Tiffin Boys School

TheRainItRaineth · 30/08/2024 20:33

Do the boys get seated by rank in all of their classes?

No personal experience of this school but this would be an incredibly unusual thing to do in the UK (and probably not very useful to anyone).

WomensRightsRenegade · 30/08/2024 21:35

Seated by rank?? That would be insane!

BrassyLocks · 30/08/2024 23:30

Do you perhaps mean are they grouped by ability?

KerryBlues · 30/08/2024 23:35

Newbie082024 · 30/08/2024 19:59

Is it hyper competitive once they get in, or just to get in? Do the boys get seated by rank in all of their classes? Thank you

No, of course not. It’s not Dotheboys Hall.

PeachSalad · 01/09/2024 08:35

Newbie082024 · 30/08/2024 19:59

Is it hyper competitive once they get in, or just to get in? Do the boys get seated by rank in all of their classes? Thank you

Of course it is hyper competitive. But nobody is seating by their rank, no such nonsense.

Superselective grammar schools are full of children coming from families who were preparing to pass 11+ at a very competitive levels and most of them paid for tutoring. Why would after exam this attitude suddenly evaporate? Also grammar schools want best results to be high in rankings so they stimulate competition. Genius children also end up there, so bright kids that would be top in comprehensive are in the middle there.

EasyComfortDishes · 02/09/2024 15:52

Yes it’s quite competitive and actually I’ve been surprised at how much they seem to try and get that going. Lots of where you might rank in the class and what your score is against the class average etc. At parents evening I was told roughly where he was in each class.
DS and his mates largely think it’s bollocks, they all work hard but they support each other. There are two boys In his class who it does seem to have affected their MH and their parents attitudes. Lots of comments on the parents class WhatsApp about how much tutoring these two boys have and how only an hour of revision a night is not acceptable. This is year 7. It’s not a school to go to if competition is going to bother you.

EasyComfortDishes · 02/09/2024 15:52

In terms of the entry test, the rank of that has never been mentioned to parents or boys.

Ladybowes · 02/09/2024 18:09

EasyComfortDishes · 02/09/2024 15:52

Yes it’s quite competitive and actually I’ve been surprised at how much they seem to try and get that going. Lots of where you might rank in the class and what your score is against the class average etc. At parents evening I was told roughly where he was in each class.
DS and his mates largely think it’s bollocks, they all work hard but they support each other. There are two boys In his class who it does seem to have affected their MH and their parents attitudes. Lots of comments on the parents class WhatsApp about how much tutoring these two boys have and how only an hour of revision a night is not acceptable. This is year 7. It’s not a school to go to if competition is going to bother you.

Interesting. My dd goes to a state school (not grammar) who have kind of started doing this. When you get test results they have started telling parents (and child) what the class & year average score is, alongside your child's score.. I have never come across this in another state school before, and I am sure it could impact mental health to know you are bottom of the class or maybe it's a good motivator for some?

I guess ultimately with GCSE grades you are competing with the whole cohort nationally whether you like it or not, and clearly it does Tiffin no harm in terms of their results which are excellent.

PeachSalad · 02/09/2024 20:23

@Ladybowes in most comprehensive schools the kids are split into sets. Groups at a different level depending on their performance at maths. They are regularly scored and moved up if they do. Etter than average and dropped down the set if they are behind

Ladybowes · 02/09/2024 20:35

PeachSalad · 02/09/2024 20:23

@Ladybowes in most comprehensive schools the kids are split into sets. Groups at a different level depending on their performance at maths. They are regularly scored and moved up if they do. Etter than average and dropped down the set if they are behind

Yes that is true. But that is not what I was talking about.

This is something new to her school. Maybe other schools locally also do it. But was never done when I was school so I was surprised. Setting has been going on for years and years and years, back to when my dad was at school.

Ladybowes · 02/09/2024 20:42

Also my dd's school only set for maths and science and not until year 10...

BendingSpoons · 02/09/2024 20:43

I worked in a comprehensive school that did termly ranking tests and you got a report with your ranks on e.g.
Maths - 131
English - 170
Geog - 73
I thought it was crazy! Demoralising for those at the bottom but also potentially upsetting for the student who went from 1st to 10th.

