Hockerill Language Aptitude and Flexi-boarding

[sanjibee]

Hi!

We are based in North East London and considering Hockerill as one of school choices for DD.

I am looking for advice and experiences of other parents whose children either applied and did not get the place outside of Catchment area or those who did!

Is their Language aptitude test really hard as in comparison to GL 11+ test? Can it be compared even? Any examples on the web or something to practice before hand?

For flexi boarding what sort of reasons can be accepted to qualify for the need? Would two full time/very busy schedules/irregular and long working hours sometimes traveling for work parents qualify or there need to be a more serious need?

Just trying to gauge our chances as it comes closer to September!

Thank you so much in advance!

They are more flexi boarding places now so definitely worth a shot. Mostly go to kids with 2 working parents, if you can throw in overseas travel or unsociable hours you should be fine. Get your HR team to write a letter outlining your travel commitments etc to add gravitas. Not many forces kids but some with siblings with SEN or parents with medical needs etc again evidence this with professional letters. We love the school but flexi boarding is quite a commitment for the dc as well as the parents, it is dark on drop off and collection for the autumn and spring terms so independent travel is a challenge.

Thank you @26374hsg

This is really useful and helpful especially about really early drop offs. Definately on the list of considerations now.

@sanjibee I am also considering Hockerill for my DC, do you plan to drive the commute as there doesn't appear to be any suitable public transport available. Also considering flexi boarding, I didn't realise there was a criteria for this though.

Hi @littlebull we are still uncertain as to what we will be doing. For the time being, DD will be sitting a language aptitude test on saturday but we also expressed interest in weekly boarding and will attend a separate event for this in October.
Flexi boarding does sound like a good option only if you live really close or you need to drive to work really early on a daily basis and can drop her on your way.
We both have irregular schedules so not sure how this would work for us tbh.
This would require a lot of commitment from us as parents and a rigid schedule to follow. For a kid it probably is still be better than having 5 nights at the BS.
We went to the open day on saturday and DD really loved it there and said it herself that she would like to board, but I realise that she does not fully comprehand what it entails, that it is not just a sleepover experience :-). And worried that a lack of personal space and communal life will eventually make her sad and impact her in some ways.

We also applied for two grammar schools local to us. But even though they are excellent schools, i feel that they won't give her as much as what Hockerill seems to have on offer in terms of global outlook etc.
So not much of a place at the moment...
Do you live far from Hockerill?

@sanjibee We went to the open morning and were impressed with the facilities have decided to apply for weekly boarding due to travel commitments and working overseas. We are in North London and initially thought flexi- boarding could work, but the daily commute would be a killer! Hoping we are able to get a place. We will also be attending the October boarder taster evening. Good luck with your secondary school journey!

Thank you all!

Just FYI, you can study for the language aptitude test and pr practice qns online

@JessyKM Hi, may I learn more about it?

Hi Esther, I used mlatstudy.com.

@JessyKM thank you!!