NEW... Help please!

ysezmo · Post by **ysezmo** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 9:54 pm

Hi
I am very new to ALL of this, so really could do with lots of advice!
My Daughter has said she wants to try for Pate's or Denmark, she is being coached for the tests. We have only just started this tho' as we hadn't really considered Grammar before we looked round last week!! Aarghh. Anyway, I am a little confused as to the forms we have to fill in.
What order do I put for the School's? Does it matter?
She will sit it at Pate's.(Don't know if she will get in) I hear it's tough!!
So do I put Pate's first choice?
If I do and she doesn't get in and I put Denmark 2nd choice does she have less of a chance of getting in than if I put Denmark 1st? (make sense?)
Do I need to tell Denmark Road I am interested? Or does the form I am sending into Pate's do this for me?

Please help!
Thankyou in anticipation!

Tolstoy · Post by **Tolstoy** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:34 pm

To sit the test you need to fill in the registration form. These can be printed out off the Gloucestershire county website. There is a link in the sticky above.

On the form you will need to state where you want your daughter to sit the test. Then underneath you should tick the box for Pates and Denmark road. As a precaution it may be worth ticking for Ribston or Stroud high for girls depending on where you live.

Then you don't need to do anything or worry about anything apart from the actual test until you get the result on November the 20th. With that information at hand you can make a decision about what schools you wish to put on your CAF form.

If you want Pates then put it first and Denmark road second. If your daughter hasn't got quite enough to get into Pates but you feel she should have scored higher then you will need to put it first in order to appeal.

Putting Denmark road second will not penalise your daughter in anyway as if she doesn't get into Pates and she has scored high enough for Denmark road then she will be offered a place there.

ysezmo · Post by **ysezmo** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:15 pm

Thanks for that... it makes sense now!

Next question!! How can I help her? Do you have any top tips?

Thanks

Tolstoy · Post by **Tolstoy** » Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:46 pm

If she is having tutoring then you need to co-ordinate anything you are doing with your tutor. I tutor my own.

I have just posted a list of tests I did with DS1 on one of the other threads.

DS2 also wants to go to Tommies and is sitting this Nov. Currently I am doing trail tests every Sunday with him as I did with his brother. During the week he does a Tutors level three paper ( downloaded off this site) when he comes home from school I give him ten minutes to do it and then we spend a short time correcting any mistakes then he is off out playing.

We will also do some of the level fours in the next couple of weeks. They are excellent for building up vocabulary which is very important for this son as he doesn't read as much as his older brother.

capers123 · Post by **capers123** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:51 am

Tolstoy wrote:Putting Denmark road second will not penalise your daughter in anyway as if she doesn't get into Pates and she has scored high enough for Denmark road then she will be offered a place there.

Just to clarify that, 'she will be offered a place there' if she has scored high enough to pass for Denmark Road AND is high enough up the list of girls who have passed to be in the top 116 (or whatever the intake is) of girls taking a place there.

Confusing or what? Remember that some of the absolute top 116 scorers who put Denmark as a preference will also have put Pates, Ribston & Stroud High as preferences as well, and may also be in the top 116 / 120 for those schools. being in that bracket when you're notified of the exam result is great, in that you then know exactly which school your child will go to. Being in the 'pass but not in top 116 / 120' means you'll have to take a little bit of a gamble on which to put first: once the Ribstons have come out of the 116 for Denmark, then there may be (for example) 25 or 30 more spaces left that will be allocated from those who have passed.

Not passing the exam is also, in some ways, a 'good' place to be in, in that (unless you decide to appeal and have good extenuating circumstances) you can then decide on the best / most plausable non-grammar to put down. It's also a good idea to put down a realistic 'fall-back' comp school if your child has passed but is not certain to get a grammar place.

I certainly, however, agree with the idea of ticking the other Grammars on the test application form, assuming that you'd be prepared to transport your child to said school; if you live the other side of the Forest, Stroud is possibly a silly option given the amount of travelling time your daughter would have each day (and lack of relaxing time, not being able to necessarily join the after school clubs etc). But some parents feel it is worth it on balance. Likewise Swindon to Stroud (or to Reading as well)!

Good luck.

alisonc · Post by **alisonc** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:25 pm

Hi Ysezmo! My daughter has just started Denmark this time. We live in the Forest of Dean, so didn't consider Pates as we thought it would be too far to travel. It seems by looking at this website, that when you get results from Pate's you know whether you will get in or not before choosing preferences because you know where you are down the list. With DR and Ribston, all we had was a letter saying daughter had passed but no score. It made it quite frustrating for the letter to say she was 1 of 216 for Denmark (116 intake), and 1 of 246 (114 intake) for Ribston. It would really have helped if I new if she had just a pass, or a really good pass. Maybe it would be a possibilty to take the test for Pate's even if you're not considering that school because at least you would have some sort of comparison. I will say though, that if you don't get into your first choice, then your second choice becomes your first choice and if you meet the admission criteria better than someone who put it first, then you get priority. Hope this helps.

ysezmo · Post by **ysezmo** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 8:36 pm

Phew!

What a headache this all is and she hasn't even sat it yet... yet alone passed the thing!

Your advice is invaluable to a 'newbie' like me. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
I will keep you posted and no doubt post more questions when (and they will) arise!

Regards

mcs · Post by **mcs** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:56 pm

ysezmo wrote:She will sit it at Pate's

I've only just realised that it is that time of year again. I can't believe it was a year ago we were going through all this with our boy!

I thought that I would mention something that happened to my son last year when he sat the test at Pates. Nerves and an early rise (we had to travel from Swindon to Cheltenham) obviously got the better of him and he wasn't able to go to the loo at this usual time. He got through most of the second test desparately holding on, but when the moderator said "5 minutes left" he couldn't hang on any longer and missed the last 5 minutes of the test. Had he sat it at Tommies he would have been allowed the extra time. Someone told us this on the forum last year so we emailed the head master at Tommies and asked if this was true. He wrote back confirming that it was.

If at all possible try and make sure your daughter empties her bowels before she goes into the test. Sorry if that's a bit graphic but it could mean the difference between success and failure.

Good luck to your DD

Thirdtimer · Post by **Thirdtimer** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:27 pm

Just received the papers for next months Marling test and it confirms that any time missed due to loo breaks can NOT be made up at the end.

Tolstoy · Post by **Tolstoy** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:00 pm

Has anyone else received any information? We are away for half term and was hoping to get some before we went, if only to relax about the fact that he IS registered for it.