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 spacecadet keeping all my fingers crossed for you. Ds went to sleep v upset tonight that he had 'messed up' today. He had unfortunately fixated a bit on a school that was a bit unlikely anyway and now feeling rubbish and convinced he has no chance and good news from Dulwich doesn't seem to be as important right now than his perceived failure. Hopefully he will feel a bit better about it all tomorrow!

Thank you Firefox1066 my son can’t wait but I think it’s going to be way out of his league. He’s not county/academy or international level so going to have to hope they are after natural sporting ability!! Good luck to your ds. Did you say your other son goes to W? If so are you happy with the school? If ds got a place he would be in for an hours commute everyday but as he loves sport so Much he’s super keen to go! Boys !!

Sooooooooowhat i feel for your DS. They are so young but feel failures when they feel they haven't done well. He may have done better than he realises too!

Oranginetiger my now 22 yr old went to Whitgift. He and i loved the school, if your DS has a talent they will make sure he excels in it. My son loved Rugby and spent most of time training as he was in the A team. He didnt do anything else despite the long list of co curricular which the school kept trying to get him to engage in.He has a very close relationship with all the friends he made there. His daily commute started with an alarm at 6am! He didn't care .... He has friends who are now flying round the world at the age of 21 working for Goldman and Sachs, others who are playing professional Rugby and football...

Sooooooooowhat.....I'm sure your DS has done fine, my son has doubted his performance in an exam and still got an interview. The pressure they can put on themselves is hard. Quality and not quantity!

We have the W interview and I think I'm more nervous than DS. He's done all the hard work and I don't want to mess it up! If the school is not your first choice, how do you get around the question of why do you want your son to come to this school? Do you just answer as if it is? Or how does DS get around the question, why us instead of the others? They obviously know what schools he sitting as we put it on the application form! 😩 This whole process is so up and down...

My DS isn't very good at thinking on his feet and I have a fear he will sit in any interview looking at his shoes, playing with his hands and going hmmmmm , ehhh. Not sure how they deal with a shy difficult communicator apart from saying no! My other half is taking him to his interview and he is absolutely clear about why whitgift...however we know the school and it is our first choice so easier to show passion. Tolacar some of the schools talk to each other so if you have had an interview elsewhere already and said it's your first choice i would go into whitgift just answering why whitgift and not mention where it sits in the pecking order. I would use the interview to ask them lots of questions as opposed to the other way round! It's a two way process and I would get the why whitgift in before they do so they can sell it to you why it should be your first choice. This is the third child we have done this with and my OH asks them out right at interview what's his chances to get in.

Thanks spaced and Tolacar he seems a bit more chipper now as we talked about how lucky he is to have an interview at DC and how a lot of his good friends have applied too so he is more likely to end up with friends. He seems to be less upset this morning, hopefully it stays this way. Not holding my breath re him doing better than he thinks because he's said 'ok' for most exams bar Dulwich which he said was 'nice'(!?) and this one was definitely 'really hard and confusing'. Thanks all for your kind words. Re what to say in interviews, I think spacecadet is spot on - - our prep said that with Whitgift they really, really need to know you're their first choice, they especially have a problem with being a back up to the grammars. So I would say think about what you really like about Whitgift and then say why you think Whitgift is better in that regard than the other schools. I think it's probably important to make it clear that you think all the schools you are applying to are good, but just that Whitgift has the edge for you. Sending positive vibes to your ds!

Wow thanks spacecadet48...very useful tips! Will definitely use it for us to ask questions and will ask what DSs chances are. We haven't had any interviews yet....and never done this process before so it's interesting to hear schools talk to each other! 😬 Thanks once again!

orangetiger yes that's right, DS1 is at W. we love the school... it's a school that really knows how to teach boys, thrives on the quest for excellence and the cultural, social and racial diversity is a thing to be very proud of.

Some parents have complained of various issues... poor teacher comms, bullying, unhappy with child's progress etc, but this is what I'd expect in any school and I certainly haven't seen or encountered anything of those issues myself yet.

HTH and best of luck to your DS in the sports hall tomorrow!

Thank you spacecadet48 and Firefox1066 good to hear such positive things about W ... fingers crossed for tomorrow to all U10 boys doing the sports assessment and i/v's

Sonowhatnow - was it the kings college exam out of interest?
If so thats a toughie, tier 1A if you like against say 1B for T W or DC.

Wherearemymarbles just messaged you

If it was KCs, I think the timing was tough from what DS has said. Some boys didn’t finish the papers. RGS and Emanuel were also yesterday

KCS- my son finished the papers but said the timing for the English writing was very tight. It was always going to be one of the toughest.

Half of our class was there. A lot of people go along for a ‘ punt’ at KCS. Not entirely sure what the school are looking for in prospective boys

Just out of interest Tolacar how many exams did your DS sit? We only sat 3 but you seem to have done a lot of high calibration schools as you crop up in a lot of these threads at the moment. I overheard a woman the other day saying her add sat 9 which sounded incredible.

