Kent GS selection 2012

[Shevek]

sudhacm, they will offer you a place at the highest school on your SCAF which offers you a place, order of preference is important.

So, if you put St Olaves, Dartford, Judd, Bexley in that order the following will happen:

All 4 schools will be asked by your local LA if they can offer you a place, the schools aren't told where you put them on the SCAF, all 4 schools respond and then your local LA runs down the list as follows:

If St Olaves offer you a place, you will get St Olaves; Dartford, Judd and Bexley offers are now irrelevant.

If St Olaves don't and Dartford do, you will get Dartford; Judd and Bexley offers are now irrelevant.

If Dartford don't and Judd do, you will get Judd; Bexley offer is now irrelevant.

If Judd don't and Bexley do, you get Bexley.

If none offer then your LA will allocate you a school.

Hope that makes sense!

[sudhacm]

Thanks Shevek. It does make sense now. The problem with cambs CAF forms that we have only 3 Preferences places to put. Comparing all four Bexley definitely would be my 4th option which I can't put and there my son ranked high among top180 and guarunteed a place. Well I have made my mind and am taking a risk by excluding Bexley.

[Blametheparents]

I'm not sure that the head of admissions at DGS could say with certainty that anyone with 414 would get in.
Last year it went to 414 on 1st march and then 413 after first round.
I think 418 will be ok, but no one can say with certainty.
Good luck.

[sudhacm]

Then in that case as my son scored 423 there are chances that he will get the place without us to move before new year and he can finish his yr 6 at current school and we can make arrangements meanwhile to relocate

[bertalone]

Be very careful about assuming that 418 will get your son into Judd. As you live quite a distance from the school all the boys with 418 who live closer will get a place before your son. Last year the initial cut off was 418 but only for boys who lived close to the school, there were several boys with a score of 418 who did not get an initial place. It did eventually come down to 417 but again that was not all the boys with 417, only those who lived nearby. Both Judd and Skinners had jumps in their cut off scores last year which meant a lot of people who thought they were safe were not offered places.

[sudhacm]

Does this means we need to relocate to Kent before March 2013 to secure a place in these schools?

[Blametheparents]

I think you will certainly get a place at Dartford with a score of 423 regardless of where you live.

[Ernestdad]

With a score of 423 for Kent you will definitely get in to Judd, there is no need to move before the end of Yr 6. If you wanted to send your son to a none super selective school moving would have been a benefit.

As for the posts about my child struggling at a GS because I have tutored him, Kumon was excellent for learning his tables and helped speed up his arithmetic. As for sending him to a tutor for 1 hr once a fortnight for the 1st year and then once a week while in yr 5, this was prudent as my sons primary school did no preparation for the 11+. If Bromley had grammar schools I would have been more relaxed and would have relied on distance but unfortunately we haven't. Every single child who completed the 11+ at my sons primary school had a tutor! It is the world we live in and competition is tough. We are competing against children from all demographics especially those of Chinese or Asian parents who have an amazing work ethic. The cold facts of life are if you want your child to attend a GS prepare well.

[susanass]

With a score of 423 for Kent you will definitely get in to Judd, there is no need to move before the end of Yr 6. If you wanted to send your son to a none super selective school moving would have been a benefit.

As for the posts about my child struggling at a GS because I have tutored him, Kumon was excellent for learning his tables and helped speed up his arithmetic. As for sending him to a tutor for 1 hr once a fortnight for the 1st year and then once a week while in yr 5, this was prudent as my sons primary school did no preparation for the 11+. If Bromley had grammar schools I would have been more relaxed and would have relied on distance but unfortunately we haven't. Every single child who completed the 11+ at my sons primary school had a tutor! It is the world we live in and competition is tough. We are competing against children from all demographics especially those of Chinese or Asian parents who have an amazing work ethic. The cold facts of life are if you want your child to attend a GS prepare well.

Hi, I am with you on this. I also tutored my son for a year, he was performing extremely well at school anyway but I think anyone who is about to take any important exam should prepare in some way or another, this is why I chose to have him tutored. To be honest, I like your honesty, there is nothing that irritates me more than mums who say they do not agree with tutors, but then tutor their children at homes themselves! I just thought 5 years sounded excessive, but I can now see that it was only for a year, which is about average.

[Ernestdad]

Some useful info as I had heard that 2001 was a high birth rate so 11+ scores were higher than expected for 2002 births, this is not the case both years are very similar.

Birth rates 2001 and 2002 for England and Wales

Total Males & Females
2001 594,634 M 304,635 F 289,999
2002 596,122. M 306,063 F 290,059

South East England
2001 88,510
2002 88,082
South East London
2001 21,149
2002 21,620
Kent and Medway
2001 17,445
2002 17,735
Surrey and Sussex
2001 26,560
2002 26,482