Moving Welad to Tonbridge Girls Grammar school in Year 8

[happymum07]

We are thinking of moving our child from Weald to Tonbridge grammar school for girls in Year 8 after giving in year CAT exam. Has anyone done this before and did it help your child?

Why would you want to move her? Surely she’s settled with school and friends?

TGS has a better ranking. Also, I feel Weald is laid back and dont find the assessments and drills adequate to challenge her.

No but - TGS teaches Latin and both French and Spanish in years 7 & 8, my info is a little old but I’m sure Weald said girls start year 7 doing only one language of either Spanish French or German and then take on a second, and Weald don’t do Latin. Your dd might need quite a bit of support to catch up in those classes.

Both TGS and Weald are very good schools, if your dd has friends and is happy at Weald, why would you move her? Weald are very good at stretching their higher end students.

Ok so far we are not very impressed with Weald in terms of academic progress

They’re quite different schools, why did your daughter start at Weald?
I wouldn’t move a child due to rankings.

We were new to UK and thats the only grammar school we got. Now that we are settled in we feel she has potential to do better with a right peer group environment

Did your dd get a TGS score in her original 11+? (I know they don’t have a set score as such, but you usually can see the lowest they offered each year)

Is your dd at main Weald or Sevenoaks annex?

She is at Weald tonbridhe. No her score did not meet TGS cut off

@happymum07 if her score didnt meet TGS cut off than it is probably not right place for her? What if she struggle in TGS and be in bottom sets etc? - İs this going to motivate her to study more to do better? - If not, I think its risky!

She gave a late kent test we are new to UK amd had only 3 weeks to prepare. She did a self study and passed in 3 weeks! With the right guidance and time to do the drills I am confident she will be assessed suitable for TGS too!

Has she been offered an in-year place?

No she still needs to give CAT4 exam

What does your daughter want to do?

She is Happy at Weald ! Does not want to move

I wld stay at Weald until GCSEs and then move for 6th form. Lots of nice options around Tonbridge/TW then - single sex/co-ed/IB and A levels (although is TOGs keeping IB after govt removed funding?) and not so competitive as mainly done off GCSE grades. No need to stress with a CAT test now.

Weald has lots of pluses and she will achieve all 9s there if that is what she is capable of.

Lots of students move at 6th form so it is much easier to establish new friendship groups then.

If she needs further enrichment/stretch, look for the many online G&T courses which will be much wider than any exam syllabus or what TOGs can offer, as well as national competitions like the UKMT for which there are free online courses to prepare.

Thanks that is very useful inputs. Can I check what does GTM mean?

Gifted and Talented

Thanks sorry foor the typo

If she’s happy at Weald, unless you have a burning desire to get her to focus on languages etc, I think you might be overestimating the difference academically between the schools.

Weald did have problems a few years ago but that seemed to be localised to their annex and the new head is apparently very impressive.

@WW3- TGS/Togs is going to A levels from this September.

Shame

I also think TGS is a better school, but I would not move a child who doesn’t want to who has already experienced so much change! Move her at Sixth Form to TGS or Judd.

If your daughter is happy at Weald I would leave her there. My eldest left Weald for university last Summer and I have a Year 9 at TGS. (I've also got a Year 12 at Hillview for good measure). I therefore have a pretty current overview of both schools and think they are both very good.

My daughter moved from the Sevenoaks annexe to Tonbridge for 6th form. She got excellent GCSEs and A levels and is now at a very well regarded university. I am pretty certain she would have achieved the same whether at TGS or Weald. What I do feel is that she grew in confidence at Weald.

Remember that the reason TGS is higher in the league tables is because it takes the highest scorers in the Kent test. I would look at the value added by the school as well.

My year 9 loves TGS and it is a perfect fit for her. I actually think that, certainly up to now (it might be different in year 10) the girls receive far less homework compared to Weald. TGS so far has been nurturing, not pushy.

As others have said, at TGS the girls study Latin, Spanish and French from year 7, so you will need to consider that.

There is a lot of movement between all schools at 6th form, so this is another option.

Agree, if she is happy at Weald, she can do very well there. It is a good school with bright girls and good teachers. TGS is also great and has some more and different opportunities , but social and emotional stability will probably count for more right now. Sixth form would be a great time to move if she wants to.

Thanka everyone on your inputs. We will continue her at Weald till year 10 and then decide if she is willing to move for Sixth Form.