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

[soooooooknowwhat]

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!

Good luck to everyone going to T today!

Ditto! Yes good luck to all doing T interviews today!

We're coming to the back end of the interview process now! Best of luck to all who have interviews at T today and DC, W and Alleyns over the next couple of days.

This next theee weeks is going to be such a long wait for us!

Help wise mums, what do you do if you don't get into any of the schools? DS is clever and quite good in maths but average in English. He'd do very well in an interview as he is quite a chatty, confident little chap and very engaging (been told by other adults, not just the deluded notion of his mum.) We haven't been called for any interviews and I'm starting to panic. I'm guessing he didn't perform very well on the tests and not sure if there is any way to mitigate that situation. Any advice? Applied to W, DC, A, St.D. Is it worth trying a prep school for 2 years with another attempt at theses schools for 13+?

Panicked - is he in a Prep which finishes at 11 or a Primary? If a Prep, the Head should be advising you.

Have you received definite 'nos' from all of those schools about interview or still waiting to hear?

Have you also put in state school applications and would you be happy if these worked out?

It's unusual to get no offers if you've applied to several, but it is possible. One option is to go into a Prep for a year 7 and they will prepare for 13+ but if he hasn't met the academic standard now, you might need to be realistic that these schools aren't for him and start considering others. These could be for 11+ or 13+ and be the less selective schools.

Although the deadlines and exams have passed, it is always worth getting in touch and expressing interest anyway. It is surprising how many offers get made at some schools after the formal applications period. So if you would prefer to change at 11, don't give up, just start drawing up a list of other schools too that are a bit less selective.

Another thing you could do, is ask the schools he sat for brief feedback on his performance. Some won't be interested in giving it, but if you state that you have not been successful generally and need info to decide next steps, one or 2 might indicate what the weakness was, which could help you decide next steps.

Hopefully, you haven't had rejections by them all yet and a letter with an interview or an email is on its way.

Best of luck.

Hi panicked Mum sorry I have no idea, we are only doing 10+ and only tried one school W as we loved it so much when we went round. I think W are still I/v next week so maybe you will be contacted - I’m sure you would have heard by now if it was a no. I’m sure other mums will have more experience & better advice than me ...

Firefox1066 so sorry only just seen your post from yesterday, maybe the process has changed with new head? I am sure it’s gone better than you think, after all fab advice from other mums on this thread I have now put to back of my mind. Is your DS1 atill at W?

panickedmum DC have sent letters already either for interview or a no. A aren't sending letters until the 23rd. St D have only just started sending emails and a large number are still waiting. W if you haven't heard I would call them.

panicked I know it's hard but don't assume ds won't have any offers at all. As pp's have said, should he find himself really without offers at the end of the whole process then call your prep head and tell them the situation - they should ring around and basically sell your ds in and explain that despite a not great exam performance he does well at school and would be suited to school x. Please try not to worry yet though as he may well be called for interview yet! Sending good vibes to your ds!

Orangetiger I think the difference is that DS2 is going for Sports and art scholarships, whereas DS1 didn't. DS1 is still at the school and doing really well and very much enjoying it.

I've decided to put it to the back of my mind now tbh. DS2 passed the exams and did the scholarship assessments and by all accounts had a positive Interview. Que sera sera...

Has anyone heard from Alleyn's today re: academic scholarship interviews? Not expecting to hear anything but the waiting in general is killing me! Might help to celebrate others good news.

Firefox1066 sounds like a good plan, i'm sure he's done well.. good to hear DS1 loves it there too, it seems like an amazing school and every single parent/child i've spoken to hasn't had a bad word to say about it, although i realise no school is perfect.

panickedmum - my first thought on seeing your description of your DS was he sounds like Grammar school material...but I guess it's too late for that if he's done the 11plus. The privates tend to be more English than Maths focused (possible generalisation but that was our experience).
I agree, ring around, and also consider a 13 prep. Some schools doe 12plus occasional places. DS has a friend who failed all exams and is now trying for Epsom, Whitgift and a few others via that route. Cheaper alternative would be send him to local state secondary (presuming you did an application?) and then try the 13plus route if he really doesn't like it there.
Places do come all the time, so ask to be kept on waiting lists as well.
Good luck, and don't panic, there are lots of schools who I'm sure that would be more than happy to take your DS.

Researching for applications next year and this whole interview process sounds so stressful!

I've heard Trinity and Whitgift have both had new heads in the last couple of years? Friends used to rave about Trinity's old head. How does the new one compare?

