Tonbridge school

[tigger2]

Any advice/experience here would be welcomed. A friend is interested in Tonbridge School for his ds but is wondering about the quality of pastoral care. If anyone has any advice he would be grateful. Many thanks in advance

Tigger
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[moved]

We looked at Tonbridge, DS didn't take up the place as he didn't want to board, but the boy from his primary school in the year above now y10 had a great year there last year.

[Paddy]

Tigger2, the pastoral care at Tonbridge is very, very good. The house system (and they really are 'houses' as opposed to classrooms) is a very important part of the ethos of school and the housemasters are clearly very carefully chosen for their pastoral skills.

[tigger2]

Very many thanks for all this. I have passed this on and am now wondering if I should consider this for my ds.

Thank you
Tigger

[Paddy]

Tonbridge is a great school particularly for boys who are very sporting. However, bear in mind that Tonbridge allocates most places (and indeed houses) at 11 rather than at 13 so the school will be making its mind up now about boys who are currently in Year 6. I don't know if your son and the other boy are in primary schools but another point to bear in mind is that the Common Entrance exam is really geared towards boys following the ISEB syllabus.

[tigger2]

I know that I would be fortunate indeed to get a reply before 7am but my son is sitting the foundation examinations at Tonbridge School tomorrow and I have just realised that they may be short listing on the day. My son has not been prepped to be interviewed but I have told him that he will be and now I am wondering if I have done the right thing. It seems from reading the details again that perhaps only the short-listed candidates will be interviewed. Does anyone know if this is the case? I am worried because he is very bright but will take time to settle and may not perform so well in tests because he is sitting them in the morning-I appreciate that he cannot stay there for a couple of days to feel comfortable but I would love them to see that there is very real potential. I am going to prepare myself for the possibility that I may get a letter at the end of the day when I collect him to let me know if he has not been successful. Any guidance very welcome

[moved]

DS sat the scholarship on a Monday I think. There were exams and the following Friday they were invited back for interview. The scholarship was maths, English, VR and NVR. The interview questioned them on a favourite book and their responses to the exam. No preparation was needed for either part really.

[Paddy]

I suspect that they adjust the assessment procedure each year depending on the number of boys coming forward for the scholarships but I would be surprised if they didn't interview all the boys on the day. After all they are looking for potential rather than current attainment on paper, so to speak, and that is very difficult to assess the boys' potential without an interview. They will be aware that some, in not all, of the boys will be very nervous and will make silly mistakes in the written papers and I suspect that they may well go over these mistakes in the interviews. I also don't think that preparing/coaching for the interview would have been a help because the school wants to find out who he 'is' rather than what you have drilled into him.

I would also be very surprised if you were handed any rejection or otherwise on the day. After all, the admissions team will have their hands full on the day just taking care of the boys and don't see how they could get the decision made and letters printed out so quickly. And I don't think that they would want to send some/most of the boys away from the school on the day with a 'rejection'.

So, all-in-all, I think that you may be worrying a bit too much.

[tigger2]

Paddy, many thanks for this! My son was nervous but excited to go and left the library with a big smile so fingers crossed !

[Paddy]

If he's smiling then that's great. Good luck.