Trinity/Whitgift 2021 entry

[Onvacation]

I have found the previous threads for Trinity/Whitgift entry really helpful, and I don’t think there is a 2021 yet. My son will be trying for 10+, and for a sports scholarship. He is bright, and pleased to be back training for his sports, but he gets really stressed in exam situations and works slowly. He is only trying Trinity this year because he is not at all sure he wants to leave his primary school, but if he managed to get a scholarship I think he might decide to go.

I was hoping the activity on the exam day might help motivate him, but we got the email saying it wouldn’t be happening because of Covid. Can I ask if anyone had more success at 11+ than 10+? Do they ever offer academic and sports scholarships? I am assuming that we will more have the issue of him getting stressed in the exam, and not passing, than standing a chance of a scholarship, but just thinking of best possible scenario . Thanks!

Speaking as a mum with a child in both a state and independent school I think it's a decision that really depends on the child and one that only the child parents know what will suit them - sometimes Thats a state and other times it's a independent what ever decision is made there will always be a "what if moment" but to all the mums and dads that are on this chat I think it's amazing that you have taken the time to find this chat and read everyOnes views and opinions we don't need to agree with every
One it's more just a way of looking at the big picture and other prospectives - good luck everyone

Teacakes100 - not aimed at you specifically. After the financial (COVID) year we've had as a family, I've thought a few times whether opting for independents over grammar was such a wise decision!

@hopefulone1 and @Walkingtheplank, I agree with you both. For my third a grammar is better for DS, as he will not take advantage of all the Indie co-cor opportunities, while my 2 others did. So for me and me only the grammar WL is best option at this time. But I know I will have that 'what if moment" many times, when I compare the opportunities at an Indie to a state grammar.
Good luck to all our DS in the next few years.

Hi to all Trinity 11+ parents and well done to your DS getting an offer:-) I’m planning to open a WhatsApp group for those who will start this September, and later on early summer merge that with the current trinity JBug chats, so now if you’d have any questions we could help each other and later on we can organise some get togethers with the current juniors (I’m one of the rep;-) so the new boys can get to know each other a little bit better. Please PM me if you’d be interested in joining this chat.

Usually one mum from the DC class will usually ask for the emails of the parents from the teacher, and ask them if they would like to join a WhatsApp group. Or else that parent gives the teacher / or head of year her details to distribute to the parents so they can set up a WhatsApp group.

For my DC a parent did that before we opened schools, and some parents even met up at a park, in the summer before starting school.

Not only do I not think parents would like to be identified on Mumsnet, but you may not reach everyone, since not everyone is on here.

Thanks for your feedback. It is just a little forward thinking trying to get the boys together a little bit. This past year with Covid was already hard on them, so every little idea can help maybe. The option is there, we did this last year and managed to meet, sometimes just virtually of course with 90% of the children, and helped them starting thier new school a bit easier. (It all started here on mums net, and after that the group grew naturally, as people knew others and others knew others...)

Tundi I think that's a lovely thing to do but IME (DS1 in 4th year) the boys make friends pretty quickly - usually from their own class or if they are in clubs or choirs/bands.
As someone has mentioned the class reps should do set up what's app groups - first year intake is massive so maybe not quite the same as Jay Bugs.

Hi @tundi I think that's a lovely idea. I don't know how to DM n here so please drop me a message. I'd love to be included in the Trinity 11+ group. Don't know anyone else that's going there.

Hi there. As there are some current Whitgift/Trinity parents on here I'd love your perspective. I have a sporty y4 boy who is not particularly academic and I don't think would pass selective entry. Are you aware of any scenarios where a boy's sporting potential has outweighed the academics? I suspect not, but the reason I ask is that I know that once the 2020-21 academic year started, these schools were actively seeking sports scholars (perhaps because Covid factors had reduced the year group size). I know these are selective schools so it might seem like a daft question, but I wondered if there are average ability boys who receive places. Any other school suggestions which could fit the bill (in SW London) would be most appreciated! Thank you.

@Trampoline - we applied to Trinity last yr - I think in our experience the answer is just being sporty is not enough. My son got offers from several selective schools and a grammar offer however only got a waitlist place at trinity even after attending the main and then the second stage sports scholarship assessments. At the first stage sports assessments there were around 175 boys! That cut down to I believe 40-50 at second stage. I even had a weird chat after stage 2 with one of the teachers who seemed to be hinting heavily that DS had done really well!! He got an offer with sports scholarship at another (closer and preferred) school so we accepted that readily and didn't wait to see how the waitlist panned out.

I'm not sure where you're based but Colfes and St Dunstans both offer sports scholarships and are great but slightly less competitive schools.

