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?

Is it usual for all schools to offer a day in February for those who have received offers to help decide?

@refusetobeasheep , yes in normal
times with KGS being 1 of the more low key tours. Surbiton & St. John's leatherhead offering lots of catering, tours, head talk etc. The dates are straight just before or after half term and before state school offers come out and will mention the difference between their educational offering and Tiffin etc. I think surbiton use to have a date or visit very near their closing date and state school offer date for last minute decision makers.
It's another morning off school and time off work for busy dd/ parents!

thanks @sunshineclouds24 !

It also depends on when they send out offers - Surbiton says early Feb, and I would expect an invite to a taster day soon after that (I’ve already had several invites from Sutton High, who offer in December).

Others all seem to be mid Feb, so it depends which bit of mid Feb. I know WHS is sending offer / rejection letters the Friday before half term, so their taster days must be after half term.

Hi everyone. Quick question about LU - for those who got offers, did you read the email the same way that I did - ie that you only have to rsvp if you have a clash? I didn’t fill in the rsvp form as no clash, but am now thinking that the fact that they call it an rsvp makes it sound as if they want you to confirm attendance. Think it was pretty clear it was just for clashes but don’t want to have mucked it up! Thanks very much.

@Broccolimagic DH and I debated this and decided to fill out the RSVP form even without a clash. We had ot do this for 7 plus so assumed it was the same

@puzzledmom thanks - I just tried calling them to double check but it rang off after four rings both times. I suspect they may be rather busy at the moment! Am hoping as the email wasn’t v clear that they would be forgiving even if I’ve taken the wrong decision!

Ps to clarify…when I say offers I obviously mean interview offers!! Just in case I’ve alarmed anyone!

Is anyone here doing the 10 plus and waiting to hear from KGS?

As far as I remember last year, we sent back RSVP form to LU Admission. And the initial interview time slot they had given was clashed with other school and they seemed to swap with other children’s slot.
Good luck.

@deerison My DD had kgs 10+ last year and they send decision letter / email same time as 11+. So it would be 10 or 11 of feb this year.

@Broccolimagic I had the same thought process as you re LU and the rsvp - I read it as being just if you had a clash but tbh I did wonder if I should be rsvp’ing anyway?! We don’t have a clash but I don’t want to have messed it up!?

I think for KGS10+ they will let applicants know interview or otherwise by Jan 21st

@RM46 good to know I’m not the only one! Looking at it again I really don’t think we could be blamed for not returning it. (But wouldn’t it be awful, when the children have worked so hard, if the parents mucked it all up with a bit of poor admin…)

Oh jeez don’t even joke!! 😵‍💫😂@Broccolimagic

@broccolimagic @RM46 perhaps just fill in the form anyway ? Best to be safe

@PricePoint I would but the deadline has passed and the form has disappeared. They only gave us a day or so to respond.

@sunshineclouds24 thanks for the KGS interview feedback.
You say "It was fairly obvious from the iv that my ds would get a place" - could you tell us what gave you that impression? What did they say in the interview that made you sure ds would receive an offer?

@swgeek , it was a few years ago but everyone sat in the cafe area and the teachers came in and out looking for the dc and they sometimes chat to you (the parent) when they bring your dc back. It may now be different with social distancing etc.

@sunshineclouds24 thanks! It is all online now but they do ask for parents to be on the call for the beginning and end of the call, so could be a similar setup, albeit virtual. Fingers crossed!

@Broccolimagic I ended up emailing LU to confirm. RSVP, just in case! And they said yes, you only needed to do rsvp form if you had a clash so all ok 😅

@RM46 many thanks. I’ve just come off the phone to them and came on here to say the same thing! Phew. Now what am I going to find to worry about now?…

@Broccolimagic 😂 I doubt we were the only ones that started to question themselves!

Anyone here already have a DD at SPGS? Can you give an honest opinion of how they’re finding it? My DD has done her interview there, it’s sort of taken us all by surprise that she went all the way to interview (she’s currently in a state school) and obvs who knows if she’ll be offered a place, BUT now I have people telling me to “think carefully” if she does get an offer bc it’ll be fiercely competitive/pressurised/her mental health might suffer/will she keep up/is it the right fit for her… etc etc. Again, it’s not like we actually have an offer right now anyway but if she does get one, she is pretty determined she wants to take it. I just want to make sure if she were to, that we make the right choice and don’t get seduced by the name/league table position etc. It’s obviously an amazing and impressive school but I’d be grateful for any “real world” experiences if anyone has them to share. Thank you x