Trinity seemed 'warmer' at open day last year. Is that a fair assessment?

Purleymum I didn't look at Whitgift but the new head at Trinity is ex-Dulwich and v nice, down-to-earth, forward thinking and keen to preserve the ethos of the old head from what it seems. Wimbles has a ds there right now so I'm sure she can advise better!

Which reminds me, how have you found the homework load at T Wimbles? We have friends with a ds at Hampton who seems to spend all his time doing homework and I don't want the same for ds! Love to hear your experience of T.

With DS1 we went through the whole admissions process at T with Mr Bishop as head, and were gutted when he left just as DS1 joined.

But Mr Kennedy seems very similar in a lot of ways, and is also really nice. I haven't noticed the school being hugely different to how it seemed when we were looking round, and all the staff and boys and parents seem very happy with him - I know that I am certainly very pleased that he was appointed head.

Re: homework, they've just changed the homework timetable to decrease the amount that Lower School are given, which has made a difference to DS1. Its essentially about 2 subjects a night on average in First Form (which was what it was in J-bugs as well).

Obviously the new W head has only been there since September, so it's maybe a bit early to tell - certainly my friend with a DS in the junior year there didn't have too much to say either way about him yet.

purley, yes, T always has a much friendlier, down-to-earth feel, I think, compared with W. When I was at school I had friends at both, and assumed they were very similar, so was surprised when we went to look around and saw how actually very different they are!

The privates tend to be more English than Maths focused

That’s not my experience. Certainly not with T anyway.

Soup, I would agree with you there (for T) re: maths/English focus.

(And as far as the entrance exams go, T say that the VR paper mark is one of the most important for them).

Thanks for the info on homework at T Meetie.

DS2’s score in his entrance exam English paper was half that of his maths score. The then head said “that doesn’t matter, we can work with that”. I don’t remember his VR score.

WRT homework, mine were never swamped by it. It was a shock coming from a primary school that gave one piece per week but I don't recall themever struggling with the amount - they weren’t permanently in detention so they must have done it!

Funny because we had a different experience. Ds apparently did exceedingly well in English - almost full marks on his story - and overall percentage in Maths and English almost equal but his VR score wasn't quite as high. I think more than anything the difference between the grammars and Indies is that the Indies are more likely to look at the overall performance of the child so there is more space for a child who is particularly gifted in one area but maybe not so much in another, they also look at the school report so I think that can help if your dc are just having an off day.

They also use the interview to spot the boys with actual “raw talent” rather than those who have been heavily tutored. The exam pass flags up the boys they are interested in, the interview flags up the boys they want.

PurleyMum people's view on W, T, DC and A will be very much based on their own views and context.

As an example, we loved the "showiness and confidence" of W, very much liked the understated excellence at T, were VERY underwhelmed by DC and Joe Spence and found A way too monocultural for us.

By comparison, friends of mine feel competlely the opposite to us about some/all of the schools.

Regarding the exam results, I think W and T focus is on VR as a proxy for potential.

Sin my experience, interviews are very much a marketing tool. Children who get to the interview stage have done well enough in the exam for the school to be happy they could cope with the work. Unless they do something very peculiar in the exam (and that's not getting a maths question wrong or being a bit shy) then they will very probably get an offer.
Schools always need to over offer because as we see here, lots of people have applied to 3 or 4 or 5 schools and they can only take up one place. Schools want to be the top choice of as many of their candidates as possible, because this will mean more of the higher performers choose them. So interviews don't tend to be scary (as shown by the reports back on this thread) but very friendly and encouraging to both children and parents. There is certainly an element of the school gauging how likely someone is to take up the place - not so much to decide if to make an offer, but to help decide overall how many offers to make, based on proportions likely to say yes. It's hard to get this right, but if you over offer and a higher proportion than expected say yes, you have to put on a bulge class, which isn't always easy for lots of schools. However, under offer or a lower proportion say yes and you find you don't fill up. It's tricky and some schools manage this by running wait lists,N whilst others don't but actually offer to late applicants if they reach the standard, if places still remain.
Yes, the schools are choosing children. By now, they have pretty much chosen, based on the exam mostly, but also with consideration of the reference. The interviews will help decide scholarships, particularly the non academic ones, but are very much an marketing tool to sell the school to these families that the school already wants. Yes, you want a place and in one sense they are doing you a favour by offering one, but it's a two way street and they want and need your bright children and the fees you will pay too.
Being at interview stage is a very very good sign. In the vast majority of cases, an offer will now appear.

excellently put Firefox1066?