SW London grammar and private year 7 entry 2024 - Continued

[11plus24]

New thread continued here

Gosh is it really.

Mr Milne said at the offer holder day that they had made fewer offers than ever before - so guess as some people here predicted, they have been very cautious with their offers (after unexpected over acceptances/bulges in previous years) and the flip side of that is going to WL quite early.

Paradise most schools do an offer holder event but not all. Some do activities, some just a tour and chat to staff. If you get a place from the waiting list rather than first round, then you don’t always get a chance to look round as you’ll likely have missed the offer holder day and there can be a tight deadline to accept on places from WL.

mmhophey I’ve actually just asked them for a clubs timetable so will let you know if I see gymnastics and girls’ football on it. Drama is huge at Emanuel, I believe.

@allaboutmychildren we have just been to the offer holder morning @ KGS and we absolutely loved it !! It was very well organised with lots of useful infos , lovely children and staff, very impressed.we have not done a tour previously so was a first time for us.
our DS really enjoyed the taster lesson too. We even went (privately) to have a tour of the fields and boat house after and loved it too.
still on WL for Dulwich but if Dulwich don’t move and nothing we want for state school then it will be KGS for sure.

Also went to the KGS offer morning. Very impressive indeed. Really loved the head and general feel of the school. Interesting news that they are relocating the sixth form to make more space in the current building. The Head said this should reduce the requirement for any significant uplift in fees due to potential VAT..

Also just got back from KGS offer holders morning, DD loved her taster lesson and we really liked the staff and children, feels like a very kind, friendly, inclusive place yet full of clever kids with a good sense of humour. We were going to accept KGS anyway but it’s still great to have such a nice experience before submitting the acceptance.

it sounds like they might add an extra class this year (depending on acceptances - not decided yet) which might lots of ppl on the waiting list.

great to hear the positive feedback from those who attended KGS mornings so far. looking forward to ours next week

@ncsurrey22 does this mean that they might have 140-150 children in total instead of 120?

My DD is in a girls prep and has her place secured for the secondary however it's a bigger school than KGS. One of the reasons of moving my DD to KGS was the smaller size of the school and also the potential to participate/grow in more areas.

@Clairesm that's very interesting about the Sixth Form at KGS. Do you know where it will move to?

There’s a temporarily solution from Sept (v local ) and a permanent one (he wasn’t able to confirm this location yet but said still local) will be complete in 5 years.. both planning permissions granted so the announcement was hot off the press.
The increase in numbers of children they can hold will increase and the amount of building work (which they can offset against VAT) he said will reduce any fee increase impact to parents.

He said they didn’t over offer so depending on who accepts they may or may not add one more class. The upside is that a fair amount of space is being created in the school for the incoming pupils to benefit from.

I think the new sixth form building will be bigger - that’s where they plan to add more numbers!

@Clairesm thank you!

Did anyone attend the FHSS offer holders morning today? We are still on the WL and keeping 🤞but I’m curious to know if anything in particular was shared that’s good to know? Especially around offers made or places available etc. And was it busy?! 🥴

Any intel from offer holders’ days would be greatly appreciated 🙏🏻, I have a DD on three waitlists - PHS, FHSS, WHS. We will not get a chance to visit if DD gets an offer.

Sorry to clarify at Emanuel places are being offered.

That is great !! Hoping for Dulwich College WL to move as well🤞🏻

Yes they have a big drama provision. In Y7 and Y8 the kids can take part in a whole school musical and/or separate Y7 and Y8 plays. Lots of fun. Gymnastics is part of the PE schedule in Y7 and Y8 and I’m pretty sure they have girls football and gymnastics clubs but double check with the school as I have a DS so it hasn’t been relevant for him (though he’s been v involved in drama).

Thank you @farfallarocks I’m sorry to ask again, were you offered a place today? Quite anxious as couldn’t find out DC’s WL standing.

@minipie Oh fab!

Yes, similar position here! PHS closest to us, but DD felt the teachers and general atmosphere at FHSS during the interview process were a lot kinder, so she is swayed by that. Would appreciate any feedback from open days!

We did the Hampton offer holder day yesterday, we'd already accepted DS's offer (and know the school) so it wasn't going to sway our opinion one way or another, but just posting here in case it helps anyone who might get offered a WL place. Lots of different activities for the boys, a good Q&A session for parents, plenty of staff and pupils to chat to, school tours available. Oh and lots of tasty food related incentives for the boys when completing activities, always a winner

We are now at the end of our 11+ journey having accepted our favourite and released our other options, but I'm still checking in on this thread and keeping everything crossed for those of you still hoping for waitlist places, good luck to all.

We attended today and loved it. We had already accepted too but wanted to attend and so glad we did. It wasn't OTT in any way. I hope everyone who attended today signs up.

I think unless you personally know someone offered from WL, you still have time by Mon or grammar offers day to find out. So all the best and good luck and not get stress over this weekend.

mmhophey I can’t see gymnastics on the club schedule I’ve been sent by Emanuel, but I note a pp says it’s on the PE curriculum for Y7 & 8. Which fits with what I heard at the open day, that they get to try a whole range of sports quite early on (in contrast to some schools who basically stick to hockey/netball/cricket for ages).

Football - there is an after school football club which looks to be open to both boys and girls, but it runs at the same time as netball so guessing there may be a gender split in reality.

For those currently on WL, just FYI I know at least one school (WHS - who held all their offer holder days this week) have now emailed parents asking them to give up their place swiftly if they know that they're not taking it so that they can assess how much the WL will move. Hopefully for those on WL, this means there may even be some movement next week (or at least an indication of likely movement).

Separately, another school at an offer holders' day told us that they're not expecting their WL to move much until (or even after) the offer holders' deadline as many people don't send emails to turn down a school until the last day.

For people who've already accepted another school, and then get a WL place for their first choice school, that means a dilemma about paying double deposits. But for those currently just on WL, it means not to give up hope even around the acceptance deadline as it sounds like there will still be a fair amount of movement in the days thereafter. Anecdotally, I know people who've got their first choice school from a WL place in the final week of August.

Good luck to those on WL. We'll be giving up the places we're not taking this weekend.

Yes we had that kind of “nudge” email from a couple of schools following their offer holder days.

I know quite a few people who have already made their decision and have accepted/rejected their offers, and expect a lot more will this weekend as most offer holder days are done by now - and then there’s state offers on 1 March which will kick off more movement. I guess some people do sit on all their offers till the very last minute but hopefully not many.