As the Tiffin results day looms, a second 2019 SW London grammars and indies thread

[FlumePlume]

A new thread to avoid the doomsday scenario of running out of posts as envelopes are opened on Friday, waiting lists move (or don’t) and e-mails are opened on 1 March.

[Bool]

Ps we got an offer for WHS so is not a grumble. Am genuinely just in analysis mode to decide what to do.

[Sweetnhappy1]

Bool DD isn't an extrovert but is a bit quirky and quite comfortable with being like this. She says she spoke to someone in the break about what she was reading but she may have initiated this conversation herself, she can do things like that. Honestly, I still have no idea what they were looking for. Best of luck with making your decision xxx

[littlemisslucky2]

Bool- do the WHS junior girls get a guaranteed place anyway? My friend has a dd there & was pretty certain a few months back she would be in. Do the junior girls still take part in round 2? Seems a bit odd if they do as they know each other so an advantage. Narrows down the amount of places on offer to other candidates too.

[AnotherYearOfChaos]

Great news @Bool - but crumbs your post was late!!!! indeed!!

WHS seems to thrown up lots of funnies this year!

Now for the revisits for offer holders.

Will be so glad when this is all over.

Good luck and wishing you lots of patience to those waiting for March 1st!

[Bool]

I think they do get a guaranteed place yes (unless they are politely asked to leave at some point in the juniors) but this is only hearsay so I may be wrong. I have no idea if they are ‘reassessed’ or how honestly.

[1ndig0]

DD has been adamant since the open day that she wanted G&L and now today has a place with 4 of her best friends. I think it will be a good fit for her - not too pushy, kind atmosphere, but still 98% A-A* at GCSE so they must be going something right! Plus she can walk there. This DD is one that knows her own mind. She’s my youngest and if Izvestia learned anything with the older ones, it’s that the most important thing for teens these days is good friends and good mental health. So looks like we’ll be releasing PHS and SPGS which she wasn’t so keen on for whatever reason, plus two others not mentioned on here. Anyway, getting on a plane and the hell out of here now! Well done to everyone, sounds like they’ve all done brilliantly. Don’t worry too much about the differences between this school and that - go with your gut feelings. They are all amazing schools. Happy half term!

[whycantwegoonasthree]

I didn't mean to cast shade on WHS – and I too LOVED the head - I thought she was among the most inspiring we saw. I'm also an ex GDST girl, and its our closest school - I really wanted it to be the one for us. I've no axe to grind, in other words...

I just meant that lots of girls, who are local and so might be expected to apply, didn't – simply because they couldn't get their heads around the entry requirements, and that seems a shame.

For us I felt we'd spend time and energy entering into a process that we didn't understand, with seemingly arbitrary assessment processes that could be affected by a number of elements beyond our control, and with no clear idea of what they were looking for from it.

And so what started as my top choice we ended up not even applying for, because it just felt like a risk not worth taking. It felt like we'd be likely to be setting DD up for a fall.

The no interview things was what really nailed it - as it happens my DD is quite extrovert, but as an introvert myself I did feel that the quieter girls, and those who didn't enjoy group work, would be disadvantaged, and I really didn't like that. I think it's good to have a mix of personalities - even if you're part of any dominant trait. And ugh - the tyranny of group work - everything is about blasted group work these days.

Why would you not interview girls before offering a place, talk to them properly, really find out what makes them tick?

It just seemed really bizarre... I guess there must be method in their madness - but they maybe need to communicate it better... Talk about what they're looking for in a WHS girl, so people had an idea of whether it would be right for them.

That said, I'm sure they're not short of candidates...

Surbiton didn't interview either - just asked the girls to write a personal statement. I find that just SO odd...

[sw19007]

DD tells me the WHS do sit the same tests but they already know at that point if they've got a place- same as PHS. I'm not sure if they do the 'carousel' morning.
Rest assured there are definitely quieter, more introverted girls at WHS. There's a real mix.
We live very near PHS but didn't apply as we just didn't feel it was the right fit and I know lots of Putney girls who didn't apply. I think you get a feel for a place and it all works out in the end.
Well done all! I lurk and name change a bit so have been following you all.

[Jimjam68]

My DD is an introvert, very reserved and told me she was pretty quiet on the WHS assessment day (but felt she did well on the parts that didn’t require her to speak!). I still maintain the offers are mainly based on the test results and the assessment day was to mainly rule out (or in) anomalies. I can’t see why local girls wouldn’t apply based on confusion over what they were looking for. Why wouldn’t you still have a punt if that was your local school?

[PLD11]

@littlemisslucky2, If you give LEH a call, they have something similar to an open morning on the 27th Feb ...

[PLD11]

Big congrats to everyone who got offers today. I was almost 100% sure we were going to send out DD to LEH, but now we've also had an offer from G&L ...so now completely confused and don't know which one to go for !

[Bool]

From all the children who have multiple offers (do you think they are all doing more schools) - it seems like waiting lists are going to move quite substantially.

[whycantwegoonasthree]

WE didn't take a punt because we felt that it was exactly that – a punt, and one we couldn't quantify.

There are lots of school to apply for, we didn't want DD doing a whole raft of exams, so we were keen only to apply for ones where we felt she had a decent chance of getting – a couple we felt were more easily within her reach and a couple that were a stretch. (Within sensible distance from her homes...)

