Disappointed

[iluvmykids]

Hi Guys
We have been through very disturbing times of late.
Our DD passed(i mean got above the lowest needed) for Non such, Wallington Girls, but could not get in any of these.
Is this the end of the world?
Could i ask some other parents about how are they coping with this.... OR we are the only ones.
DD worked to the best of her ability and i am proud of her But...

[imaginebest]

I can understand your disappointment as I am going through the same phase, I had always imagined positive, had visualised her getting a place in wallington, but am finding it hard to stay positive......am thinking why did I 'torture' my dd for last two years with preparation stress if she had to finally go to state school!.....may be she will be happier and it might be best for her.......think positive!

[vnunny]

I'm sorry you're going through this, but I don't understand how this could of happened?


Surely if your DD's had gotten above the pass mark for these schools, they would have been offered a place?

Sorry if I sound dense, just don't understand, and would like to know as my DD doing her 11+ this year...

[mitasol]

I'm afraid that passing the 11+ does not guarantee getting a GS place, it simply means you are eligible to apply for a place.

Schools have a limited number of students they can take. Each school has an oversubscription criteria which details how children will be offered places when there are more eligible children than places.

[sostressed]

I totally agree with your comments. My 'very bright' daughter failed to get a place at either Nonsuch or Wallington despite passing comfortably.
We did some papers over the 2010 summer holidays and were totally
ignorant of the time some children had been tutored/coached for these tests until a friend who lives in the area told us girls in her son's local school had been working for this almost from the day they started school. My daughter was devastated when she realised she had 'failed' despite getting a place and excellent scholarship at an indie. The system seems completely illogical to me and I fail to understand how these tests are any indication of ability. We are now considering moving somewhere (if such a place exists) where children go to the local school as I did . Narnia perhaps!
No way will we be doing this to my ds - I couldn't bear the stress and disappointment of the process again.

[Uberyummymummy]

vnunny - I can only assume you haven't been living in Kingston long. Around here we have the most contested grammar school places in the country. E.g. 1300 girls sat for Nonsuch - 661 passed, but there are only 180 places. Very similar figures for Wallington High School for Girls. Tiffin Girls don't have a pass mark - they simply offer places to the Top 120. This year 1171 sat it.

The 'frenzy' that is the elevenplusexams forum has not helped the situation in Surrey, where many parents spend their days on here, trying to find out what is going to be in the test papers so that they can tutor their children to within an inch of their lives.

For every DC that is 'helped' to gain a place by this forum, there will be many others who miss out.

Sadly, this forum has helped many many children get into a selective school, purely by informing their parents of the best practise papers and they have practised until the cows come home - many, for years. So, if you don't do the same with your DC, you won't stand a chance of a coveted selective school place around here.

It is not only just the brightest DC who get into these schools, but the DC who have been 'helped' via the back door.

[iluvmykids]

No Guys i did not mean that admission process is not good or any thing. I was only sharing my own personal disappintment of not making through. I fully understand that only the best would be offered a place, but i am finding it hard to believe that why could my DD not fall in to that ctagory. DD did all what was asked of her for the last 1 year and also got level 5's at the end of year 5 from school in Maths and English. My reason for posting my comment yesterday was anly for sharing/finding out ways to help my DD to come out of this shock quickly and minmise the damage psychologically i mean.
I do respect this forum a lot and did read it quiet a lot towards the later part of our journey and i strongly feel that this is great place for sharing and getting important information/solutions.
I hope i get mine as well i.e solution i mean.
God Bless all of you

[doodles]

vnunny - I can only assume you haven't been living in Kingston long. Around here we have the most contested grammar school places in the country. E.g. 1300 girls sat for Nonsuch - 661 passed, but there are only 180 places. Very similar figures for Wallington High School for Girls. Tiffin Girls don't have a pass mark - they simply offer places to the Top 120. This year 1171 sat it.

The 'frenzy' that is the elevenplusexams forum has not helped the situation in Surrey, where many parents spend their days on here, trying to find out what is going to be in the test papers so that they can tutor their children to within an inch of their lives.

For every DC that is 'helped' to gain a place by this forum, there will be many others who miss out.

Sadly, this forum has helped many many children get into a selective school, purely by informing their parents of the best practise papers and they have practised until the cows come home - many, for years. So, if you don't do the same with your DC, you won't stand a chance of a coveted selective school place around here.

It is not only just the brightest DC who get into these schools, but the DC who have been 'helped' via the back door.

I think a lot of us spend time on here trying to help and support our DC's and others, not get our children in "via the back door".

[doingmybest]

We live in the area and despite having children at Indy schools can't help but hear (usually at length during ballet) and be stunned by the amount of work parents put in to get Tiffin places.
No-one from a central KUT primary I know, full of very bright kids got in, but 10 places were achieved from a school much further away. How? The parents approach it like a military campaign, they start tutoring in year 3 and tutor for maths & English as well as VR/NVR. By year 5 they have 3 tutors per child and the parents meet regularly to discuss strategy, practise paper etc. The children who got places are no brighter than those who live in the immediate area and did not, they just did a lot more work and dropped all other extra activities.
As an outsider there seems to be a reliance in KUT on THE FAMILY (you know who I mean) institution to get children into Tiffin and it doesn't seem to be enough any more.
These are just me observations. Anyone else have any other thoughts?

[Rosette]

there seems to be a reliance in KUT on THE FAMILY (you know who I mean) institution to get children into Tiffin and it doesn't seem to be enough any more.

IMO the FAMILY was successful in the past because people just didn't know what the Tiffin test involved. This website has shown that there are no big secrets to the Tiffin test and has shown parents exactly what is required to prepare for the tests. This is to the detriment of those Kingston parents who are still relying solely on the FAMILY to get them through.

This year has seen an incredibly low success rate for Kingston children and I really hope that Kingston parents wake up to the fact that they need to research the test requirements for themselves if they want to stand a chance.

The standard practice seems to be to start preparing in Jan of Year 5, with a couple of practice sessions a week, which personally I think is ample. There is no need to drop extra curricular activities, just a focused approach with relevant materials and a wish for a bit of good luck on the day.