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

I spoke to my daughter's current school (spgs) before accepting her offer. the motivation here was to check whether she got in comfortably as I did worry about the rumours going around about the level of academic pressure in the school. I wanted to make sure that she didn't just scrape in. My experience was that they don't tell you the exact score, but do give details about what percentile she sits in over all, as well as broken down into her percentile for maths exam and for English exam.

Amazing! Really well done to your DD! No more anxious waits for you all now!

@momomamiko @SamPoodle123 @pme ive been thinking a lot about whether to ask ‘ranking.’ Basically I assume DD is fairly low ‘pass’ at G&L since we didn’t make the SHHS cut and it was same test. But she did make CLSG, SPSG and LU latter rounds, all different tests.
Thus I urge caution on assuming ‘rank’ on one day of one test to determine how they will do at a school. First round offer, late wait list offer? Do you think this would be obvious quickly? Do you think it’s reflected at GCSE? If it was, I imagine the schools would be aware and would be on top of it all somehow. What if you find out your child is low rank but would be high rank with just 2 additional points? Low rank bc of post code? How many questions are you willing to ask? How much info are they likely to give, mindful as they may be of acceptance rates etc.?

I am going to assume any offers we’re lucky enough to get are deserved and go with how we feel about the schools. In fact, we will snap up any offers and be incredibly grateful!

I’m really enjoying the ‘value added’ conversation. I think it’s really important to think about. Also, to what extent do top schools ‘enrich’ rather than ‘accelerate’ is something we’re thinking about. We really like LU’s extra options for that reason, for example.

But, overall trying not to get attached! That to me is the hard part…I’ve realised with the waiting that I’m surprisingly attached to a particular school despite working hard to stay as open as possible. Grrrrrr. Bring on 10 Feb (or not maybe? Ack!)

@Firenze12 amazing news and fantastic school! Congratulations!!

Thank you so much @UKUSMum and @LondonMum20222
All feels a bit surreal, feel like we have been waiting for this day for so long. So pleased to say it has ended well! Rooting for everyone else and hoping Feb 10th brings good news.

Huge congrats @Firenze12 - amazing news! Well done to your DD!

I’ve said it before on this thread but so much better to be at the top of a cohort than the bottom. It has done wonders for DD. Her confidence has grown. She would have felt dreadful in a school full of the very top girls, I think.
I asked the three schools we looked at where she ranked and we went for one where she was high up. I’m so pleased we did.
also in value Add - this is so important and you should ask at every school. The GcSe value add is really revealing. Of course schools which ‘cream off’ the very top will get amazing results - anywhere in the top hundred schools. That’s obvious. But schools which are seen as back ups or middling, where they actually take in a range of abilities seem to add so much more to the kids over the five years. We asked this at open events as schools don’t seem to publish it. Some do, but most won’t - especially those who are mega selective. They basically take in those with cat score above 130, already in top 2% and then churn out a string of 9s five years later. Those taking in 100-115 (or even lower) and getting 9s is far more impressing in my opinion. This is a question people should be asking at offer holder events and if schools won’t say it, I’d be worried. I’d be looking for an addition of a minimum of a grade at least - or what are you paying for! That’s a joke, but I’m some ways it isn’t! Interesting that @QuiteAJourney says some schools are now pushing this info out there - last year I had to really beg for the information.

Congrats @Firenze12 !

@Sugar118 I'm not sure where in London you are but Sydenham and Streatham and Clapham might be worth considering.

@pme I don't think academically there is anything worth thinking about between a school ranked 5th and 50th in making a decision to accept a school. A child would very likely achieve the exact same academic outcomes in either. Some schools may have better value-add for teaching but that isn't part of league table rankings in any case.

@1forward2back I love your post in so many ways!

I’d love to know which school yiur dc went to but I ll ping you separately

the value added thing is such an eye opener; one of our back ups ranked in top 5% of all schools in the country for ‘value added’

needless to say not our back up anymore

massive thank you @1forward2back xx

Where can you see ratings for value added?

@1forward2back I also love your post - you are spot on. So many of the popular schools (often due to location) are now able to cream off the most able children and then claim that they are increasing their academic standards and show you graphs etc (Emanuel being one). They're not of course, they are just selecting in more academically able 11 year olds, because they can. A good friend of mine says 'you don't want your child to peak at 11 yrs old' and he is absolutely right - 16 or 18 would be better. That's where value add comes in.

PS I think I know exactly which school your DD is at and am holding an offer for there so will also message you separately if that's ok. Their value add is almost 1.5 grades which is super impressive and something I am looking for.

