Newbie needing advice

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Googley2
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:53 pm

Newbie needing advice

Post by Googley2 »

Basically I am trying to decide the best path for my dd whose 9 and wants to be a vet. We live in Warwickshire but I want to move South of UK but not yet picked somewhere due to other current restrictions. I would like to have moved by September so she is in the right place for her 11+ exam. Background is I am single and disabled, she was at independent schools but removed last month due to financial reasons. I am now Home Educating her as she cant take state school, which is a big effort on my part but she says I push her more than she ever got at her independent school (dd was top class for maths etc). I do send her to a tutor twice a week for 2 hours for 11+ study as well. Tutor says shes well ahead in English so not worried there.

Firstly I must say I often find her lazy and not putting enough effort in to understand the more complicated maths questions. My fallback plan is if she fails the 11+ I could try and get her into an independent school once we move. When we started she was probably on 10-20% of a paper, now its up to around 40% but not sure how much % should be to expect a place in grammar school. I know they use points scores for acceptance but thats too complicated for me.

Now I dont know what to teach her, make her revise/study etc to prepare her for the best outcome, many of the exam papers I look at seem so difficult yet at school she was top dog in maths. Where am I going wrong or am I expecting too much. She will sit the exam in September - how much progress can there be in that time span? I have told her dont expect a 7 week break again this summer as she went brain dead last year and took 8 weeks to catch up again.

Basically I am trying to figure out a plan to prepare for all outcomes, if we stay in this area then probably Stratford Girls Grammer School would be best for her, then maybe Warwick High Independent if Stratford fails.

Cities for thinking of moving to are Ispwich and Colchester.

Any advise please?
Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by Tinkers »

Welcome.

Where you move to could be quite important. Different schools have different tests so it will make a difference to how you prepare.

The other thing to bear in mind is that for some schools you will need to actually apply for the test before the summer holiday at the end of year 5. In some cases the address you are at at that point address the schools use to decide if you are in catchment. Look at th schools admissions criteria for the specific schools you might be interested in as these will tell you the dates you need to apply, catchment details and what the test is comprised of.

I'd possibly back off from the test papers at this point (especially until you know the type of test anyway). Focus on the basics, vocab, mental maths etc.
ToadMum
Posts: 11945
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by ToadMum »

ColCHS is currently the only fully superselective girls' school in the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE), so if she wants to go there, all she has to do is be in the top however many (not sure what their PAN is at the moment) girls who apply, as opposed to needing to be living anywhere in particular when you apply as well. There are also independent schools for girls in Colchester - have a look through the Essex section of the forum.

From Ipswich, your only realistic choice for grammar school is also ColCHS, as Suffolk is a fully comprehensive county. So unless you have other reasons for wanting to live in Ipswich rather than Colchester, you would just be adding a train and /or bus journey each way to your DD's school day, plus all the extra trips for you up and down the A12 (or by train / bus) to parents evenings, concerts etc. However, again there are indies in and around Ipswich - and again, you will find some discussion of these in 'Essex'.

Unless your DD scores well into the 'green zone' for ColCHS, you would be best advised to look at entrance exams for the indies in parallel with the CSSE exam, to avoid finding that she has no school at all to go to come March 1st, if you are adamant that she couldn't possibly go to a non-selective state secondary; you certainly won't get a bursary even if you were able to get a place, if you haven't applied at the right time.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by Daogroupie »

Grammar schools are state schools with entrance exams.

I would not rely on a local tutor telling you she is well ahead in English if you are planning to move. Has she got high marks on timed standard format English papers?

You need to finalise your plans so you can focus on one exam format. DG
PettswoodFiona
Posts: 2134
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by PettswoodFiona »

If you need to commute into London I can recommend Petts Wood. It is a suburb in Oystercard zone 5 in SE London. Here you are in three grammar jurisdictions so can hedge your bets but it can also confuse the less than focused child. You have the Borough of Bromley superselectives, Newstead is the girls' school but you have to be able to prove your address by the time you register in early summer before the test. It can be anywhere within 9 miles. Places are awarded on score so competiton is fierce. About 1,000 sit for the 160 places but many will also be sitting for neighbouring exams. Then you have neighbouring Bexley and girls are typically in catchment for Chislehurst and Sidcup grammar and Townley - all you need to do for these is pass and other threads have suggested that 50% might be the approximate mark. You also have to be in distance cut off. Bexley have a CEM test which from DD's experience favoured her vocab skills. Then you also have Kent. This is a GL style exam. In my locality you have Wilmington which usually comes out as far as Petts Wood and just requires a pass or you have Tonbridge which goes by score and is a fairly easy train journey away.

