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Dartford Grammar School for Girls intake/ travel from out of

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:08 pm
by loaf33
Hi all

Quick question re DGSFG. Are they taking more girls this year - was it 160 in 2016, now 180 in 2017? If this is right, what does this means for the cut-off score? I guess it all depends on the kent test results and how they compare year on year. We are out of catchment - do those places have a higher cut-off score?

Also does anyone know of any kids who travel to DGSFS from London, specifically Nunhead way? There are direct trains to Dartford, but it still seems like a heck of a long way to me. Just wondering if anyone's kids do it and how they find it.

Also is there a bus that runs them from the station or do they have to walk?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Re: Dartford Grammar School for Girls intake/ travel from ou

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 10:06 pm
by salsa
I'm afraid I couldn't tell you about their catchment as they have changed recently. Have you looked at their admissions policy on line?
What I can tell you is that there are children traveling from south London with a journey of 30 minutes by train and they are quite happy as there is a very short walk uphill from the station to the school. There are also two buses, I believe.
My son goes to the boys' school and he enjoys his journey as he travels with boys and girls from his primary school. He then prefers to walk, unless the bus is there. There are lots of boys and girls walking and he knows his shortcuts and meets local friends walking to school.

I don't know what time they start at the girls' school, but searching in my rail app, I can see there are direct trains from Nunhead which take 31 minutes.

In summary, I wouldn't worry about the journey, but the best is to do the journey yourself at the same time to get a good idea. I did just that the other day and although it was a great school and quite near in comparison to Dartford, the traffic and two buses meant that I was exhausted when I got there, so I decided I couldn't send my son there!

Salsa

Re: Dartford Grammar School for Girls intake/ travel from ou

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2016 10:18 pm
by salsa
I found the policy. 180 spaces. 100 for locals. Please note there is an extra form to fill in.

http://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pd ... 017-18.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: Dartford Grammar School for Girls intake/ travel from ou

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 6:57 am
by PettswoodFiona
Yes as Salsa says you must fill in the SIF, someone on the forum failed to do this last year and I believe they missed out on a place. Note that whilst it says 100 places to local girls it doesn't mean all the the rest go to OOC. When I was looking at possible entry for this Sept (we ended up choosing a more local grammar) the helpful admissions lady replied:

"It is unlikely that there will be 60 places left for out of county candidates, as, in addition to the 100 places reserved for local children, some places will go to siblings. In the past this has been in the region of 20 places. If some of the OOC offers are refused, we will continue down our ranked list of OOC applicants until all our places are filled. Likewise, if some of the 100 local offers are refused, we will continue down our list of local children."

As a result OOC score required is usually quite a lot higher. It is hard to predict the score required as numbers applying and pass mark required fluctuate. They used to publish a treble on their site of siblings, IC and OOC places offered in the last few years to give an idea of how many places went in each category.

Re: Dartford Grammar School for Girls intake/ travel from ou

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 1:57 pm
by vegmad
My DD started in Y7 of DGSG this Sept, we are OOC in SE London. She is loving it and currently gets the school bus. The admissions policy changed a couple of years ago and there is no sibling priority anymore, except for girls that joined prior to the change in policy. There are 100 places for local girls regardless of score (you must fill in the SIF to qualify as local). The remaining places are allocated for looked after children and then siblings (pre change to policy 2015) and then by score for all remaining places. You will need a high score, but not as high as prior years. I believe the OOC cut off last year was around 376.

Hope that helps!

Re: Dartford Grammar School for Girls intake/ travel from ou

Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:35 am
by loaf33
Thanks for all your help/advice everyone. I've emailed the admissions lady to see what she says, then I'm armed for when the dreaded results come out.

I swear my brain is approaching meltdown... I'll be relieved when I can stop thinking about it all for a while!