11+ SGS/WS 2nd stage

[Autumn0015]

Hi
DS is going for 2nd stage on 28th. As we are quite far from catchment, not having high hopes. We'll be more than happy if he gets an offer from WCGS. Not sure what are his chances of getting an offer from WCGS! Did anyone have the same scenario in the past few years? Also how good is Greenshaw? Will be worth taking up the offer?

My DS sat the exam last year and is at Wilson's now.

Wilson's admissions doesn't include catchment at all and the other two only have some in-catchment places.

If your DS has passed for WCGS, the chances of an offer are good - even if via the waiting list. But if you are far out of catchment, make sure the journey isn't too long or gruelling - it makes a difference to the boys.

Greenshaw is a decent enough school but I wouldn't consider it worth travelling far for unless your local options are poor. It isn't a grammar school (common misconception) and places based on the SET don't mean anything once you're there.

Best of luck to your son.

Hi TeddyDidIt ! That was really helpful. I know it's a bit too late now but do you know for English-how many writing tasks will be there? I can see it's going to be an hour's work which is pretty long..also DS is not great at it :( For maths - is it mainly word problems? What resources did you use?

For English last year it was one extended writing task. My son said that they were advised to use some time for planning, but they weren't told when to stop planning, so they need to be prepared to manage their own time.

Maths did include some word problems, but not all. Quite a few multi-step problems with parts a b and c. None of this means it will be like that this year though!

Have you had a look at the past SATs papers? It should be based on the ks2 curriculum, perhaps without the easier ones and with a few harder ones. Also the Primary Maths Challenge have some good papers.

I wouldn't advise doing anything too new at this stage because really you want them to be doing confidence-building stuff so close to the exam, if anything. Good luck.

Hi TeddyDidIt
Thanks for all the help! We are now just keeping fingers crossed for the 2nd stage results! Thanks for the inputs on SGS & Wilson's. Do you have any info about WCGS? Is it equally good as WS and SGS?
TIA