CRGS cache

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

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crgsmum
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:15 pm

CRGS cache

Post by crgsmum »

Just a thought, there is probably some double-counting going on. Our DS scored highly enough to very comfortably gain a place at KEGS but we didn't list it because we just thought CRGS was a better match for him. Our DS went to a Prep school and we have a Chelmsford postcode. In fact, at our son's prep at that time CRGS had much more cache than KEGS so, if you look at the boys on the buses which run from Chelmsford to the Colchester schools, a very high proportion of them went to preps in Chelmsford. It really doesn't follow that just because your DC scores highly enough to get a place at the Chelmsford grammars and live in Chelmford that you will put them first.
marigold
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:14 pm
Location: essex

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by marigold »

" Cache" ... Surely you should be considering the academic record of a school rather than the size of the parent's 4x4.

Cache is a term I would associate with Eton v Harrow or perhaps New Hall v Felsted rather than in a comparison of two Essex Grammar Schools.
MrsB
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:02 pm

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by MrsB »

CardyMow wrote:Based on Suresh's numbers :

34% came from Independent schools.
10% came from Chelmsford.
23% came from Chelmsford postcodes.

Leaving just 33% of places to be split between boys from State schools within Colchester, overseas students, and people travelling from Redbridge and London.
...

Overall, I would expect that to mean that there will be extra places this year for those from State schools in Colchester area. Maybe an extra 15-20? Though that is just a guess.
To be clear, there are no places for children "from independent schools", or places for children "from state schools". There are just places for children who score sufficiently highly relative to the other applicants.
CardyMow
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:53 pm

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by CardyMow »

No, the places are not 'set' as being for children from Independent schools or state schools, but it just so happened that last year, a third of the places at CRGS went to pupils that had been attending independent schools. Possibly other years have less from independent schools.
crgsmum
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 6:15 pm

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by crgsmum »

You are spot on Marigold, but the good news is that the parents with the biggest 4x4s generally turn the places down. There were two grammar schools places awarded in our year to the super-grammars where we all knew the parents had no intention of taking up a place. They viewed the 11plus as a warm up for common entrance and it was nice to turn up at dinner parties and say that x is going to Felsted/Brentwood, they could have gone to CRGS/CCHS but we felt we should leave the place for someone who needed it more than us. Yes, this really does happen and is why the waiting lists move. We picked CRGS because we fell in love with it and felt it was right for our son but believe it or not, right or not, at the prep-school gates there is a pecking order which is not necessarily consistent with league tables and I cannot use any other word than cache to capture the feeling of it. This may explain why such a high number of places at CRGS go to DCs from indies. Well over half, probably nearer to two thirds of the boys on the Chelmsford buses, and my son had used both over the years, came from one of the Chelmsford preps.
mikedellfarm
Posts: 269
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:26 am

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by mikedellfarm »

I agree with crgsmum on this one. Our DC are at an Indie Prep and we hear parents talking about "the choice" they give their children, Grammar or Indie. Many use tutors as well prior to the 11+.. on top of their Indie fees. It doesn't seem down to finances with some of them and I do wonder when it comes to it, actually making the final decision on where to go, whether they could stomach a grammar school (league table evidence or not). Hence waiting lists will move. As for the prep school gate pecking order.. it exists.. and is remakable.
rbs
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:35 pm

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by rbs »

Hi Crgs Mum,


Could I ask what the "cache" at CRGS was felt to be over KEGS.

Was it just the fact that the majority of children came from prep schools and therefore parents felt children were socialising with kids from similar backgrounds or did it relate to anything else such as academics, extra curricular etc.


Rbs
mikedellfarm
Posts: 269
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:26 am

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by mikedellfarm »

I don't agree that children at Indie's all come from similar backgrounds as you suggest.
dez
Posts: 336
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:38 am

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by dez »

mikedellfarm wrote:I don't agree that children at Indie's all come from similar backgrounds as you suggest.
I agree with you. The only similarity is the family can afford to pay the fee!!!

Some DCs will be in indie from reception to sixth form. Others started at prep school and then GS/Comp. The third group started at state primary follow by indie.
Last edited by dez on Tue Nov 06, 2012 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
rbs
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:35 pm

Re: Scores on the doors for 2013 entry

Post by rbs »

I too agree that children at Indies come from a range of backgrounds but crgs mum has pointed out that CRGS is a preferred option to KEGS for those from the Indie sector (even if they live in the catchment of KEGS) and at "the prep school gates" there is a definitive pecking order and CRGS has more cache.

I just wondered what made CRGS a preferred option for children from the Indie sector.
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