SW London girls independent/grammars thread 2020

[autumnnightsaredrawingin]

Last year, there were two amazing threads which were super helpful about exactly this, so I wanted to start a thread for girls due to start September 2020. If anyone from last year wants to contribute please do!

We have narrowed our choices down to 5, sadly not in the right postcode for Tiffin, and decided not to do the Sutton grammars.

So, she will be doing PHS, WHS, LEH, SHS and Woldingham. Also registered for Emanuel but we may pull that one.

Hi Everyone,
Hope you don't mind me popping up from lurking to ask a question
My DD2 and I are stumbling through
She did a scheme called Westminster Platform for Bright Yr 5's and
we have been recommended to apply for independent schools.
We have only chosen 1 - FHSS as we did visit JAGS but she didn't like it.
She travels to St James Park for State primary and she has also done the language test at Greycoats - Top 15 spot. We meet the Church requirement for Greycoats and she has a Sister in Yr 8.
Banding test for there is tomorrow.

FHSS - testing is in January. My real concern is we are getting her hopes up for going to FH although we know she still has all the testing to do, without a full bursary we are not in the position for her to go if offered.
We seem to be in limbo that I earn to much to qualify for state benefits but we have just enough to survive the month.
We couldn't remortage or anything like that to pay for her to attend.

Greycoats is a good school and I'm sure if she goes there she would do well but I'm now not sure we should even be trying for the scholarship.

Thanks re LEH.

@tiggermummy70 do you mean you’d need a full bursary to send her to FHSS? Or are you hoping for a scholarship? I think if you’re older DD is doing well at Greycoat and your younger daughter likes it and has a definite place and sending her private is going to be a big struggle I honestly wouldn’t try.

Also how does your older DD feel about the prospect of her sister having a private education but not her? Honestly, I’ve heard great things about Greycoat and in your situation that’s probably where I’d send her.

Sorry realised in trying to edit my post I didn't make it very clear.

• Yes we will need full bursary. They automatically consider all for academic scholarship but we are putting in for Drama one as well. which is 5% but she would need a full bursary regardless.

DD1 did well in Yr7 but has lost intrest this year and is struggling a bit she has ADD. The idea of voluntarily doing extra school like her sister has this year made her laugh a lot!
She is bright but linked to her ADD, she has anxiety and self doubt about her own abilities. If you can get her over those she does really well.
It is partially because of this we are considering the options as in back of our minds would she feel more intimidated if her sister is excelling over her in the same school?
They were at different schools for last three years of primary/2nd so being in different schools won't be an issue.

Does anyone know the bursary process - or is there a link to helpful things to know when completing the forms?

We told DD2 we were happy to support her if she wanted to try and do the exams but we are only able to submit for one due to exam costs.
We weren't going to submit but the Platform teachers really recommended that we did.
She also knows that if the bursary is unsucessful she would go to GCH. But she is happy with that.
We know we are quite lucky that she meets the criteria for GCH without the benefit of earning a language space. (We only speak english at home no others).

OP, if you’re applying for a full bursary at FHSS (fantastic school btw), you might as well apply for the same at G&L too? It the same exam (Girls Consortium).

The independent school with the largest bursary programme is Latymer Upper. Over 20% are on some form of bursary there and they’re pushing to extend this. Once in the school, there is a “Horizon Fund” which means that no child will ever miss out on any trip or extra curricular event due to financial circumstances. It is super-competitive to get a place, But maybe worth a try?

Also, both G&L and LU both run Saturday classes to help DC prepare for the exams and understand the process.

Good luck!

Tiggermummy70, it's worth trying for the bursary but don't get your hopes up just in case. Bursaries are usually offered to the top scorers that meet the income criteria and it may only be a partial one. Often there is a home assessment and they will really scrutinise your financial position - be prepared to have at least a years worth of bank statements etc.
Other things to consider on a bursary - will it cover trips, books, uniform and lunches. All of these can really add up.

