We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Eleven Plus (11+) in Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Wrekin

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
KE hopeful
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:16 pm

We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by KE hopeful »

So happy to be back with great news; DS has got a place at Five Ways. They said that some of the appeals had been successful so a couple of classes had 26 pupils, and they decided to move all classes to be 26.

I had given up hope - there had been no movement on waiting list at all. So pleased for DS. He is pretty terrified - he will no longer be going to local comp with all his friends, but he is very pleased as well.

I now have to start getting uniform etc - I noticed some of the threads; any advice appreciated. We have missed the uniform evenings and also the welcome meeting. The booklet recommended to get sports kit from one supplier and uniform from Clive Marks. Can they wear any black trousers and white shirt?

Unfortunately as well we are away on holiday the last week of August so DS will also miss the Thursday and Friday induction days which I am worried about. I am going to look how much it will cost to change the holiday, but I think it will be a lot as we have booked flights etc. Does anyone know how crucial these induction days would be?

Also need to book Green Bus - I was relieved to see prices have come down a bit - £675 if you pay before end of June.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12821
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by hermanmunster »

KE Hopeful - that is wonderful news!!!! Congratulations!!

re the induction days - not everyone will be there and changing holidays can be ridiculously expensive...
busybees
Posts: 43
Joined: Sat Sep 11, 2010 10:53 pm

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by busybees »

KE Hopeful

Congratulation to you and your DS.

You can get any black trousers and white shirts thats what we have been told. The tie you need to get is according to the house he will be going to.

We will see you at five ways. If you need more information let me know as i have been to the uniform evenings and the welcome evenings as well.

They have got the inducstion day on 4th July and then parents evening n 10 and 11th July. Hope this helps.

We should receive letter regarding this soon.
koala
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:34 am

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by koala »

Very well done KE hopeful to you and your son. I did wonder at the time you posted about your DS just missing CHB and he would be going to local comp, why you weren't applying for FW or Aston. KEFW is a good school, I am sure he will enjoy it there. The Green Bus is very expensive but my DC have no other choice where we live. However, a lot of the children travel on public transport - might be worth checking it out before committing to TGB.

Best wishes, koala
KE hopeful
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:16 pm

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by KE hopeful »

Thanks hermanmunster, busybees and koala. Good to have some support here as I don't know any Five Ways parents! Hopefully the 4th July induction day will be enough, luckily DS is quite resourceful and makes friends easily so missing the end of August induction days won't set him back too much.

DS could catch the no 18 bus, but I think for the first year I'd be happier with him on the Green Bus. From what I can see normal bus would be £240 for year, GB £670 - yes a lot more, but possibly worth it for peace of mind??? He would use the FW4 service.
JaneEyre
Posts: 4843
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 1:04 pm

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by JaneEyre »

Hi KE hopeful,

What fantastic news! :D So happy for you and your DS. :D Congrats to both of you! :wink:

For the bus versus Green bus, I am no expert but I am frankly astonished by the difference of cost
:shock: ... without forgetting that if your DS takes the Green bus, he won’t be able to attend after school club. :( Are you sure the normal bus would make you so worried about his well-being?
poppit
Posts: 196
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 3:15 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by poppit »

Great news KE Hopeful,

You will get all the information you need in the information pack the school sends out when they offer a place. For a belt and braces approach you could give the Admissions lady at FW a call (Martha Black?) she is really helpful and will answer your questions.

We are going for the local bus service rather the Green Bus, (more flexibility if he does after school activities), the intention is that my DS will travel with a friend. Neither the Green Bus nor the local bus service is that convenient for us, but I am chuffed to little bits that he got the school he wanted, so we will just have to adapt.

poppit
KE hopeful
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:16 pm

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by KE hopeful »

I am quite surprised about the negativity towards the Green Bus - I thought it would offer him more security, but I'm guessing a lot of kids will be on the WMT buses anyway. My DD says that her friends who catch the Green Bus love it, and have made lots of friends on it.

If he didn't use the Green Bus he would use catch the 18, so only one bus (with a 10-15 minute walk to bus stop), and I guess we could do a couple of trial runs (and maybe I could travel up with him on the first day).

I wanted to try and take as much of the worry away from him as possible (especially if we are to miss the induction days at the end of August), and I thought the Green Bus would be less of a worry than normal buses. But I guess a £400+ price difference is a lot to pay for this, especially when he might need to use the WMT buses if he goes to after school clubs etc.
daveg
Posts: 247
Joined: Thu May 10, 2012 9:30 am

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by daveg »

KE hopeful wrote:I am quite surprised about the negativity towards the Green Bus - I thought it would offer him more security.
From what? On suburban buses in south west Birmingham at eight in the morning?
hermanmunster
Posts: 12821
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: We did it! Been offered Five Ways off waiting list...

Post by hermanmunster »

daveg wrote:
KE hopeful wrote:I am quite surprised about the negativity towards the Green Bus - I thought it would offer him more security.
From what? On suburban buses in south west Birmingham at eight in the morning?
Jasper Carrott? ... sorry I mean...
When the nutter gets on the bus, why does the nutter always sit next to me?

I was on the bus the other day and I could hear this nutter getting on behind me. I can tell he's a nutter because he's calling out...

'Eeek! Has anyone seen my camel!!?'

And everyone on the bus is praying quietly ‘Please God don’t let the nutter sit next to me. I’ll do anything you want but please don’t let the nutter sit next to me’

Nutters love showing you things, "I've got an atom bomb in here!"

And he shows me a corned beef tin ...

Well once you've got the nutter everyone else can enjoy it...

When I was at KEHS in the 70;s the Acock's Green to school bus was solely for us in the morning - driver (Maurice) wore earplugs and we had a great time - on the way home the bus was turned right at the county ground and became just another number 1 bus .... public used to get on - we could no longer natter / have fun as they were all quite grumpy (unreasonably sometimes..) - they seemed to assume we would misbehave.... appreciate we couldn't have the bus all to ourselves as it we paid next to nothing and someone had to make some money on the trip - can see the attraction of a school only bus.
Post Reply