Grey Coat Hospital School Language Spaces

[Mianoos]

Hiya, wondering if anyone can give me an insight to what it means to take up the languages spaces in Grey Coat Hospital School? Thank you.

She's fine at the speaking part... learned 30 pages of German opera off by heart in a weekend, and likes Duolingo... but she can't spell in English let alone Spanish or French!

And agree Music and Maths are very closely linked too.

I'm good at languages (took 3 for GCSE and speak another 2 fluently) but hopeless at Maths and Music. I've sat in on enough music and composition classes to feel as if I am watching people "speak" an alien language. I'd say 90% of the people DD works with are also dyslexic and they all avoid sheet music. It's definitely more a case of different wiring rather than being 'bad' at things - sadly the world of formal education tends to have picked a path that isn't suited to a large number of people.

My DD also went to a state primary where most pupils were learning English as a second language. Don’t worry, it’s aptitude not skill. In practical terms, that means grasping the mechanics of a made up language. If you haven’t already, download her Duolingo as a game. The concepts of different endings or gender, even at very basic level, will help her. Girls come from quite far away so don’t worry about that.

It may or may not be your preference but it was important for me that the only person stressed about these exams was me, not her. I told her a white lie and said all of the aptitude tests (Grey coats, Marylebone + Camden) were just to put them in the right class IF they were allocated that school. They had nothing to do with actually getting her a place (so I said). Perhaps that’s why she was so relaxed on the exam day - she said it was ‘fun’. Who knows, perhaps that gave her a mental edge over some other stressed mite? They’re 10 when they take the exam, the stress shouldn’t touch them. I know it’s hard, as it can feel gladiatorial out there but please keep your little 10 year olds stress free. It’ll come to them soon enough.

Are you referring to the language test or the banding test? I assume you mean the banding test since all three of the schools you mention use a banding test, in which case you didn’t tell your daughter a white lie. The banding test isn’t an entrance exam that they either pass or fail - it simply exists so that the school can select a mixed ability intake.

I was referring to the language test, the topic of this thread. The other two schools also have aptitude tests (in different subjects) which she also took. I am familiar with the purpose of banding tests.

Hello, thanks so much for your helpful clarification @Londoneer . We attend a CofE church but live far away from the school, so will be applying for a language place in hopes it helps our daughter get placed.

I know the school does not provide much information about the format of this exam, so curious if your daughter can provide any insight? Is it all written work or is there any element of listening / sound? Is there any part of phonetics work? I also understand language aptitude test can be similar to translating an alien language to English. Any tips on format that you can provide would be great and really address her anxiety around the exam format. Thank you!

Hi. No problem, it’s literally an ‘alien’ (read:made up language). They have to do a written exam paper and identify syntax and patterns etc. The best preparation I can recommend is to learn a completely new language on Duolingo as a game, and that’s about the level she’s looking at. I will say many of them came out saying they ‘really enjoyed it’ so the very best thing you can do is probably to relax her and not put any pressure on her - she’ll perform better. I said it was unlikely she’s be allocated this school but if she was, this test would put her in the right sets rather than tell her it was an entrance exam.

Hello @Londoneer, thank you very much for all the insight about the language test and what the language scholars' life is like once they've been accepted.
In your experience, were most of the girls who got a language place bilingual or not? I'm starting to wonder whether the test works more like an IQ test. My daughter is smart but she's not the brightest, so I don't think she'd score at the top 15. She's also at a state school that's not academically very demanding.
She's trilingual (English-French-Portuguese). Her French and Portuguese are native level, but she only reads and writes in French, not in Portuguese. I keep reading that speaking other languages doesn't give an advantage, but I was wondering how that translates in actual test results.

Hi Mamas. I can only speak of my own experience (my daughter was monolingual). Many of the girls who got in via the language places were bilingual - but that’s pretty normal in an inner London school, lots of girls are (and the school might encourage them to do a gcse in those languages early). My honest advice is apply for the school by whichever route, the catchment comes from all over London, don’t worry too much about the published catchment data. What do you have to lose?

Ps. Any girl who is trilingual by 11 might be brighter than you think!

I would have thought innate verbal reasoning ability has something to do with it?

To those who sat the language aptitude test on 15 October, have you received the result yet?

I received a letter by post yesterday.

Maybe ours is on the way then.

I hope you had good news x

No good news for us unfortunately! Not surprised though as DD said she had trouble reading the test (the print was bad or something?) and had trouble telling the letters apart. She said she asked the proctor in the room about it and she said that was just how it was. Although she’s quite good with languages and the type of stuff on the test, I was pretty pessimistic after that!

Hope you get better news 👍

Oh no, sorry to hear.
My daughter talked about something being wrong with how the letters were printed too! Apparently a few of them had trouble making sense of what was written.