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?

@NoToMisogyny sorry about DS’s interview, that is dreadful - your poor DS.. 1 min is a glitch .. 7mins is horrendous for a 10/11 yr old to endure. I am pleased Hampton called to help mend the equality of the interview process.

Thank you @GrammarHopeful- I’m trying to go into ‘what will be will be’ mode now! Must admit I read the firms’ thread too - I find all of it fascinating!

That’s interesting @Jumpalicious, we only have the 8 minute St George’s interview to compare with at this point! I did wonder about the maths questions but I guess they want to see how logically they think under pressure? Again 😂

@EnolanotAlone I think a good point. It was positive of them to try and address - though I get it might not be fully equalising - makes me think better of them for even trying. It would be easy to just say it is fine and we will take it into account.

@NoToMisogyny you might have a very different view!

@NoToMisogyny 5 mins is better an opportunity than none, it does astounds me how much can be achieved. Good luck your DS! 2x 15 min sessions is a huge ask for the boys. Interview is not the same as a zoom chat with mates or I pressured with online school.

DS tried his best but was clearly upset by the process. After each question I felt I heard the countdown clock ⏰

Hampton interview over - it was intense. DS nervous-ish but recovered well. Don’t want to frighten anyone ( so please don’t read on) but I thought it was hard - English picture/passage to read and comprehension. They prob and push and being time bound, DS felt the pressure. Maths was a series of questions, my DS was very quick but did get a couple wrong, but there were in excess of 10 for sure. I found my son’s responses ( listening from behind the door) fascinating but he was defo not his chatty comfortable self. I’d like to thank those who shared their experience on this thread because this has helped me and eventually the DS, on the format and type of questions expected. Bring on the state and indies results guys! Best of luck for those still going through the motions.

Just to say I asked Mumsnet to delete a couple of my messages in case they’re identifying!

Has anyone heard from KGS?

No news from KGS... I hope it's not delayed!

@Sterou interesting... my kid only had about 5 maths questions. Must be down to the teacher, or maybe how much they want to probe the child (academic scholarships tend to probe!). Found his maths all a bit pointless and think they must know capability of kids from Iseb, which tests maths pretty well!. Where else are you sitting for? I’m sure you’ve mentioned but it can be helpful to compare interview methods!

Nope!

We're another who struggled with parts of Hampton if that helps. DS needed help with one of the verbal maths questions as he couldn't follow it (I suspect he'd have been fine if he'd seen it written down). He also didn't really build a rapport with the second interviewer - I can't put my finger on why, but it just seemed an awkward conversation. But then his first interview seemed to go really well, and he was almost his normal chatty self.

But who knows? Sounds like it's been tricky for all of them, and probably no more so than you'd expect given they'll be a number of people's top choice. We're just trying to forget about it all now and definitely not stalk the postman as we get closer to result days!

Very similar experiences of Hampton interview across the board it seems. We'll, maybe it's our boys intro to the world of pressure interviews, who knows...

Just got the KGS email. DS is through to the next stage with the last interview of this gruelling process on Saturday. Over 1000 DCs for 100 places. Madness!

@GrammarHopeful awesome! Congrats to your DS!
We've just received the email and through to interviews also. Couldn't believe what I was reading.. over 1000 applications!

DS has a yes for KGS too. Then it’s over!!!

Interview here too - hurray!

Good news on the KGS interviews - well done to successful DC! That's a lot of applicants, but I think use of the ISEB has increased the number of applicants, as I'm sure many parents have applied to more schools than they might typically have done in a 'usual' year.

@NoToMisogyny sorry to hear about your DS's stressful Hampton interview - that definitely sounds like a technical glitch too far! Poor boy and poor you. Hope he is feeling better now.

Seems a fair few people had a negative Hampton experience but just to add some balance, my DS absolutely loved his, didn't seem pressured at all and was buzzing afterwards. I wonder if it comes down to luck of the draw on which teachers you get maybe? He did say that both teachers reminded him of teachers at his current school so maybe that relaxed him.

Can I ask a really silly question...for those of you who listened in on Hampton interviews saying that you knew DC had 'got answers correct' in the maths, how did you know? Were they told by the teachers that they were right or wrong afterwards? Or are you all just maths whizzes and knew the answers anyway

@FlyingPandas, not silly at all! The first two Qs were verbal, which my DS parroted back, so I knew they were right, when he gave the answers. The next few were shown on the screen, but the teacher gave some positive verbal feedback (as my DS has a tendency to give an answer as a question, always checking his response is correct). The penultimate question he got a bit stuck, and then the teacher suggested a certain approach (to which DS said: "I am doing this already!"--one of those "ouch" moments), and then again got a confirmation the answer is indeed what he said.

Plus he told me afterwards these were "standard" 11+ problem-solving Qs that he was comfortable with.

In contrast, he had two maths Qs in his Trinity interview: one verbal reasoning/logic Q involving symbol substitution and one tricky geometry problem (luckily, this is the area my DS loves, so he was able to use words such as "congruent", "isosceles" and such ).

And congrats to you and your DSs, @Queenofhearts1, @EshSchools, @NoToMisogyny!

Thank you! I wonder what the likelihood is of getting a place from a KGS interview? They must have a LOT to do on Saturday!

@FlyingPandas I know DS got the questions right because he asked! His way of answering was "is it 15?" etc. so he got the feedback that way.

Extra good news for us - DS has a scholarship interview for KGS. I'm trying to talk myself down from thinking this means he's definitely got a place, but I'm so chuffed for him either way.

Thanks guys. Interesting to know! My DS reckoned he’d answered everything correctly in the Hampton interview but whether he actually had or not I wasn’t sure!

Wow @BookShark that is amazing, well done to your DS! I would definitely see a scholarship interview as more or less a guarantee of a place. And whatever is ultimately offered he’s done so well to get that interview! Is KGS your preferred option?

I honestly don't know. We fluctuate from day to day - but KGS is definitely up there. I see it as something that will be a nice problem to have if we get a choice!

But as you say, he's done so well regardless, especially given how much he was thrown by the exam format. He was super-excited earlier, although then toned it down once he realised it meant another interview - we're well and truly over this process! I'm very proud of him regardless - as we all should be - they're so little and it's such a horrible process, they're all amazing for how well they've coped, even if there have been a few tears along the way!

Great news on all the positive news on KGS. Well done to all of you.

Congratulations everyone that got kgs my DS currently goes to KGS it's an amazing school