SW London Girls' Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2022

[SkaterGrrrrl]

I watched with interest the information and support on this thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4177427-PART-3-SW-London-Girls-Indies-11-Results-Decisions-Panic-Over and wanted to start the same thread for South West London parents with daughters who will be applying for secondaries (independents and grammar) for places in year 7 in Sept 2022.

Where are you applying, how are the virtual open days going..... and to tutor or not to tutor?

Out of interest, was the LEH interview letter normal sized, or did it come in a much bigger (A4 sized) envelope? We never received our letter yesterday, so trying to prepare myself for when the post arrives tomorrow!

@groundskeeperwillie it’s an A5 white envelope - hope it brings good news for your DD

Thanks for your reply RM46. Fingers crossed for good news. Was it quite a thick letter?? (and can you tell that I’m far more anxious about this than my DD 🤣)

😂oh poor you, it’s an anxious time I know - made more agonising by having to wait for the post!! Ours was good news and it’s only one sheet of A4 folded in half inside the envelope. So it’s thin☺️Good luck!! 🤞

Putney High School have their 2 hour face to face ‘Athena Assessment’ this week. The e-mail was scant on detail (group discussion, individual creative response, 1:1 interview).
-Any views from past experience on what to expect?
-PHS and others ~ is there a rule of thumb on how many they invite to interview, say, for 100
Places? Just trying to assess our odds!

@groundskeeperwillie ...I feel your pain ...we are still waiting on our post too !!

We got our thin white A5 envelope! Although it was a stressful wait, it was worth it as
it was good news! DD will be so thrilled. Hope you get your letter soon @Benny12. The waiting is the worst part (can’t understand why they don’t just email it?!)

@groundskeeperwillie ! yes the postie has just been ! and yes got interview at LEH ...agonising wait !! ...now for the interview ..!

Congrats! @groundskeeperwillie and @Benny12 🥳

@swgeek in my notes it says they interview 400 for 250 offers at KGS.
which doesn't look great now I think about it!!

Has anyone heard from LU? I know they say before the 21st, but wondering if first replies have gone out? Thank you everyone and congrats to all those who have interviews!

[quote refusetobeasheep]@swgeek in my notes it says they interview 400 for 250 offers at KGS.
which doesn't look great now I think about it!![/quote]
Oh I think KGS only has 125 places (including 10+ deferred offers). So at the end they over offer by double?
250 out of 400 doesn't look good! Anyone knows what's the interview is about? The initial email hasn't told the details yet...

@Harley100

Has anyone heard from LU? I know they say before the 21st, but wondering if first replies have gone out? Thank you everyone and congrats to all those who have interviews!

LU's interview invitation just started to come out. Good luck!

@Meimng , in 2018 the interview was straight forward as follows:
What 3 words describe yourself
What book are you reading
What subject don't your like
Why do you want to come to this school
Do you know this school is mixed
What other schools have you heard from

It was fairly obvious from the iv that my ds would get a place (he went to Hampton instead). Most of his class at Hampton had an offer from KGS but turned it down. A few years before at Surbiton high some of my daughters class didn't get an offer from KGS. By this late January stage you begin to get an idea of the way the offers will go

Congrats to your DD @Benny12! Wonderful news. And thanks RM46. This was our last second round 'result', so I feel relieved. Having said that, now on to the interviews/assessments.....! Good luck all. The end is nearly in sight......

Popping in here to congratulate all your DDs who have interviews! Fingers crossed for those still waiting to hear. We went through this process last year and DD now happy at LEH (I evangelised about it up thread). Because of covid last year all our interviews were virtual which meant I got to listen in on them (mixed blessing) but here are my top tips learned from this experience:

Make sure DD has recently read or is reading a good book. Doesn’t have to be classic literature or anything super highbrow but something with some substance that she can say a few interesting things about. Every interview we had DD got asked what she was reading and there were always some follow up questions. She had just read The Hunger Games which was good because there’s lots of conversational directions you can take with that. She had good chats about the nature of heroism / the book vs the movie / the value of reality TV. It was just a couple of minutes chat but its a good idea to make sure she has a book she can talk about like that.

Remind her beforehand what extra curriculars she does! Seems weird but a few times my DD got asked what she does outside school and she could only remember one thing (out of three or four) because her mind went blank. Also make sure she can say what she likes / doesn’t like about them because they’ll probably ask. Again it just helps the conversation flow if she’s thought about it in advance and doesn’t panic in the moment.

Other than that you can’t really prepare. My DD had everything from a thought experiment about The Ship of Theseus to “How would your friends describe you in three words?” Schools are looking for girls who can talk intelligently and think for themselves so over-preparation will work against you anyway. I will say though that every single interviewer was kind and friendly and not trying to trip her up or catch her out, they just wanted to get to know her a little bit. It wasn’t an intimidating process.

Good luck to all of you! Fingers crossed it all goes well. Hope this is helpful.

thanks @Flossietea ..great advice and nice to see your name pop up again (I lurked on last years thread )

Hi guys, new on here but spent a long time going through all the messages last night and wish I’d seen this sooner! I had 2 questions and was wondering if anyone could help. My DD has interviews for Putney & FHSS on Wednesday - wondering if she should wear her uniform or own clothes? Also has anyone heard back from Harrodian? I know emails were meant to start going out this week…

@ShaminaC Hi! From experience of other interviews the schools prefer that children come in their school uniform.
Mine went to Francis Holland Regent Park without uniform, as we came from Berlin and did not think about bringing her uniform with us. But it was quite a fun conversation, when one of the teachers saw her scarf and asked if it was school A or B (I forgot the actual names). And my daughter said that it was actually Gryffindor scarf. The teacher was like pf course, how could I forget)

Shamina I’ve sent dd in uniform when she has school before or after (so all of them except SPGS exam, as that was all day), as it would be a hassle to change on the way there or back. But she’s at a state primary, so it’s sweatshirt and trousers, not smart or anything anyone would recognise.

Hi @Mumalsoasfriend. Was the LU invite for a normal interview or scholarship? We are waiting to hear for a normal interview and expecting to hear Friday I think.

Also waiting on LU & Harrodian!

@travelturtle Oh it is the normal interview invitation DD has got. We did not apply for any scholarship. I guess it will come up soon. As another parent I know was waiting for LU’s email too. Finger crossed!

Thanks @Flossietea @sunshineclouds24 for the tips! DD sat interviews with the other two schools and I can't agree with you more, that the interviewers were kind and they were just trying to understand the girl more!

Well, dd thinks she completely mucked up the SPGS interview and definitely won’t get a place. Fingers crossed for the other schools, and for everyone else’s dds.