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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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:
Wherearemymarbles · 09/02/2018 22:51

So much is exam performance on the day. But with Indies you have an interview and schools may decide a child isnt the right fit.

We are on the T wait last but based on gossip that no one in the last 2 years has been offered a place from the wait list I’ve more or less written if off. Last year our friends were told by T they were no.2. Yet we knew of at least 7 chidren who declined T and our friends DS didnt get a place. Of course easch year is different.

Robotsandunicorns · 10/02/2018 01:29

Dear all

I have a question. W doesn’t say when you have to reply by just that you have to reply asap. We wanted to see what happens on offer day even though we are 99% set on W. As they all over offer us there a risk he could lose the place? Has this happened before?

Thank you

AnotherNewt · 10/02/2018 05:20

"I have emailed Alleyns....but I think I will drive myself crazy in the meantime trying to work out Alleyns secret offer / over offer formula. I wish schools would make process more transparent!"

Alleyns is among the more transparent (doubt you will believe that!) for the slightly pessimistic rreadon that once it's clear to them (from responses received) that they do not expect to take any from the waiting list (and that's quite frequent) they write to waiting list families to tell them that. It's not a letter you want to get if it was a preferred school, but it does end the uncertainty.

It's typically none from WL, or very few.

The only thing you can do as parents to aid the process to work as well as it can, is to relinquish offers as soon as you know you won't be taking them up. Take all the time you need if you're agonising between two schools, of course, but turn down all others (including 'take me off waiting list' if you do decide to go with an offer). The fewer offers people sit on, the faster it settles down.

Firefox1066 · 10/02/2018 06:19

Firstly... send virtual hugs to all those who haven't got the news that they wanted. There are plenty of "old timers" on here to offer support and hand holding, as required.

Congrats to all who go the offers they wanted! Also congrats to those DC's who did well enough to be on WL. It's a stressful for parents when that happens but that shouldn't detract from how well they have done.

sooowhattt brilliant! Well done to your super smart DS!

orangetiger thanks! DS2 is national level for his sport (a minor sport) but is just "ok" at the core sports, so we are really pleased for him that he managed to get a sport scholarship. As an aside, of all the DS's in our network who got 10+ W Sports scholarships, none got higher than 10% and the vast majority were Honorary ("prestige" but no financial value) or 5%. Primarily, I guess, because at 10+ one really is looking at potential.

catchmum having been through this process twice now, I would say that it isnt always a "logical" process to us parents. As an example, a good friend told me yesterday that her Academy footballer and county cricketer son "only" got an Honorary Scholarship at 10+ for W. she is hopping mad about it, but primarily it appears that she and her DH intimated at interview that W wasn't their first choice and that they expected to get offers from Wilson's and Wally Boys in March.

So in short, the schools know what they want and as parents our hope can only be that it matches our desires.

80sFashion · 10/02/2018 07:33

Many congratulations to all who received offers and sorry to hear sad news for those who didn't get the offers they wanted.
I really hope March will bring good news.

80sFashion · 10/02/2018 07:49

My DS has a few offers A, W, T and yet to hear about grammars we can't believe it we're so happy he really loves W that's a bursary offer A offered everything, T full fee.
We can't believe we're not sure where to choose now, well I'm not sure he says W.
Sounds crazy but please any advice would be helpful.

sara176 · 10/02/2018 08:17

Congratulations to all the parents and children that has made it.
Catchmum2017, I was in the sam position last year. 1st March my Ds got his first choice grammer (Wilsons ). He is very happy there I can't think of any where better for him .

spacecadet48 · 10/02/2018 08:39

80s all the schools are different. You will have gauged a view during open days, interviews etc. You need to pick the school that suits your son. Only you know that, my DS is torn as his friends are going to his second choice. We have simply discussed the pros and cons of each and stressed that this is not about friends as he will make new ones. Great you have the choices and good luck !

spacecadet48 · 10/02/2018 09:29

robots you need to respond to whitgift by Monday 5th March. It's on the letter

Tabhhzy · 10/02/2018 10:01

Hi guys, I am new her. congratulations to everyone, I know our kids worked hard and we are proud parents regardless the outcome.

I just wanted to ask you guys, we got a full fee place frm W, has anyone ever negotiated on full fee place, we were hoping for some scholarship but didnt get any.

