SW London Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023 (Part II)

[QuiteAJourney]

Continuation of the thread
SW London Girls' Private & Grammar - applying for year 7 in 2023

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4643252-sw-london-girls-private-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023?page=40

Looking forward to continuing the journey with all of you!!

@23chat Thanks for sharing - this is brilliant!
A friend's DD at KGS interview - 'what do you like doing when you have some spare time'? - 'not much, sit on the sofa and play with the cat'. She got an offer.
As you say, it goes to show that one answer is the not the driver and that honesty is valued.

I know that one school at 11+ always start interviews with "what do you like doing at the weekends" so they can immediately weed out the ones who reply "Well, after I have spent 7 hours with my tutor, I do four hours piano practice and then my parents read to me from the works of Plato". 😂These schools want normal, honest, enthusiastic kids - not those who've been tutored and prepped to the hilt.

For anyone stressing about the SPGS exams yesterday, I am a current SPGS parent. It is very common for girls not to finish papers and so I would really not read anything into it if your's didn't - mine didn't finish the paper that they said she had been particularly strong in!

Also, anecdotally (but from a former SPGS teacher who had been involved in the exam process), a rough litmus test for how they are expected to perform on the maths paper would be c.90% on section A (the basic arithmetic section), c.75% on section B (the standard 11+ style section) and c.40% on section C (the "puzzle" style questions). As I say, that is anecdotal but it correlates with how mine thought she had done.

I'm slightly loathe to comment on numbers getting through to interview as I understand application numbers have been going up and they may be inviting larger numbers to each stage after the initial computer test. The general rule of thumb was that around 20% or so weren't invited to sit the exam (based on around 500 applicants and 400 being invited through to the exams day). Then roughly 200 would be invited to interview and around 115 places then being offered, together with a relatively short waitlist (of which some will be eventually offered places).

Good luck to everyone going through the 11+ process - there is light at the end of the tunnel!

@LondonMum20222 I think depends on the schools, added a phase will help 😂

"Well, just like any other students admitted in your school, after I have spent 7 hours with my tutor, I do four hours piano practice and then my parents read to me from the works of Plato".

@Gumps @Taurus23 last year LEH letters came out on a Saturday. They were posted on 14 Jan. Good luck!

Speaking to a few of DD's indie classmates parents, the feeling was that SPGS papers were not as tough in the past years, also interesting that someone here mentioned that their DD found the NLCS paper harder ... so several completed or nearly completed
The process is such a black-box; when do we expect them to come back by? We are not holding much hope here though, it was a bit of a long shot.
The wait for consortium call-backs and others is also such a drag... sorry bit of a rant here!

@PreplexJ 😂😂😂 The whole thing is absurd, from any rational pov!

Does this level of parental involvement and panic end or does it continue through GCSE and A levels? I only have 1 heart!

I think at GCSE and A levels my ability to contribute and influence DD will be close to zero, so I don't think I will be in such a state!

@Workhar An interesting question. Of course, it depends the parents but I think that, on the whole, the level of parental involvement in the 11+ is higher as DC are still little and we feel wholly responsible for them.

Can any of the parents whose DD sat SPGS let me know what date you got notified that they were through to second round (so I have it for next year when DD sits it!) I remember people posting on this thread, but can't remember when it was. Thanks!

If the school gives a choice, I let my DC wear whatever they feel comfortable in for the exam. However, for interviews, even if there is a choice and the interview is on a weekend, I personally prefer my DC to wear uniform.

tamu1234, as it is a black box! Secondary schools all prepare the DC for GCSE and A Levels curriculum and marking scheme of past papers, so less of a black box. The best advice came from our violin teacher, all examiners are cheering you on and want you do do your best. Cultural fit of the school is important, DC in orchestra and choir whilst DC’s friend at super selective school at a higher grade on 2 instruments gave both up due to feeling not good enough.