It wasn't KCS but yes timing was the issue - ds was frustrated that he felt he could have got the answers but he just didn't get through the paper fast enough! Ah well, it is what it is and I'm v keen on Dulwich so fingers crossed!

Kcs want very very bright and academic children. Last year our friend’s son got big scholarships for t, dc, alleynes as well as getting ino wilsons but got a standard offer from kcs. They boy who showed us round had offers from westminster and st pauls and said it was hard work there.
Also friends son went at 11+ on a scholarship and left at 13+ as said it was all too much. I really think its the kind of school which is fab if your child is highly academic and one to avoid id they are just bright. We didnt apply.

Well done to those who have interviews and comisserations to those who have some but not others.

We fall into an odd catergory. We didn't get T but have W interview tomorrow although they have told us they will not be considering the scholarship application now.

My Ds is so nervous for tomorrow as he really wants this. We have prepared him generally on etiquette etc. and some general questions, but I suppose it depends on the day. Does anyone know how many 11 plus places are available, I can't seem to find this information.

Has anyone applied or had an interview for The Cedars?

Thank you

Wobbly pig...he is sitting 7. It wasn't completely the intention but he got through the St Paul's pre test which we were amazed about. There is one school we shouldn't have applied for but purely as back up. DS is bright but sensitive and very sporty. Not sure how he'd cope in a high pressure school so we've spread ourselves around. I think it's hard when you're doing the 11+ for the first time. Difficult to know how many and which ones. Most Children from my school are sitting 5-6 or more.

7’s alot but then kids to seem to cope. We looked round 7 and applied for 4. 2 trickier ones and 2 less academic.

The difficulty was though we couldnt really say which would be the best school for our son. Kcs out as too academic and another 2 simply view travel. Of the 4 we applied to we honestly dont have a preference.

Wherearemymarbles can I ask which schools are the less academic ones?

My oldest two went to Trinity but I feel that the academic demands have ramped up significantly in recent years. I always felt it would suit all my children but now I'm not so sure. DS3 is at Wilson's so I'm out of the loop a little and would welcome advice for DS4. I have so much work to do to prepare him and I am dreading it TBH. He is a quiet, sweet natured 10 yo who prefers to potter around in his own lego filled world.

If considering Trinity and Whitgift where else would you include in your selection? I've already discounted Alleyns, DC and Eltham.

Any honest opinions on St Dunstan's and Colfes?

Hi - first time posting but just wanted some advice from some of you experienced parents out there. I have 3 DS and my youngest is now sitting for 11+ we only sat for W and T and my DS has wonderfully been offered interviews for both. I have experience of W since I have a son that has been there but no experience of T. I think that W is an amazing school and I am not sure why it is deemed by some as lacking - it is a massive school that is so micro managed and the staff really get to know the kids well. I have never heard of any bullying especially higher up in the school. The school caters for sporty kids, musicians, linguists, computer bods, sciences .... its incredible and will pull skills out of the boys they never knew they had. My son was soooooo well supported and had amazing communication with his teachers and their doors were always open. The only negative I have is that the school has academic boundaries and if your son doesn't reach them at the required time then they are out - with no second chances. The boys are all aware of this however and as my DS pointed out it is a good incentive to do well. So ... my question is I know all the pros and cons of W, but have no such knowledge of T... I know that Whitgift had 650 kids sit and have 120 places of which they send out more offers than places. Another thing to consider is the options the boys are given as they get older. W offer the IB (they are number 1 in the country with their results) they also offer the boys 4 A'levels and they also offer BTEC. Some of the other schools do not have such choice - not all boys fit the same box and I think thats another thing to consider.

Can anyone give me any insight into Trinity????

POOKIE- My DD is in St Dunstan's and loves it. A number of local parents choose St D over the local independents namely Alleyns/DC/Jags which rarely take anyone from out local.little state primary which I should add is in Dulwich Village. St D isn't less academic however it has a lower threshold at the admission stage and they take a broader range of ability. The new headmaster (or not so new now) has made some positive changes in his mission to improve it's reputation. Being based in Catford sometimes puts people off. The school has high academic standards and uses a non result focussed way to improve a yp learning so will get a report based on engagement in class, homework submitted, absence etc as all these things can impact on results. They have a zero tolerance to bullying and a pro active response to any issues that may emerge. Also if you have a child who likes sport but isn't the top they are more likely to get into the teams at St D given it's mixed so less kids to choose from. My DD is off to Holland on a hockey tour and opportunity she wouldn't have had if she had gone to a high achieving sporty school as she wouldn't be in the top team. university destinations speak for themselves. But we love the school. My DS would prefer to go to W as he doesn't want to be at the same school as his sister!

Anges- my eldest went to W and loved it too. (he is now 22). As you stated the one thing I didn't like was the points system based on IGCSE if you didn't score enough you were out or offered BTEC. But other than that loved W. Have no experience with T.

Anyway I feel sick as i am on my way to work as my DS is being interviewed for W as i write this with his daddy in tow.....