Alleyn's 11+ 2019

[Vargas]

I have seen threads for Whitgift/Trinity, Dulwich College and others but I haven't seen much about Alleyn's.

My dd sat the exam last Tuesday. She found it "not too bad" but definitely got one of the later Maths questions wrong.

Just wondering if anyone else on MN waiting to hear about interviews?

There are more academic scholarships available this year as the 13+ process has ended and the school has stated that the scholarships previously reserved for 13+ will now be awarded at 11+.

So quite possible that all 38 received something. IME they only turn down scholarship candidates who effectively demonstrate that they don't want Alleyns.

Hi
We are in a lovely position of having an offer from Dulwich College and a Scholarship Offer from Alleyns - can't decide which school would be best. DS open to either single sex or co-ed. Liked both schools. Any advice greatly appreciated

Beaky001 We were in a similar position (no scholarship though) and chose DC. The comparison from our perspective was:-

Alleyns is a fab school. It's smaller and co-ed. For our ds this was a drawback as it meant he would be part of a cohort of 60 boys rather than 120 (and then 200) boys. The larger group has meant that a larger range of sports are played and that more teams are fielded. As a result our non sporty ds has happily played D team rugby, E team football and F team cricket!

Academically, Alleyns does better in the league tables. But we wondered if that was driven by the fact it is coed? Girls at that age are generally more studious and we wondered if our ds might end up
middle of the pack result-wise which might be demotivating. At DC he is doing well (placed in a scholars class despite not having a scholarship himself) and has consistently been in the top quartile which has done his confidence a lot of good.

Finally, we loved Joe Spence! Out of all the heads we saw at all the open days, he was the most impressive and has continued to prove himself a dynamic and inspirational leader. Mr Tanna (head of lower school) is similarly fabulous. Very driven and genuinely interested in each boy's progress.

DC offer cross curricular weeks from Y7 where the boys attend lectures, and the focus on learning is very broad with the exams quite a background thing. The Y8 Spanish course ended with a non curricular section on South American history for example.

DS has found his niche. He is loyal to his school, his house and his friends. His sister is at Alleyns, so I'm not blindly biased. Horses for courses I guess?

DarlingOscar - thanks for your post. I was just wondering how your DD finds Alleyns? We are trying to decide between jags and Alleyns for our DD.

As our DD is a shy, quiet bookworm, I almost wonder if she would fit in better at jags but I prefer co-Ed schools.

She doesn’t seem to have a preference for one over the other.

Any thoughts on what type of girl would thrive at Alleyns would be most welcome. Many thanks.

DarlingOscar - thank you for your message
My DS is very sporty so would be happy at either school I think as there seems lots of sport on offer at both schools. Obviously one does Rugby and the other doesn't. He would be an A Team boy most probably
One concern was the amount of children at Year 9, with DC having over 200 and Alleyns only 130 - do the children just adapt to the numbers? I was also very impressed with Dr Spence but wonder how long he will stay on post 400 Anniversary

Beaky - Y9 was a v smooth transition. They went from 6 classes to 10 I think, and ds's Lower School class was split fairly evenly into 3 so they all transitioned with a gang of their friends. It's a massive campus so even with 200 it feels spacious. The Lower School Campus is quite separate from the rest of the school - rather than just being a separate building like at Alleyns.

If your ds is sporty, then I do think DC offers more choices, especially from Y9 when fencing/rowing etc become real options.

Dr Spence - good point - no idea! Hopefully long enough to see ds through...

89fomveg - we had the same JAGs/Alleyns dilemma for dd. We revisited both schools on the same day a couple of weeks after the offers came through. Having not had a preference, it was a really useful final insight into the culture of both schools. The registrars were both happy to fit us in.

I think bookworms/alpha kids/sporty kids/all rounders can flourish at any of these schools. There are no bad choices. DD seems to have a good mix of personality types in her class.

For us, Alleyns felt like the right fit because we were concerned how her perfectionist tendencies would sit in an all girl environment. Alleyns just felt more buzzy throughout the process.

DC got scholarship at Alleyn's and it does appear all schools in Dulwich are in close competition with each-other. Schools have strong points in one way or the other over each other. thoroughly confusing for parents.
Based on my DC's interest i will go for Alleyn's as Maths seem to be preferred subject by many kids (highest proportion opt for Maths last year 31/45 scored A) from data available from gov.uk v/s JAGs 23 took Advanced Mathematics FSMQ. Computing is iGCSE than full GCSE making scoring bit more assignment driven .
Is anyone considering relocating to Dulwich or commuting?

