Advice reqd for DS as plan to relocate to Amersham (2012)

[bagesh]

Hello all,

I am sure many have been through this before. So, I am looking for proper guidance and advice from this forum.
My DS is in Yr-5 and we live in Harrow. So, to make him elgible for DCGS & Chesham grammar, we plan to relocate to Amersham area my Feb' 2011. I know DCGS has a very strict rule of eligibility.
My question is, once we are in Bucks, and come next year for the applications, which comp school/s can one apply to. Has anyone tried/got into Rickmansworht/ St Clements Dane?
We so far have these schools in our mind : QEB, DCGS, Chesham grammar, Tiffin Boys, Langley Grammar (not in order).

I will appreciate if some of you can share your thoughts.

Many thanks.

- BK

[stevew61]

Think about the travel time, try multimap if you are prepared to drive every day, Chesham to Tiffin a fun filled Route:38.6 miles, 59 min.

I know that was not the question you asked but.......

[Sally-Anne]

My question is, once we are in Bucks, and come next year for the applications, which comp school/s can one apply to. Has anyone tried/got into Rickmansworht/ St Clements Dane?

I am told that St. Clement Danes is oversubscribed, with even children living in Chorleywood not gaining places, so it is likely to be a complete non-starter from Amersham.

We so far have these schools in our mind : QEB, DCGS, Chesham grammar, Tiffin Boys, Langley Grammar (not in order).

I can't comment on QEB, Tiffin or Langley, but I would have thought that the travelling distance would be pretty punishing each day - QEB must be around 30 miles from Amersham, Tiffin must be about the same and Langley is hardly next door!

If your son qualified in the Bucks 11+ and you were living in Amersham, he would gain a place at DCGS, so there would be no point in putting CGS.

If he doesn't qualify, the alternative schools are Bucks Upper Schools and they are a mixed bunch. That is the problem with moving to Bucks to get away from poor schools elsewhere - if a child doesn't qualify it is "out of the frying pan and into the fire".

Edit: I notice that Steve has made the same point about distance. You certainly wouldn't do the journey in 59 minutes at the height of the rush hour - it would be more like 2 hours some days.

[bagesh]

Thanks. I do understand the pain of travelling to QEB/Tiffins for that instance.
I don't own a property in Harrow, so the plan is to rent a property in Amersham and depending on where we get the seat, we will look to buy a property in that area.
Sally-Anne - So, if someone is in Amersham area and scores 122, are they guaranteed a seat in DCGS? I had Chesham Grammar in mind as a backup, just in case he doesn't get into DCGS.

[Sally-Anne]

So, if someone is in Amersham area and scores 122, are they guaranteed a seat in DCGS?

The pass mark is 121 and places are allocated by distance, so yes. However, if 121 represents the "ceiling" of the child's ability, I would think that they would struggle once they were there. Places used to be allocated by score, and standards are accordingly high.

[bagesh]

Thanks Sally-Anne for the confirmation.
So, what do you suggest? I know with me being in Harrow, I have very little to no hope of getting in GS.

[Sally-Anne]

Historically, children from Harrow have gained places at Chesham Grammar School. The school appears to be increasingly popular, so there is no guarantee of that in future.

Beyond that all I can suggest is that you continue to research the grammars but make sure that Plan B is watertight.

[bagesh]

Thanks again.
Do you know of any other thread where people might have discussed about the school options they have filled in the application form?

[Sally-Anne]

There must be several hundred, but no specific thread comes to mind immediately, I'm afraid.

If you haven't read it yet, you might like to try these pages of the main website:
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schools/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jumper]

I'm not sure if I have understood. Does this mean that you consider children who score 121 (93% for September born) to be not suitable? If so then how does that leave children who suceed on appeal.

This year the difference between 121 and 130 may be no more than 3 raw points. Surely the difference between responding to the challenge of a grammar school rest on more than 3 marks.