New to the 11+ process and nervous
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New to the 11+ process and nervous
Where have the years gone? It feels like just yesterday I was crying because it was my daughters first day in primary school and now she is in year 6 preparing for the 11+ and applying for secondary school. To say I am nervous is an understatement and I am so grateful that my daughter Ebony is not feeling anything like I am and is just taking it in her stride.
I found this forum purely by accident and am so grateful that there are so many parents on here as a source of advice and support. I figured this will also be a great place to document each stage of the whole application process and of course ask loads of questions (apologies in advance
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I started visiting schools last year to get a feel for what is out there and managed to shortlist a few from this process which I will visit again this month and then start applying.
We live in Harrow so will be applying for Heathfield School and Northwood College and I am also planning to apply for Henrietta Barnett which although is based a bit further away is another highly recommended school so will see how that goes, although I know it is highly competitive. I am also going to visit The Royal School Hampstead next week where her cousins currently are (Years 7 and 8.) and they are really happy there.
I think four schools is enough as she will have to sit 3 exams for those as the Independent ones are part of the Girls consortium and I want as little pressure on her as possible.
Any words of advice or experience of applying to any of the above will be very much welcomed
I found this forum purely by accident and am so grateful that there are so many parents on here as a source of advice and support. I figured this will also be a great place to document each stage of the whole application process and of course ask loads of questions (apologies in advance
)I started visiting schools last year to get a feel for what is out there and managed to shortlist a few from this process which I will visit again this month and then start applying.
We live in Harrow so will be applying for Heathfield School and Northwood College and I am also planning to apply for Henrietta Barnett which although is based a bit further away is another highly recommended school so will see how that goes, although I know it is highly competitive. I am also going to visit The Royal School Hampstead next week where her cousins currently are (Years 7 and 8.) and they are really happy there.
I think four schools is enough as she will have to sit 3 exams for those as the Independent ones are part of the Girls consortium and I want as little pressure on her as possible.
Any words of advice or experience of applying to any of the above will be very much welcomed
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SunlampVexesEel
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:31 pm
Here's my tiny bit of advice...
Be careful about the maths! My DD attended a state junior school and the trouble we encountered was that at the time of the independent school exams she had not covered the entire syllabus whereas the independently taught counterparts had. This was quickly rectified with a few hard days going over irregular fractions etc before the next test.
Also... decide what you want.... we found turning down offers almost as hard as the process itself... it's easy to fall in love with a nice but expen$ive school.
Regards
SVE
Be careful about the maths! My DD attended a state junior school and the trouble we encountered was that at the time of the independent school exams she had not covered the entire syllabus whereas the independently taught counterparts had. This was quickly rectified with a few hard days going over irregular fractions etc before the next test.
Also... decide what you want.... we found turning down offers almost as hard as the process itself... it's easy to fall in love with a nice but expen$ive school.
Regards
SVE
Animis opibusque parati
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coolmum123
- Posts: 271
- Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:18 pm
Hi ebony's mum
I too am going through the process this year except with DS. I have a daughter who attends Heathfield (in the juniors tho!) However I have heard nothing but great things from parents who have daughters in the senior school. It isn't the most highly academic school BUT it is a good well rounded school, I think this years exam results were better than Northwood College, so they have done pretty well.
RE the exams, I would suggest getting loads of past papers, Habs boys website have past 3 years worth of English and maths papers that you can print off, I don't know how close they are to the consortium papers but it is good practise as they are challenging papers. Also I think on the NLC site you can download sample papers from there too. That's all about what we are doing and i'm trying to get DS to do at least some exam prep if not a paper each day and a couple at the weekend. It is tedious and draining but I'm hoping it will all be worth it at the end if he gets a place at his school of choice!
I too am going through the process this year except with DS. I have a daughter who attends Heathfield (in the juniors tho!) However I have heard nothing but great things from parents who have daughters in the senior school. It isn't the most highly academic school BUT it is a good well rounded school, I think this years exam results were better than Northwood College, so they have done pretty well.
