Upcoming girls’ independent SW London schools 11+ exams

[Oceane11plus]

Are there any parents on this board with DDs due to sit independent school exams in January? If so where do you stand in terms of shortlisting schools, revisions etc Are you planning to do any work over the summer?

We are still in the process of fine tuning the list of schools... We will probably end up applying to about 4/5 schools, of which 2 are in the same consortium which means 3/4 exams max.
As far as I am aware, our prep has not recommended any specific revisions for the summer, but I was still planning to make her write some maths, English and VR/NVR past papers, as 2 months without doing anything seems too much so close to the exams. I was thinking of making her do one paper a week in each subject, on top of reading and boosting her vocabulary, with two weeks in August without any paper/formal work.

Any tips on what we should be doing at this stage and over summer holidays, notably from parents with past experience, would be super useful!

Thank you

@Iateallthesmarties894
Big hugs you your DD, I was just thinking the same, I doubt the interviewers know the details of every single book. I suspect they are looking at more how she comes across, her passion and ability to articulate herself properly. From your post, it seems like she has that covered. Wishing her the best. Lots of TLC for her today, I think

@warmandco3y thank-you! She was definitely enthusiastic so I hope that will go in her favour. They are still so young so it seems quite cruel to put them through all this stress.

@Iateallthesmarties894 (I'm eating the kids' Christmas tube of smarties as I type!) I echo exactly what has been said already - there is no way the interviewers would have picked up on the mix up. They would have simply been looking out for and heard genuine passion - you can't fake that.
I'm very nervous about interviews now we are reaching that stage and mentioned this to someone who recounted a conversation they'd had with the headmaster of a selective secondary who'd said all 11+ interviews go badly and there is no such thing as a successful interview at that age. They are not expected to behave and answer like grown ups and it is a little bit telling (not in a positive way) if they do.
I found this immensely reassuring to hear

I feel for all of us on this site - all these chops and changes is so unsettling for the girls. One of my DDs schools cancelled their exam at the start of the week and have now replaced it with a 30 minute writing exercise....so all practice that DD has done with comprehensions and maths papers will not be shown which is heartbreaking, especially as math is her strength. They have told us that they will take into consideration all the reports from our schools but DD is at a state school and I am not sure how much information they will provide to support her. To make matter worse I think the piece of writing (invigilates remotely) is supposed to be done on a computer so typed up - I have no idea if DD can type properly beyond the abbreviations she uses on her chats with friends!! I am not sure a pre test should be the time to test a 10 year olds typing ability? Have any other schools required DCs to type (stories as opposed to one word or multiple choice answers)? Not sure whether to laugh or cry!!!

@ProfessorRadcliffeEmerson Been thinking of you today. Did DD make it through first round for interview / next stage at CLSG? I know you said she didn’t feel she did so well in the first test...so have had fingers crossed.

@ProfessorRadcliffeEmerson just realised you may have changed your username? Are you now @DrRamsesEmerson?? In which case it all clicks with your earlier post under latter username ties up with former! In which case sorry, ignore last msg

Sorry, I namechanged and didn't change back to post on this thread! Sadly DD missed out on CLSG, but I'm not too despondent; she didn't think it had gone well, and in one way it's nice to know that she's able to assess her own performance. She was much more positive about the ISEB and got the interview at LU.

How did you get on with CLSG today @Pantomine? Hope you had some good news

@Stircrazyschoolmum I just remembered that year City made press - if I recall correctly was something like offer holders not accepting quickly enough and was in their T&C due to oversubscription. Something as such.

the dreaded exploding offers
I'm wondering if those might feature this year or whether the wait lists will come into play much more heavily than before

Oooo best of luck to all of you. We went through all this 2 years ago (DD) and 3 years ago (DS). This year looks even more stressful with this awful virus. Virtual hugs to all the kids.

Thank you for your support @Blessex where did your DD end up and how is she finding it?

DD went to PHS. She is also quite an introverted girl @PatoPato I saw you mention this up thread. I was also super nervous PHS would be full of lots of confident extroverts. She absolutely loves it. Couldn’t be happier. She has found a lovely group
of quieter friends. Good luck all. It is horribly stressful but it tends to settle and work out in the end

@MumsRule20 I think you are the only one on this thread that it impacts but apparently Emanuel have completely messed up the exam today.. the maths crashed and they were given an extension to 15.00 to do the English and VR without an invigilator!

