11 Plus Exams Forum

Did anyone go? What did you think? I was REALLY impressed!!!

We went. My daughter absolutely loved it and it is now her first choice! The D and T facilities were amazing and I was very impressed by the headmistress. It seemed to combine the practical (DT, Art, Music) well with the academic (compulsory Latin for the first 3 years). It had a very nice feel to it and the pastoral side seems second to none. I particularly liked the '6th form mentoring' for the girls that find life difficult to begin with. The school certainly does not deserve to be 'under subscribed'. The down side for us is the travel - it would mean 3 stops on the train and then a bus ride from Chatham station. I am told that the traffic means the bus ride can be quite slow.

Off to RGS on Saturday.

Yes, it was going to be our 3rd choice, but now looking favourite - but we also have travel issues, it's not easy to get to - we will care share with another set of parents...

Agree with the tech side - LOVED the sewing & cookery areas which are things I loved at school, and LOVED the Latin & RE too...and the dance studio!!

The buildings and grounds were far superior to Fort Pitt I thought!

Whilst declaring a personal interest, CGSG is a very good school. Pastorally it is very strong and kids from a wide range of backgrounds are helped to achieve everything they can. It seems to be what a grammar school should be - an ideal pace for ALL bright kids rather than being reserved just for the better-off middle class. Good mix of pupils, a very good new head (internal) and sixth form 'outstanding', I believe, at last Ofsted.

Grumpy Old Man wrote:Whilst declaring a personal interest, CGSG is a very good school. Pastorally it is very strong and kids from a wide range of backgrounds are helped to achieve everything they can. It seems to be what a grammar school should be - an ideal pace for ALL bright kids rather than being reserved just for the better-off middle class. Good mix of pupils, a very good new head (internal) and sixth form 'outstanding', I believe, at last Ofsted.

Exactly!
I just dont understand why it is so often under subscribed. Maybe the new head will help it gain its former popularity.

I know its "value added" factor from year 7 to GCSE is very good.

For my dd's it was jsut the transport that put us off - we are from the wrong side of town so to speak

I was confused by the blurb in their admissions pack though; they stated that in former years they have been able to offer places to those girls who had the school as their 1st choice, but not always been able to offer if it was 2nd or 3rd choice??!! I thought that the schools didn't know the rankings PLUS they've never been oversubscribed? If this is a 'lie' I am not happy about it - or am I getting it wrong?

rubyhettybetty wrote:I was confused by the blurb in their admissions pack though; they stated that in former years they have been able to offer places to those girls who had the school as their 1st choice, but not always been able to offer if it was 2nd or 3rd choice??!! I thought that the schools didn't know the rankings PLUS they've never been oversubscribed? If this is a 'lie' I am not happy about it - or am I getting it wrong?

They should not say that Ruby. They do not know what position you put it! IF you put it second and dont get the first choice it will be sent to them - they will not know if you had it as first or second choice. They just have to decide if they have a place for your dd.

They have occacionally been oversubscribed - 5 years ago ish

I wonder if this is an old bit of blurb - from yesteryear! when the schools did know - that they have not changed.

Interestingly - last year at RGS - the head advised you to put RGS first too. When I know that they did not know where an applicantthad listed the school - in fact a friend of dd's put it second and still got a place.

It may be just a fight for the apllicants!

I think that the information is available after allocations. Many admissions booklets give information on how many applicants have been successful under each category. Although I completely agree that during the allocation process, schools do not know where they were ranked.

If the school is under subscribed, they will presumably be taking anyone who ranked it first, second or third and did not qualify for a school that they ranked more highly. So I can understand why you're puzzled.

tiredmum wrote:Interestingly - last year at RGS - the head advised you to put RGS first too

I think you will find that they all advise you to do that. RMGS did. Don't forget whilst we are looking for the best schools for our DCs the schools want the places filled for the £'s! Full school, more £'s.

Good luck to all with school selection, I found this bit harder than waiting for test results!

I went last night. Its was going to be 3rd choice but I think we have all decided to scrap choices until they have all been seen! Was impressed and liked the Head Teacher. Everyone keeps saying she is new but she said she was there for 6 years. I assume that means she used to be the deputy?? There are a lot of interesting ideas to get the girsl settled quickly. A teacher will visit their Primary School, they meet their form class in July and on the first day they do a massive treasure hunt so they learn the school grounds quickly.

RGS was original favourite but now not so sure. RGS is 6 miles away, FP 4.5 and CGSG about 2.5 so that really needs to be taken into consideration. I'm unsure whether we'll have a chance with other 2 anyway due to the distance.
If anyone has an opinion of this I'd be interested to hear it.