RE the exams, I would suggest getting loads of past papers, Habs boys website have past 3 years worth of English and maths papers that you can print off, I don't know how close they are to the consortium papers but it is good practise as they are challenging papers. Also I think on the NLC site you can download sample papers from there too. That's all about what we are doing and i'm trying to get DS to do at least some exam prep if not a paper each day and a couple at the weekend. It is tedious and draining but I'm hoping it will all be worth it at the end if he gets a place at his school of choice!
I would have thought it would be a long and difficult trip from Harrow to Hampstead every day.
There is a bus to Henrietta Barnett from Harrow but again I can't imagine its a very picturesque journey.
Have you looked at St Helens school in Northwood? Some girls from my daughter's school went there and seem to like it.
There is a lot to be said though for choosing a school that's nearby particularly if there are lots of after school activities.
resmum
There is a bus to Henrietta Barnett from Harrow but again I can't imagine its a very picturesque journey.
Have you looked at St Helens school in Northwood? Some girls from my daughter's school went there and seem to like it.
There is a lot to be said though for choosing a school that's nearby particularly if there are lots of after school activities.
resmum
Well I have completed all of the school applications. Final shortlist is
The Henrietta Barnett School
St Margarets Bushey (not pre-planned but once we visited we all fell in love with it and it is now DD's favourite)
Northwood College
Heathfield School.
We have already received the exam information details from Northwood and HB. The HB one is 18th November. I have just realised that there is a clash of exam dates of Henrietta Barnett (second exam on January 6th if DD is successful in the first paper) and St Margarets Bushey so not too sure what to do. I am imagining that HB will be less flexible than St Margarets which is an Independent school but what if neither school will allow her to sit it at an alternative time due to the clash. Has anyone else come across this situation in the past?
The Henrietta Barnett School
St Margarets Bushey (not pre-planned but once we visited we all fell in love with it and it is now DD's favourite)
Northwood College
Heathfield School.
We have already received the exam information details from Northwood and HB. The HB one is 18th November. I have just realised that there is a clash of exam dates of Henrietta Barnett (second exam on January 6th if DD is successful in the first paper) and St Margarets Bushey so not too sure what to do. I am imagining that HB will be less flexible than St Margarets which is an Independent school but what if neither school will allow her to sit it at an alternative time due to the clash. Has anyone else come across this situation in the past?
I would suggest your DD sits the HBS exam & asks St M's for another date. I know of several girls who, after being allocated our local sink school in March this year, approached St M's which still had spaces. They sat the exam then. It seems a lovely school and the girls we know who go there are very happy.
T x
T x
Thanks tense I will speak to St Margarets and see what they saytense wrote:I would suggest your DD sits the HBS exam & asks St M's for another date. I know of several girls who, after being allocated our local sink school in March this year, approached St M's which still had spaces. They sat the exam then. It seems a lovely school and the girls we know who go there are very happy.
T x
. We really loved it when we visited. The girls were lovely and friendly and DD felt so at ease with the girls giving us the tour.Will add an update once I know more.
Well exam time is upon us and so far so good.
My DD sat Henrietta Barnett first round and was called back to sit the second round which she sat yesterday and is pleased with how she did.
I managed to get an alternative exam date for St Margarets Bushey as it clashed with HBS second round so she is sitting that next Thursday. Heathfield is this Friday and Northwood College next Friday and then it will all be over.
My DD sat Henrietta Barnett first round and was called back to sit the second round which she sat yesterday and is pleased with how she did.
I managed to get an alternative exam date for St Margarets Bushey as it clashed with HBS second round so she is sitting that next Thursday. Heathfield is this Friday and Northwood College next Friday and then it will all be over.
Heathfield School exam day went well. DD found the Maths and English easier compared to the Henrietta Barnett papers she sat. She did say they had a general reasoning paper to sit in the afternoon which surprised her because they had to answer as many questions as possible in 10 minutes. I think she surprised herself because she answered them all but didn't think she would be able to.
I am no longer feeling nervous as I feel DD is rising to the challenges and now that she is half way through the process is comfortable for the last two exams next week.
She is having a nice relaxing weekend with no homework to do and is enjoying every minute of it.
I am no longer feeling nervous as I feel DD is rising to the challenges and now that she is half way through the process is comfortable for the last two exams next week.
She is having a nice relaxing weekend with no homework to do and is enjoying every minute of it.