MTRT - congrats to your DD! Interesting re the maths - are these one year stats for the further maths A level? Guess the JAGs sixth form is a lot smaller?

Not sure any importance should be placed on current iGCSE/GCSE courses as it may well change in the next 5 years?

Hi 89fomveg, am an ex-Jags girl who was also a quiet bookworm. I really flourished there - was supported & encouraged to achieve things I wouldn’t have otherwise, and made great friends.

Happy to hear girls currently there say the same, and that the Head is putting renewed emphasis on activities with DC. Hoping to send my own DD there in the future. Good luck with your choice.

Hi, I have been following this thread with great interest. Congrats to all the DC who bagged offers and scholarships!!
Our situation is slightly less successful as DD is on the waiting list. (still very proud of her as she spends only half her school time on British curriculum, and in a state school and we're not an English speaking home). She's really keen on Alleyn's and is pretty disappointed.
Any idea experience on chances of eventually having a place? Any experiences / knowledge from past years?
No chance to have our headteacher call to support her application. I send a couple of emails and DD wrote a letter with her best writing to confirm that we'd accept a place at Alleyn's immediately. But I'm worried of boosting her hopes, that might be followed by bitter disappointment.
I found a past thread on the topic, but there's no testimony of outcome or first hand experience. Any advice or knowledge is welcome! thanks!

Hi
I'm not sure how many are on the waiting list and how it works etc but having spoke to the Lower School this morning they are taking a slightly higher number of children this year due to not taking any in Year 9 in the future. Of the parents at the prospective on morning today many had kids with multiple offers so there will obviously be some movement. The Head encouraged parents to try and make a decision ASAP. Not sure it helps at all but there will be some movement.

Probably completely unhelpful but a friend's daughter got in from waiting list 5 years ago (and is very happy at the school), her second dd didn't get through and is happily ensonced at JAGs. Parents from last year or 2 tell me that Alleyn's didn't go to waiting list, but not sure how they know.

There is one child at our primary school very keen get in from waiting list this year, and at least one child with offer who is undecided between Alleyn's and JAGs

birkenstock - I think you have done all you can do, they will hopefully be on the phone to you soon once they start getting a flood of replies!

Thank you for your responses Beaky001 and Vargas... Time can feel so slow while waiting sitting on one's hands.
At least I've learned a LOT about 11+ processes and schools this year.

@DarlingOscar - Data is available for GCSE and A level from gov.uk website year wise, if interested download ks4underlying data, I looked up last 2 years to derive statisical mean or euclidean distance from mean for deviation, etc. they give fair view of every schools but i would caution on sole use, they are statistical pointers, important is every child's intrinsic bearing towards particular topics. these are foundational years for our kids, surely with technology advancements, specialisation and career options will evolve.

@MTRT to be honest I would never use exam results as even part of my decision process. We selected schools we liked for our kids - some were very high achieving, others less so. We then made our choices made on gut feel.

Even as statistical pointers, I don't feel that historic public exam results has much bearing on where my kids will thrive.

Each to their own eh?

I would actually be very interested in seeing the exam results split for boys/girls in coed schools. I wonder if equal numbers do Sciences, for example.

Also, I find league tables useful for determining which subjects the schools encourage, for example if very few children do Art A level it would make me question a school's commitment to Art as a subject.

As for absolute position in a league table, I think that has far less value, at least for me!

birkenstok, I am sure that the waiting list will move soon. Alleyn's send out a reminder email today for parents who might have made decision and we unfortunately have to decline the offer as DS prefers all boy school. So, Good luck to you.

Thank you @MumOfLL for your kind words, much appreciated... We're waiting patiently :) I wish your DS all the best in his future school!

Child from DD's school was offered a place from the Alleyn's WL yesterday. Hope those of you on the WL also get a call soon.

That's great news dinosaur, I know someone who is desperate for a place, hopefully they will get good news too.

Thanks dinosaur! We haven't heard anything here but it m means WL is moving a bit ..for some at least. Hey ho...

Another offer from the WL today from Alleyn's.

Thank you dinosaurinmybelly, you keep my hopes up! Your message made me call them to have a feel of what to expect, and while there's no offer at this point for us, the lovely registrar said DD is "well placed" on their non-existent ranking list...
So still a spark of hope for future weeks or months... sigh. Can I ask if the offers were for boys or girls? (Alleyn's has a 50/50 intake rule)

Hoping you have good news soon birkenstok. Both were boys.