Caterham -13+ entry

[tigger2]

Hi,

I am hoping that any experts out there on Caterham's selection procedure at 13+ can give me a little advice....Dc sat the 13+ exams on the 15th January...Our dc is really fretting that he will not be successful because he is certain that he has not done well in his interview .He was told on the day that more children than usual were being tested/interviewed for year 9 entry than in previous years and he is worrying because he is not a a good all rounder. Unfortunately it wasn't until last night that we realised why ds is fretting so much .We have had a lot to deal with in the past couple of weeks. If I had been more 'on the ball' I would have realised earlier that he was worried.... we do not know any other families there so any additional information would be appreciated.

Many thanks in advance
Tigger

[tigger2]

Sorry to bump this again but anyone out there with any advice/info re the selection procedure at Caterham?
Thanks
Tigger

[hermanmunster]

Hi Tigger - afraid haven't seen much on Caterham entry on the forum ... only recent thread was: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... t=caterham" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but that was probably 11+

TBH a bit mean of the school telling the kids that there were lots being assessed! great way to make them feel relaxed Is your DC at a prep school? Can you ask the head there to find out what the situation is over numbers this year??

[tigger2]

Thank you Hermanmunster...I had already looked at that link but thought that it was 11+...advice from the prep head was that some schools have chosen to go over their usual numbers this year but I don't know how many took the exam. I think one of the boys taking the exam who has 3 brothers there already said that there seemed to be more dc's there this year and a member of staff agreed. Ds is much more concerned that he flunked the interview

Tigger

[hermanmunster]

not easy to explain to a 13 year old but quite often the interviews that seem a breeze are in fact not the ones you have done well in - certainly later on in the education system. Suspect he will find it tricky to really know how he got on.. when do you hear??

[Ladymuck]

Deleted by user.

[nothing-yummy-mum]

I'm sorry that I can't comment specifically on 13+ entry - and thanks to Ladymuck who is a source of great knowledge - Ds sat 11+. Caterham is unusual and slightly unsettling because it does interviews before the exams. This means there is no indication of how well they did in the exams. In my opinion it is quite brave and refreshing, because they really get a sense of the DC even if they had a hiccup on exam day (I think they even invite them for assessments for various scholarships regardless of how they performed on exam day). DS found the Caterham interview not stressful at all (it may of course be different at 13+ and he may also have just missed any tricky questions because he's away with the fairies) but I am convinced the interview is merely to confirm exam scores or flag up huge discrepancies. I seriously don't think they can "fail" an interview - if they had done well in the exams, they will get in unless they were seriously rude/badly behaved in interview. And I'm sure your DS wasn't!
Ladymuck, maybe you can help - my understanding is that Caterham has become more popular and has received more applications as its academic performance has indeed improved over the last few years under the current head. This may not be a bad thing. If your DS does get an offer, it means he is getting into a sought-after school with excellent results (well, this is what I keep telling myself while downing half a vineyard in anticipation of offers day). Good luck to your DS, I'm sure he was brilliant!

[tigger2]

Thank you all ..that is very helpful info and I am grateful. I do feel for ds ..he is certain that he has blown it but we have done our best to reassure him and pointed out that worrying about it will not change the outcome. We don't have long to wait thank goodness because results are posted on the 14th Feb. I can understand that he is annoyed -he has always done his best but this time he says he had brain freeze at some point!
Thanks again...I will let you know when he gets the result
Tigger

[fairyelephant]

Fingers crossed tigger2!

[tigger2]

Sorry one more question as I can't see the answer on the schools website ...If you are not offered a place does the school have a reserve list for some dc's?
Many thanks
Tigger