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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Entrance Exams - am in purgatory with waiting!

193 replies

Mrshighandmighty · 09/01/2010 20:08

Hi there - My eldest son (yr 6) has just sat this week the Hampton, St. Benedicts and KGS entrance exams, with Latymer Upper and Emanuel next week. Does anyone have any experience regarding how long you have to wait to find out after the exam whether your child is going to be offered an interview?

Also - what is an interview like? What should we do to prepare him in the event that he might get an interview?

I have four boys altogether, and I know it will be so much easier next time around - but right now, I'm in a purgatory of ignorance!

Help anyone?

OP posts:
deadbeatdad · 21/01/2010 21:29

I think so - haven't you noticed the fine social differences between schools of all kinds - from state to faith to independent. Sure kids from state schools get in but it is not all about the exams at 11 is it. It's about the interview, the school report etc

If the OP DS was high performing in NC terms then maybe there might be another explaination. Just a question really.

MmeBlueberry · 21/01/2010 21:39

Most schools at 11+ use ISEB papers, or their own indistinguishable clones of them. These are similar to Sats although more rigourous. They are very politically correct, eg 'Sarah and Himesh were investigating plant growth....'.

Even at 13+ scholarship, they are just trying to identify academic potential. They really don't mind admitting the hoi polloi.

2010herewego · 21/01/2010 22:30

Hi dbd, my ds had already achieved level 5s in all areas by the end of year 5 and is on the G&T register so I don't think the school report would have been the issue.

Interestingly, although he had been taught all the
Maths topics that aren't usually taught in year 6 (adding fractions, algebra etc) he said none of them really came up in the exams. These would be the areas where a state NC educated child who hadn't been tutored would typically trip up.

I think it came down to underperforming on the day and unfortunately he wasn't given the chance to show what he is capable of in an interview.

I'm still upset about the latter and no closer to knowing how best to tell him without destroying his confidence. Ho hum.

2010herewego · 21/01/2010 22:30

Hi dbd, my ds had already achieved level 5s in all areas by the end of year 5 and is on the G&T register so I don't think the school report would have been the issue.

Interestingly, although he had been taught all the
Maths topics that aren't usually taught in year 6 (adding fractions, algebra etc) he said none of them really came up in the exams. These would be the areas where a state NC educated child who hadn't been tutored would typically trip up.

I think it came down to underperforming on the day and unfortunately he wasn't given the chance to show what he is capable of in an interview.

I'm still upset about the latter and no closer to knowing how best to tell him without destroying his confidence. Ho hum.

deadbeatdad · 21/01/2010 22:33

There you go... Hoi poloi indeed

LetsEscape · 22/01/2010 09:11

I do feel for you and wish you well in telling your son the news about the interviews. I was also going to suggest the possibility of transferring to a prep school for 2 years and having a go at 13+. Some boys need more time to mature and learn how to perform in exams. It would help him cope with the rejections if you have already some view of the possibility of this. A second plan is necessary. He needs to know that every problem has a solution and you just have to be more creative.

Do also get your headteacher's view. They may be able to help out.

Re 'lingering snobbery' I am sure (know)this is not the case. The best schools are bending over to accept the best young minds irrespective of their background and bursaries at the 'poshest' schools are very generous. Most exam papers are produced by companies for a school.

RatherBeOnThePiste · 22/01/2010 09:26

When we were young, my brother did exactly this, he transferred into a prep school. He failed the 11+ having been told he was a dead cert, but on the day he was quite literally overwhelmed with nerves. He was able to take the side step into a prep, and although as I fondly remember he had to wear some ludicrous hat and blazer combo, it gave him the confidence and a massive boost. At 13+ he did exceptionally well in CE into some good school on a scholarship.

deadbeatdad · 23/01/2010 00:59

I have clearly be visisting different schools to everyone. else. Sutton Trust do show that independent schools take DC who wouldn't otherwise afford basic fees but then do little to facilitate such children from full participation in trips etc. In my part of London there is a clear social hieraracy of schools or rather parents who apply for DC - which is not necessarily linked to academIc performance but the two are conflated in local folklore by aspirant parents. Has no one else noticed in open days etc that the parents plummy accents and the DC uniforms get more elaborate as you move from good local state school, to small independent, to GDST school to the like of LEH, St Paul's and Godolphin.

MmeBlueberry · 23/01/2010 08:34

I have found that it is more market economics than social hierarchy.

If anyone has genuine difficulty in affording educational visits, they need to speak privately with the bursar. The school is not going to advertise any kind of hardship fund as that will open the floodgates for both resentment and further claims.

It is usually the condition of a bursary that you speak to absolutely no one about it, or you break your contract with the school, and the same deal with any other help you get.

stillfeel18inside · 23/01/2010 09:32

deadbeatdad - I agree that you get certain types of parents at the different "levels" of schools - that's dictated by the fee levels as much as anything. But I don't think the schools themselves discriminate against children from less well-off backgrounds, which was your original point. In fact I've seen the absolute opposite - heads and staff being very welcoming indeed to my state school DS and some, eg Hampton, making a big point of their high state school intake.

