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?

We used to say no to screens in morning but gave up on that to focus on trying to stop use of screens in school hours - ho hum

DS has just started the Pendragon series:

Pendragon: Journal of an Adventure through Time and Space, commonly known as Pendragon, is a series of ten young-adult science fiction and fantasy novels by American author D. J. MacHale, published from 2002 to 2009. The series chronicles the adventures of Bobby Pendragon, an American teenager who discovers that he must travel through time and space to prevent the destruction of the ten "territories": critical locations throughout the universe. The series has sold over a million copies.

He will only read for pleasure before bed, and no other time, if he can help it. Time must then accurately be recorded in his reading book and weekly totals summed up and signed for

The other series he enjoyed last year was The Saga of Darren Shan (known as Cirque Du Freak: The Saga of Darren Shan in the United States) is a young adult 12-part book series written by Darren Shan about the struggle of a boy who has become involved in the world of vampires.

All, any luck on receiving Scholarship interview invitation for Hampton ?

I have not heard of anyone getting a email for Hampton yet

@EnolanotAlone look closely at the travel - esp school bus options and how late the bus home may be
Look again at the subjects offered esp languages
Will you want IB or A level for sixth form?

Nothing from Hampton here either, I guess the wait continues until Feb 12th 😬

Just checking in for Hampton pulse, appears my email has flatlined ..

Also nothing here, but I'm not surprised. I know of a couple of other boys who are still in the running, but I don't think they'd let me know if they got an interview (and to be fair, I don't think I'd do it the other way round - it's all a bit awkward!) so that's no help either I'm afraid.

Hey ho, it's not bad news as such, just means we're waiting a bit longer...

It’s 5:47 PM and we haven’t heard either from Hampton’s.

Evening all, checked the inbox and I guess we are in for a wait till Feb now as we haven’t got anything through

Back to home schooling then!

Nothing here either (and wasn't really expected, but for completeness).

Yup, same here...like others wasn’t really expecting anything though.

The wait goes on...!

Nope, nor here.

Think it would have been better if Hampton had not sent that “next steps” holding email last week. I’d have forgotten about the scholarship stage, haha. Plus those being invited for scholarship would get today’s email anyway - it’s not as though anyone is going anywhere over the next 10 days leading to problems scheduling the next interview. Still, the comms team certainly work hard! Hope everyone’s holding up ok.

Btw looking at the H website at least some (or all? Imagine just some, though the text isn’t madly clear) academic scholarships specifically go to local boys... Ie the prep school feeders? Worth noting that.

Ah just rechecked, seems to be one specific academic scholarship that goes to local boys. Not sure how many others are available.

@AveEldon thank you for your wisdom, logistics plus a long day with extra curricular will be a huge wake up to the relaxed routines.
Core subjects for IB or A is a very good point, languages too on that front, thank you.
IB seems to be coming up in favour recently, off to Google the pros/cons - lovely distraction for 2WW.

Hello all, looking for some advice.

DS received a nice no from KGS today (10+). This follows a no from Hampton 10+ too. Other than Tiffin and KCS these are our closest (distance wise) school options I believe.

Whilst I wait to receive more detailed feedback from both schools, I’m wondering if we’re on the right path for DS...

At school (state primary) he sits in top sets and get great reports/ feedback. Teachers told us he was a good candidate for the selectives in our area.

We tried 10+ to give us all an idea of what the exams would involve, to give DS a feel for the exam process ie as practice and for us to get a feel for whether such schools would be an option. I realise 10+ is different to the 11+, but the ratio of applicants to places seems on par with the 11+ stage, and ultimately both are designed to select the most able.

With homeschooling failing to stretch him, and our results so far, am beginning to have some doubts as to whether we are overestimating his abilities and/or underestimating the preparation involved. Am hopeful the feedback from the schools will help us assess this, but am worried I am letting DS down by failing to prepare him adequately. After all Prep schools exist for a reason, right? Maybe our DIY approach isn’t hitting the mark? Or maybe DS is bright but not quite the right fit for these schools and we should be trying others.

So, am just wondering... given most of you appear to have seen this through, whether, in your experience:

results at this stage are a good indicator of likely success at these schools?

we should be including other schools in our search?

if we’re doing the right kind of prep? Currently working our way through books mentioned on other MN threads ie Bond, FPTP, S&S and then did practice papers the school sent through a few weeks towards exam. We recently signed up to test teach online. But keep hearing about ATOM here which perhaps would be better? Are there other good resources we should be making use of?

Once we get feedback, assuming it is informative, what kind of score threshold is an indication we can make the gap between now and the exams?

Sent you a pm - one for the road

re Scholarship at Hampton: School confirmed emails went out yesterday...... DS very disappointed to hear that! #massaging ego today.

@Thisonesfortheroad , KGS 10plus is notoriously hard, you rarely meet any dc who have succeeded. Take the Hampton feedback on board as that will give you guidance for their 11plus and also Tiffin as the ability level for both schools often crosses over. There are many other schools you can consider, dc travel miles across London and Surrey for secondary education, a quick glance at the Hampton LEH bus route shows you that. You can also consider all the Sutton Grammar school mocks which are detailed on elevenplusexams.co.U.K.

Has anyone heard from Hampton re sports scholarships and if they have made it to the next round ?

Many thanks

DS was in the "below 50th percentile" for his KGS 10+ maths exam. In the 11+ he was interviewed for a maths scholarship (although no idea if he's got a place, let alone a scholarship). So I wouldn't worry just yet.

While I don't know for certain what's made the difference, a few thoughts might be... I don't think DS had covered all the topics tested in the 10+, or at least not enough to be comfortable in them - I remember he'd had a question about a cubed number, and just added it three times as he didn't know what it meant. I also think there was some definite exam technique that made a difference - showing workings for maths appears to be a requirement for KGS (based on the sample 11+ paper they made available) and DS had never been taught that at the time of the 10+.

Personally I would look at other schools as well - unless you have a good state option. We were advised to pick a range of levels, as those two schools are very academically strong, so you need a bit more of a range if you're going down the independent route.

But honestly, don't worry. Even the experience of doing an exam will have been worth it. We were exactly where you were this time last year, and the experience this time round feels very different - not that we have any offers yet, but DS has got interviews so I'm assuming he did better than last time!

@Thisonesfortheroad lots of sage advice above. A lot changes in a year. The fact that you’ve even gone down the 10+ route is a good sign. Re atom, I doubt it will be of much value next year (unless the pandemic rumbles on). It is best for Iseb familiarisation, which was what Hampton used this year. In usual years, the Iseb is completely irrelevant for most 11+ schools, plus it encourages a particular way of completing exams that might be counterproductive (can’t go back to check work for eg).

@Sterou & everyone: sympathy! Luckily I didn’t mention it to DS. Also not sure the maths teacher actually warmed to my son (any of our sons? ;-) during the interview! So no surprises really. More that, as a PP said, it would have been a reassuring sign.

Among several schooling discussions of recent, DH has tried to rationalise the correlation of outcomes from the exam and assessments for a likely offer (full fees or otherwise).

This year has no prior comparables to ease this part of the waiting game. Obviously success at scholarship interview would give 99% chance of an offer (the unknown being the scholarship offer %), however, for the many trapped in the grey areas (interview & / or scholarship assessment then no final step) what would the outcome 70-80%, W/L? Higher? Lower?

Anyone else awaiting the Reeds post this morning?

Yep, postman eagerly awaited here. DS is having a real wobble about year 7 at the moment as he's scared he won't get anywhere, so some positive news today would be a real boost, whether we ultimately accept it or not.