Tiffin Girls, Newstead Wood, Wallington high

[Isleworth]

Hi,

We wanted to get our first house but DP suggested we wait till 11+ exams are done as we want to move close to her secondary school. We currently live in the designated area of Tiffin and DD is preparing for the Oct 2023 exam. She is in the top 5% in her school. Her tutor thinks, although she is good at Maths, English is not her best subject which Tiffin would test her upon. On the other hand he thinks she is naturally very good at NVR and we should also make her do the tests at other schools which include NVR (considering our situation where we are looking to relocate anyway). I hope someone can help with below questions,

1. We found Newstead wood and Wallington high to be very good schools but we are not in the catchment area. If she does the test there and scores well, is it possible to move in the catchment and update address on CAF before the deadline? Not sure if these councils will allow to update CAF?
2. Other options - The nearby Independent schools are Lady Eleanor Holles and Godolphin and Latymer. How difficult is it to get into these schools compared to for example Tiffin girls?

Thank you.
S.P.

@Isleworth , it's harder to get into Tiffin Girls than LEH.

Wallington High's admissions criteria explicitly say they use the address on Oct 31st, so when you apply, so no you can't change your address for that application after that point. They do admit 100 children based on score ahead of catchment though, but that of course depends on her scoring very highly.

Newstead Wood tell you the score in advance of applications so you have some idea of your chances, but only just before, and then the higher criteria require an address within a nine mile radius. No girls have been admitted further than that (unless they qualify under another criteria). You can change address on your CAF for Newstead I believe, but only until 5th December, with an exceptional reason.

As PatriciaHolm says, not every school permits a change of address and, where they do, the window for doing so is quite limited. There’s a lot of potential for things to go wrong if you don’t complete your house move in time.

If you are interested in grammars then I would be moving to somewhere accessible to both Tiffin and Nonsuch. She is not going to get an OOC place at the Sutton grammars if her English is underpar.

If you were to look at independent schools, there are lots more in similar areas to LEH and G&L and accessible from Isleworth (lots within an hour's journey, many within half an hour or so). There are some that are probably a similar level of difficulty to Tiffin, but there are also others that are less competitive. If your daughter is very good at Maths, they will have a bit more leeway in admissions and may acccept a slightly lower English score if it's balanced out by an exceptional Maths score.

I don't think a child with weak performance in one subject is going to get into Tiffin from the Designated Area anyway (and they don't do NVR). Can you move to the Inner Area? This would give your daughter a bit of help.

Finally, if you already have a tutor for her, surely they have some experience of what schools may be at her level?

re Newstead. Yea you can move into catchment after the test. I know people who’ve done it. It is legitimate. Check with the admissions team as to the deadline. I think it is quite a small window, around end of November I think, so usually only six weeks or so after results.

Also to highlight there is no Guarantee of a place based on test result - this goes up and down every year. Check the elevenplusforum for more info.

DD is currently in Y13 at NW, having joined at Y7. It has been a great fit for her, but isn’t necessarily everyone’s top school.

Don’t rule out schools that may be near you. It has certainly helped DD that NW is less than 2 miles away, she doesn’t have a long day and her friends use our home as a base as she is nearer the school than most, it jevinngg gf a 9 mile catchment.

From experience with dd1, the level of difficulty to be offered a place from easier to harder was

1. Wallington
2. LEH
3. Tiffin

Can't comment on the other schools but I would move to somewhere in Sutton Borough or in between Kingston and Sutton eg. Worcester Park to maximise chances of getting a place.

Thank you @PatriciaHolm . This is exactly what I heard about Wallington.

Thank you @omnishambles - I was trying to find the common cathment area for Tiffin and Nonsuch. The only place I see is New Malden Village but again, part of it might fall outside for one of the schools. Do you have more information on common areas or how can I find out this information?

Can't comment on the other schools but I would move to somewhere in Sutton Borough or in between Kingston and Sutton eg. Worcester Park to maximise chances of getting a place.

A friend did this as they then got some postcode priority for Sutton grammars but still in Tiffin priority area.

I am in Stoneleigh and in catchment fir both Tiffin and Nonsuch (where DD is in Year 9)

@Isleworth go to the schools website & look at admissions policies.

Thank you @BonjourCrisette - Moving into inner catchment for Tiffin is something we can definitely consider. Few on the forum are suggesting that there are few areas which would also cover Nonsuch cathment. I still need to find more information on that.

thank you @PettsWoodParadise - That was helpful to know

@Isleworth , you need to go on
elevenplusexams.co.uk forum Surrey and find this thread with 1 post.

You could also look into bursaries if appropriate. The bursars at the schools within reach (SPGS, G&L, Latymer Upper, Radnor House, St Catherine's, Kingston Grammar, Surbiton etc etc) will be happy to discuss with you what you might be eligible for.

Oh we are also in Wallington catchment as well in Stoneleigh

Yes I reckon Stoneleigh, Worcester Park and New Malden are probably the best overlapping areas for Tiffin and Sutton grammars. We looked at those areas ourselves when dd1 was in Year 5.

My DD got into WallingtonHigh within the top100 merit sears which are not based on area/catchment. We lived very far away in the Home Counties. We got in on the waitlist as it moved quite quickly. She wasn't a high scorer, I'd say at the top end of average. In your position I would base my decision on her score at the Sutton grammar test. You can compare it with past cut offs and see how good your chances are before you decide to move home. The scores come in before 31st October, so you could potentially move to the right area before you fill your CAF.

Thank you @redrobin75 - Looked at the post. Was very helpful. It seems to be a small patch that comes into inner catchment of both but I will try to find more information

Epsom is kt17 so in outer postcode for Tiffin, in catchment for Nonsuch and if you choose your streets carefully you can be in catchment for an outstanding rated girls comp "Rosebery ". Lots of private schools fairly near too

Same with my dd1!

I heard that large numbers of NewsteadWood teachers and other staff are leaving this school as they are unhappy with the way the school is being run, including heads of year and heads of department - headteacher seems to be blaming it on a wider context of retainment in schools atm, but there seems to be more that that going on there...

Nothing in the end of term Newstead newsletter but DD is leaving (getting results in August) and in her time they’ve never had any issue with staffing and the Head has been the same for a number of years now, as has the MAT so no major upheaval at leadership team level.

Sorry clarification, when I say nothing, I mean nothing out of the ordinary, the end of term newsletter gives thanks for some leaving (note some schools don’t even have a librarian or careers person!) and one is a cover supervisor and another very part time Japanese teacher:

Mr Nazim (PE), Miss Hudson (Librarian), Mr Patel (Chemistry), Mrs Brown (Careers), Mr Atkins (Computer Science & Head of Year 10), Mr Graham (Music), Mrs Rushton (History), Mrs Howells (DT & Head of Year 8), Mrs Sabir-Ali (Cover Supervisor), Mrs Bunting (Japanese), Mrs Frost (Drama), Mrs Rawe (Geography).

then also qualifies with the following:

We are fully staffed for September, and I will introduce you to our new colleagues in the new year. All new colleagues have been into school for induction this half term and many students will have met them already as our students are heavily involved in the recruitment and selection process.