Hello - new to the board - RG45 mum (Year 4)

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rg45mum
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:29 am

Hello - new to the board - RG45 mum (Year 4)

Post by rg45mum »

Hi. I'm new to the board. I have a daughter who is in Year 4 and we come under the RG45 postcode. We are thinking of applying to Kendrick and my daughter wants to try for it. I went through the grammar school system myself; she is doing very well at school and the Head thinks it is definitely worth her taking a shot at it and that she has the right 'personality' for it (what ever that means)! We would be sitting the exams in September 2014. Would love to hear from anyone who lives in our area, existing Kendrick parents or anyone on the 11+ treadmill. I'm going to do some of the tutoring myself but interested in hearing from anyone locally who might be interested in sharing a private tutor or will also be looking at 2015 entry. Look forward to meeting you all on the board.
stevew61
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Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:54 pm
Location: caversham

Re: Hello - new to the board - RG45 mum (Year 4)

Post by stevew61 »

Hi and welcome,

Good to start early in year 4, plenty of time for little and often. Only cloud on the horizon are the changes in other areas that may spread to Kendrick? Best to hedge your bets and work on vocabulary suitable for nfer and CEM ( see Birmingham and Bucks) plus NVR.
Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Hello - new to the board - RG45 mum (Year 4)

Post by Tinkers »

My DD took the test last October and will hopefully start next September (tbc 1st March obviously).

Good luck, little and often worked well for us. At the moment Kendrick look to be sticking with GL assessment, so for next year at least the 'Duffers' guide still applies. After that, as Steve says, they may change to CEM, of which I know next to nothing about. However if you concentrate on vocab, mental maths and NVR, I don't think you will go far wrong until then and it certainly won't be wasted.

This time next year keep ypur eyes peeled for chnages to Kendrick admissions criteria to see if they are sticking with GL or jumping on the CEM bandwagon. You should still have time to prepare and should have built a good foundation of vocab. Other areas of the forum have more info on CEM and how to prepare. I haven't had to delve into them.
sonasona
Posts: 869
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:51 am

Re: Hello - new to the board - RG45 mum (Year 4)

Post by sonasona »

Hi, I'd go with Tinkers brilliant advice and guide for now, but do keep a look out at both Reading BC and Kendrick schools website for any changes.

I found this on the RBC website this morning and for the moment it looks like Reading Boys school will keep to the same format for 2014 entry (as expected). However there are no details from Kendrick school, its probably too early for them to publish anything for 2013 tests/2014 entry but you never know, could we be seeing changes for the test in October 2013 :shock:

http://www.reading.gov.uk/residents/edu ... s-2014-15/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reading School
Admissions Arrangements for Year 7 places for day boys in 2014 / 2015
Co-ordinated secondary admissions
Reading School’s admissions process is in line with the co-ordinated secondary school admissions scheme as set out in the DfE Code of Practice 2011.
School covered by these arrangements
These admission arrangements apply to Reading School.
Application for a place
Applications will be made on the appropriate Local Authority (LA) common application form. Parents/carers may express up to 3 preferences and give reasons for those preferences. In addition, applications must be made directly to Reading School.
For entry in September 2014 a boy’s date of birth would normally fall on or between 01.09.02-31.8.03 and he must be working in Year 6 at the time of testing. See section headed ‘Children who are not in the normal age group’ for further information.
Entrance Tests
The entrance tests will be taken at Reading School on 1st October 2013. Tests will cover, Mathematics, English and Reasoning [verbal and/or non-verbal (abstract)]. The tests will be multiple choice and will be tests for which no additional preparation is necessary. No past papers are available and no further information with respect to the tests will be given. Allowance will be made for a pupil’s age.
Timetable
The admissions process for routine admission into Year 7 of a secondary school in 2014/15, the routine admission round, begins in July 2013 and ends on 31 August 2014.
Applications must be made to Reading School in addition to the LA. Reading School application forms will be available from July 2013, and parents should expect to receive an acknowledgement of their application. The tests will take place at Reading School on 1 October 2013. The LA will offer places on behalf of Reading School on 1 March 2014.
Deadline of receipt of applications
The deadline for receipt of applications to Reading School is 23 September 2013.
Applications received after the deadline
Applications received after the deadline will be treated as late applications, but will be accepted up to the day preceding the tests. However, applications that are received after the test date for a good reason may be considered, if received before 3 January 2014. Such cases might be if illness prevented a single parent/carer from returning the form on time, if the reason for lateness is supported in writing by a medical professional involved in the case. Any such candidates will be tested on 10 January 2014.
Admissions outside the routine admissions round – Non-routine admissions
Applications for entry to Year 7 after the end of the routine admission round and applications for entry to Years 8, 10 or 11 at any time are treated as non-routine admissions. Applications must be made directly to Reading School. Reading School has accepted Reading Local Authority’s In Year Fair Access Protocol. Attention is drawn to the policy ‘Non-Routine Admission Arrangements’.
Designated area for Day Applications
The designated area is determined by the postcode of the student’s home address and guidance on the designated area is given in the School prospectus. Further clarification can be obtained from the School’s Admission Office. Students must be resident in the designated area of the school by the 31 January 2014 to qualify as living in the designated area. This must be the student’s permanent home address with their parent(s)/carer(s). An application must be made to the new Local Authority for a secondary school place and evidence of this must be submitted to Reading School to support the application.
Inclusion
The parents of any child with special educational needs or a disability, who are applying for a place at the School, should write to the Admissions Officer at Reading School so that any special arrangements that might need to be made to enable the child to take the entrance tests, can be discussed. It would be expected that there would be supporting information from an accredited medical professional recommending arrangements appropriate to the need. It would also be necessary to establish a history of need by demonstrating that similar arrangements are in place at the applicant’s current school. Reading School may contact the applicant’s primary school to verify and confirm existing arrangements. 2
Fraudulent Applications
Any information that is subsequently proven to be inaccurate will potentially invalidate that application.
Oversubscription Criteria
The following oversubscription criteria will be applied if there are more applicants than places available. A cut-off point will be determined, below which students will be deemed not to benefit from the style of education provided at Reading School and these students will not be considered for admission to the school and not therefore ranked according to the over-subscription criteria below.
All applicants above the cut-off point will be ranked in the following order and within each category strictly by their performance in the test

