county transfer

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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rishita
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri May 27, 2011 10:50 am

Re: county transfer

Post by rishita »

hi all ,
thanks for the replies.

I am not thinking about comprehensive schools.

I am sure she will get in kendrick itself, as she is getting best scores in all of her practice tests in her ***** tuition. in case if she won't get it in kendrick, she has another 4 grammar schools as backup. she is very keen in going to grammar school than me.

So we are planning to move to anyplace where ever she gets.
scary mum
Posts: 8841
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: county transfer

Post by scary mum »

Hi Rishita

I would really strongly advise you to have a back up non grammar option - look at the appeals section, Buckinghamshire has many, many children at non grammar schools who were expected to pass the 11 plus, but for some reason on the day did not. There will aways be surprises. I know of several people who only put grammar schools on their CAF and then were allocated some awful school miles away so to is always best to have a plan B. It is sod's law that if you don't have a plan B you will need it, if you do your DD will sail through the 11 plus and be able to choose to go wherever she wants, as long as you move close enough and in time to meet the criteria, or get lucky with the allocations next year.
scary mum
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: county transfer

Post by hermanmunster »

scary mum, I agree with you . Every year there are a number of parents who are completely stunned by the results their children get in the 11 plus - these are children who have done well at both school and practice / tutors sessions.. Everyone needs a non selective back up place..
Booklady
Posts: 522
Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 10:39 pm

Re: county transfer

Post by Booklady »

I would echo both responses above - you really have to think about alternatives if she did not pass or get in - especially when you are looking at some of the highly selectives for which you can pass but not get a high enough score. I know of several children who were 'guaranteed' passes but who did not pass. There is, unfortunately, not such thing as a 'sure thing'!

Good luck in your decisions! :)
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: county transfer

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi Rishita

I am in the same camp as everyone else who has commented recently.

I have one question for you: If she does not qualify for a grammar school, what is the alternative?

If you can afford to go private in that situation, that's fine. If not, what will you do?

Sally-Anne
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: county transfer

Post by mystery »

Hi Rishita
I've looked at the admissions policies for some of the schools you are talking about and they all admit by score. Do all the schools you are talking about admit by score? Do you know what their cut-offs usually are - i.e. how highly your daughter would have to score most years to get a place?

Also, from what others have said it sounds as though you have to fill in the 6 places on your CAF before you know how your child did in all the various exams - so it's quite a gamble.

It used to be like this in Kent - with only 3 spaces on the form - so the prudent thing was to put down a high scoring grammar school, a grammar school where you only had to pass, and a non-selective. Now I know people whose children passed the 11+ but who only put down high scoring schools and didn't get places except at a school a million miles from home ------- they still moan to this day their children did not get a Kent grammar school place close to home. The fact is they didn't read the admissions information properly, or if they did they didn't understand it - perhaps they should have given it all to their child to read!!

Now I know I have no reason to think you might fall into a similar kind of trap, but people are giving you lots of wise advice on here, you were feeling confused in your original question , and your responses since have not made it any clearer to us that really you have all this properly researched and worked out.

I'm assuming that your daughter is an extremely high achiever, and you think given a shot at 6 different entrance exams all requiring a very high score she will make the grade into one of those schools. I take the point entirely. But there are sad things that can happen that can affect your child's performance e.g. serious illness in the family etc - and which could affect her performance in even 6 different entrance exams. But only you know your daughter.

So long as you have understood the risk attached to placing 6 high scoring schools on your CAF without knowing your child's scores beforehand (if indeed this is what you are intending) then this is fine.

Is your primary headteacher ready to help you at appeal and say that your child should easily have achieved the cut-off scores at these schools if she doesn't? But even then, this does not guarantee you a place. Even if the academic argument is clearly won, the oversubscription argument may be lost.
rishita
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri May 27, 2011 10:50 am

Re: county transfer

Post by rishita »

Thank you very much for your advice and concern.

I changed my mind and i will keep one option for comprehensive school also.

(Actually what i thought is if my child did't get in grammar schools then i want to go to appeals for secondary school because her secondary school is connected to her primary school )

Thank you very much for the good advice.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: county transfer

Post by hermanmunster »

Glad to hear you are going to put one non selective down on the CAF.

Even if the local secondary school is linked to the primary, you would still have a difficult appeal if it is oversubscribed and not on your CAF- you could find that you are allocated a school a long way away instead.

(Unless the school you are looking at is a private school?? - just wondered with you saying that it is linked to the primary??)
Meme
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:15 pm

Re: county transfer

Post by Meme »

We also have same plans and this thread has given us some very helpful advice. I don't mean to hijack this thread but we are also planning to move to bucks for the reason of getting 6 choices. I am posting in this thread as I have similar questions (and confusion) in my mind. As far as I know (from this very helpful forum) in Bucks, to get admission into GS, one has to get score of 121 and then be in the catchment. For this reason we are planning to move to Marlow/High Wycombe. Also looking at the 2011 results, it appear that all were offered place in High Wycombe school. The area is altogether new to us so no idea about the comprehensive schools in this area (for our fall back plan) Any advise which area is better? We are planning to move in July-August so will also need info about primary school as well. Any help in this would be highly appreciated!

Thanks in advance
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: county transfer

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi Meme
Meme wrote:As far as I know (from this very helpful forum) in Bucks, to get admission into GS, one has to get score of 121 and then be in the catchment. For this reason we are planning to move to Marlow/High Wycombe.
You do not necessarily have to be in catchment. If you look at the Allocation Profile here http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/school ... n-profiles" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; you will see that many schools allocated places to children "OA", i.e. Out of Area, which means Out of Catchment.
Also looking at the 2011 results, it appear that all were offered place in High Wycombe school.
Do you mean Wycombe High School? That was the case in 2010, but not in 2011, as you will see on the same link.
The area is altogether new to us so no idea about the comprehensive schools in this area (for our fall back plan) Any advise which area is better?
"Comprehensive schools" do not exist in Bucks. The non-grammar schools are called Upper Schools. If you scroll down further on that link you will see that certain Upper Schools are more sought after than others - those that could not offer places to everyone who applied. That is a reasonably good indicator of quality.
We are planning to move in July-August so will also need info about primary school as well. Any help in this would be highly appreciated!
That is potentially a very long answer, so you need to decide on a particular area before anyone can help you. It is likely to come down to "where is there a place", and that may not be at a well-regarded school unless you are very lucky.

Sally-Anne
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