@Blessex that’s really good to hear. PHS is one of our favourites and I’ll be so sad if we don’t get to interview.

So this might be a controversial question, but here goes....To what extent with the school your DD ends up in be based on her choice, versus your choice? I’m talking about those who will luckily hold more than one offer. I’m asking because DD has her heart set on a school, but mainly due to facilities, where her friends have said they want to go etc. in the end I’m thinking it will be my choice (single parent) and I just hope we agree. Girls seem to make choices based on superficial things - where their friends are going I’d think is the main one, but we all know you make new friends quickly at secondary school. Just after done opinions really as I think i will know what’s best for her, but wondered how much ‘say’ you will give DD. For example, the school Dd loved is not one of the ‘top’ schools. If she got an offer at one of those, I think we might disagree!

@Corblimbea , having been through this with a ds and dd over the past few years I would say until you have the offer letters in front of you it's hard to make a decision but then often it's a gut decision that you all agree on. My dd got into her "stretch" school and we never thought she would get a straight offer (not Waiting list) so the feeling of joy was overwhelming.
When you have lots of offers if often comes down to journey times, cost of school coach and sports, ie no hockey at LEH, no rugby at KGS, no swimming at SHS etc.

@Stircrazyschoolmum thanks so much for letting me know. OMG 😳 what a nightmare. How awful for those. So did they not do the maths? And how much longer did it take for the English and VR. No invigilator too! Totally flummoxed. Doesn’t bode well. Such a long test to run smooth for a late switch to online. What are your thoughts?

@Corblimbea I think it’s a really interesting question (and a nice distraction from the waiting game!) Due to lockdown Im the only one in our family that’s seen all our schools. DD and DH have seen only 2. DH has really liked one ‘online’ but was surprised (and disappointed) at how cramped the site was when we did a drive by.

We are state so with the exception of a couple, DD will be the only one or one of very few to go.

I’m holding out for offers.. which may well make the choice for us! One advantage of DD not having seen them is she doesn’t really have a favourite, she just wants one to want her!

@MumsRule20 Our WhatsApp threads are going mad over it!! Hard to get a true sense of what happened right now.. I’ve seen a suggestion that only one ‘room’ was impacted and another that all exams were stopped. It crashed mid morning and initially invigilator said exams would have to be completed in another date but then the school emailed and told candidates to continue with a deadline to hand in at 15.00.

Parents of those impacted are spitting as how do you prove no cheating? Parents sitting next week also deeply uneasy as firstly exam could revert to paper and secondly how to ensure a fair process and level playing field?

@Corblimbea I personally think, one can do all the right checks and research and hone in on intuition when visiting schools, ask the right questions, but essentially you or DC never truly knows what it will be like until you are there and have to hope for the best that you have essentially chosen the a school
where you feel sure she can thrive on all levels and look beyond the appeal of facilities, status and gloss.

I also think it is important to allow our children a say in the choice and the final choice includes a natural negotiation / sensible discussion and mutual agreement (hopefully). The parent will have absolute final say based on that and the financial / pastoral care offered / extra practicalities etc. are massive deciding factor too. As the process takes quite some time to go through, it all naturally unfolds and sometimes you discover one that you or she may have loved and felt a right fit early on, actually becomes less so and then also dependent on what gets offered. Then one has to look at the choices available in a different light altogether, but it becomes a lot clearer on the fit at that later stage? Also to remind DC it is never about where your friends are going and essentially no guarantee yet of where those friends will end up. In secondary they adapt and make new friends and will naturally keep the ones if they are worth keeping.

@Stircrazyschoolmum Wow, am truly gobsmacked. Head spinning stuff. Am glad I have you to keep me in the loop. You are totally right, it seems now extremely unfair as it has to be invigilated all round as not fair on the combined cohort. There was always the prospect re: online and Zoom invigilation rather than online exams using Metl (with inbuilt detection). Cause for concern now 🤨

Will any said parents and those booked for
week be raising this with school? They won’t be able to use different formats for diff groups.

@MumsRule20 I’m honestly not sure.. I guess the existing cohort are going to be somewhat distracted until 15.00 so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.. but of a PR disaster for the school.. I seem to remember they cocked up the maths papers last year with some kind of printing error.. doesn’t inspire me with confidence tbh!

I’d like to think the school will issue a statement on Monday.. too many Chinese whispers at present to know full implications..

Yes, best to not get too caught up in it all for now & let’s try not to worry too much. Keep me posted on any updates. X