Anyone think we will hear from Putney today? In their email they said, by or before Jan 6th! :) I am anxiously waiting...even though I do not have much hope she will go to second round (according to her she bombed the test). I just want to know something (anything!) from one of the schools we have applied to (4 total) and the waiting feels like FOREVER!!!

So true HawaiiWake, the best we can hope for is a school which is the best cultural fit for the child and where they will thrive!

QuiteAJourney: thats it, because we feel responsible for the DCs choices the involvement is a lot higher in the 11+

@SamPoodle123 I think Putney (and Claremont?) will be tomorrow - they will probably do it late in the day based on other schools imo as they don't want anyone phoning them on a Friday afternoon querying the result!! But that's just my cynical view :)

I had a look at last year's thread and it seemed as if Claremont started on the Saturday and also that some people didn't hear till much later but still got interviews. It also seemed as if those who didn't get interviews didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks.

Lurker here...went though this with DD during Covid and have a younger DD so am slowly bracing myself and starting to prepare mentally to go through this again. Am looking at selecting a list of schools and will be having LEH, PHS and FHSS on our list and realise all their heads are leaving...! I know the head is so important for a school and starting to get anxious... Any news on new heads for these schools that I might have missed?

PHS, I think I missed that they have changed the exam format this year... And the consortium. Lots of changes going on since 2 years back

Crossing fingers for you all these anxious times! Interview rounds was very nerve wrecking with my older DD as she's very shy, but once I left the room (zoom interviews) and the teacher saw she was the shy type, they somehow got her at ease and she answered all questions and did the activities they asked her to do (some were practical). My DD often got out with a big smile and in some cases her favourite school changed based on the interview. It's not just the school interviewing our kids, it's our kids interviewing the school also. If you know what I mean

@mmhophey PHS has announced that the new head is Jo Sharrock (formerly Head at Shrewsbury High School, also part of GDST).
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net/appointment-of-new-head/

Formats seem to be quite fluid and I would expect that will continue - some schools going back to pre-Covid arrangements, some have stayed with ISEB and/or introduced some elements that they used during lockdown, others are going down the Atom route, and others are adjusting to the fact that they have increased number of applications. Imho, there is no point in preparing for a specific school / exam given that you will end up applying across a range of schools and that in each one of them things might change.

@mmhophey LEH announced their new head in Dec - Rowena Cole. There's another thread on MN about it - there seems to be some ambiguity about the reasons she left her previous school (St John's Leatherhead) so it'll be interesting to get a sense of her at an open day in the autumn term (hopefully) before we have to submit final applications. I assume it was a pretty robust process at LEH, but it's always a bit disconcerting when a Head leaves a school (as Rowena Cole did) without having a new position to go to.

www.lehs.org.uk/about/leh-stories/story/~board/leh-news/post/lady-eleanor-holles-school-appoints-new-head-mistress#:~:text=Rowena%20will%20take%20up%20the,as%20our%20next%20Head%20Mistress.

There's so much movement among heads this year (beyond those you mentioned) that I think the current applicants and next year's (we are next year) will have to fly blind to some extent.

@EweCee I think you are right. I think also, they do not want the dc talking about it first thing Friday morning if we hear back today. I assume they will wait Friday after school.

I somehow thought dc would need a shirt and proper pants for the interview but understand this might not be necessary, which is refreshing. Are there any schools that you know would expect more formal when it comes to dc’s attire? Interested in LU particularly. Dont want to over/underdress ds and make him fewl awkward. Thanks.

On interview attire - any thoughts on KGS? I was thinking non-uniform and comfy but not leggings or jeans.. what are others planning?

LU won't really care. I think DS wore jeans and a jumper. It was probably a notch up from joggers and a hoody but not much! But he never wears a shirt. If your DS does it would be fine for him to wear

@QuiteAJourney I think if it was a school day, I just send them in school uniform. For weekends, definitely no jeans, leggings or trackpants! Smart casual, I would guess, but definitely something they're comfortable in. I guess the question is whether you would go to a job interview wearing something similar?