Traditionally I'd say T has had a harder English exam - slightly surprised that some applicants didn't get T when they got grammars but this would be my only explanation.
Obviously that all went out the window this year with the ISEB.
The scholarship assessments only come after you've passed the exam so you can't be considered for it until you've done that.
Is your DS national or county level - I'd say that would be the requirement for a good scholarship in sports

I don't mean to sound a kill joy, but Ive not heard anything about covid reducing intake - quite the opposite in fact (people not happy with state provision of home schooling) -- or about these schools seeking out sports scholars. I also question if a boy weren't academic, if it would be the right school for them. Like said above, I'd be surprised if T would offer a place based on sports ability over academic.
Re getting a place at grammar but not T or W, or vise versa, unfortunately a lot is simply down to how your child does on the day.

Thanks everyone for this useful info, as I suspected. There must have been reduced numbers in the current y7 year at T, I'd assumed due to the current unusual times.

As far as I know there hasn't been a reduced intake into 1st year - I say that as a current parent whose DS2 is also joining.

It's possible the ISEB didn't work in all ten boys favour - it's just been a tricky year for everyone

@Trampoline

Thanks everyone for this useful info, as I suspected. There must have been reduced numbers in the current y7 year at T, I'd assumed due to the current unusual times.

If you mean the current Y7 attending school, I am not aware of any reduction in numbers. The current Y12 is much larger than it would usually be (about 190, compared to around 150).

I think I know what @Trampoline is referring to - we had a note from Trinity distributed at my DS (county) cricket group encouraging applicants around October last year - never seen that before - so one could assume maybe there had been fewer sports scholarship applications for 2021 at that point than usual.

Yes @chalkyc2 that will be it. They did the same for other sports/clubs too and did some weekend talent spotting. After watching sessions, they approached boys for entry in Y6, Y7 plus some older years - all with sport scholarships in mind.

Perhaps Trinity are looking to compete more with Whitgift, which I perceive to have a better sporting record.
Perhaps the scholarships are to tempt boys who otherwise would have gone to Whitgift.
(I dont mean any offence by that)

Whitgift certainly has hockey trials around October time before January exams. I think scholarships can be offered at that point subject to exam result.

Yes maybe @Walkingtheplank, although this was for entry into the current year, not for Sept 2021.

Just read this on the very disturbing thread about Dulwich College.

medium.com/@JimmyTLeach/bullying-happens-when-the-school-is-the-enabler-cac27010c4f5

That’s heartbreaking to read! Which thread is that in?

About whitgift's, not Dulwich.
The saddest thing for me is that that post could have been written about my 'exclusive' school 27 years ago - I find it incredible that the same victim blaming culture can still prevail at schools in 2021, plus the bullies' work is now enhanced by the use of social media against the victims, so their victims also have to contend with that, on top of the daily or termly nightmare of attending school.

Jimmy Leach wrote about this in June 2015 - he doesn't say when his son attended the school but he had already moved to a new school by that point

Incidentally, the W article was also written before the arrival of Mr Ramsey as Head. It dates back to 2017 but my understanding is that the alleged incidents (which are incredibly sad to read) happened back in 2015. It’s a big school but they have a really strong anti Bullying policy and strong pastoral care. I can’t comment what it was like in 2015 because we were not parents at the school back then. The Sports teachers are really supportive and I cannot believe the “hockey incident” described in the article could happen now. I speak from the personal experience of DC who started in the F rugby Team and who throughout the years has managed to move up the ranks thanks for the support of the coaches who encouraged him not to give up.

I don’t mean in any way to dismiss this incredibly sad story, but I honestly think that if you Google enough you could find a story about every single school you look into.

It looks like the boy would have joined year 6 in 2013 at the latest. I'm sorry that what should have been a great start to secondary school was so poor for this boy. I feel for him and his parents.

As someone has said, this will have happened under the old Headmaster. I don't know if things were different then but I don't recognise this description as how Whitgift is now. I am certain that if my son was accused of any such misdemeanours that the school would come down on him hard, and that I would be contacted too. My DS would absolutely come to understand that a line had been crossed and it would not be tolerated.

I don't recognise the implication that wealth/class is an issue. My son went into Yr7 from a state school. We're not posh and it has never been an issue. With a wide bursary scheme and generous scholarships, there is a range of students. I don't know much about my son's friends' backgrounds but some live in expensive areas, some live on council estates. He sees them as equals with popularity based on who has made the most recent funny joke - high brow it isn't.

The hockey support is great. My state school son has had to work hard to progress because the Year 6s had such good training before he arrived in Yr7. He's been really encouraged and motivated. I can't imagine that any of the staff there now would say such things as in the article and especially not in front of parents.

Clearly something went very wrong and it is tragic. There is another article about a different boy that usually gets shared at this point in the admissions cycle. I wonder if a new Headteacher has brought in a very different style. Whitgift wasn't our first choice initially as, for us, it had a certain reputation but when we got to know the school it wasn't like that at all.