MeetieVonWrinkleSqueak · 10/02/2018 10:22

Hi tabh, I think if you already had a small scholarship offer, you can sometimes negotiate a better one.

But I’ve not heard of anyone with no scholarship offer at all being able to bargain for one. A mum at our school had a scholarship offer for 1 twin last year, but they wouldn’t offer one to the other twin when she asked.

But I guess nothing ventured, nothing gained - you might as well ask them.

Tabhhzy · 10/02/2018 10:32

Thanks meetie, we have one other offer frm stD with a litlle scholarship, but, we'll just be cheeky and ask.

Robotsandunicorns · 10/02/2018 11:15

Thank you Spacecadet! I found it. I can’t believe I missed it.....

Railworker · 10/02/2018 17:36

Hello! Have been lurking on this thread and I hope you don’t mind me joining at this point. Well done to everyone’s DC’s for the slog of hard work, nerves and anticipation of the past few months. It’s quite a journey!
My DS finds himself in the fortunate position of a choice between T and DC. They are both fabulous and we are delighted to have this choice! I wanted to ask whether anyone knows about the quality of the SEN provision at both schools, as this, I think, may be our deciding factor as DS has Aspergers. We will see both schools again and I am about to draft a list of questions but if anyone has any experiences they wouldn’t mind sharing, I’d be grateful. Thanks a lot

soooooooonowwhat · 10/02/2018 17:55

Thanks all for the well wishes and welcome Railworker! I don't know enough but I also have a ds with SEN (not Aspergers) and we chose T & DC because we had heard that their pastoral is great, although not sure how they are with SEN. Did your ds require any access arrangements? If so, how were they? I can't answer re how good they are as I don't know but both of them were fine with our access requests which I thought was a good sign. I am going to meet with their respective SENCO's before we make a decision too so happy to feed back anything they say too!

Railworker · 10/02/2018 18:10

Thanks Soooo - yes I will try to arrange to see the SENCO’s. Not sure why I didn’t think of this when I rang to organise revisits yesterday! (Probably over excitement) Would be interested in your experience. Feel free to PM if you prefer

soooooooonowwhat · 10/02/2018 18:25

Will do Railworker!

IntheMotherhood · 10/02/2018 21:31

Hi everyone - thinking of you all now, especially those who haven't had the news they hoped for ....just yet. Keep the faith.

Can I check - what's the form for asking for school revisits? Is this considered ok only if you're a scholarship offer or even if you're a regular full fee offer? I'd like to go and see two schools again, only one of which has a scholarship attached.

Grateful for people's thoughts and tips...

spacecadet48 · 10/02/2018 21:50

inthemotherhood some schools do a post offer evening. You should call admissions and ask if there is one and if not arrange to visit. I wouldn't have any hesitation as they can't withdraw the offer and you need to get it right for your DC.

soooooooonowwhat · 10/02/2018 22:02

Inthe agree with what space says - I would just call them and ask to take another look. fwiw, ds has scholarship offers and only two of the four schools explicitly said we are welcome to come and take another look, I just assumed we could for the others! I'm sure they understand that this is a huge decision and it makes sense for parents to be sure.

Tolacar · 11/02/2018 10:58

Does anyone have any idea about the waitlist for KCS? What's the chances of getting a place? I suppose I could ring and ask! We have two other good offers - one being a scholarship but KCS is up the road for us so would be ideal. I'm not prepared to lose a deposit though!

sandybayley · 11/02/2018 11:35

I suspect that the KCS reserve list won't move much but it will a bit. They tend to have quite a small list so it may work out for you. Hope it does - it's a great school.

SoupDragon · 11/02/2018 12:28

I'd like to go and see two schools again, only one of which has a scholarship attached.

It’s worth being upfront with the non scholarship school and saying that you are choosing between their offer and one with a scholarship.

Tindrum · 11/02/2018 12:37

Railworker no direct experience of the SEN at DC but I have a friend who has sent both of her boys there who are both autistic so she must have rate the school’s SEN. Plenty of kids there with various SEN needs. Sorry to not be more helpful.

Railworker · 11/02/2018 14:24

Thanks Tindrum - that’s helpful to know