SW London Girls' Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023

[EmotiveBubblez]

i myself have been looking for this thread and have been unsuccessful. Saw a couple people mention it over the past day or so on the 2022 one.

so here we go, albeit a bit late.

has everyone visited all the schools on their lists?

how many schools are everyone applying to?

what schools are you applying to?

how is the preparation going?

i know some exams have taken place, how did they go?

wishing all the whirls good luck with preparation and exams, hope we all find the right schools for our daughters.

@KindergartenKop @HighRopes really interested in views. Imho, imho it may well depend on kids personality (eg confident and competitive vs self-doubt) and also if there is an academic scholarship/programme involved.

Yea, I think it depends on the child. Some children feel pressure more as well, so better if they are top of the cohort, I think. Some kids are more competitive and do not seem phased by the challenge. If it were me, ideally, I would be smack in the middle :) My dd seems to love a challenge and she is not phased at all by the 11+ exams. She is relaxed and looks forward to taking them. But for example, she has a best friend that did not want to do the 11+, who gets anxious about exams. I would not want my dd struggling though, so ideally, she would be going to a school where she was in the middle.

@SamPoodle123 @QuiteAJourney @KindergartenKop

Yes, I only asked once we had offers (including scholarship offers) on the table, and only the two schools we were deciding between.

I think it entirely depends on the DC. I know my dd hates to stand out - the prospect of a special scholarship programme wasn’t that attractive to her. She felt it would make her different to her peers, and sounded (to a 10yo) like extra work. So we were looking for somewhere where she would be a small fish in a big pond.

I think it also depends on whether your DC is strong across the board, or much stronger in Maths than English (or vice versa). You might need to think about how to balance the stretch / pace in their strongest subject with how they will feel about having to work really hard to keep up in their weaker ones. It’s certainly something I would ask the school about, if I was in that position.

I could not agree more with your approach. The number of my daughters friends with pushy mums is unreal, not good for the girls.

@KindergartenKop definitely clever in an average cohort. I’ve seen DD1 blossom in y7 after being bottom half in her prep. Her confidence has grown so much. She believes in herself far more. It must be very disheartening to be bottom set in a high attaining pushy school I reckon. Especially the schools where results are all! I remember one of the more pushy girls schools proudly announcing their average point score at gcse and saying they were looking to push it even higher and that it starts in year7. DD is thriving in a lower pressure position.

hello, did anyone give LEH problem solving exam today?

Also, I am wondering why is Notting Hill and Ealing high school not as popular as the others? I believe it has always produced top results and has decent facilities.

@Workhar not sure how popular Notting Hill and Ealing is or which others you are referring to. I think it is rather far away from most people posting or following this thread (who tend to be based in SW London).
Worth checking if there are other threads for that particular school and/or focused on that area (apologies, I am not familiar with them)

@QuiteAJourney thanks. This makes sense.

My DD did not have enough time for finishing the last writing part. She said it was quite easy otherwise.

Yes, so many girls! I didn’t get much feedback, but my daughter thought it was easier than she expected.

My daughter too thought it was easier than expected. And with such huge number of bright girls applying for LEH, many would have done quite well. Wonder how will they select for their next stage….I believe ISEB will hold a lot of weightage in that case?

Sorry to jump in on the thread. We have a few years ahead of us (DD is in Y3 at an indie that goes upto 18 and is selective at 4+). She's bright and 'ahead of the pack' as her teacher put it. What year do you start prepping them for the likes of SPGS, Tiffins and other schools? And what do you do during the 'early' years I.e Y3 and Y4? I assume it's at Y5 that the process really kicks in?

Given that Emanuel don't interview everyone anymore, do we have any indication of how many they invite back in January for the group assessment?

@Daydreamscometrue I think I heard them say about 2/3 come back at the recent open morning

@yellowmoosefever honestly some people start in y3 and go hard for 3 years! I don't think it's necessary or fair to put on that much pressure. If she's already bright then start gently at the end of y4. Get more serious in the second half of y5. Exams are Sept of y6.

Thanks @KindergartenKop for your reply. What do you start them on in Y4? Surely all this atom stuff (which is going right over my head) is probably a little later (say Y5?)

@yellowmoosefever I'm not convinced by atom, there was a discussion earlier on this thread I think, about it's unreliability. My son has done an hour a week with a tutor from start of y5 plus another hour ish of hwk on the weekend. She has done past papers and worked on areas he was weak on or hadn't covered (he's at a state primary where they are still playing catch-up from covid really). We also entered him for a 10+ exam which was good practice and the feedback told us his strengths/weaknesses. Over the summer between y5 and 6 he had a bit more intensive practice of about 5 tutor sessions over 2 weeks then he sat some 11+ exams this autumn. I haven't pushed him hard but have firmly prodded to get him up to speed. It's paid off in that he got called to the second round of Tiffin.

So, for a soft start use 10+ books for GL exams!

@Dallasdays thank you!

@yellowmoosefever I did like Atom and found it to be a very useful tool, particularly for ISEB tests but also more generally (eg good for NVR practice). I didn't perceive any major issue with unreliability, the scores my DS were getting seemed well aligned with how he had done. It was also god for us as my DS liked the tech element of it rather than more paper based work (which we did as well, albeit mane just one past paper a week). We started Atom in May of Y5, so subscribed for 6 months in total. It's £60 a month for the top package, so roughly the cost of one hour of tuition. I felt I got more value from Atom than from our tutor (who did 1 hour a week on English only)

From a state primary, we started prep Y5 for older dd. Y4 for younger one, mostly as she was getting so little schoolwork in lockdown and I needed something for her to do!

We also carried on with all hobbies, clubs, music, playdates etc right through (lockdowns allowing). The 11+ prep was usually about an hour or so a week, though we did a bit more in the run-up to the exams in the summer before Y6.

They were both offered Tiffin and SPGS.

My DD sat it too. I quizzed about the questions and it sounds like they were all quite fun puzzles but aimed to show maths ability and indeed problem solving skills! Even the creative writing was a problem solving scenario. DD came away having really enjoyed it. I think that's a really nice way of doing it. I imagine the Iseb scores will be a big part of selection as well. Fingers crossed for the next round!

I know someone mentioned they thought it was 2/3 they invite back for interviews from Emanuel. Do you think that is the same for all schools? Just curious more about the process. Curious how do they decide the cut off.

I am no expert but I would think that it varies considerably. Some schools will have more of their offers accepted than others and so will have to take more through to the second stage. Also I think it depends on what the second stage is - the interview stage or an academic paper. Also it depends on numbers of applicants. If numbers are up, I would think that the number they put through would be fairly similar and so the % would go down.

Less through if more popular rather.