RatherBeOnThePiste · 25/01/2010 19:55

Anyone had their interviews yet - just wondering how everyone is getting on?

controlfreakery · 25/01/2010 21:03

still waiting for letter re i/v or no i/v here.... aaaaagh!

Needmoresleep · 26/01/2010 08:09

Would disagree with dbd. Each school has its USP. Some really are scary posh. But similarly some Heads, aware that their target market is will be those buying their way out of pool quality (failing) state provision, can sound like used car salesman. Acknowledging that private education was expensive but then explaining what you got and why it was worth the money. There is a huge variety.

I can understand why a school might prefer grounded middle class kids to the super rich, and I think many do. (Or at least try their best to select kids who will benefit most from the education on offer regardless of the car their parent's drive.) The problem obviously is fee levels, which implies a certain level of affluence. A lot of schools make real efforts to provide bursaries, and some make a real effort to keep fees down. This includes GDST schools, but also newer schools and consortia, who have recognised there is a gap in the market.

You suggest that there is a social hierarchy of schools. Yet living not too far away I would suggest that it also works in the opposite direction, with parents preferring Putney or Wimbledon High to the more glittery Hammersmith girls schools, or Emanuel to the Dulwich schools, in part because they appear more grounded. (Lower fees help too obviously!)

stillfeel18inside · 26/01/2010 09:22

RatherBeOnThePiste - DS has KGS interview on Friday and it's a "general chat" which I know someone on here said was a good sign so please keep everything crossed for us! And if anyone has any final further interview tips, particularly for KGS, do hand them over!!

Original poster
Mrshighandmighty · 26/01/2010 18:31

Hi all - St. B's interview today. DS strolled through it wondering why his mother was a soggy mess on the carpet by the time he came back to the conference room. "Yeh, it was fine ... anything to eat?"

What I did think of was to get DS to hand over some of his stories that he'd done particularly well as an example of what he meant when he said "I really like writing stories". The interviewer was really pleased to receive them (maybe he was being nice{hmm}), but frankly, seeing the TROOPS of boys flocking in and flocking out of the conference room, you need to do something to rise out of the masses ....

The other thing was to ask if one of the sixth formers can do a quick lap of the school with you just before the interview, so that your ds is full of the wonders of the school and goes into the interview saying that the school is "awesome" for this, this and this reason ....

We got a no from Latymer Upper today (always was a long shot), so our two best candidates are St. Benedicts and Emanuel - both of which are done and dusted now and we can only wait ....

Do you think we'll look back on this one day and laugh? {hmm}

OP posts:
stillfeel18inside · 26/01/2010 19:17

Those are some great tips Mrshighandmighty. Sounds as though your DS's interview went really well - well done to him and to you!

Matsikula · 26/01/2010 19:24

This is aeons ago, but I think you can try too hard to stand out - it's important for the kids to be themselves. Sometimes a genuine spark does better than a 'conditioned' right answer.

I remember at my school interview being asked what I'd do with a million pounds. I said I'd buy a jumbo jet, turn it into a house and fly around the world in it with my friends and family (then remembered to say I'd give some money to charity too. I got a big scholarship). Another friend's mum told her not to say she liked Enid Blyton. However, she admitted the truth, and the interviewer heartily agreed with her.

stokeytiger · 27/01/2010 11:04

Well, my ds has finally got an interview date on Monday for his Kingston Grammar interview, just hope the interviewer likes chess because that's all he'll want to talk about...
No news from C of L yet.
Mrshighandmighty - the six former whizz round the school is a brilliant tip, thanks

Caoimhe · 30/01/2010 18:06

Just bumping to find out how everyone is doing. Ds had his last interview yesterday - yet again he didn't exactly cover himself in glory in the exam so I can only hope he did well in the interview.

I have to wait until 19 February for the results - I will be very grey by then!!!!

MmeBlueberry · 31/01/2010 00:18

My DD has been awarded an academic scholarship for her senior school

Needmoresleep · 31/01/2010 17:59

Congratulations! You and DD should be very proud.

Last year my daughter did better than predicted - not a scholarship candidate but some good offers - she was keen to tell me that SHE had done the work and exams and so I was not entitled to congratulate myself. But it was an awful process and I think it might have been easier if I had sat the exams myself!

And good luck to everyone else. There is no point in saying it is not long to wait. It will feel like ages. We were very lucky in that one school gave results a couple of weeks earlier and DD got in, so the pressure was off a little. Otherwise I would have been standing at the street corner waiting for the postman.

Caoimhe · 31/01/2010 18:02

Well done to your dd, MmeBlueberry - fantastic news .

I know what you mean, needmoresleep - I'm afraid that come 19 Feb I might take to prowling the streets to hunt down the postman. Be afraid, be very afraid!!!!

claig · 31/01/2010 18:16

congratulations MmeBlueberry, fantastic news

stillfeel18inside · 01/02/2010 09:21

That's fantastic news MmeBlueberry - you must be so proud! Well done to you both.

Original poster
Mrshighandmighty · 01/02/2010 11:39

Wonderful MmeBlueberry - all your own work ... what a great parent you are! See - no-one ever says that to us do they?

We don't get our results from St.Bs until the 23rd Feb! ARGHH!

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