Not interviewing us as such, but talking about DS2.

DS2 had his interview while we were seeing Mr Kennedy.

So, totally different to the saturday process.

Familyforever2002 · 15/01/2018 22:52

Interesting stuff, possibly will have my brain in more of an overdrive thinking of all the possibilities!
Thank you for your reply Smile

Catchmum2017 · 15/01/2018 23:37

Hi everyone
My DS appeared for both W and T for 11+. He already had his interview with W last week and has got his T interview next week.

Regarding W interview , DS was interviewed for almost 15/20 minutes with lots of maths questions followed by English and science . He was asked generally about himself as well . His interview was taken in the boarding house ( rings a bell reading somewhere in the old forums it’s not a good news ) We tried to ask the interviewer about his performance . He didn’t say much about it except that offcourse he has done well that’s why he has been called for an interview ! No details as such was given ( for 10+ last year we exactly knew how much he had scored and what was his overall ranking so knew a offer was definite for him- being a full fees we rejected ) .
They asked us why whitgift . We were prepared for the question but somehow the interviewer was relunctant to give away much details on his actual performance . That makes us a bit nervous . DS has applied to local GS’s and has cleared all of them he has appeared and he seemed to be pretty confident about his performance in written exam as well as interview .
However the no information act by the interviewer gives us a vibes that it might not be a good news for him.
Anyone has got the same “ no info “ provided by them and still got any offers ?

Sorry for the long post but just a bit anxious especially reading on posts where they have mentioned about the children’s performances in details .

spacecadet48 · 16/01/2018 00:03

Catchmum....kids are interviewed by different teachers so it may be that your ds had someone 'newish' hence the non commital answers. Every interviewer will have there own personal style. My concern after reading your post is that they only asked my ds a mental maths question and the rest was questions about his likes, why he reads, what he enjoys about sports etc We will have to see when the letters are sent in Feb.

Robotsandunicorns · 16/01/2018 00:07

Hi Catchmum

We had W interview today and my ds was asked about books he's read, sports, favourite subjects, why Whitgift etc. He wasn't asked any academic questions at all (not sure if I should be worried about that as most people seem to have had at least one academic question). I asked about the test and he said Maths and verbal were well within range and the essay was lower but not to worry (I am soooo worried)

Overall my ds came out happy and now he wants to go there even more than before 😬.

Now we wait.

sooooooonowwhat · 16/01/2018 07:54

T interview today! Nervous for ds

Robotsandunicorns · 16/01/2018 08:02

Good luck I am sure it will be fine!

Catchmum2017 · 16/01/2018 08:11

Hi Robotsandunicorn,
Thanks for your reply . Atleast you got some information . In our case it’s a total blank . We don’t know absolutely anything about how he performed . As I said my DS was asked many questions atleast 5/6 maths few being quite hard followed by comprehension questions and then few science questions too . He came out and told me last problem he could not do it As he needed a pen or a pencil to workout but they didn’t have any . We asked specifically how he has done to which it was a non commital reply . Ya he was okay . He tried to solve all questions asked in the interview
On trying to probe further about his written he clearly said I can’t tell you anything except that he has done perfectly alrite that’s why he has been called for an interview . There are 650/700 students this year . Don’t know how many they are calling for an interview and how many will make it at the end . :-( nervous days ahead !

sooooooonowwhat · 16/01/2018 08:33

Thanks Robots (great username btw!)

MeetieVonWrinkleSqueak · 16/01/2018 08:39

Good luck for today, soooo

sooooooonowwhat · 16/01/2018 08:41

Thanks Meetie! Ds is a big umm and aah-er so I am hoping he can get his words out!

spacecadet48 · 16/01/2018 08:42

Catchmum was a scholarship interview?

SheilaFentiman · 16/01/2018 09:04

Catchmum, I'd assume all the interviewers are taking notes and will have to compare before they know how the kids have done relative to each other; that's probably why he wouldn't say much.

MumOfLL · 16/01/2018 10:46

Hi everyone

New to this thread, a lots of useful information. Many thanks for sharing.

My DS will have an interview for 10+ on Friday at W. TBH, we do 10+ for practicing and also hope that probably he might be good enough to be offered the place with scholarship. Now at this stage, we want to go for it as we only chose W for 10+, nowhere else.

My problem is DS doesn't understand why he has to do 10+ as none of his friends does. He said he would like to try other schools in his list first at 11+, before making decision (which he can't Blush unfortunately!) Are there any parents of DC at 10+ have to same problem trying to explain why DC should leave the school at year 6 and sadly leave all their friends earlier than anybody else?

Seeline · 16/01/2018 10:50

Mum - my DS started T in Y6. It was a big decision as we had only done 10+ as a practice for the next year! We were lucky in that several of DSs close friends moved away from the area in Y5 so he had already lost those friends. Also, at a state school we had the advantage of saying if he left then, he wouldn't have to do SATS!
I have to say it was a huge step-up for him, but we have never regretted the decision. He settled well and made new friends quickly.