SW London Private and Grammar - applying for Year 7 in 2023 (Part VI)

[QuiteAJourney]

Following from our previous thread (link below)

www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4731973-sw-london-private-and-grammar-applying-for-year-7-in-2023-part-v?page=40&reply=123775541

Looking forward to continuing the journey together!

I think sharing info on this thread has been and is useful, including schools considered, applied, got offered and declined. I also like the positive community feel, contributed by some more than the others.

On our part, we decided to go for LU. Was DC's top school all the way. I like the diversity and inclusiveness of the school as well as their effort to enhance the restrictive context of GCSE/A levels. It also feels pretty normal for a fee paying school which for me is a plus.

Will release UCS and Emanuel this evening and get off the KCS waitlist.

Good luck to all waiting for WL places!

@lolo99 fair enough, all good, and yes, I imagine they got an unpleasant surprise then. I feel I have spent more time focussing on my DC's 11+ logistics that I have on my own job over the past 6 months! Whilst my DC did all the prep work, there was a lot of logistics/ facilitation from me behind the scenes to enable it all to happen; I can't imagine what would have happened if we'd just sat back!

Also in the spirit of sharing we accepted LU and released PHS and IPS yesterday (released Harrodian and LEH a week or so ago). It was a very tough decision and in the end came down to DD saying she had the happiest feeling at LU. I thought all of the schools were really great.
Regarding the comment on "virtue signalling" we were in WL position a couple of years ago and had an anxious DS - a PP saying DC says "any news mum" daily took me right back and made me feel a bit sad. At that time hearing mums telling me they had released offers gave me hope that the schools would move to WL, other mums sitting on multiple offers because they "really couldnt decide" when I knew there were some offers they certainly would not be accepting struck me as being a bit mean.
For those on WL don't give up hope and keep in touch with admissions reminding them you have the deposit ready to send. My DS got the WL offer on March 2nd that year one of the happiest days of my life and he is thriving, middle-ish in most subjects, top in a couple. So don't ever think they are second best.
This thread has been mostly wonderful and I only wish I'd seen it sooner. Wishing all of you and your DC's the very best of happiness in life and school. Your DC's have already got something amazing - they've got you.

We have released KGS for our daughter yesterday, wish the best to the child to be offered on the WL

We released offers for G&L and NLCS last week. Hope it helps anyone else waiting on those. Really appreciate all the insights and encouragement through these group chats

I am just curious if anyone knows when the schools split the year into house groups, do they take into account where the dc live? For example, do they try and put the dc that live in the same area in the same house so they have some local friends? I think I read they do this at PHS, but curious if they do this at G&L. I know all schools will be different, but curious if they consider this. I would love if my dd could make some local friends, as it makes it easier to meet up or for travel to and from school. Of course, it is great to make friends from all over too, but nice to have 2-3 in the same area if possible.

@SamPoodle123 house group allocation are generally based on sibling or geographical location of the child. Don't know GL but a number of schools I asked confirmed this is the case. Bar one school mentioned the allocation is completely random.

Thanks for the feedback. I hope G&L does it by geographical location as well. It makes sense the schools would consider this.

@SamPoodle123 I'm sure you know this already, but most schools tend to put girls in forms according to postcode, both for travel and social reasons, so your DD should have plenty of girls she gets to know straight away who live relatively close.

@SamPoodle123 you will need to ask the school as it is impossible to generalise. Some schools do it completely at random, other schools do it purely on location, some take into account siblings preferences (e.g. do they want to be in the same house as their sibling or on a different one) while others don't. One of the school even refers to the fact that they do it at random but then sense check for diversity within each form.

Congrats @QuiteAJourney and @SamPoodle123 for making final decisions. Exciting next steps ahead.

@QuiteAJourney yes, I think I will ask them.

@SamPoodle123 It would be interesting to hear what you find out from GL? A couple of years ago when DD was offered a place at another central London school with no shuttle bus service they assured us that they'd try to get us in touch with others travelling on the tube from the same area. Even older girls who they could buddy up with. Have you heard if GL do this? We never accepted that place as DD1 was scared of going on the tube. Have a much more confident DD2 doing 11+ in two years... Thinking if I should bother visiting the schools without shuttle bus for her 🤔

@mmhophey will let you know. I assume it would be up to the parent to find a buddy. We plan to send our dd w the au pair, but we also got lucky and on the way to the holder event met some girls that go to the school and live in the area. They always go together and said my dd could go w them too if she wanted. I will still send her w the au pair, but nice to know she will know others doing the same route. And then when she is comfortable to travel alone, I am hoping she will have a couple friends to travel w in her year.

@SamPoodle123 great you have the au pair to start with! Sounds promising that you found some from the same area at the offers holders event too. It's a good start 😄

@mmhophey yes and now I just need to figure out everything for my year 4 boy 😂 But at least I have time for him.

The Registrar of G&L told us in person that she will hook us up with the girl who lives nearby (subject to the other parent's consent) before school starts.

See you then! My DD2 is in year 4!

GHS allocate train buddies for the girls for meet them and travel with them, so other schools may do this too.

At G&L girls are, indeed, put into classes with others who live close to them.

Any Halliford parents here? Our DS is starting in September. Very excited as it’s his and our-first choice. Been SO impressed with they way they handled everything- admissions, exams, offer letter- all surpassed expectations and made our son feel so valued! We were at the Open Day today as se couldn’t make the recent offer holders day- and was great for DS to meet all the boys and try out lots of fun science experiments! Anyone on here there today?

Lol. See you on the 2025 mumsnet thread. 😂

Thanks for confirming this. That is great!

Putney High put them into classes based on postcode on year 7 too

Hi there, does anyone have any experience or thoughts on PHS vs FHSS assuming they are both easy enough to get to. Many thanks