Tiffin Boys' - What's the school like?!

[panicattack]

There's a lot of stuff on the forum about catchments, prepping etc. to get into Tiffin Boys but not so much on what the school's actually like.

It would be great to hear from parents at the school and maybe any pupils themselves.
What's the atmosphere like? How much homework? How do they help pupils settle in? What's the extra-curricular like? How's the sport (any plans for a football team)? What about the creative side of the school (dance, choir etc)? Are parents kept up to date with progress? School trips? Does it differ in any ways from other grammars? Strengths and weaknesses?

All info gratefully received. Other similar threads on the Surrey grammars would no doubt be useful.

[sidsid]

I find it very interesting that there have been no replies to this post. It seems to me that the threads in this region always get a huge amount of interest when they deal with catchment, statistics, the rights and wrongs of admission criteria. But this seems such an important question as it deals with how kids might actually feel if they managed to get into the school, and what sort of opportunities they may have both inside and outside the classroom. I am beginning to think that the posters on this site don't seem that bothered about this as long as their offspring gain the coveted place.

[tiffinboys]

We all think that Tiffin is fantastic school, once DC get in. But not a single parent has come forward to confirm or re-enforce this thinking.

I was hoping that some useful information will be posted by the current parents. Still interested in information about pastoral support, academic support for the second & lower tiers of students, study/home work pressure, allowing or refusing subject choices at GCSE / A level, any cull post GCSE, clubs and extra-curricular activities etc.

[twelveminus]

TBH most parents would get an offer in March, and wouldn't have an opinion on the school for at least another year after that, by which time they are probably not interested in 11+ exams any more....

As for those looking to gain a place, what are they supposed to say 'It's fantastic, my son really enjoyed the 11+ exam, best school ever'?

[copella]

I struggle to agree with you twelveminus. There are plenty of examples on this forum of parents (such as me) whose children have taken the 11 plus, been successful and continued to contribute, giving advice and information. Why do you think tiffin parents are different?

[tiffinboys]

TBH most parents would get an offer in March, and wouldn't have an opinion on the school for at least another year....

New parents would be less than 1/7th of the current parents of children in Tiffin.
Panicattack question is to the current parents.

[la boume]

DD is at TGS, so can't say about boys school, but couple of people I talked to said exactly the same twelve minus was suggesting...everything is fine, great school, very happy etc. I think if someone got a problem, they will make appointment with the tutor/ head of the year and will not discuss it on the public forum.
If you ask me some of the questions from above, I will struggle to answer. For example, how the school helps the students to settle in? Have no idea...They've done some group activities back in September, may be that was it? Somehow my DD is settled... It took her several weeks to organise herself, as it was a big leap from primary school in case of the homework. Now she understands she can't pile it all for one day and should spread it evenly for about 1 hour a day, which is a recommended time for the homework anyway.

[sidsid]

My worry is that these schools are increasing being filled with children who seem to do nothing except academic work. I know work and results are important but there should be a more balanced approach so that tests and exam percentages do not get to be the only reason a child is there. Children should grow and develop socially as well as academically. My child's school is getting more and more this way, and the number of pupils doing nothing other than timetabled work at school is getting more and more, with less taking part in activities. I was interested to note the lack of replies about Tiffins and wondered if the same was true here.

[nat47]

As far as Tiffin is concerned, if boys are doing only academic work this might be to do with their parents' priorities - it certainly hasn't come from the school. Tiffin Boys offers enormous extra-curricular opportunities and really actively encourages the boys to get involved, often through the House System. But I have just posted my concerns / questions about how all this might be affected by the government's new Ebacc which will replace GCSEs, and the new A level league tables based on AAB in "facilitating subjects".

[sidsid]

I think that is what I'm getting at really, I wonder whether more and more parents are now just interested in the academic. Every school seems to offer a wide range of extra curricular activities but I think what I am saying is that they are not really being used by a growing number of children, and this I imagine must be affected by the attitude of the parents. Certainly at my child's school some parents feel getting 98% in a test is failure and it is not unknown for those children to bow out of clubs in order to devote more time to their studies. It just seems parental aspirations gone crazy to me.