Part 2: SW London Girl's Indies 11+ Pandemic Panic!

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www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3962084-Upcoming-girls-independent-SW-London-schools-11-exams?pg=40

Hello all, this thread continues from the previous "Upcoming Girl's Independent SW London Schools 11+ Exams" thread set up by @Oceane11Plus.

@PatoPato cleverly noticed, message slots were running low for the epic long thread as above, so all chat now continues here...

[Post edited by MNHQ at OP's request]

Hello and congratulations to all of you with offers. We are still on tenterhooks with no offers as of yet just waitlists for Wimbledon and Putney High. We are waiting in SCHS, FHSS, Emanuel and Ibstock. I loved the co-eds more but my partner prefers the girls' schools. I have a younger son to consider and I feel a very polished top tier knocks my daughter's confidence. I saw this happen having moved her from a state school to an academic girls' prep in spite of the benefits of being in such a great school.
I hope we have some good news this week and thereafter places move on the waitlists.
Good luck everyone and hold tight!

@Trialsat11 It's exactly the same at our prep, because of the ISEB, the same girls got offers from PHS and WHS and some of them will probably be offered JAGS and G&L next week (and maybe CLSG, SPGS, Alleyn's...) but they can only attend one school. The prep has actually told some parents the results' patterns this year are very unusual so they should not lose hope at this stage as schools are likely to use the WL more than usual, if not call back the NOs once the WL has been exhausted... With your DD being well positioned on the WL I think she is right to be hopeful!

@eglantine7 If I were you I would leverage your prep school's relationships with senior schools at this stage. In my view this is one of the key advantages of a prep vs. state so I would play this card now (especially given you made the move from state to prep). You should tell them which one is your first choice and ask the head to give the senior school a call to tell them how interested you are.

@Trialsat11 I think maybe your DD is right based on the situation this year. I’m sure the waitlists will move. What offers do you actually have and why is she not happy to go with one of those?

Yes, congratulations @Stircrazyschoolmum @Flossietea @Oceane11Plus on PHS - great news (all the better for being slightly unexpected timewise!).

@Tr0ubled @Montlieu and @Trialsat11 - just echoing again what everyone is saying, but the waitlists are bound to move - I'm assuming first in half term and then again after state offers day. This is been such an unusual year, but you can see from this thread alone that there are several with multiple offers and the girls can only go to one school!

@montlieu - doing well enough on the WT for Graveney is amazing - well done to your DD - hopefully that's bolstered her confidence somewhat and shows that the ISEB was just a (deeply unfortunate) bad day.

@Oceane11Plus Thank you. We've arranged to discuss it with our head tomorrow. Dd underperformed with the ISEB and a lot of work we did with her for the English papers to fine tune her went to waste and she was doing fine coping with the pace of work until the pandemic threw many spanners in the works.
Would you suggest we wait until all the results are through next week as we do have differences of opinion on our favoured school?

What would be interesting also is how the offers will differ ( of not), for the schools that interview all the applicants prior to ISEB sitting ( depending on when ISEB was sat of course). And those who used ISEB as a pre-test to the 2nd stage of interviews.
I guess what I mean is how much weight the interviews/ creative writing exercises carry.

@WarmAndco3y It really will -
thinking exactly the same thing. It will be interesting to see the bigger picture and whether they really did focus more on exam results or actually take into consideration all other factors. Sadly no prep / Indie head here to fight our corner if it doesn’t work in our favour around the knowingly flunked ISEB (which just wouldn’t have happened on a better day)...so not sure what to do then.

Hi All - long time no post.
Massive congrats to all those with offers & and a virtual hand squeeze to anyone who didn't get the news they wanted. I'm sorry not to personalise but I'm still in need of that cheat sheet!

I freaked out 10 days ago after a car crash interview at SPGS which, in my heightened emotional state, seemed like the end of the world at the time & still does if I'm brave enough to relive it in my head (shudder). When asked what her aspirations for the future were, DD had to first ask what aspirations meant then answered 'maybe relax a bit'.
What. The. Actual.
At least they know she's truly not been tutored but I think it's safe to say we've said goodbye to that dream. Honestly it knocked me for days and I just couldn't face posting. I've been running a lot instead.

Anyway, fast forward and she's been offered places at WHS & PHS, both with academic scholarships, which was a wonderful surprise. I'm so thrilled for her - she's been bouncing up & down all weekend like a pogo stick. It's been joyful.

I'm acutely aware that we're in an exceptionally lucky position and that others are nervously hanging on wait list places so I want to add to what many have already said here which is that those wait list places will come into play more than ever this year and there will be huge movement in half term, the week after half term (our last school announces at the end of half term!) and again after national offer day. So anyone who feels like they are well & truly hanging right now (looking at you @Trialsat11) - well just hang on in there & have faith.

Good luck to everyone waiting on offers. I recall being in this situation so clearly, and we are just about out the other side. Dd about to finish at spgs and with the benefit of hindsight I really don’t think it’s as great as so many believe it to be. Dds friends at Putney and Tiffin and especially Kings Wimbledon have had much happier school years and achieved the same Uni offers .

