New Hall School ?

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

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colchesterdad39
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:48 pm

New Hall School ?

Post by colchesterdad39 »

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone had any experience with the new hall school entrance exam? My DS is awaiting the 11plus results but has been asked to sit for a academic scholarship at New Hall (no way he could go otherwise!)
Bit worried as he's up against Privately schooled boys prepared for it so any tips would be appreciated
thanks
moved
Posts: 3826
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by moved »

I don't have experience of New Hall, but for other private schools I always get my pupils to write a series of 4 stories that can be adapted for the exam. I go through the stories and the children refine them, including the tick points required of varied sentence structure, great punctuation (get an easy semi-colon in), and good paragraphs.

Titles such as: Behind the Door, The Thing, etc.
aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by aang »

My DS sat the 11+ and New Hall Assessment last year. He found the New Hall exam to be very easy. There are more assessments with a written English paper and presentation also involved. They give plenty of time to finish each paper and rest time after each paper - makes for a long day, but not a taxing day. The unusual part of New Hall Assessment is that scholarship candidates give two short presentations which gives the senior teachers a chance to assess the communication skills of the candidates as well. I have no idea how much weight is put on the reference from the Headteacher.

I wouldn't overly worry about competition from private as there isn't much you can do about it and it varies widely from year to year. Note also that they may award more than one academic scholarship in a year. Good luck.
First-timer
Posts: 698
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:47 pm
Location: Essex

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by First-timer »

Just wondering - how generous is the scholarship?
Moonlight
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:20 pm

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by Moonlight »

Hi colchesterdad39,

I don't have any personal experience of New Hall but a friend's son goes there and she is very pleased with it. He got a place in Year 7 having attended a tiny primary state school.

New Hall is a mixed gender school. It used to be all girls but in recent years boys have started studying there.

I shouldn't worry about competition from the private sector. Your son is already well prepared having studied for and taken the 11+.

If your son were to be offered a place before 1st March, see if you can provisionally accept subject to the result of the 11+ as some private schools may charge for the first term's fees regardless of whether you take the place or not.

It's a good idea to keep as many options open as possible. Let us know how he gets on with his interview. :)
aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by aang »

New Hall senior school is not a mixed gender school. Boys and girls study completely separately - although they do line up together in the lunch queue! In the sixth form and preparatory school, boys and girls do study together - New Hall is one of the largest schools in UK which operates this kind of diamond model from reception age to 18. Some extracurricular clubs are open to both boys and girls, but this is seldom taken up by both sexes.

I do not know the timeframe for this year, but last year the final date for accepting a New Hall place was a few days after receiving the 11+ result. Last year, the results of the New Hall assessment was sent in January including whether or not students were successful with the scholarship. The New Hall assessments are later this year - last year the boys tests was the week immediately after the 11+ test itself, so I do not know if last year's timing is still valid. If you want to accept a place, then there is a non-refundable deposit (think £500).

Those who have been awarded scholarships are not allowed to disclose the actual value of the scholarship. Bear in mind that students can also apply for financial bursary which are means-tested.
Last edited by aang on Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Moonlight
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:20 pm

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by Moonlight »

aang wrote:New Hall senior school is not a mixed gender school. Boys and girls study completely separately - although they do line up together in the lunch queue!
Okay. My point was that girls and boys attend that school now. It didn't used to be like that. Perhaps I should have worded it differently!
colchesterdad39
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:48 pm

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by colchesterdad39 »

Thanks everyone for your replies. I was a bit worried about it being such a long day but feel better now having read some of your comments. We left it up to my DS if he wanted to give it a try and he did, so why not!
He is busy preparing his 2 presentations as we speak - I just hope he enjoys himself and does himself justice. And there was me thinking all the stress was over after the 11 Plus!!
Anyway I will let you all know how he gets on, thanks again
Fran17
Posts: 1440
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 10:16 pm

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by Fran17 »

I know some lovely young lads who go to New Hall. Their parents were also worried about the long day, but their sons love it and they are very happy with their choice of school. Good luck to your DS.
marigold
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:14 pm
Location: essex

Re: New Hall School ?

Post by marigold »

Re educating boys and girls separately, Moulsham High School in Chelmsford also does this and has done so for many years, as it has a 10 class intake for each year I suspect it is substantially larger than New Hall !
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