Ranked for Pate's but not taking the place?

[Debims]

Hi there - would be great if anyone can let me know if their child met the qualifying standard for Pate's and achieved a ranking but has decided not to take a place there or not to put it first on their CAF - just trying to manage expectations, thank you.

[Watermelon8]

Yes I know lots, have pm'd you

[Amber]

I know two.
If it is your preferred school, you might be pleased to know that they have been taking lower in the rankings each year for the last few, and went to 200 last year, as people choose other schools instead.

[AndBreathe]

Us!
DD achieved brilliantly and managed top 150 everywhere (except STR and Marling obviously lol). She has her heart set on SHS so we won't be putting Pate's first on our CAF.
I hope her choice helps you.

[smileandsparkle]

I only know of one, but we are going for Pates as 1st preference so that almost cancels itself out!!

Are you going to the open morning tomorrow? Hopefully see you there!!

[Bluebean]

So obviously some DCs may get multiple offers but why put somewhere down that you wouldn't consider? Seems odd to me? Or is there something different about Pates (other than it's a highly ranked school?) im guessing distance /travel time is a factor too.....so that would mean DCs out of the PAN may get a place?

[mitasol]

Nobody will get multiple offers - they will get allocated one school on March 1st.

[Bluebean]

Sorry I meant be within PAN for more than one school, didn't put it very well! So then can choose one school obviously for the CAF. My question was why put a high ranking school but then not consider it?

[AndBreathe]

I don't think people do put down schools that they wouldn't consider. I think people put down more than one school to give themselves a greater chance of getting a place at any.

For us it has not been a case of putting down a school that we wouldn't consider; sometimes things change between registering for the 11+ in June and getting the results in October.

In June, we ticked the boxes to share with every school that DD was eligible for. Why wouldn't we? It allowed us to keep our options open. Not only that, but who can predict what may happen on the day of the test. Our children could have a bad day and not do as well as expected....or, equally, pull it out of the bag and do better than hoped. Ticking every box means that you don't put all your eggs in one basket - and you keep your options open.

We absolutely considered Pate's. We liked it very much on their Open Day last year....but DD liked SHS better. But, of course, thoughts, feelings and opinions can change with time. What if she changed her mind? I wasn't going to take the chance that she might decide she actually liked Pate's better after all, only for me to tell her I hadn't ticked that box!

We are also now looking to move (still staying within county) due to changing jobs. We are likely to end up with a shorter and easier commute to SHS than to Pate's. This is something that has changed since registering for the test, but a factor we need to consider.

As it happens, DD's results give us the choice of all 5 schools. We are in the process of revisiting them all - but DD is absolutely resolute that she wants to go to SHS; and has been able to give us very valid reasons why she believes it is the right place for her.

As a result, I can be 99% positive that Pate's will not be #1 on our CAF form.
I am happy to share that with people if it helps them in their own decision making.

[smileandsparkle]

We ticked 4 schools on our preference form for exactly the same reasons as Andbreathe has posted - we wanted to keep our options open. The only one I didn't tick was Crypt and that was a purely selfish (from a protective mum POV) and probably unfounded opinion that being the only group of girls in a school full of boys might attract a lot of *ahem* attention. Although saying that, if DD had particularly wanted to look at Crypt then I would have probably been easily persuaded.

Andbreathe - I really like how confident you are in your DD's ability to choose the best school for her - I feel the same way but part of me has been a little bit worried that allowing an 11yr old to make such an important decision might backfire in a couple years. HOWEVER, as long as I am perfectly happy with either Pates or HSFG then I'm happy to let her make the final call. After all, she's the one that has to go there for 5-7years!

We went to visit our friends today, one is a teacher there (Pates) and he gave us so much information to think about. Overall, it all sounds really positive, the induction process sounds second to none, the Head makes an effort to get to know all the yr 7s and invites them in small groups near their birthdays to have tea and cake in his office!! The House system seems to be the biggest pull for Pates - everyone I've spoken to has commented on it and it was likened by an ex teacher to being like Hogwarts!

The only caveat is that I seem to be gearing all my research towards Pates and none towards HSFG - which completely undermines my previous statement on here that I would be looking at both schools with an open mind I guess I DO have a preference after all!! Oops.

Anyway - I look forward to meeting anyone who is attending the Open Day tomorrow - I'll also be revisiting HSFG in the evening if anyone will be there also?

Good luck all - I hope we all end up being happy with our choices and eventually, our allocations.