Socially - how will your child 'fit in'? At secondary, children seem to be much more aware of material things etc. How will your child feel when others are going on multiple exotic trips, have the latest gadgets, can afford to pick opportunities or have connections that enable these? Just a few things to bear in mind.
Greycoats is an excellent school too so you are very lucky to have that as another option.

tiggermummy70
don't let anyone here put you off. Your dd is already on a scheme which is designed to ensure she isn't overlooked and gets every opportunity.

My dcs are at independent secondary after state primary. imo there's far less wealth at the secondary! Very few can afford fees for multiple children without significant sacrifice. Also dcs don't go to each other's houses as much, they tend to meet out and about especially in London, probably different in deepest Surrey.

You are lucky to have Greycoat and can apply to some independents with nothing to lose, surely? Well apart from the registration fee...

tiggermummy70 Some schools waive the registration fee if you are applying for a bursary. It may be too late you for you, but if you are considering any late applications then it’s worth having a look at the form and seeing if there’s a ‘tick here to waive fees while applying for a bursary place’ box. And I’d second Tedd, if the teachers on that scheme recommended the application, then they will genuinely think your dd has a good chance and would really benefit from that type of school.

Having thought about it, actually I’d let her try. Just make sure you’re clear on GCH being an amazing school, so that if she can’t go to the independent school she doesn’t feel too upset. Good luck, she’s obviously really bright and I hope she does well!

On another note, we are anxiously waiting for Woldingham results this week. Would be such a confidence boost for my daughter who after the WHS result is slightly struggling.

Thinking of you @autumnnightsaredrawingin - all fingers crossed for Woldingham! I hope it's good news. We just heard that dd got through to the 2nd round of SPGS, which she's delighted about, and it's a good confidence boost.

tiggermummy - I am always reading on MN about how it is only the top performers who get bursary awards but IME at my DCs schools bursary recipients are often in the bottom groups . This is because the more expensive schools which attract the more affluent often have problems attracting bursary applications. 11+ state school applicants all tend to favour the same few schools which end up with a huge state school intake because people prefer to be with "people like us" as they feel more comfortable. I have no doubt that competition for bursary places at these schools is very fierce but it isn't elsewhere.

I don't know the schools you have mentioned but if they have a mainly prep school intake it could be much easier to get a bursary than MN would have you believe. Please don't be put off by comments from random strangers on a public forum, talk to the school.

@givemesomewineplease, Congrats to your DD ! How exciting that she’s through the first round. Did she find it hard? I’ve heard it’s computer based, I wonder if the girls need to do a lot of practice on Bofa/Atom (or similar sites) to do well?

Meanwhile, Sutton appears to have lost DD’s application 🧐 and are now saying she can’t do the exam in January at the date they had previously given me. I’m a teeny bit stressed! Hopefully they will sort themselves out...

@RevolutionofOurTime - thank you! She did a bit of Bofa for a week or so before to get used to using a computer and to practice NVR as she hadn't done much but honestly she said the test was nothing like anything she had done before! She said it was v hard and the vocab was extremely challenging (she is a great reader so this is usually her strong point). VR was also not like anything she had practised she said. So honestly I'd written it off and didn't think she had passed.

That's frustrating from Sutton! I hope they sort it out and you can agree an exam date.

Thanks @givemesomewineplease! My DD will sit the SPGS CAT in January as they don’t allow girls to sit it overseas (they don’t have a global license for the software they use). I’ve been wondering what we can do to prepare, but I guess there’s not much to do, she’ll just need to try her best. I’m quite envious of you and your DD for having it done and dusted...

I’m hopeful Sutton will sort itself out. In their defence, they are quite apologetic.

@RevolutionofOurTime so will your dd sit the computer test before 6th and then only do the proper exam if she passes or will she do it all together? My dd is coming from a state school and has never done a CAT test before and we had no idea how to prepare her so the whole thing was completely new to her. If your dd has done CATs before it probably won't seem so alien to her. She said it wasn't like Bofa. So it seems that it really isn't something that can be prepared for except for reading etc. Good luck to your dd - I'm sure she'll be great. Which other schools is she sitting in Jan?

