SW London Private & Grammar: applying for year 7 in 2023

[QuiteAJourney]

Following up from
www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4716365-sw-london-private-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023-part-iii?page=40

Sharing the journey

IPS - time pressure in the online test was ridiculous (unless you’re amazing at them, which many won’t be). She just came out feeling bad about not being able to finish very much on time. Also in the group exercise it was all boys and then my DD in the group - not ideal.

Ah yes. My son found it time pressured also but is quite chilled so didn't really bother him (probably would have helped In this process if he did have a bit more urgency about it actually!). He enjoyed the lesson though.

Am I imagining it or do some schools send results today? Which ones? I cannot stand the suspense 😂

Not really a London school but I believe Guildford High will send results today.

@QuiteAJourney quite agree with you on some schools handling the interview/second stage better than others.

WHS was a shocker with the written, timed tests in the creative assessment. Also seemed very impersonal and had huge numbers invited back. 6:1 I’m thinking

LEH was fine and as expected aside from the questions about the other schools on the list as well as a strange negative comment on one of them…

PHS very warm, friendly, well run and exactly as per the email

Surbiton - Good with a few problem solving questions thrown in. Not sure how those went but not a total surprise.

Sutton - Online before Christmas, very brief and felt like they’d already made decisions and were just trying to check for any major issues. We received an offer and DD hardly said a thing. Lasted 8/10 mins max.

I agree on IPS stage one experience, it was an unnecessary knock on confidence in the middle of the process for everyone and perhaps an even greater impact on those who did not get to IPS next stage before they say their remaining exams.

No direct experience on Ibstock, is the online exam CEM select? Is the time pressure different to the CEM select pretest for CLSG or SPGS?

If the parents/child do some homework (or did some practice CEM select or CEM paperd) before the actual test, probably will be better to cope with the timed section test? It is different to the normal ISEB or atom learning.

DD recalls during the SPGS pretest within the same room there are some NLCS junior girls, who apparently knows the tricks and techniques that is useful for CEM select. DD was impressed, think they are well prepared...

Interesting re G&L. We're a year away, but when I emailed them with an innocuous question about open days, I got a reply (some weeks later) that was brusque to the point of being rude. (I have had very different responses to similar enquires from other schools). Combined with this year's experiences people have posted on here, I sense perhaps a certain arrogance? "We know we're a top performing school and will be hugely over subscribed so we just don't need to make an effort through this process". Which is weird as other "top performing" schools clearly go out of their way to be kind /helpful / compassionate / respectful / entice you to their school, and for us next year that will definitely make a difference.

@LondonMum20222 that is the impression I got from WHS too and I know quite a few mums that, like me, and despite our DDs having made it to stage 2 and being very local, have now the school as one of their bottom choices. We have flagged up the issue to the Head of 11+ at our prep and they will raise with WHS.

@QuiteAJourney Oh, well done for flagging. And great that your prep are going to feed back. It'll be interesting to see if WHS change anything next year. It didn't sound like the most edifying process for 10 and 11 year olds.

LU is again sending email to say how good their school is.... . Isn't it rather irritating? I hope all the schools stop sending emails until 10th February.

Yes, I must say, this has really put me off. If my dd gets an offer there, we would have to think long and hard before accepting. It is hard to turn down though when some say you would be crazy to turn it down..... You would think all schools would want to be more welcoming etc. That being said, they were not terrible on the interview day, they just did not make any efforts like Putney or Emanuel to interact with the parents. It was more just like "Hello, please sit over there and help yourself to refreshments" and that is it. It would have been nice if they had a couple teachers walking around to interact with the parents like Putney and Emanuel did.

I am just curious if SPGS is similar to G&L about not really interacting with the parents? How was it during the interviews? What about LU?

The schools all read Mumsnet so will probably see these posts and glean helpful updates!

@QuiteAJourney - it's a shame that the WHS process hasn't seemed great. The former admissions lady was there for years and was amazing. I had a lot to do with them around the acceptance of a waitlist please and they couldn't have nicer in response to many a panicked phone call or email! I wonder if Covid and new admissions team has caused teething problems?

It’s not hard is it - to engender a warm and welcoming approach, particularly at the second stage of the process. What the schools should (and some do) realise is that we, as parents, are totally invested and we need nurturing and to be treated respectfully as well as our DC! After all, we are choosing them too. It’s just poor (or in the case of some like Sutton High, PHS, Emanuel) great marketing! I have to say that whoever does the marketing for Sutton High deserves a medal!!

General question about admission processes? Did you DCs prefer the ones with more parental interaction/ more organisation etc or did it not make much of difference to them?
Eg- when we did the Emanuel it was chronically disorganised but DD still had it as a top choice. Putney was Ok but DD flatly refused to go there but liked the biscuit! KGS interviews were fine but Exams organisation was a shocker ( I complained) but we both still liked it and WHS was neutral on the organisational front but DD enjoyed it! With DS all different again.
It's tricky as we are going to spend huge amounts of money on fees so we want to get a 'warm feeling' through the admissions process but that's not necessarily a reflection of how the school will be.

I heard from DD's friend it was cold (no refreshments, no interactions with teachers, students or existing parents) and interview short - about15 mins. Just like an efficient production line...

Will report back this weekend 😅

Top marks for marketing when we did it went to Surbiton High. They made you feel like you were extra special and the head had personally chosen you! We got so many Christmas cards, postcards, invites to sporting stuff etc. They didn't even interview in those days and everyone we know got a place!

It is really hard for school to balance too warm or too cold 😂

Sounds like a lovely experience.
Their behaviour with some scholarship candidates that did not pass the exam stage was shocking though - inviting a 10-year old to a scholarship assessment to then withdraw the invite because she did not pass the test is quite brutal and could easily be avoided with proper sequencing and planning.

For LU, children had to queue around the corner and parents drooped off at the entrance (same as exam day with fewer children in the queue). Pick up from the hall near entrancr with absolutely no interaction with parents. So I do find it funny when LU sends these weekly emails when they had no interest whatsoever to acknowledge parents at the interview stage.

I totally agree that it is difficult for schools to get the right balance.

FWIW I know people who have chosen schools in the past because they loved them during the 11+ process (warm and fluffy and communication++) When there are lots of offers on the table it’s easy to see why this happens. However, you do have to remember that marketing is their biggest selling point, and some sell better than others… that doesn’t mean that this continues when your child goes to that school. I know people who have been unhappy with some schools that did a wonderful job during 11+ but fell short once there and vice verse.

WHS, new admission team that joined midway last year 11+ process. The difference between previous communications and the new one was startling different and kept impersonal.
We had online group interviews with an option to call and email if internet dropped etc in group interview email guideline. It happened to DC and nothing, no communication and had to rejoin by parents email, calling and begging interviewer to let kid back into the group interview since DC try to rejoin and use own initiative but screen showing interviewer knows you waiting for awhile. When DC rejoined, no hello back or acknowledge kid internet drop just ask kid to answer this question.

Completely agree and that happened to us in one scholarship area with a few week's gap and also to a friend's DD in another area, who had the scholarship assessment offered 48 hours before it was taken away by Surbiton. Totally brutal and unnecessary.

yes, Ibstock SPGS CLGS had CEM exams as part of their 1st stage. No child is expected to finish CEM exams and I think they announced that in my kid’s exam room at Ibstock. Of course, practice helps manage the time.