OOC
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
OOC
Hello, I am a newbe here, first of all thanks to all the people on this forum it has been a great source of information for me.
I am Italian and I don't know a lot about the English system, I have been living here for 12 years now, my son is 10, upto few months ago I thought there would be no problem for his education, he is currently going to a private school, but my partner left me and he told me he can't pay for the private school anymore, hence my problems, I live in Oxfordshire and found out with my surprise (of course not yours) that there are no
Grammar schools in Oxon, my closest GS is RLS 11 miles followed by AGS 18 miles, I have a meeting with the headmaster next week to see what he suggests, of course my 1st preference would be for RLS but I have seen it is quite difficult to be accepted there, unfortunately I can't find any decent (in my budget) accomodation in the county and for job reasons I can't go further north.
I just wanted to ask your opinions on my chances for RLS entry in 2012? Is it really tight or I have hope? any suggestions?
Thanks a lot again for this fantastic forum, I have just ordered some papers so my son can start practising with the test...
thanks a lot
Ornella
I am Italian and I don't know a lot about the English system, I have been living here for 12 years now, my son is 10, upto few months ago I thought there would be no problem for his education, he is currently going to a private school, but my partner left me and he told me he can't pay for the private school anymore, hence my problems, I live in Oxfordshire and found out with my surprise (of course not yours) that there are no
Grammar schools in Oxon, my closest GS is RLS 11 miles followed by AGS 18 miles, I have a meeting with the headmaster next week to see what he suggests, of course my 1st preference would be for RLS but I have seen it is quite difficult to be accepted there, unfortunately I can't find any decent (in my budget) accomodation in the county and for job reasons I can't go further north.
I just wanted to ask your opinions on my chances for RLS entry in 2012? Is it really tight or I have hope? any suggestions?
Thanks a lot again for this fantastic forum, I have just ordered some papers so my son can start practising with the test...
thanks a lot
Ornella
Re: OOC
Sorry, I can't comment on your chances of getting a place at AGS or RLS assuming your son achieves a qualifying mark.
Is there a reason why you wouldn't choose an Oxfordshire comprehensive school? The reason I ask is because I know a number of Bucks children living close to the Oxon border who opted out of the Bucks system in favour of the comprehensive system. They are in Y8 now and have no regrets. The schools that immediately spring to mind as ones where DS's friends went are Lord Williams in Thame, Icknield Community College in Watlington and Gillots in Henley.
Is there a reason why you wouldn't choose an Oxfordshire comprehensive school? The reason I ask is because I know a number of Bucks children living close to the Oxon border who opted out of the Bucks system in favour of the comprehensive system. They are in Y8 now and have no regrets. The schools that immediately spring to mind as ones where DS's friends went are Lord Williams in Thame, Icknield Community College in Watlington and Gillots in Henley.
Re: OOC
Hi Ornella, Welcome to the forum! Here is a link to the allocation profiles for the grammar schools in Bucks.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... n-profiles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You will see that this year's allocation for RLS went as far as just over 11 miles, and that the single-gender schools in Aylesbury were "all offered" which effectively means that all qualified applicants who requested a place were offered one. These distances can vary quite significantly year by year but if you decide to go for it, I think you would stand a good chance of a GS place (assuming your son qualifies in the 11+) if you put RLS as first choice followed by one of the Aylesbury schools. It's worth noting that SHF (the mixed GS in Aylesbury) was oversubscribed this year for the first time, but at 21 miles would also have been within range for you. It's always a good idea to name a local school on the CAF as well since otherwise you could end up being allocated one that you really would not choose if your son does not qualify or if there is an exceptionally high number of applications that year.
There is also plenty on here to help you prepare your son for the Bucks test.
Best of luck!
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... n-profiles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
You will see that this year's allocation for RLS went as far as just over 11 miles, and that the single-gender schools in Aylesbury were "all offered" which effectively means that all qualified applicants who requested a place were offered one. These distances can vary quite significantly year by year but if you decide to go for it, I think you would stand a good chance of a GS place (assuming your son qualifies in the 11+) if you put RLS as first choice followed by one of the Aylesbury schools. It's worth noting that SHF (the mixed GS in Aylesbury) was oversubscribed this year for the first time, but at 21 miles would also have been within range for you. It's always a good idea to name a local school on the CAF as well since otherwise you could end up being allocated one that you really would not choose if your son does not qualify or if there is an exceptionally high number of applications that year.
There is also plenty on here to help you prepare your son for the Bucks test.
Best of luck!
Marylou
Re: OOC
I know that Bucks has fairly strict rules regarding dates by which a move needs to be completed to be included in the first round of allocations, but it's possible that Oxfordshire will have different arrangements. If you can't track down the information on your county website, a quick call to their admissions department should sort it out.
Marylou