She is doing the CAT on the 9th, so after the papers on the 6th. This is the process that SPGS has put in place for all overseas applicants (I think they have 10-15 a year). They also interview overseas girls during that week so the whole process is done in one go.

DD also has never done a CAT, so the whole thing will be completely new to us too. In a way I’m glad it’s not like Bofa or Atom, as we’ve not done any of that.

She’s a keen reader, which gives me some hope.

We’re also doing WHS, SHS, LEH, PHS. Which sounds like way too much if I’m honest.

cake - I don’t think that’s true about bursary pupils ending up in the “bottom groups.” Not at all! I’d say the tendency is for them to outperform the average, especially when they join at 6th Form.

DD did the computer SPGS last year and I really don’t think there’s much they can do to prepare. She said she’d never seen the format or question style in her life and shed fine some BOGA at school. Also, it’s an adaptive test, I believe, so if you get a question type right it gets harder and vice versa. So all come out having answered different questions. I believe out of about 900 they invite about 500 back for the exam - so well done to those who have got this far! Then they interview 200 ish for about 100 places. However, it does seem that it’s not as “open” as you may think as every year a high proportion join from Bute House and also Faulkner House which seem to be unofficial feeder preps.

she’d done some BOFA *

Thanks @cosima1, that’s really helpful

autumn- I just also wanted to say that last year at DD’s, I know two girls got into LEH who didn’t get into WHS or KGS. My DD got into all the ones she did except LU as she got mixed up on the day. She came out and said, “I’ve messed that one up, the chair was creaking and I got in a flap with the maths.” All the other exams she came bouncing out. It happens! These exams are far from an exact science. Sometimes they just respond better to certain formats. They only need one school. So please don’t be at all put off going for LEH and good luck for Woldingham!

@cosima1 thanks so much. That’s really hugely encouraging. I think that’s exactly that, she totally panicked at WHS and didn’t get her timings right at all. She came out quite upset whereas at Woldingham she came out happy (although we obviously don’t know the result of that one yet!). We’ve also just found out she’s been shortlisted for one of the sports scholarships at PHS which has given her a HUGE boost as it’s the school we both really want, and maths and English are her strong points, unlike reasoning, so it’s given her extra motivation to work hard! Same for SHS which we also love! That’s really helpful re LEH offers with no WHS offer- we’ll definitely let her try then. Thank you!

@RevolutionofOurTime how frustrating re Sutton! I think we are doing pretty much all the same schools as you with only a couple of differences...

@givemesomewineplease huge congratulations to your daughter getting though to the second round of SPGS! Amazing news.

@autumnnightsaredrawingin - fantastic news about shortlisting for the sports scholarship at PHS - they have v high standards so that's really impressive. Wishing her all the best of luck for that. Some exams will play to their strengths and others not so much. WHS is such a weird exam, that I would honestly put it behind you both and forget it. I don't think it will have any bearing on how she does in the other exams.

@RevolutionofOurTime - will be seeing you at LEH and PHS as well then! What a week !

Fyi, I had thought the SPGS computer test would be adaptive as @cosima1 suggested, but actually the letter clearly stated that it wouldn't.

Well maybe the teacher on the open day told me the wrong thing then. Apologies if so. DD did do the exam with 2 others from her school and they all seemed to have had different questions. But it’s all a bit of a mystery. Which is probably for the best! You can’t prepare for the G&L exam either which I think is great.
Btw, DD did interviews for PHS, G&L, FHSS and SPGS last year so happy to help with any info if I can. She didn’t sit Wimbledon, SHS or LEH though as they’re too far. I also have DC at LU if I can help there.

cosima - I can assure you that at both of my DS's schools there are/were bursary recipients in the bottom sets. They are both very presigious expensive schools, one boarding and one London day, and both attract far less applications from state school applicants than other schools probably because they are seen as expensive and their bursary schemes are not as well known as those like the Whitgift foundation which are well advertised and very competitive.