Hello
My DD got offered a place on national offers day and although we went to the open day last year I still haven’t got much of a feel for the school.
I’ve seen some posts about it on here and there are mixed reviews... and the mental health one is worrying.
I prob sound a bit silly but DD sat it as a total punt because she wanted to. At the open day she liked it but didn’t really get a feel for what life at Tiffin might be like.
She did a few practice papers in the half term before the first exam and a few in the summer holidays .. maybe a couple a week.
She also sat the Sutton paper and passed the first stage but not the second, missed it by 2 points on English, so Tiffin was a surprise.
I didn’t really look into it before hand as it seems to do very well on league tables, but we’ve received a welcome pack so I thought I should look into it. That was sent by email but in the post we received a thing requesting DIrect Debit details to contribute to the school. It’s a shame the pack didn’t come in the post too but that’s a minor thing.
DD is also starting to ask me about it and keeps asking if we can go and see it and if we can find out where she came in the results ... but unfortunately we can’t. So can those with experience of the school maybe help with the following please?
- why does it have a hothouse reputation? And what does this mean? And if DD hasn’t been tutored does this mean she might be out of her depth there?
- I have read that there is little homework so why do some people refer to it is being high pressured? In what sense?
- co curricular clubs. The co curricular offering is impressive and varied and DD is keen on quite a few but I read on here that some are run by older girls who aren’t always available, so is that true? How many clubs a week run or are cancelled ?
- how do the school manage allergies? We have a few to deal with so anyone with experience of this side of things? Tiffin won’t talk to me about this yet but hoping they have experience of others girls with this.
- another thing I’ve read is that lessons move at a fair pace. So if a girl doesn’t understand something, are girls encouraged or comfortable with saying so? Or is this a reason I keep seeing tutoring throughout being mentioned?
- how do the school deal with issues that have come up... say bullying? The mental health thread was a worrying read so interested in the pastoral care.
- is the financial contribution normal? If you contribute the minimum is this frowned upon? It says some contribute more so is there an expectation to do so?
- do girls get onto the first bus that comes along.. going towards kingston after school? Or do they have to wait because they get full up quickly? DD tends to wait at the back of queues as she doesn’t like to be in a scrum situation 😬
- where do girls eat packed lunches? In wet weather?
DD is a gentle soul and enjoys learning but can be a bit quirky and random so I’m hoping she will fit in ok and thrive.
For anyone wondering why I haven’t done this sooner, I’ve had a tough couple of years with my own mental health so haven’t spent more time on this and feel very guilty that I’m as clueless as I am. But I am trying to understand more about this now, so I can help DD prepare for life at senior school so any hints and tips would be appreciated but mostly I just want an awareness of these things as I’ve read about them on here and on the eleven plus forum. I haven’t posted there as there seems to be one or two regular posters seem to manage the responses and it feels quite evangelical if that makes sense😬
I’m not really close to anyone at DD current school and most of her friends are going to other schools and I don’t really have anyone in real life I can ask about this so hoping for some help here. I’m a long time lurker but have joined today To ask for your experience.
Thank you