We found it impossible to tell what WHS were looking for, and so impossible to know whether DD would have a chance, so we didn't enter in the end.

(The only other contributory factor was the art rooms!)

[littlemisslucky2]

Thanks PLD re LEH open day on 27th Feb. That happens to be the same date we had the Surbiton open day but I’ll ring them anyway.

[Sweetnhappy1]

All of the schools were a 'punt ' for us. We had literally no idea what interviewers were looking for and none of the schools published past papers or a syllabus so even the preparation for the English and Maths exams were total guess work. I'm not really understanding the difference? Or is this a state school vs prep school issue? Most of us from state schools don't have any inside knowledge on what to prepare (unless you have a really experienced tutor I guess).

[sw19007]

Sweetnhappy- agreeing with you again! We were state school and had zero guidance other than knowing who went where in past years. Most kids who were considering private sat a minimum of 4 exams and all were unknown quantities so were all a punt. I know the prep schools around here put a lot of pressure on parents to apply where they think they will get an offer so they can put it on their info. The tutor we used said that whs has been an unknown quantity for a number if years and said some of the prep schools don't like their children applying there as it is harder to gauge whether they'll get in. I guess it must be similar at the consortium schools now as haven't they changed their process?

[Natalia175]

Congats to all
About WHS, my DD got an offer and we went on the decider tour. The head was explaining all 260 girls who got into second round were academically capable for them and they did test math a bit. During the creative day they were looking to understand how girls work together as this is how they learn ( often from each other in groups). They were looking how for a example a girl who knew the answer straight away interacted with others who were still looking for an answer. My DD is not a natural leader and more on a quite side, but they did say they did not want 100 leaders. My DD really enjoyed the assesment, she was in a state school and we did not have to do additional VR and NVR training apart what she did for Wansworth test anyway, so I did not find process confusing. We have a friend in year 6 in WHS and ftom what I know all 40 girls out of 50 who were offered a place last December going to year 7. So we are very happy and think it is good that schools have different criteria so there is a school for all at the end.

[Jimjam68]

That’s really interesting Natalia, thanks. From memory WHS did say what they testing on the assessment day, e.g creativity, numeracy, teachability etc. I’m not sure it’s any more subjective than interviews and a stream of girls talking about what book they are reading, and what grade piano they are at!

[FlumePlume]

Congratulations, all! And especially Bool and 1ndig0, whose stories I’ve been following for a while.

In terms of WHS, it was our no-brainer as we live nearby, plus I think the Head is great and the girls seem lovely. I do find it hard to work out what they’re looking for - the vibe I got looking around was quite SPGS (which is partly why I liked it), but that’s clearly not what their assessment is aimed at finding, given their offers.

Patience What you said up-thread was lovely I’m glad my own stress-outlet was useful for you, too.

[whycantwegoonasthree]

For what it's worth two of the schools we sat for made past papers available on their website - KGS and St John's. Very open and straightforward.

And I just found "exam plus interview' fairly straightforward to get my head around - but maybe I'm just old-fashioned. But 'find out if they're academically able, then talk to them to see if they're a good fit for the school' seems a very straightforward way of going about things...

I suppose there is something about trying to gauge creativity, but I'm not sure how you'd do that, realistically, or if conflating it with 'works well in a group' is the way to go. The majority of the most creative people I know don't work well in groups at all... Where do the solitary, deep thinkers go to learn nowadays?

"I know the prep schools around here put a lot of pressure on parents to apply where they think they will get an offer so they can put it on their info."

None of the schools I know of (and certainly not ours) discouraged girls from applying on this basis. Why would they?

There were frank discussions with teachers about anything that might be vastly out of reach, but they're just putting the offers on their 'info' so they're not vested in discouraging marginally risky applications. If they don;t get in it's no skin off the schools nose - they're not publishing 'places our girls applied but got rejected from'... Ensuring parents are realistic in their ambitions and don't sell their daughters a pup is surely part of their job...

Anyway, it's moot for us, it's a great school no doubt, and clearly the girls there are happy.

I'm just flummoxed by their entrance process. It's possible they're doing something very groundbreaking, but if so then they need to communicate it better than they have IMHO. Because I did a lot of research, am relatively bright, and went to three open days there, and I still had no idea what they were looking for, and whether it was what my daughter had.

[PLD11]

@littlemisslucky2 We had the same problem, I was going to take my DD back to see Surbiton on the 27/2, but at the end we decided to email them and release her place. As lovely as Surbiton is, the academic level of LEH is higher, specially when it comes to A'levels.
Good luck making a decision!

[Bool]

@Flume - hope you are having a 🍷. How was your DD? Delighted I bet!

[FlumePlume]

And thanks for all the lovely congratulations - miniFlume (she is quite mini, tbh!) is over the moon.

I think I see what whycant is getting at with WHS - it’s not predictable which makes it hard to slot it into the categories of ‘aspirational’, ‘should get’ and ‘banker’. So either you have to have it as an extra wild card, or avoid it because you don’t want to do too many exams. I would be a bit wary of doing the same next time around (only three indie applications, one of them WHS) for that reason. It doesn’t leave much room for things to go wrong on the day at the ‘banker’ school.