Slough grammars admissions

Eleven Plus (11+) in Berkshire (Berks)

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Catherine
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Slough grammar admissions

Post by Catherine »

..carrying on from Bucks 'Burnham Grammar School - chances of getting?'

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... php?t=1822
mum wrote:We are from Reading and my daughter would appearing for the 11+ exams this year.
.......

In the LEA Sec. School preferences (only 3 allowed), I want to put Kendrick Girls (Reading) as 1st, Langley Grammar (Slough) as second and Burnham Grammar (Bucks) as 3rd, as per the distances from our home.
.......
I'm confused whether to keep Herschel Grammar, Slough as 3rd option or Burnham Grammar, both are equidistant from our present home (about 17 miles). If she gets a chance then definitely we would move much nearer to the school.
The situation with preferences and offers of the Slough schools is the following:

Both Langley and Herschel only give offers to first preferences, Slough Grammar give offers to first and second but not necessarily third.
If you decide to have Herschel or Langley first, you can have Slough second, but adding Herschel or Langley as second preference is at best a waste, at worse will prevent an offer from Slough Grammar. If you chose Slough first, you won't get an offer from the other Slough schools.

Usually, Langley sends offers to scores down to about 120 with the first round of allocations on the 1st march, but may go down to about 115 with subsequent rounds of allocation.
Herschel is said to have given offers to some scores down to 111 so far, but a higher score may be needed from now on.
Slough Grammar and St Bernard’s usually give offers to 111 scores.

Preferences that are not for Slough schools (like Kendrick or Burnham) do not matter for Slough. So having Kendrick first and Langley second is absolutely fine.

Your choice is going to be between Burnham or Slough Grammar as third preference.
It comes down to which school you prefer, but also what tactically gives you the best chance of a place.
If you chose Burnham, your child will have the chance of an extra test, which also means a bit more stress but extra exam practice (The Bucks test will take place first). But with Langley as only coice fro Slough you child will need at least 116 for a Slough offer.

However, I have been told of parents changing their preferences after the results. It is very difficult of change the first preference in Slough because the actual applications are held by the first preference school, but easier to change the subsequent ones. Depending on your child Slough and Bucks scores, it may be possible to change you third preference.
mum
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Post by mum »

Thanks Catherine, your reply is very explanatory and illustrative. And as always, I gathered some new information like while putting Slough school preferences, its wise to put either Langley or Herschel. I was not aware of their preference criteria..........thanks for that.
To be very honest, our personal preferences are exactly in the order as I've written ie Kendrick first, Langley second (opting out Herschel) and Burnham third, as my daughter is more maths/science oriented than arts or languages. I really dont mind sitting her an extra test for Burnham, as I believe if she is really bright and good (as always said by all her teachers/tutors), the 2 verbal tests for Bucks should not make much difference.
So between a choice of putting Slough Grammar or Burnham grammer as third option is tricky...........But from the information I got from the Bucks forum, from the previos allocation profile of 2006, Burnham only offered places to applicants till 4.6 miles, while we are at 17 miles away.
But I'm wandering say, if my daughter scores really high at Bucks test, say 135 or above, does this distance rule still applies, or bcoz of her high score she'ld be offered a place irrespective of distace or preference no....
mum
Catherine
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Post by Catherine »

Following Bewildered's link in General Topics, I had a look at the new 'School Admission Code', ( http://www.dfes.gov.uk/sacode/ ) and I think that it could affect the preference system for the Slough grammars that I descrbed above.

Amongst other things, this could be important:

Prohibition of unfair oversubscription criteria
2.13 In setting oversubscription criteria the admission authorities for all maintained schools must not:
b) give priority to children according to the order of other schools named as preferences by their parents, including ‘first preference first’ arrangements;

Admission authorities have to comply by 2008, but some may well decide to change their arrangements earlier.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hi Mum, I have a son currently in Year 7 at Burnham Grammar and know for a fact (as this boy was standing in front of us being measured for uniform back in the summer before starting) that he was going to commute from the Hounslow area (which is approx 15 -20 miles away depending on which side you live) so the 'offer' places on the BCC website did not allow for all allocated places.

Guest10
Guest55
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Post by Guest55 »

The later link I posted said 'all offered' for Burnham Grammar - the first link [we now know] was at March 1st 2006 whereas the Secondary booklet included people allocated after that date - but. as Etienne pointed out, not all appeals!!

The booklet is on:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc/content/i ... =987793428

It's the top document.
mum
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Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:49 am

Post by mum »

Catherine,
First of all thanks for all your help. I went through the link sent by you. I believe while having a visit to the school (will do before the open day, as suggested by you), they would clearly explain me their admission policies in 2008 like whether they would go for “equal preference” or “first preference”..

Guest55,
A big thanks to you as well. Your above link says “all offered” for Burnham, does that mean they are not guided by the distance criteria?? Moreover as Guest said he knows somebody travelling 15-20 miles to Burnham School, but might happen that they have moved after the school admission process was fully over………
mum
mum
Posts: 145
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:49 am

Post by mum »

Dear Catherine,

Is there any latest link available for the admission to the Slough grammar schools for 2007 11+ exam that confirms that there would be no "first preference first" rule applicable to the slough grammar schools. So would it be ok if Langley is given as first preference and Herschel as second between the Slough schools. Previously putting Herschel as a second preference was of no use........but now is it the test result that should guide which school to be offered not the preference no.?

But then one school would get all the good marks holder and then the next range of marks holders would go to the other school as per school's cut-off points........ otherwise how would it work?
mum
Catherine
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Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:47 pm
Location: Berks,Bucks

Post by Catherine »

No I haven't seen anything, mum.
As I understand, the new code doesn't have to be implemented before 2008.
The rules for the Slough grammars are not published by the council. It is up to the grammars to publish them.
SG website still says 'Application for Year 7 entry must be made while your child is in Year 6 as the 11+ test takes place in November of that year. If the new common Admission proposals are adopted this may change, we will update this page if any changes are announced'

I am not sure either about how the 'no "first preference first" rule will work for Slough. I suppose that there would still be a preference list, but a child who has listed a school as 1st preference wouldn't have priority over a second preference. The 11+ score ranking would be the only criteria. Let's say a child score is 114, their 1st preference is Langley, second Herschel, Langley is full with higher schores, they would have priority for Herschel over a child who scored 112 and has Herschel 1st preference.
This rule could change the present 'benchmark' for each school, and may be, as you say, lead to one school getting all the good marks.
But really, this is just suppositions. I don't know anything about the new code other than what's in this forum. I'll post any info if I hear about something.
Bewildered
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Post by Bewildered »

As I understand, the new code doesn't have to be implemented before 2008.
I thought it meant it would start to be implemented for the 2008 intake. Therefore affecting current year 5 children.
Catherine
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Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:47 pm
Location: Berks,Bucks

Post by Catherine »

You must be right, BW. It makes sense.
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