Tiffin Girls Admissions Consultation 2016

[TiffinGirls]

This was received this afternoon...

Dear Parents

I am writing to you as Chair of the Governors’ Admissions Committee of The Tiffin Girls’ School.

From today we are consulting on proposals for the admissions arrangements to The Tiffin Girls’ School for entry into Year 7 in September 2016. This follows a resolution passed recently by the school’s Governing Body. The consultation period runs from today for eight weeks until Tuesday 24 June.

Full details of the consultation proposals can be found in the consultation document: http://www.tiffingirls.kingston.sch.uk/ ... cument.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (click on link) as well as a range of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers. The consultation document is also in the Admissions Section of the school’s website.

I warmly invite you to read the consultation document and respond to the consultation.

Yours sincerely

Fazl-e Hasnain
Chair of the Admissions Committee
The Tiffin Girls’ School

[Peridot]

You beat me to it, TiffinGirls! Thanks for posting. From a brief glance at the document it looks to me like a positive development: expanding PAN to 180, principally to accommodate 30 girls in a new inner catchment area, prioritising FSM children. Correct me if I have missed anything crucial.

[tiffinboys]

Great idea to dismantle ideological opposition to grammar schools. Wish they would complement it with places for other local children as well, along the lines of Nonsuch, Wallington Girls and Sutton Grammar. At least, they are now accepting the principle of minimum score (score achieved by 300th candidate), even if without any acknowledgement.

Hope Tiffin School (boys) would follow the suit.

Also I thought that Admission code require consultation to be from December to February window; with final determined arrangements to be published in April. I could be wrong.

[TiffinGirls]

Not sure if I should comment as DD is leaving in a couple of weeks...

BUT - seems to me the main barrier to disadvantaged girls is the test. Even getting to the last 300 means using practice papers - how can FSM parents afford that let alone tutoring. There are so few FSM girls at the school at the moment and the personal experience of my daughter suggests that girls look down on the disadvantaged and those in social housing. I think in general FSM girls must feel awful, I have spent thousands on school trips at TGS over the years, the uniform and equipment are not cheap either, all trips carry some sort of charge, a "donation" is required for art stuff brought home; I hope this is a real commitment to admitting large numbers of FSM girls and I hope the school makes funds available to ensure they can participate fully in the life of the school.

Also considering the school is already struggling with the extra girls (no quiet study area for Sixth Form etc) how are they going to cope with another 30 in a year group. Let alone the 65 bus problems etc.

Incidentally, I welcome plans to make the school prioritise locals. I would prefer it to become a bog standard local grammar school rather than the ivory tower it is now. The Sixth Form girls have recently written to Mrs Ward and the SLT saying that the pressure they are under is intolerable. Examples of girls crying in the corridors, eating disorders being rife and girls crying on GCSE results day because they had one A instead of the full set of A* were cited.

I think the school are desperately trying to improve pastoral care but there seems to be a contradiction between the intolerably high expectations of the school and reducing stress for the girls.

[tiffinboys]

@TG
I quite understand your point about fsm children; but in selective school, no child would be admitted without selective test. Only the barrier could be reduced to say 400th score, rather than 300th. Whatever the minimum score is fixed, some would find it difficult to achieve and would ask to lower it further.

In the proposals, other than for fsm children, there are no proposals to give priority to local children. Hope TGS would look at their proposals again. Atleast TGS seems to be leading TS in this regard.

[TiffinGirls]

My reading of it is that if there are not enough FSM in the 30, then locals are next in line.

It gives first priority to those applicants from the Pool who both live locally and are disadvantaged.

 If fewer than 30 applicants fall into this category then places would next be offered to applicants in the Pool
who live locally, up to a total of 30, including the first category.

 If fewer than 30 applicants fall into both these categories then places would be offered next to applicants in
the Pool who both live in the Designated Area and are disadvantaged up to a total of 30, including the first
two categories

[tiffinboys]

You may well be right, TG. I had a very quick read. I will now read it again. Hope you are right. If so, TGS seems to be quite shrewd. After all, Mrs. Ward is a Solicitor first, then a teacher.

ed: TG your interpretation is right.

[Peridot]

TB - I guess our best course of action, whatever our opinion about the proposal, is to comment on it. I was shocked at the low numbers of people commenting on the most recent Tiffin School admissions document. I bet the school was surprised too.

TG - Looking at things from the other end of the school, with a DD in Year 7, it seems to me (or, at least, I hope) that the school is trying to address some of the problems you mention, particularly that of pastoral care. And certainly my DD's form seems quite mixed socially/demographically and I would really hope that none of them would look down their noses at a FSM girl. Not much experience of girls in other forms. My DD is very happy and fulfilled at school, working hard but not feeling too pushed at the moment, and doing loads of extra-curricular stuff especially music and drama. I do hope her experience will continue to be this positive.

sorry cross-posted but too much effort to re-word... long day... Px

[loopylou]

tiffin is right.

Priority for the 30 places will go:
1. FSM+local
2. local
3. FSM and in the wider designated area.

Then 150 places get allocated to everyone else in rank order who live anywhere in the designated area

[tiffinboys]

I guess our best course of action, whatever our opinion about the proposal, is to comment on it. I was shocked at the low numbers of people commenting on the most recent Tiffin School admissions document. I bet the school was surprised too.

Absolutely.

And certainly my DD's form seems quite mixed socially/demographically and I would really hope that none of them would look down their noses at a FSM girl. Not much experience of girls in other forms. My DD is very happy and fulfilled at school, working hard but not feeling too pushed at the moment, and doing loads of extra-curricular stuff especially music and drama. I do hope her experience will continue to be this positive.

Speaking to TGS parents and girls from our local primary, I echo what Peridot has written. Hardly any super riches there in Tiffins - they go else where. Most are working class or professionals of medium income and mix very well with each other. Same is our experience at TS.