11 plus support thread 2022

[PalindromemordnilaP]

Anyone else have a DC sitting 11+ this Autumn?

If so, would you like to chat on a support thread?

DD is sitting her exam tomorrow.

Anyone else? Waiting for the results will be nail-biting.

that sounds really odd @FlamingoSocks , which area are you in? in Bucks/Berks years ago the marks came out after the CAF deadline, so folks had to guess whether to use slot(s) on a grammar , but they changed that, and in the last 10 years or so you get the marks two weeks before the CAF deadline….

Kingston, so we are just trying for Tiffin.

@Maybetoofarsouth
you apply to sit the first exam in about September, normally 1800/2000 boys
around 600 get invited back to second exam in November. When you get the invite is when you know you might be in with a chance and then obvs you submit CAF
then of the 600, top 180 get offered a place. And you find out on March 1st. At 5pm!!

I can completely relate to this. I always think I'm going to feel better than I do after a high stress event- it was the same after we got the 11+ results. I was thrilled but just felt generally very weird / hard to switch off.

Got in to Tiffin. So proud of him

Congratulations!!

Congratulations flamingosocks! What an achievement. First choice here so we are celebrating although it wasn't really in doubt once he passed the kent test.

DS got his first choice.

Thats great news Jules 912. I guess we will get letters from schools before long its all gonna get very real! I am planning to go and ask to buy second hand uniform from the receptionist at my son's new school tomorrow, she is a bit fierce or I would have asked in November!

Congratulations 👏

We've already had an email asking us to fill in a data collection form and return asap (this is used as confirmation of us accepting the school place) they say they will send more forms before the end of the month.

Congratulations everyone! Now the thinking ahead to uniform, logistics of buses etc etc begins!

@CreateAName123 yes absolutely! I'm broken! Also having a horrendous time at school with a restructure. I thought the school places thing would be my obsession Jan and feb but I've had double with the work situation too. I want to cry, have a glass of wine and go to bed!

Horrendous time at work not school 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Great news @FlamingoSocks , that sounds such a tough process!

Just been looking at the stats on the furthest distances in my area. All the schools seem to have reduced distances vs last year.

2 schools have dramatically reduced distances (1 reduced by nearly a half, the other by a third). Both boys grammars

I know it was a high birth rate year but I can't work out how it has changed so much.

Olaves (and maybe a few other grammars) have a two stage exam. You only know if you got invited to the second exam before submitting the CAF.

How’s everyone doing?

So the 1st March was a relief for me and DH.
DS was pleased he had got his 1st choice but it dawned on him that he would not be with his classmates after this year - the vast majority are going to the good local comp.

He got a bit upset but he knows that the school he got into was the best fit for him. I've also said we'll keep in touch with his old friends via scouts and sports.

Realistically, his class will all get split up at secondary as the year group is 300+

@Pipsquiggle yes, it’s a bit of a change bing the outlier, he will only know 2 ex classmates in the year of 180. but that’s what the settling jn sessions are for and many children are drawn from different primaries so it’s not unusual.

our GS does an induction week in the holidays, and he can see his primary friends at weekends.

Our primary is half intake (15dc) and they're being split between 6 schools...so although almost all got their first choices there has been a bit of a realisation that they won't be going to the next school with their best friends. DD and her group of friends have already said they can text each other all the time.

Luckily all transition days fall outside of our planned residential trip so they can all go on that and have a fab time to celebrate their time together at primary.

Have filled in all our official acceptance forms today that the school emailed yesterday and its slowly dawning on me that I will now have 2 children in 3 different schools in 3 different places...will be running my life like a military operation for a while I think. Also having to deal with an annoying relative who likes to mouth off about how grammar schools are the work of evil and I'm basically abusing my children by making them have a longer journey than to the local comp. I've never seen my DD happier than she is now at her grammar, long journey and all, and my DS's happy face when I told him he would be going to his 1st choice grammar would have made the strongest critic melt. Why can't people just accept that everyone is doing the best for THEIR CHILD and what suits one may not suit another. Ugh, rant over. Sorry!

This 100%. If we didn't get a grammar (we got first choice, woo!) We either would have had to bus DD 10 miles away or would have got a school with an atrocious reputation I couldn't send her to, I'd have to do homeschooling and goo on waiting lists.

I completely understand the issues with the grammar system and have issues with several things, bit ultimately i'm not going to sacrifice my child's feelings ad educations on the altar of my opinions.

I totally get you @ElvenDreamer , rant away!

I have had three children in three schools for four and a half years (one primary, one comp, one GS) and I can tell you it’s a bit of an admin experience! Pickups/inset days/holidays vary, and keeping track of school trips, reports and special events is a bit mindboggling.
thank goodness they all use the same online payment system (!!) so there’s only one of those.