As you can tell even in one area as another poster says you need to know the type of exam you are facing to have the best chance.

DD didn't do much work, just focused, read a lot, we did some mock tests which helped us identify areas to work on and she sailed through but she was starting from quite a high baseline which made things simpler. Yes during the summer before the tests practice was very regular but she took it upon herself and we didn't need to nag her. She had also been to the open days and identified with the girls in one particular school so was very self motivated. If you don't have a school in mind it might be psychologically challenging for your DD, although I appreciate every child is different.

If your DD can't cope in a state primary is there a reason you think she might thrive in a state grammar or are you hoping for an independent school and a bursary? The latter are very very hard to get in the SE at a 'good' independent. They expect grammar plus level at the best schools, not grammar failures. In my local area the popular independents for girls are Bromley High, JAGS and Alleyns (the first two all girls, the latter co-ed) all three are selective. Then you have the non-selective which include Babington which does wonders considering Bromley High and the grammars cream off the most able.
Googley2
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:53 pm

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by Googley2 »

Do any grammer schools accepts the results from another area or is that impossible due to demand?

My dd cant cope with silly boys and thrives in a girls only community, always been the way. We have just tried a co-ed school but it was a complete failure so have to just go for girls only now. (She plays fine at home with boys outside school environment.)

If we cant move till July/August is there still any way of getting to register for an exam late as I believe they wont be doing them before September???
Googley2
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:53 pm

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by Googley2 »

I will select a house once we know the schools she can get into. I dont want to be anywhere near London and prefer something more rural of a setting. What do all the abbreviations mean - is there a listing somewhere? Am I supposed to Know this March as that seems impossible at the moment? Our LA open registration in May till July.
Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by Tinkers »

Test results are not transferable from school to school. Some schools are in a consortium so one test covers several schools.

Some schools with take the address you are at when you apply on the CAF rather than when you apply for the test. Some may even allow you to move afterwards and as long as you move before a set date you will be counted as being in catchment. My point was you need to research the schools you are interested in to see what their admissions policy are, so you don't get caught out later. There's no point putting your DD through the test if she has no chance of getting a place. Unfortunately we see people on here every year who haven't done their research beforehand.
Googley2
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:53 pm

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by Googley2 »

So thinks its best to concentrate on this area now which will be Stratford or Kings High. I wouldnt go through all this if I didnt think she had a chance, we still have time to learn a lot as registration isnt till May/June 2016 for LA. I do agree that without doing your research you are liable to make severe mistakes. Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can get past practice papers from for these 2 schools? Ta
Tinkers wrote:My point was you need to research the schools you are interested in to see what their admissions policy are, so you don't get caught out later. There's no point putting your DD through the test if she has no chance of getting a place. Unfortunately we see people on here every year who haven't done their research beforehand.
Last edited by Googley2 on Sat Feb 13, 2016 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
ToadMum
Posts: 11945
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Newbie needing advice

Post by ToadMum »

Googley2 wrote:Do any grammer schools accepts the results from another area or is that impossible due to demand?

My dd cant cope with silly boys and thrives in a girls only community, always been the way. We have just tried a co-ed school but it was a complete failure so have to just go for girls only now. (She plays fine at home with boys outside school environment.)

If we cant move till July/August is there still any way of getting to register for an exam late as I believe they wont be doing them before September???
You really have to decide on where you want to be and concentrate on the exams relevant to that area. Trying to register late for grammar school entrance exams will in some areas result in complete failure; even if you can convince the school / LEA that there is a valid reason for not registering on time you may well find that your DD won't be considered for a place in the initial round of allocations.

Re 'portable' results, yes, there are actually some exams which are 'shareable'; if you have a look on the London Borough of Redbridge website, for example, you will find a list of schools 'sharing' that exam. Unfortunately, the Redbridge girls' grammar, Woodford County High School, is no good to you as you live out of area, nor is Latymer in Enfield (same problem, plus it is mixed). I don't know about the relevant Slough schools wrt out of catchment applicants, but you could register to take the exam at Chelmsford County High School, which has up to 20% of its places available to out of catchment girls. It is possible that your DD could take the exam a bit closer to home at Pates or one of the Gloucester girls' grammar schools, as it is the same exam on the same day (if you manage to get your DD to sit the same CEM twice, only the first result will be used for any of the relevant schools you apply to), but you would have to check with the schools concerned.

If you opt for your DD to take the CSSE exam for ColCHS as well, her result is also valid for Westcliff High School for Girls and Southend High School for Girls, which also have OOC places, should you fancy moving down here to the seaside.

If you are really intending to leave a house move until after national allocation day, then I would suggest that you also apply for your local grammar and independent schools in case the results in further-flung areas are not what you hope.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
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