@PatoPato Glad you're back, I was missing your epic tales Your description of the car crash interview at spgs takes me back a few years with DD1's spgs interview. I was obviously not able to listen but judging from the length of the interview (well over 30mn, maybe 40mn) and the sombre look of the interviewer who took her back in the waiting room, I knew straight away a disaster had just happened. DD's recollection of the Q&A and interviewer's body language during the interview confirmed my fears. The good thing is we laugh about it today - both of us burst into laughter the other day when she was reminding me the answer she gave when asked to react to some arty picture (we were then briefing DD2 with answers NOT to give during her interviews). She was still offered a place albeit off the WL but we didn't take it up (she felt pretty bruised after this interview and we concluded it wasn't the right school for her).

Wow, what wonderful news @PatoPato on WHS and PHS!!! Well done to your DD - such a confidence boost! I imagine that also bodes well for G&L

The more I see of this process, the more I'm convinced that the interviews are not as significant as they are made to appear by the schools. Probably useful for making decisions on borderline cases, detecting the kids who just aren't interested in the school (where they inadvertently mention it ranks as their bottom preference!), and eliminating those where there are serious behavioral issues.

This year parents have had the unusual experience of hearing the interviews first-hand which de-mystifies what has previously been a rather opaque aspect of the selection process. But then - as alluded to by Oceane - sometimes these interactions shape our perceptions of the school, and not necessarily in a positive way.

Anyway, hope this week brings good news for everyone! I feel like these last five days are going to drag horribly though

@PatoPato I totally forgot to congratulate your DD for such a great result already. She's done amazingly well and I suspect a lot more offers will be coming your way at the end of the week.

@dazedandconfused11plus I fear these five days are going to feel like a month. Unfortunately I finished my project at work last week, if only the deadline had been this week, time would have continued to fly...

@PatoPato such excellent news. Your DD has done incredibly well. Re: SPGS I rather find DD’s answer quite astute and funny too. Sounds like she gave a real and honest answer and not scripted. I think any 10/11 year old (or any kid in current climes) will have the same idea of ‘aspirations’ for the future (remember future for a 10/11 year old is a subjective and less developed concept). To aspire “to relax a little” is no bad thing surely - they deserve such aspirations. Perhaps a new generation of less over driven and drilled kids could be the way forward! I think her response was reflective and case in point. Will be interesting to see how it pans out but judging on her results and track record so far, it doesn’t look like much will go against her ;)))

@Oceane11Plus Such great news for you on PHS. Looks super hopeful on the others. What was your first choice again?

@dazedandconfused11plus as always your posts and perceptions on the process are spot on.

Anyone have any tips for waking up middle of the night and no sleep for next few days? 🤪

@MumsRule20 No tip unfortunately but seriously considering taking a sleeping tablet on Wednesday and Thursday
First choice is JAGS, results are due on Thursday. I believe all the others (Consortium, G&L etc) will be Friday?
What about you? I remember you are waiting for City, any other Indy?

@PatoPato I overheard one of DDs interviews and was horrified ... all her answers about what she is doing/want to do were linked to seeing friends and family, to the question what do you like about your school she said the online learning because there is actually one now... not a pip about all the exciting activities, sports, music she is involved with, projects she has..I was horrified but then I now thing these are honest answer of a young 11Y old who is a little fed up with lockdown, lacks stimulation. clearly she did come across as untutored ...

DD made an almighty mess of her LU interview. It started with an ice-breaker question about how she spends Saturdays, and she managed not to mention her Saturday morning music school (which does still exist, albeit on Zoom) and have the impression she just sat around looking like a zombie. Then there were some academic questions which she thoroughly fluffed. So unless her ISEB result was outstanding, it'll be a no for us this week.

If it helps anyone , the interviews are just to rule out any complete anomalies missed out in the process.
We have had interview feedback on all our waitlisted schools and one thing which struck out clearly was that DD had very impressive interviews but lost out because of a few marks less on a particular reasoning score .And there I thought that we had crossed the hurdle when she got the interview call !

@PatoPato many congratulations on such wonderful offers.I'm sure you will get G&L and will release the PHS and WHS places ;-)

Thanks for the encouraging message . I'm keeping my fingers crossed for DD and hoping there will be someone up there looking out for her !

That's disappointing to hear Trialsat11 ? Can't believe they would admit that a small difference in reasoning score was a deciding factor? It seems short-sighted not to give more weight to interview while using the scores just to check a child would thrive academically. Several schools detail in their open days what kind of learners they are looking for. You don't get that information from ISEB scores, but from interview and to a lesser degree, reference.

@dinosaurinmybelly I can't tell you how gutted I felt when it was relayed that she had done brilliantly in all aspects and it was just a reasoning score .
Feels so unfair especially when it might have been a one off day as she excels in that area at school and the reference would have clarified that .

Hmmmm I'm remembering all of the carefully worded communications that were coming through in November which suggested the schools really were taking the lockdown learning situation into consideration and wanted to make this process as fair as possible... the ISEB was the fairest way of doing that etc. etc.

The WL at the SW schools will certainly move. A lot of the same girls have offers for both WHS and PHS for example.

How do interviews rule out anomalies if you can do brilliantly in them and still not get over the line?

@dinosaurinmybelly Me too, we took much faith in that and now wonder if it was all a ploy to get more to register with the schools as there was the chance / preempt they could lose out this year and less people apply due to Covid? The spin on ISEB etc. Instead these schools are quids in more than any other due to everyone spreading their chances and a huge off the record number of registrations.

@Oceane11Plus good luck for Thurs!! Yes seems all others on Friday although hear SPGS is next wk. We also have Emanuel to wait on this wk as have discounted all our ISEB chances. Trying not to remember or think of anything as find it eats away at me. Ready to put the whole experience behind us as soon as poss.