Wolverhampton/Walsall sitting exams 2019

[Tonysingh123]

We live in Wolverhampton. We did not in our wildest of dreams think he would get a score above the cut off for KECHB. As it happens we know very little about the School other than it requires a score of over 240. I spoke to the School today who told us that they will not be having an Open day and we must decide blind if we want to select the School, this seems extremely unfair.

[quasimodo]

We live in Wolverhampton. We did not in our wildest of dreams think he would get a score above the cut off for KECHB. As it happens we know very little about the School other than it requires a score of over 240. I spoke to the School today who told us that they will not be having an Open day and we must decide blind if we want to select the School, this seems extremely unfair.

You might want to pm MSD as I believe he has a son at KECHB and travels from Wolverhampton by train and bus. KE Handsworth for boys is much easier to get to as you will appreciate.The KE grammars share best teaching practice.

I haven't grown up in Birmingham (the conurbation) so I don't share some of the mythology around certain schools many Birmingham parents seem to have.

[MSD]

TonySingh,

Many children travel from Wolverhampton to KECHB and KES - I would assume 10+. If your son caught a train at 7:00am from Wolves, I would expect him to get to school by 8:20am. Train service is quite frequent; the route my son uses is Wolves->Birmingham NS->Bournville. And then either a bus or 15 minutes walk to school from Bournville.

[crazycrofter]

We live in Wolverhampton. We did not in our wildest of dreams think he would get a score above the cut off for KECHB. As it happens we know very little about the School other than it requires a score of over 240. I spoke to the School today who told us that they will not be having an Open day and we must decide blind if we want to select the School, this seems extremely unfair.

I'd think very carefully about the travel, as you have the option of any of the grammar schools. We were in the position with ds where HGS was his only option - and he's happy there in year 8. However, he has to get train and tram and he does moan a bit that his sister just has one (shorter) train journey! I think if we'd had nearer options, I'd have struggled to justify the extra travel. Siblings do compare!

On that note, your ds1 may feel that his school wasn't good enough for ds2. MSD obviously hasn't had that issue, so I'm sure it's not always the case!

On the other hand, I guess you should give him the choice. What a dilemma! Are you also considering Five Ways?

[um]

TonySingh,

Many children travel from Wolverhampton to KECHB and KES - I would assume 10+. If your son caught a train at 7:00am from Wolves, I would expect him to get to school by 8:20am. Train service is quite frequent; the route my son uses is Wolves->Birmingham NS->Bournville. And then either a bus or 15 minutes walk to school from Bournville.

There will be a new train line from New St to Hazelwell (next to CH schools entrance) from 2021.

[MSD]

I couldn't agree more with CrazyCrofter. If I could turn the clock back, either we would have picked a Grammar closest to us or relocated closer to the schools. Boys just weren't keen at that time, due to various personal reasons. Moreover, my youngest is carefree, happy-go-lucky kind of lad; has never ever complained about the journey and all I ever see is a big smile on his face.

My eldest DS1, who is 3 years older than DS2, wanted to attend CHB too, but missed the cut-off by a single point. He attends KEFW now and has never looked back since; absolutely loves the school and recently had the most amazing GCSE results in the school, and I don't think for a minute he would have done any better at CHB.

There is hardly anything between Grammars in Birmingham and we are really spoilt for choice. If the child has the right attitude and ethics to put in the hard drills, they will succeed in any of these schools. All we can do as parents is to provide them with that conducive environment, and any time saved on that school journey has to be worth it. Do have a careful think - winters can be very long and miserable at times!

[MSD]

There will be a new train line from New St to Hazelwell (next to CH schools entrance) from 2021.

Yeah, I saw that! Will be absolutely fab for us

[helen0209]

TonySingh, just a question. With a score of 225 with DS1 you were quite happy with HGS and didn't go with BV or KEA. I'm assuming that is because it is your closest school? So, why with a score of 247 are you considering another school? Not a criticism, just curious to your reasoning. Why are you happy with HGS for DS1 but thinking of another school for DS2?

[MSD]

Helen,

Both of my boys attend different grammars and there was nothing stopping them from attending the same. During open days, both boys loved what they saw at CHB, and hence wanted to go there. Eldest couldn't make it, so went to his second choice; youngest made the cut-off for this first choice and rightfully joined there. It was as simple as that for us.

I presume that might be the case for Tony too or for that matter many other parents.

[helen0209]

Helen,

Both of my boys attend different grammars and there was nothing stopping them from attending the same. During open days, both boys loved what they saw at CHB, and hence wanted to go there. Eldest couldn't make it, so went to his second choice; youngest made the cut-off for this first choice and rightfully joined there. It was as simple as that for us.

I presume that might be the case for Tony too or for that matter many other parents.

Hi MSD, as I said, just curious. Both my DS’s are at HGS - DS1 as he had no other option and DS2 because he chose it over BV and KEA. However, Tony has never visited CHB hence my question. I agree a child should go where they feel the most comfortable and think they will be happy, but as we’ve all noted over the years travel time is a big factor. We live between KEA and BV, so HGS probably adds a further 15 mins each way so it didn’t feel like too much more. However, with after school activities and homework having a school closer to home is an advantage. Also having the same training days and term dates helps, as does being able to pass down uniform