11 Plus Exams Forum

Is this http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... laces.html an exaggeration? What will the Tiffin days be like?

Thea

Not sure about Tiffin boys. If it is anything like the last few years, at Tiffin girls parents will be repeatedly reminded that there is no parking, that the local area is congested and that they should use public transport. Needless to say many will ignore this and cause chaos on the day, notwithstanding the fact that they have repeatedly also been told that if the school is not easily accessbile by public transport for their DD they should not apply. The police will be out in force stopping people dropping off etc and marshalling tarffic, there may be TV cameras as well.
Approaching the school you will begin to notice other nervous parents/children, walking lemming like to the precipice! As you get nearer you will be met by Tiffin 6th formers acting as stewards barking orders at you to form an orderly queue, that you are early/late/irritating/whatever and that you must stand still/move on/talk/not talk etc. Eventually, depending on where you are in the queue (half an hour early equalled about half a mile down the road for us) you will start to move forward. Slowly some children in the queue will start crying and you will make cheesy grins at your DC trying to reassure them that this is all perfectly normal and not completely mad. In side by this point you will feel sick. In the end DC will be met by a nice 6th former who will escort them in cheerily and pleasantly. As you walk away, if you are remotely sane at all by then, you will begin to wonder what on earth you have done.
Now I'm sorry to be negative, but I WISH I had known quite how ghastly the day was going to be , although I am not sure how itd woul have helped perhaps I would not have been so shell shocked. Either way DC seemed far less freaked by it than I was.
So yes, it will be like that at Tiffin - and as for the pick up there don't even get me started!
Good luck

I am afraid that sounds rather similar to the Sutton grammar test as well-the queue went all the way round the block. We arranged to go with a friend so that the boys were a bit giggly which helped with the nerves

We are not actually doing the test, but I have a number of friends who are - will direct them to this site/post - thanks for the warning!!!!!

Also - if it is like this for Tiffin Girls - which does have the advantage of being in Ham , and so with parking (in normal circs) within walking distance, the thought of the boys' school in downtown Kingston, is terrifying...

It is so different here in East kent. The children take the test over 2 days in their own school. Which is how it should be

It must be so stressful for them, poor things

I was just thinking exactly the same thing YoYo! At least our children were in familiar surroundings and with teachers that (mostly) they knew. To all intents and purposes it was just anotehr school day really as they did school things after they had done the papers. (And we still had some really stressed out and crying children but at least they did not have all this to contend with).