The applicant has a statement of special needs and has named Reading School specifically on the statement.

The applicant is a child in care or previously in care.

The permanent home address of the student is within the designated area of the school and this home address is the address of the parent(s)/carer(s) and the student.

Boys who are from families in receipt of Income Support and/or entitled to claim free school meals at their current school at the time of the test. Documentary evidence that the parent is in receipt of the appropriate support payment entitling the child to free school meals will be required.

Students whose home address is NOT in the designated area of the school.

A waiting list ranked as above will be used to offer further places if any original offers are declined either by the LA, or by the parents/carers themselves. Parents of children above the cut-off point who change their preference following allocation day i.e because their child was offered a higher preference will be added to the waiting list according to the over-subscription criteria. Equally any child ranked as category v) who moves into the designated area, following receipt of confirmation of change of preferences from the LA will be re-ranked to category iii).
The tie-break situation
The following criterion will be used to allocate places as between borderline candidates who cannot be distinguished in terms of academic ability.
With regard to the historic links with the Borough of Reading, eligible boys living nearer to the School will be accorded a higher priority in the allocation of day-boy places. Distance is measured on the straight line between Ordnance Survey data points for the home address and the school using Reading Borough Council digital mapping software.
Children who are not in the normal age group
Such boys must be studying in Year 6 at the time of testing. Only in highly exceptional circumstances will applications be accepted from any boy whose birth date is before 01.09.02 or after 31.12.03.
Applicants who sit the tests early, i.e. whose date of birth falls on or between 01.09.03-31.12.03, and are not successful, will only be permitted to apply again the following year provided they are repeating Year 6. Written confirmation from the school will be requested. Any boy who has moved on to Year 7 will not be accepted.
Offer date
The home LA will inform all parents/carers in writing the school allocated to their child on the national offer date of 1 March 2014.
Results
Reading School will post results of tests to parents on 22 October 2013. If your son is assessed as suitable for admission to Reading School, you may wish to list Reading School as one of your preferences on your Common Application Form. However being assessed as suitable for Reading School will not guarantee that your son will be offered a place as it is extremely likely that more boys will qualify for places than the School can accommodate. In this case we will apply our oversubscription criteria as listed above.
Waiting lists
During the routine admission round a ‘waiting list’, as detailed above, will be administered if the school has more applicants than places available. Reading School will keep a waiting list open until 31st January 2015. This list will be made available to the LA who will offer places on our behalf should a vacancy arise.
Reading School Admissions Numbers
The Admission Number for day places in Year 7 in September 2014 is 100.
Tinkers
Posts: 7240
Joined: Mon May 16, 2011 2:05 pm
Location: Reading

Re: Hello - new to the board - RG45 mum (Year 4)

Post by Tinkers »

If schools want to change their admissions criteria, they have to consult for a minimum of 8 weeks ending by the end of Feb. If Kendrick are thinking of changing, is means it has to be announced TODAY (3rd Jan) at the latest. I would also have expected it to be on the RbC site along with Reading school, if they were.

Kendrick changed their admissions criteria last year to include a catchment.

Kendrick have also published the date of the test for 1st October 2013 and the dates of the open afternoon and open evening,albeit in their term dates.
rg45mum
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:29 am

Re: Hello - new to the board - RG45 mum (Year 4)

Post by rg45mum »

Thank you to everyone that posted on here. x
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