SW London / Surrey 11+ Jan 2020

[somekindofmagic]

Anyone who would like to join in general chat about the imminent exams? Somewhere to let off some steam out of earshot of DC!

@jane128 yes we are also doing Emanuel tomorrow. It’s DS’s last one. I think I was so focussed on getting him through the exam stage I hadn’t anticipated how annoying the waiting for news would be! Ugh. Can’t wait until it’s over! Good luck to all!

Thanks @studentandparent for your response :) This whole process has been so emotional and exhausting! Grateful to have an interview but quite worried about it. I really feel for everyone going through this process as it is certainly not easy on the kids or parents!

@GetoffmyUnicorn from what I understand either you get a general interview or a targeted interview. Apparently you can breath easy if you get a general interview as your child did well in all aspects of the exam. If you get a Math or English interview your child did well in one area but not in the other. In our case dd did not complete the English section due to timing but I guess did well enough on the rest of it?

Anyone heard positive or negative from Kings yet?

@fatherofoneboy there is a separate thread here on Kings where its thought 21st for emails.

@Sammy133 thank you! Ours just said an interview, so I guess that means general. Your dd must have done really well on the rest, so fingers crossed x

Thanks a lot @ripple11 .

This whole process seems overly brutal for my DS, he's so young

Does anyone know any state-ed DCs successful so far who haven’t been tutored? I know of maths and writing prize winning book lovers who are well ahead of years and failing to get through to surprise of schools. Interested for DC:
Do state-ed kids have to be tutored to learn tricks to get in even if T&G?
do tutored kids stay tutored throughout secondary?
Any bad experiences of tutored kids at secondary?
For bright DC do I tutor or best state-Ed secondary?

My 2 DS both at Hampton from a state primary and only saw someone to help with VR and NVR as wouldn’t do it with me. Absolutely no need in my view so long as DC bright, wants to learn and at top of class in state primary. No need also to tutor beyond into secondary - whole point of the 11- plus (arduous tho it is) is for schools to use their experience and find children right fit for the school. Can’t stress enough the need for parents and DC to go with gut feel and proximity. Do not be swayed by league tables! We are lucky and live in an area with really great schools (state and indie) Good luck all!

Thx. Would love to know for this year. V helpful about NVR and VR needing tutoring.

VR and NVR not covered in state primary but there are plenty of books and tests available

Hello @ZebrABC.... My DC is state primary and has received 2 interview invites so far of the 3 exams taken. DC has always sat in top 5 in class but was tutored for last 18 months... only 1 hour a week plus paper practice. We chose to tutor so as to level the playing field as such, i.e. for exam technique/working to speed and understanding the formatting of questions more than anything. DC was not going to get this particular facet in (good) state primary.
If I thought DC was going to need tutoring throughout secondary I would not have put them in for independent school exams.
From my experience some form of tutoring is required for the 11+ exams... even if that is just with parents at home.
You can see from this forum how competitive the whole thing is and the sheer numbers sitting each exam can make it feel overwhelming but I’m happy that we did all we could to prepare our bright DC for the exams.

Hope that helps.

In my experience, other than for outlying genius children, some form of preparation is needed for state primary children. In maths for example, they may not have covered everything they need so early in year 6. They won't have typically been exposed to tricky enough wordy maths problems, nor the harder inferential questions. And reasoning practice is a must to familiarise with the types of questions and way of thinking needed (I did my first ever reasoning type paper in my final year of uni for a job application and I absolutely bombed it having never seen the like before).

If your children will work with you, then you can do it yourself, but many children respond better to a tutor!

Really helpful. Our decision is (great) state-ed secondary or trying (great) 11+. Was hoping not to tutor but all the high achieving state-ed we know this year only successful if tutored. So will follow news on thread and decide a) keep happy with state (and avoid all this) or b) tutor if do try 11+... Strange high achievers not getting in this year tho and shows how tough it is. Also are all successful prep Sch DCs 11+ tutored? I know only tutored prep sch DCs, not all successful..

Also discovered some successful DCs are not in top groups in state and do catch-up classes in school - and DCs in same classes in top groups aren’t being successful.. many of the top group kids have already chosen local state as preferred class. Does that mean our state are full of great minds and private better for those needing extra help? I know bright kids go to both. Still hoping to hear of successes in 2020 in 11+ who haven’t been tutored.

Does anyone know when we should hear from either Guildford HS or Surbiton HS?

We heard from GHS today. Surbiton is by end of Jan.

X

Did anyone do Ibstock today? How did they find the exam?

Didn't do Ibstock but Emanuel was crazy numbers yesterday and it was the reserve day. I heard well over 1,500 this year 🙄 so I'm not hopeful.

Where did you hear that @jane128?

@studentandparent - from a number of other parents....so no idea whether that's remotely in the ball-park but my heart sank....

@jane128, I chatted with the Head of Middle school on the main day of exams and she told me there were 900 children sitting that day, with 150 coming for the reserve day. She also said that Emanuel is often not people’s first choice, so not to feel disheartened.

That's crazy kgs was 800 and only offer 100 places completely money making machine ... it's fair really

Thank you @studentandparent that makes me feel a little bit better....though DS said it didn't go too well.

DS sat Ibstock and said the maths was hard and long and was disappointed there was no creative writing task as we had done a lot of prep for that