Tiffin is competitive. I went to another nearby grammar and remember our maths teacher regularly pointing out that even the bottom sets were the standard of top sets elsewhere but it can still feel like failure.

Ladybowes · 02/09/2024 20:45

BendingSpoons · 02/09/2024 20:43

I worked in a comprehensive school that did termly ranking tests and you got a report with your ranks on e.g.
Maths - 131
English - 170
Geog - 73
I thought it was crazy! Demoralising for those at the bottom but also potentially upsetting for the student who went from 1st to 10th.

Tiffin is competitive. I went to another nearby grammar and remember our maths teacher regularly pointing out that even the bottom sets were the standard of top sets elsewhere but it can still feel like failure.

That's terrible have they not heard of self fulling prophecy?? Potentially damaging for those at the bottom..

PeachSalad · 02/09/2024 20:45

Ladybowes · 02/09/2024 20:42

Also my dd's school only set for maths and science and not until year 10...

Many local schools to me start sets immediately in y7. Very few in Y8.

Ladybowes · 02/09/2024 20:48

PeachSalad · 02/09/2024 20:45

Many local schools to me start sets immediately in y7. Very few in Y8.

Show quote history

I chose my dd's school because they made a point that they don't set until year 10 and only for maths and science... the other very popular school close by (that she does not go to) does set for most things from year 7 - I have strong views about this and not keen hence why I chose the her current school. So far it has been an excellent school, but I'm not sure about the reports and ranking of students etc. We will see she goes into year 11 this week...

momentarymadness · 02/09/2024 20:58

@Newbie082024 I don't know about the lower school as my DC just went to the sixth form. However, in sixth form they use something called the "Tiffin Scaled Score" described like this ...

"Attainment is presented as a standardised score, calculated using the mean and standard deviation of the year group in each subject. (For subjects with very few students, an alternative method may be used to arrive at their TSS.) The TSS allows comparison of attainment between subjects and, within a subject, as the year or course progresses."

They use it in all the formal assessments and in combination with previous years' results in order to predict A level grades.

SeriouslyNoTimeForKnobHeads · 02/09/2024 21:13

It’s Grammar school, they are competitive by nature. Don’t send your child unless they are actually truly capable of keeping up.

DblEspresso · 03/09/2024 13:26

Yes, as others said, Tiffins is ultra competitive, Girls school even more so than Boys. But its not the kids, but their parents who are in an arms race to get highest grades for their children. Which means, additional tutoring and constantly frowning upon any grade less than 9. It might impact mental health for children, but I don't think parents or school worry too much about it, as long as kids keep scoring high.

If you are here asking this, then you are already a step behind in getting your child through the Tiffins 11 plus exam.

momentarymadness · 03/09/2024 13:51

DblEspresso · 03/09/2024 13:26

Yes, as others said, Tiffins is ultra competitive, Girls school even more so than Boys. But its not the kids, but their parents who are in an arms race to get highest grades for their children. Which means, additional tutoring and constantly frowning upon any grade less than 9. It might impact mental health for children, but I don't think parents or school worry too much about it, as long as kids keep scoring high.

If you are here asking this, then you are already a step behind in getting your child through the Tiffins 11 plus exam.

Definitely not all the parents are like that - just some of them.

There are also boys who are simply super-bright and self-motivated.

Going to a comp until year 11, then Tiffin in year 12, gives a good sense of perspective.

My DC was at or near top of most academic subjects at her comp, and generally in the top third in Tiffin Sixth form, coming out with a mix of A-stars and As. She benefited from the extra-curricular there, and from being surrounded by highly motivated learners. Knowing it was an elite environment compared to "real life" was enough to keep her pragmatic when she wasn't top in everything.

Teapot65 · 20/09/2024 18:12

Boys are separated into ability groups for maths in year 8, 2 sets. In year 10 it's 4 sets. All other subjects are tought as one class. The theory is as a selective school most pupils are expected to keep up with the fast pace. Maths is a whole other ball game some kids are at GCSE level when they enter at year 7