SW London boys, 11+ grammars and independents

[Jumpalicious]

Hello, I know there’s an excellent thread for the girls. Not sure if there’s one for the boys? Anyone want to come on board? I know we can’t divulge details of round two grammars since there will be late sitters, but was thinking more of a support thread. Any takers?

So it is painful but we did listen to the interviews. In the end I resolve to not over analyse as there is nothing we can do, but....

It was nice to tell DS how great he did and which answers we found the funniest/ most unexpected etc

Secondly, this is the first time he has gone through this so I think it was helpful to give some tips. If I’m honest, mainly things like he forgot about a load of his activities because he hasn’t been doing them during covid, and that he probably needs to explain his answers. He had a habit of thinking for a while and then giving a very short answer - I was like - umm, you know they were probably more interested in why you picked football than the actual answer football!

However, definitely each to their own.

@JustJuice187 oh yes, agree and we were pretty proud. He sounded so much more grownup than on our typically family setup - where DS is the youngest. Makes you think

Thanks, @HappyNY. We know that now, but always good to get a confirmation from an actual school parent. Tthis was just my impression early on for no particular reason (as impressions sometimes are).

DS has a nice singing voice and a good sense of rhythm (which I particularly marvel in, as I have neither), so our secret desire is for him to get involved in the music side of things in senior school. We watched the whole of Christmas Carols video that was sent round in December with great pleasure.

@Growupsofast, well done to your DS! Hopefully, February brings good news now.

@Queenofhearts1, sorry to hear your DS wasn't successful. Hopefully, other good options are still on the table. I was certain the Hampton interview invitation boded well for KCS, but I realise now what people mean by this whole process being a rollecoaster of emotions (it's a first one for us, and we aren't particularly plugged in into the "scene", so I am learning as we go along).

Just popping back to say DS did get an interview at LU, and bounced out of it feeling very cheerful. I resisted the temptation to listen at the door, so don’t know how it really went, but the interviewer obviously did a good job of putting him at ease. Results in mid-February.

Sounds great. Good to hear he came out happy - think some of the schools are handling this better than others.

It is clearly possible to have a tough interview and still leave the child feeling good about themselves. A last impression that will factor if we are ever in the fortunate position of having a choice.

@grammarhopeless

I agree with you *@knowtomysogyny* There is a big difference between a state school kid getting a few extra lessons during lockdown to make sure they've covered the whole curriculum and a child that has been hothoused by their pushy parents and tutored for 2 whole years!

It's the children I feel sorry for. No wonder they buckle under the interviews if they have been put under so much pressure and made to sit for so many different schools.

Just to add that many children in state school (and many at prep schools) are tutored for the 11+.

I also considering helping your child at home with Bond, GCP books etc to be 'tutoring'. Some parents are naturally better at helping their DC in this way than others (some have family members who are teachers - still 'tutoring' in my book), some have more conformist kids who do what they're told, others may not have and so would therefore choose to go down the route of having a tutor for 1-2 years, especially in a state school.

I would argue that the most exceptionally gifted child would not pass the 11+ without some sort of preparation. Especially if that child is in state or independent through-schools - not preps - where they do not work on VR/NVR.

That's just my view and, for what it's worth, I think we should all be supportive of whatever route we decide to take i.e. home or external tutoring. It's a stressful enough process as it is, especially during a pandemic. :)

Hello! New to this thread but enjoying the open and honest vibe here.

We sat 10+ KGS last week, but a bit of a baptism of fire for us - The whole online QR code submission thing threw us a little. As did the fact that English was a whole 10 mins shorter than expected. I don’t think the school’s emails/ guides were as explicit as the could have been about the differences between 10 and 11+ papers. And the fact that our exam timing notice clearly states 50minutes for English- but hey ho!

Noted some angst re: sharing of the exam Hadn’t appreciated that kids were doing the exact same test on different days. To try and reassure anyone, I’m guessing most parents are like us i.e even if we had known the papers were the same, it wouldn’t have helped us in anyway as we don’t know anyone else who may have sat the exam, and again, even if we did, we’re pretty sure they’d honour the system by not sharing.

Anyone know when we’re supposed to hear back? I’m not that hopeful but knowing approx timelines means I have to go crazy checking email junk everyday!

Hope everyone doing ok and surviving the madness that is home schooling / 11+ stressing!

RGS interview for DS today. Anyone else still got exams or interviews to go? I’ve kind of lost track of where the different schools are at in the process but good luck to anyone whose DC still have stuff to do!

@Thisonesfortheroad we had a email saying Wednesday next week but that was for 11+, but it implies not too long for them to turn around the marking and decision making.

@FlyingPandas yes we have KCS and RGS interviews to go. Waiting for KGS.

Is RGS your preference? Good luck for today

From doing the ISEB in Nov to interviews thru Jan. This has been a drawn out process - kids, schools and parents must be tired. On the bright side less time to wait with nothing to do till we all find out the results of the applications.

Hamptons interview next week for DS, has anyone sussed the academic scholarship process?