@winetime123 you can’t really. The DFE tables are completely out for Indy schools if they do any International GCSEs because DFE won’t revognise them. So I just asked at offer holders days and meetings with the head. One school has a Q+A thing and I asked at that. It seems from this thread that schools are more open with it now though.

Hope you have a wonderful evening as a family! We are not there yet but I know it is close - closer than ever now 😉

@momomamiko Thanks, very kind of you. Back after nice lunch at favourite restaurant and a day of DD-focused fun.
Good luck to you and your DS - as you say, now closer than ever. You have BC left, I think (good luck with that). Did you have anything today?

We had UCS today and have one more before BC (good remembering!).

Thank you!

@momomamiko Hope USC went well today. All the very best for BC (and hopefully you get good news before or on the day too!).

OFFER DAY

Sorry if I’m going over something already discussed but does anyone know when offer day actually is?

I’m waiting in Surbiton High & Epsom and the wait in debilitating 🤯🤯🤯

Anyone know when we might expect to hear? All I have is February but that’s a looootttt of days to be waiting on an email/letter to drop.

Epsom is the week starting the 6 Feb, no info on the day. Got my fingers and toes crossed for it.

We had one 'early Feb' offer on Friday so if Sutton says that it could be any day now.

@Didsomeonesay sorry meant Surbiton not Sutton.

A few of ours are 10th Feb aka Friday before half term so you can't ring them up and ask lots of questions over half term!

People are at liberty for asking for 11-plus tests ranking or quintiles if they really need to but this really is meaningless. It's one test on one day when they were 10/11. They have 7 years in whatever school they go to and literally anything can happen. I've seen it all over the years - those who come in with academic scholarships have quite often 'burnt out' by year 9. Or even if they haven't, they are middling. They all develop in different ways at different times. There is no such thing as 'top' anyway because they are all doing 12 or so subjects - so 'top' at what? There will be mathematicians who are not great at essay subjects. There will be artists, linguists, etc etc. It does not happen that they are 'ranked' across all subjects. Aldi these CAT scores will change - a lot! Some pupils are very average all the way through but then come into their own at A-level when they can focus in the subjects they are best at. I have seen children come in with academic scholarships and the pressure is so much that they can't cope with not getting the highest marks in tests ( which WILL happen). Some get so anxious they end up having to leave. I know two who suffered so much with MH they had to leave the school; while others who got in on the WL went on to get a full sweep of 9s.

It doesn't matter where they sit in the cohort. If they get in, they get in. For the 100 or so who end up in Year 7 at G&L or SPGS or whichever school, there will be hundreds more who did not get in but could have coped just as well, if not better, than the ones who did. The girls in SPGS or G&L are not a rarified breed. There will be girls in comprehensives up and down the U.K. who are just ad academic as any of them. When they get to uni, they will find this out very quickly. With the 11 plus, a lot if it is luck on the day. These tests are very arbitrary. But I suppose schools have to do something with di many applicants per place.

When they get into the school, the most important predictors of how well they do will be their mental health, support from home, happiness, confidence and friends. The quartile they entered the school in, based on one test, is utterly meaningless. With In a few weeks, other tests will have different results anyway.

agree with all of this!

@anda44 interesting input. I agree with what you say, but still torn on whether or not to ask! If my dd gets into G&L she will want to go, and while I am happy for her to go if that is what she wants, I get a little worried when reading about what some dc do to get in there (the amount of studying). My dd is just not the type to study loads. Or maybe it is because her current school (state) is not challenging enough? I do not know. I just want to make sure the school she gets into, she is at a comfortable level within the cohort and does not feel too much pressure.

Also, I am just curious if anyone asked feedback, do you have to call in or do they respond to emails? I asked one school out of curiosity and got no response so far. But that could be because they do not want to respond until after offer day.

SamPoodle123 - its just my opinion but I would say that if your DD is offers a place at G&L she will be absolutely fine. Probably, out if the 1,000 or so who took the exam, a few hundred more could have got in and thrived if there was enough space. Don't be put off by all the hype about them all doing ridiculous amounts of work. They really don't. Obviously, they can't just do nothing, but the homework is very reasonable. They all find their niche and they are all good at something. They really don't need to be amazing across the board. Nobody is. There are a few 'tiger' neurotic parents but these are the exact same parents that were neurotic at 11 plus. Some parents just like to perpetrate their own 'special' myth. But the school itself is not pressured and if they get in they will be absolutely fine academically.