Worrying - any advice thankfully received

[EJT2707]

Hi all,

We live in Chester , CH4 side.
My daughter passed her 11+ and has her heart absolutely set on grammar school, she has is absolutely over the moon with her 11+ mark, and even though she will know no-one she is on cloud nine about going to either Wirral (her number 1 choice) or WKGS (choice 2) she would be happy with either. (She is a complete “schoolie” no tutor and did all the research on grammar off her own back and informed us in year 5 that she would be taking the 11+, she heard about this from a friend at brownies who had done the same) she loved both schools at the open evenings

BUT! I am really worried she won’t get a place at either due to distance. I can’t settle at all and it feels such a long time until March to find out, she keeps talking about the schools constantly.

We would be willing to move nearer if needed, however would not be in a position to do that until the summer.

A couple of friends with older children have said they had no problems and got places at Calday and WKGS even with the distance. And are telling me not to worry. I don’t know anyone who’s daughter has taken and passed the exam this year, only one other child in my daughters school took the test however unfortunately wasn’t successful.

So basically what I’m asking is... how likely is she to get a place at either? Do children who have passed from Chester ever not get places at either? I have no idea if the pass rate was high this year? And if I appealed would be be likely to get a place? Should I be doing anything now to prepare for an appeal if that’s the outcome? We put our local comp down as our third choice that is undersubscribed and she would definitely get a place at based on distance and sibling but my daughter would be devastated if this is the outcome.

I know it seems silly but I’m really stressing about it already and allocations are so long away? Sorry for the millions of questions

Thanks

[poppety]

If you look at the Wirral admissions policy for the two schools it states that in 2019, all girls who achieved the standard for West Kirby were offered places. For Wirral grammar, the furthest distance at which a place was offered was 6.6 miles. So last year you wouldn't have got Wirral but would WK. Things do change year on year though.

[Hopefulmama00]

Hi I understand totally how you’re feeling. Unfortunately there is never any guarantees that you’ll get a place from Chester as it is quite far out. However most girls seem to get in west Kirby. Both my niece and my friends daughter go there. We’re in great Sutton. My niece is in year 9 and my friends daughter is in year 8. I was so worried myself but my son got into Wirral grammar and started in year 7 in September. Now I have him in I know my younger son only needs to pass and he should get a place through the sibling rule. I think my advice would be to big up a local school as the back up. Upton is great! Therefore it’s not too much of a disappointment for your daughter if things don’t go as planned. That’s what I did even though I didn’t feel like it! Good luck just try to chill now till the big day. Let us know how you get on! And congrats to your daughter on the result xx

[EJT2707]

Thank you both, that’s the hard thing isn’t it, there is just no guarantee from Chester... we are out of catchment for Upton and Queen’s Park high is our local high school, all her friends are going there from her primary in handbridge so trying to focus on that as a positive! Based on the last couple of years it does look like she would definitely have got a place and I have friends further away (albeit only a couple of miles ) that got west Kirby in previous years, so I’m hopeful. I need to try and relax and wait I know, worrying isn’t going to make allocation day come any quicker! I’m just rubbish at waiting! I will let you all know in March ... but I suppose for now it’s fingers crossed x

[hermanmunster]

Re your question about appealing - you need to have a look at the "oversubscription" bit of the appeals FAQ https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/appea ... bed-school" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can't appeal until after March but you can at least get up to speed in case you need to appeal

[SofiaCerano]

Hi, I put a freedom of information request through to wirral borough council after this years allocations. A link to it is on the ‘Wirral schools oversubscribed’ thread. Both WG and Upton were oversubscribed, with around 30/35 girls in each school not offered places. My daughter in is year 7 at Upton and on induction evening the head stated that they weren’t able to take any girls on appeal because they had already taken an extra 5 girls due to oversubscription. On the bright side, west kirby grammar was undersubscribed. Good luck to your daughter, it’s a worrying time.

[SofiaCerano]

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... ocations_3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Hope this helps x

[ToadMum]

Hi, I put a freedom of information request through to wirral borough council after this years allocations. A link to it is on the ‘Wirral schools oversubscribed’ thread. Both WG and Upton were oversubscribed, with around 30/35 girls in each school not offered places. My daughter in is year 7 at Upton and on induction evening the head stated that they weren’t able to take any girls on appeal because they had already taken an extra 5 girls due to oversubscription. On the bright side, west kirby grammar was undersubscribed. Good luck to your daughter, it’s a worrying time.

If the Independent Appeal Panel had directed the school to take one or more further pupils, then the school would have had no option but to comply. However, the fact that they were already at PAN plus 5 would have strengthened the school's case not to be able to admit any more.

[Beacherlover1]

Hi, obviously I cant say whether or not your daughter will be offered a place but my daughter goes to WKGS and there are a few girls from Chester/North Wales that she knows of. Their admission number is generally larger than WGS.
Good Luck x.

[EJT2707]

Thank you all so much x it is a worrying time but I am just going to have to keep my fingers crossed. I am hopeful she will get a place at West Kirby based on the last couple of years so will hope luck is on my side x