New to Lincs and 11+

[Vel810]

Hi,
We are thinking of moving to Lincolnshire due to work. As a positive add on, we found that there a lot of good grammar schools around. So at present I am trying to get as much info as possible for my son to get into a grammar school.
He is at present in yr 5 and will be preparing for the 2015 intake. Am I right in thinking that the exams will be in Sept 2014?
Also whats the best way to arrange some special tutoring for him to prepare for the exams? will I get info at my local primary school? Although we havent confirmed things yet, we are planning/hoping to be living in the saxilby area which also means that we should be in the catchment for the Gainsborough school?
Sorry to ask some really basic questions but we are totally new to this as we are going through this for our first son.

Thanks in anticipation.

Vel810

[Alex]

Hello and Welcome!

Yes, you are right that the tests for 2015 entry will be taken in September 2014. I am not in touch with what is available in terms of tutoring in the area but others may be able to point you in the right direction. If you have a little bit of time and the inclination it is perfectly possible to prepare your child at home. There is plenty of information on this site to help you throughif you decide to do this. Schools are very variable in what they know and how much they involve themselves in the 11+. As Saxilby is not in the official "selective area" of the county it may be possible that the schools near there are not particularly interested in the process. Lincolnshire schools do not have catchment areas. The admissions policy for Gainsborough gives priority (after Children in or ex-in Care) to siblings and ultimately comes down to driving distance from the school. Score is not an issue so long as the standardised score of 220 is reached.

There is a sticky at the top of this Lincolnshire section which gives the statistics for entry to QEHS over the last few years. Saxilby itself is not a "safe" area for getting into QEHS. In fact the distance has several times gone out to a figure which allows some of the village in and others not. If you want to be sure of a place, try moving just a little bit closer to Gainsborough.

[Stocky]

Just to reiterate what Alex has said, QEHSG cut off has been around 12.6 miles for the last 2 years, ruling out Saxilby, even before that it has been close and not safe at times, there are some lovely villages between Saxilby and Gainsborough, so I would move a few miles nearer to be safe. Whilst not in Saxilby our local primary is in a village 12.8 miles from QEHSG and watching DC's miss out by metres is not nice, head that bit closer. I have friends who live nearer Lincoln who have comfortably got into Grantham (not necessarily Kings which does admit on score) or Sleaford. the allocations maps on Lincs CC website are brilliant for places offered and if you email them, they will send you maps of where the children who weren't offered places were located. Good luck!

[Vel810]

Thanks a lot to Alex and Stocky. Useful information and very much appreciated.
As I said, we have not decided the place to live yet. So we are very happy and grateful to consider the advice given. On the same front, just because we are so flexible still, is it worth choosing the grammar school we want to send our son to? i.e, are the schools in any way ranked? Looked at the telegraph and guardian league tables for last year, and Gainsborough came out 'kinda' second to Caistor (please feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Hence we based our decision to live nearer to Gainsborough (obviously now realised that it has to be closer than Saxilby). As we are moving to work at Lincoln County Hospital, we are somewhat restricted to where we can live. 10 miles or 30 minutes is the recommendation. Any advice on Horncastle grammar?

Really appreciate this forum and the advice given, to not only my doubts, but to the others as well. Learning lots by just reading them. Brilliant work.
Thanks very much

Vel 810

[hermanmunster]

Having worked for a while in Lincoln, I reckon you can get quite a long way in the standard 30 mins the NHS state - probably rather more than 10 miles. ..

HOWEVER, travelling back and forth, particularly if on call (which I guess you must be if you are on the 10miles / 30 mins thng) is mind numblingly boring and the roads can be quite dangerous, so best to be as near as possible.

Best to have a look at the maps that Stocky recommended - don't worry too much about league tables - not worth living in a totally non ideal place if you can live in a more convenient place for work and still get to one of the other GS around.

[Stocky]

You're welcome Vel810, I'd be insane if it hadn't been for this forum. As HM says, I seriously wouldn't worry about league tables, once you are at this level the differentiation becomes small. Its just fantastic to be working in a county which has this opportunity for your DC. Given your work commitment, I would work from that. Get the allocations maps and look at your options on where to move to which would suit your work etc. The Sleaford grammars are fantastically accessible by train from Lincoln, given you have said 'he' Kings at Grantham admit on score and have no catchment. There's transport from Lincoln to Horncastle, seriously Lincoln opens lots of options. Failing that, you can definitely achieve 10 mile from Lincoln and be comfortable for QEHSG if you move nearer, the 30 minute criteria is a different one!

[Vel810]

Thanks to Stock and HM. will certainly use the info to help me make a decision.

Kind regards,

Vel810

[wonderwoman]

You could live very close to Lincoln and have a choice of grammar schools and various other high performing comprehensives.
Gainsborough is the one you possibly have to be closest to, if you really want to go there. Many other schools, including the grammars have struggled to fill their places recently due to a fall in birth rate.

Hermanmunster is correct - the roads in Lincolnshire are not the best. It's very rural and there are many deaths each year.

I've sent you a pm.