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!!

My DD sat all these exams last year and is now at LU , happy to answer any questions as this board helped me so much last year. The grouping for LU interview is is it for organisation as to keen numbers in school manageable…. Child will have j tee Kew with one member of staff asking about themselves and then looking at abstract picture and reasoning what it might be and why …. They often ask why Latymer as well.

Did they have this "half-day immersive learning in small group" assessment last year and what was it like? Also, they said there would be a 15 minutes interview, and was it just a casual chat?

No immersive learning last year but it was still covid protocol … have just asked my daughter again and this is what she said ;

• picture of something obscure and discuss what think might be
• problem solving maths questions e.g how many footballs in Uk ?( want to see your reasoning )
• what’s your favourite book ? Tell me what you loved most about it.
• discuss a topic pro and cons : she got “all schools should be co-Ed”

she did say this was only hers and not sure how much they varied but a few kids she knew said they got something similar so seems to be a theme. Hope helpful

So sorry to hear that your DS did not get an interview for Hampton. Fingers crossed that he gets offers at other schools.

We are still awaiting our DS Hampton results.

Please can you kindly advise if you received the results via email or post (snail mail).

Would you advise waiting until January or contacting Hampton via email?

Thank you

Ok just rechecked previous email received from Hampton.

As my DS sat 13+ for Hampton, the results will only be received in January.

I expect that the thread will be quite quiet in coming weeks and that many of us will be focusing on the festive period...

so Merry Christmas everybody!

@QuiteAJourney Merry Christmas!!

Forgot to add, is anyone doing interview prep during the holidays?

@QuiteAJourney and everyone wishing you a merry Christmas!

@Mamabear12 we have main exams in January, so lots of prep still going on.. ...I wish it was just interview prep...only a few more weeks to go

Merry Christmas all

Merry Christmas, all. Just think, this time next year, all your DCs will be happily settled into senior school, and all this will seem like a distant memory. Enjoy the holidays!

@Susieboots we've got one more in January so still working here. How many do you have?

@Daydreamscometrue two more exams for us! We'll deserve a holiday when it is all over!

@LondonMum20222 what a great thought!

How are people doing interview prep? If I ask DD interview type questions, she doesn't take me seriously and answer in the way she would in an interview (at least I hope that's not how she'd answer!).

Same @snowgirl1 I said what's your favourite book and got 'shrug'. I gave up after that though I will try to do a little bit at some point!

Perhaps just try talking to them if they do not want to answer the interview type questions seriously. I would give them ideas on what I would say. For example....I would say "If I got asked, what is your favourite book, my response would be "Hmm, that is a hard one, I have read so many good ones, but one that stands out is Gone with the Wind. I really enjoyed it bc of x, y and z." I would also talk about what is going on in the news. Perhaps get a casual discussion going on with my dh at the table and ask dd her opinion.

re: interview prep, imho, I think best to chat about the kind of things that could come up rather than proper practice / rehearse .... otherwise, it may end up sounding quite forced / not natural.

Some good tips thanks!

I see a lot of kids attending interview preparation workshops. I have literally read warnings about NOT preparing a child for interviews as trained teachers can recognize rehearsed kids and don’t feel happy seeing them. I am really confused. Won’t rehearsed kids appear more impressive and confident? And is it really that easy to spot them?

@Workhar I think that the balance to strike is to provide some tips but not to go down the route of rehearsing. That kind of reconciles attending a workshop to give them some exposure (but not beyond that) whilst not rehearsing.

The children who are prepared, do well. You would not attend an interview for a job with out preparing and practicing what questions my come up and your answers would you? Obviously, do not have a scripted response, but it is good for them to know what questions come up and practice some responses they might give. For example, they should know to be able to come up with some answers and elaborate and not just yes or no or shrug. I know children who have been coached on interviewing and they got into top schools. These same schools that say do not interview prep, also say do not tutor for 11+....but everyone does it.

I agree. My first 11+ experience. I took the “no practice required” advice too seriously.

Yea, the ones that attend the top schools like St Pauls, Godolphin and Latymer Upper all do so much prep. I know children that attend Bute, a feeder school to all 3 secondaries I mention and those girls tutor from year 4, atom plus, and other prep. I think it is all too much. We started a bit late and do wish we started start of year 5. I just hope whatever prep we did is enough.

To depends which school you are aiming for, the dd at Bute aren't sitting KGS where the iv is a general chat about your favourite book etc. For the general SW London schools the question that most throws the dc is often "what other schools are you trying for " as they can't always remember and also "why do you want to come to this school" - these are both worth practising with answers like "I love playing hockey and would love to join a hockey team".