North London girls 11+

[EmeraldSakara]

I wondered if we could have a thread for anyone with girls doing the North London 11 plus selective schools this year?

DD is doing NLCS, Habs, and some consortium schools (SHHS, Channing and Francis Holland). Anyone in the same/similar position?
We've visited them all except Francis Holland so far- and have been very impressed with them all, in different ways. Absolutely loved SHHS- but we are aware they're all extremely competitive and hard to get into.

Can any parents who have been through this in previous years share ideas re prep for the Consortium exams? The last two sections (problem solving and creative composition) are designed to be hard to prepare for and I'm not sure where to go- does Atom Learning do this kind of prep?

Would also appreciate any info about the schools in comparison to each other- the kind of girls they suit, etc.

Really just looking for a bit of support through this stressful process!

NLCS will let us know by the end of the week- they said probably by the end of Thursday. They also said roughly half of the applicants are invited for interview.

@GNW3mum we are doing QC in about an hour.. will share our findings!!

We are in the same boat! I am keen to hear more about QC process..

It's a no from SHHS- disappointing. DD is upset. Her teachers always did say it's an unpredictable one in terms of how they select compared with the others.
Has anyone else heard?

I m sorry to hear that. DD got invited back, but who knows asmany in her class got invited back too. Such a wild ride this 11 plus. Good luck for Highgate! I love that school I regret we didn’t apply.

Sorry to hear. DD got an interview. Hope all goes well with Highgate interview.

NLCS interview invites are out- and DD has got one. Which will cheer her up massively after the SHHS rejection yesterday.

Well done @EmeraldSakara to your DD! It’s such a minefield. Last year my DD2 got SHHS but not in NLCS. So much depends on how they feel on the day, I think vs intelligence and how much they practised. Fingers crossed for your DD!

Thank you @Frogusha! She was really upset yesterday so this will be a boost- NLCS is a definite first choice. Her school was very surprised about SHHS as they thought she'd be well suited and we'd really liked the school.
Did your DD end up at SHHS?

@EmeraldSakara yes, she’s in SHHS. She’s enjoying it. It seems a good fit and music offering is amazing (she’s musical).
DD1’s friend started NLCS this year and is loving it too (amazing clubs apparently), incl prob the best chess team on girls’ schools.

Thats great @EmeraldSakara. Delighted we also got an interview. From the email, interview sounds like it will be a little more intense than some others.
Any tips from anyone with prior years experience including the music audition would be much appreciated. Thanks

Some PP shared last year interview experience in the following thread, music audition is about 20 minutes - free form depends on the instrument/music you chose beforehand. Good luck

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4694406-nlcs-first-round?reply=129901010

Congrats @11plu01. It does sound a bit more intense- though I imagine the one-to-one format suits some better than the "relaxed" group activities! Did you do Highgate as well?

@Frogusha yes, I was impressed with the music offering at SHHS too. Glad your DD is enjoying it.

Thanks @PreplexJ Will have a look at the thread.
@EmeraldSakara We didn't do Highgate. Just NLCS and SHHS for North London schools.

I regret not applying to G&L. I thought it was too far away so didn’t even visit. I am sure you could always go on the occasional places list.

Alas DD has not been invited to audition for the music at SHHS. It must be a higher standard than the others we have applied to (all in the consortium) as FHS, Queens and Channing have all invited DD to play.

schoolobsessive - yes DD had a friend over on Monday (inset day) from KA to play (this invokved making cookies that went wrong so a messdate rather than a playdate in more apt!) also using 6 year old DS’s laser guns… sometimes so mature and responsible, other times very child like (the guns are v fun though!) . We have Marylebone in the state but failed on the music place so won’t get a place in the first round as we aren’t church and live about 1.5 miles away.FHS give marylebone girls Latin lessons!

A general observation - channing and FHS have both asked Rosa where else she has applied and which interviews she has had and has yet to have. You would think that the consortium schools would know which other consortium schools girls had applied to. We have only had those 2 so far, Queens tomorrow. She is now expecting the question.

EmeraldSakara and 11plu01

NLCS is number 4 in the UK 👍 well done to your DDs. Amazing.

We had NLCS interview last year and as perplex said above, that thread was good advice.
She had to do a few maths questions on paper, which she said were hard. She said there was more discussion and asking "why" or to explain why she was answering the maths questions that way. It sounded tough.

Unlike other schools, they went into a lot of detail about why she was reading x book, why she liked it etc, and also discussed her interests outside school.

Good luck!

Sorry to jump on the thread, if anyone had experience of sports scholarships for SHHS and could share any tips it would be greatly appreciated, DD is going next Thursday after the academic interview.

Its our first choice so quite nervous about it.

Also does any one know how many girls SHHS invited back and how many places are they likely to offer? Thank you

Last year it was 1000 applying and 100 invited back apparently !

The first number 1000 seems too high and 100 invited back seems too low. We were there for interview last year pretty sure way over 100 invited back for interviews for SHHS. Offer will be 2x+ of the actual places available.

For the school interview (general one) I think it is a 20-25 mins general conversation with some kids scenario and philosophical questions. Last year parents and children need to write a small paragraph in the system (a bit about me) before the interview. Think no need to over prep it and it was a straightforward interview.