As the Tiffin deadline looms, is there a girls SW London grammars / indies thread yet?

[FlumePlume]

I just realised that I need to get the Tiffin Girls form in ASAP, and wondered if anyone else is in the same position? I could do with company in this process!

We’re not yet decided but probably applying to Tiffin, WHS, SPGS, Sutton High and maybe one of PHS / Emanuel / KGS.

I agree - pastoral care and an understanding that bright, conscientious girls sometimes need help to do less, rather than more, is something I want to see in a school I send my dd to. Working out which have that, and which just say so is the tricky bit...

WHS said it was sending the letters today, so we should be getting the stage 1 results tomorrow.

Yes FlumePlume, WHS have updated their website to say they were posted today and we should call the school if we haven't heard by Thursday. Fingers crossed for tomorrow

I'm also finding it really tricky to figure out where the best pastoral care would be.

Best of luck for tomorrow with WHS. I hear really positive things from all the families with DD there. They are definitely busy girls but seem to strike a good balance between f work and play.

an understanding that bright, conscientious girls sometimes need help to do less, rather than more

Totally agree with this. One of the things I like about St Paul's is that there seems to be very little homework (usually two tasks a day or so) and they set a maximum time to be spent on it. They explicitly say that spending a long time on homework is a bad thing and they would consider it a problem not something to be celebrated. DD's friends at Waldegrave and Christ's seem to get at least twice as much homework as she does. Also, they have been amazing at dealing with DD when she gets anxious about things (this happens quite a lot but she is starting to get a bit better as she feels really supported by school).

How did everyone get on with WHS? DD is through to round 2 and I am mightily relieved. Good luck to everyone else hoping for good news in the post.

Well done to your DD Jimjam68! Mine is also through to round 2 and quite excited about it. Good luck to all who are waiting.

Great news Sweetnhappy!

Well done to both your dds! Mine also got through.

I seem to remember something at the 11+ toolkit session about getting to stage 2 meaning at least a waiting list place, but now I can’t find it anywhere in the leaflets they gave us, so I’m thinking perhaps I’ve imagined it. Anyone else remember something along those lines?

No I would definitely remember them saying that, and I don't sadly and I would be surprised if that was the case. They are still yet to be assessed in January and I'm sure they are looking to weed out a proportion at that stage.

Oh and well done to your DD FlumePlume!

Hi, just realised there is already something re WHS on this thread. Just started a new one by mistake as I am new on here.

Just wanted to say that I also read or heard that if you made it to Stage 2 at WHS then you would be guaranteed a waiting list place.

Does anyone know how many sat the exam and how many were invited back?

Re WHS- I had heard that about 800 sat it and that they take about half through to the next stage. There will be around 65 places so I would have thought it very unlikely that they will offer 400 places/WL places?

Nearly 700 sat stage 1, so around 350 invited back for stage 2, possibly less.

Sadly my DD didn't make it through at WHS, we are really disappointed as she had her heart set on going there. It looks like Sutton High have added another 11+ testing day, according to the website, so will give them a call, but hadn't really considered it. Any comments really appreciated.

Sorry to hear that taximummy. What other schools have you applied to? Sut

Oops. Was going to say Sutton High is a lovely school. Personally I am not convinced by the "unprecedented demand" they mention on the website, and I wonder how this will impact on when they will send out offer letters for everyone who sat the exams a couple of weeks ag

I think they will delay sending out the offers until the new batch of assessments are marked. But I think they should be out by 14th Dec

Does ‘unprecedented demand’ mean that they didn’t have enough girls on the first day, or the opposite?

I can’t see why they’d do a second day if they felt they already had enough good candidates. But given the 2007/08 baby boom, I can’t see how they would be lacking applicants, either.

Re WHS, in some of the early info we received through the post it does say “All girls who progress to the second stage will either be offered a place at 11+ or will be put on our waiting list for a place. while this will mean that our waiting list will be longer than in previous years, and while of course there is no guarantee of a place if on the waiting list, we do think this is a fair approach...”

I knew I wasn’t just imagining that!

Ooh interesting, although of course if you are number 250 on a waiting list its pretty meaningless!

taximummy I was just re-reading and realised you were asking about Sutton High. We really liked it when we looked around - the Head was lovely and spoke directly to my dd rather than to me, which I liked. And my dd knows a few girls who go there and like it. They seem like a nurturing place, with plenty of sport and music. The only disadvantage (and it might be an advantage for you) is that it’s quite a small year group. Did you decide to apply for the second sitting of the exam, int he end?

Has anyone got any experience of the PHS interview? I'm hoping to help my DD have some idea of what to expect.