@Growupsofast good luck for your DS for those interviews! What’s your preference out of your schools?

Hampton is probably our preference out of our two tbh. Both fab schools, but Hampton slightly easier to get to logistically for us (which I know is important) and it was the school I got the more positive feeling about when I did the open days last year. (That’s not to say I didn’t get a positive feeling from RGS, I absolutely did, just felt Hampton slightly edged it).

All that said though I know Hampton is the more academic and therefore harder to get into than RGS. I know various boys now in y7/y8 who didn’t pass the Hampton exam but got into RGS. I am very aware that we will be lucky to get offered even one of them, let alone have a choice!

@Sterou as I understand it, Hampton will invite around 30 boys ‘who score very highly in ISEB and impress at interview’ for academic scholarship interview. (If you look upthread, I posted a pic from the pack we were sent from Hampton at the start of the process, which details everything). It kind of suggests that they won’t be organising scholarship interviews until all initial interviews are done but I don’t really know if I’m honest. I’m not expecting DS to be in the scholarship pool!

Just realised I posted the Hampton pic on a separate thread about Hampton exams specifically-so here it is again for anyone interested.

@FlyingPands, hope DS's interview went well today!

DS just done Trinity, and it went very well. I am so pleased and relieved...

Emanuel (our last exam) done yesterday, so only KGS interview left to do, should he be selected.

What a drawn out process it has been. Need some

@FlyingPandas Not sure tbh. I decided not to think about it until we have offers, know that might seem strange but trying not to build up too much emotional attachment. I might have a secret preference buried somewhere inside but am in denial

Do you think there is much academically between KCS, Hampton and RGS? I think travel time will be much of a muchness living for us around Esher - I looked at the train vs school bus schedule.

@GrammarHopeful well done to your DS on the Trinity interview, that's great news.

@Growupsofast I would assume KCS is a slight step above the other two academically but that's purely anecdotal and not backed up by any stats. My understanding from friends is that KCS, St Pauls and Westminster are viewed as the absolute best by London parents - I know of families who were adamant that only one of those three would do for their DSes and anything else would be absolutely unacceptable. But that is possibly more of a 'tiger parent' view than a 'normal' one!

RGS done now, seemed to go well, as far as you can tell with these things anyway. So now our wait begins.

Well done @GrammarHopeful on Trinity, how is DS feeling - more postive session?

@FlyingPandas thank you - much appreciated. If his ISEB are as high as his CATS results, we have a chance for scholarship, but he is not keen on the interview process, and won’t even practise simple questions with me... Time will tell next week. And I guess only 6 weeks till grammar schools results.. #not stressing one bit :-)

@Sterou. What is considered 'high' CAT scores? I've heard that for many indies, the scores they are looking for in terms of scholarship potential is 125-130, with the most academic/in-demand London schools looking for 135+. I have no idea if this applies to Trinity/Whitgift so interested in knowing what others believe constitutes scholarship-level CAT scores. There is no easy way of finding out the ISEB score, is there?

@FlyingPandas good news on the interview

Yes, my impression as well about KCS. I think my biggest question when it comes down to it will be how many friends will he have locally in Esher. First need some offers before starting down that rabbit hole. The choice, if any, might be made much more simple.

@Growupsofast I wouldn’t worry too much if he doesn’t have friends in Esther IME the boys always find a way of meeting and the local boys might not be the ones he connects with.

CAT scores - I think anything above 130 is considered high. However I have a feeling that the standard for the ISEB has been so high this year that they are only considering boys with scores of 140 plus for scholarship.

@Sterou - honestly, I wouldn't stress too much on interview prep. We did none in advance apart from thinking of a question to ask about the school. On the day and with a teacher on the screen I think the DC just click into school mode, and get on with it.

@1980sMum I think it would depend on the school, but I would guess 135 for a scholarship at a very academic London school would be the bare minimum and probably nearer 140.

Although my assumption is that, for academic scholarships, the schools should be less interested in CAT scores and focus more on actual exam achievement on the day? For starters, only prep school candidates can submit CAT scores in support of their application - state schools don't do them. Does that mean these schools will only offer scholarships to prep school candidates who can provide CAT scores? That hardly seems fair (and I suspect there would be an outcry if that was the case).

@FlyingPandas CAT scores are irrelevant- this confusion keeps cropping up and I think a bit of paranoia. ISEB scores are different and are the only ones that count - as you say it’s the scores on the day that count

@FlyingPandas, @EnolanotAlone: thanks very much. This made it a much better weekend for us, than the last one :) DS was like a little puppy bursting with excitement, when he was finished.

I do think that a lot of reference to CAT scores comes from people who may have used sites such as Atom to practise for the ISEB (and some schools have not only used it as a pre-test but THE test). Atom suggest that the scores achieved on their adaptive mock tests are roughly 8-10 points lower than CAT scores and they refer to these and CAT scores as predictors in how likely your DC is to be accepted.
BTW, I understand that state schools also do CATs in Y5 (mainly) but very rarely share these with parents...