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Secondary education

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

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Original poster

St Dunstans College Catford - Anyone had invites for 11+ interviews?

70 replies

spacecadet48 · 12/01/2018 15:11

Hi
I know the St D exam was only Wednesday but they are usually quick at letting you know about interview or a no thank you. With the new online exam format this year which seems to have had mixed reviews I was expecting to hear quickly via email. As they don't have any marking to do apart from a piece of creative writing! Anyway anxious to hear from others...

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Trying44 · 20/01/2018 10:42

That's exactly what I've been thinking. If so some honesty would have gone along way, I've called and emailed twice and all times have been told letters and emails will be sent out today, that's over a period of 3 days. Anyway awaits the postman

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 20/01/2018 10:58

isa2 we only received out letter about thr sports assessment yesterday after the email on the 17th. It's a pity about the perceived chaos as it's a great school, my DD is in yr 9 and is excelling so I do worry this mess with communication will put people off.

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Original poster

spacecadet48 · 20/01/2018 10:58

I hate typos....apologies

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user1475317873 · 20/01/2018 11:20

I agreed with you Isa; something must have gone wrong with the new system. Congratultions to your son and good luck with the academic scholarship.

user1475317873 · 20/01/2018 11:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 20/01/2018 11:35

Definitely to do with this new online system.when my DD was going through this exam, two days later letter re interview. Job done....they need to learn from this. It is a great school and the head master has made alot of changes for the better. This one though in relation to the exams requires a rethink!

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Trying44 · 20/01/2018 16:16

Citykat when is your interview for? Just wondering if they are sending emails in date order and are leaving the later interviews till later to advise

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 20/01/2018 16:37

Email arrived about interview thirty mins ago!

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citykat · 20/01/2018 17:34

trying it's a Saturday one. Hope your email comes soon.
Best of luck.

user1475317873 · 20/01/2018 18:53

Received an email this afternoon inviting DD for a group interview and us to meet the Deputy Head. I am pleased for DD.

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 21/01/2018 18:41

great news user1475317873, ours is next week and we are meeting the Head. Be glad when this is all over!

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user1475317873 · 21/01/2018 19:21

Thanks.

Does anybody have an idea how many kids sat the exam and how many do they interview?

turboturtle · 22/01/2018 00:19

"Doesn't feel like greatest advert for their organisation"

isa2, I overheard a conversation where someone got an email on Friday at around 6pm for an interview on Monday. Wasn't enough time to arrange time-off with work, so they will have to ask for it to be rescheduled.

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 22/01/2018 07:50

In St D defence they made it clear in their letters and on their website that interviews were from the 22nd -26th. I had already told work that i may need to take short notice leave. Others i know blanked out the week. We were given little notice fo W interview but again i knew when the interviews started and finished. I think I just expected a quicker turn around at St d with the new online format but clearly there was a glitch.

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isa2 · 22/01/2018 11:31

Sounds like some of you know the school quite well - is it thriving under the new head, do you think? Getting more academically ambitious? Just trying to work out how keen we are for our boy whose strengths are academic and musical.

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 22/01/2018 11:52

isa2 my DD is in year 9 at St D. It's a fantastic school and the head master is trying hard to improve the academic standards and has made a number of changes. Some staff have left but that's not unsurprising when you have a change of head who has aspirations for the school. My DD is excelling in all areas and she too is musical and sporty too which we were surprised about! We have a number of parents where I live who have chosen St D as their first choice school as the local independents are extremely competitive and difficult for the local state school kids to get into.

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isa2 · 22/01/2018 12:12

Thanks spacecadet48! Sounds encouraging - would you say there are a good no. of academically very able kids there? Yes, getting into the Dulwich schools does seem quite a challenge. My son and his best friend are said to be clearly at the top of their class in one of the higher achieving Lewisham state primaries, also friend is a real star musically and my son passed for all the Sutton grammars, but both failed to get Dulwich College interviews (though not that much specific preparation done). My son has been interviewed at our initial first choice though, which is Trinity. St D's is however interviewing him for a scholarship and is quite a lot closer to us - so just having a bit of a think re our priorities! Another quick visit may be in order.

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 22/01/2018 15:05

isa2 the standards at St D have shot up and it's no longer the 'easy' school to get into. A number of parents had expected there DC to get in and didn't even get an interview and the number of applicants has doubled. Their are many very bright children and I like the new style of reporting. Which relates to attendance, homework, engagements' in class and not just academic results as it is recognised that an improvement in this key areas improves academic performance. It's no longer second or third choice schools ...

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turboturtle · 22/01/2018 22:31

poster user1475317873
I know someone who was at St. D today for an interview. They did not give any indication of how many kids sat the exams and how many they interview. No indication of marks, but those who did extremely well were offered academic scholarship interviews which took place on Saturday. They did confirm that the number of applicants had risen by quite a bit.
We're there later this week.

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 22/01/2018 22:50

One of the kids from our school today went for an interview and parents were advised that he would be offered a place. He has two siblings there already so probably due to sibling policy and doing well in exam

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FairNotFair · 23/01/2018 09:55

I heard that St D's were interviewing 300 candidates for 70 places. DS is going for interview on Saturday.

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 23/01/2018 12:51

FairnotFair their intake is usually around 100-120. They over offer as some folks don't have it as their first choice school. They also have a sibling policy of sorts, siblings need to pass the test as a baseline but i am not aware of any sibling being rejected after interview stage. They usually make offers to most that sit the scholarship interview although not all offered a scholarship. It has got more competitive in recent years so no longer an 'easy options. Good luck with the interview on saturday

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FairNotFair · 23/01/2018 13:33

Thanks, Space! I'll be glad when this whole process is over!

user1475317873 · 23/01/2018 16:33

Thank you for the information reg interviews and intake

Original poster

spacecadet48 · 25/01/2018 14:05

We had the interview today. My DS was only with one other child and they met with the chaplin and a english teacher, we met the headmaster. They had three times as many applicants this year and many were turned down for interview. Advised they were interviewing 200 for 100 places. So its very competitive. Good Luck everyone!

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