Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

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posy
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:42 pm

Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by posy »

Hi

I have read through some threads, and have spoken to admissions at Pates ( who were very helpful) but I am struggling to understand the whole process...elder DD at private school, and would have never been suitable for GS, younger one in yr 5 and we think bright enough to try for place.
How does the allocations work ? what is PAN ?? and well...help...it seems quite complex.
We are off to visit Pates and Denmark Road, others probably to far to travel..we are in Ross on Wye.
After we have seen schools , I understand we have to register and then exam is in september. What i dont understand ( along with all the three letter abbreviations ) is how it works...if we like Pates but DD doesnt do well enough on exam how do you get a place say at Denmark Rd .
I realise I am probably being a bit thick about it all , but getting quite anxious as feel we are very behind on making decisions and havent even thought about the exam ...
words of wisdom please...
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by hermanmunster »

Hi Posy

There is a really good thread with info about Gloucestershire and the process here: http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 16&t=34169" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

have a read of that and if you have any questions then am sure we can find the answers!?
steppemum
Posts: 480
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:27 am

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by steppemum »

To answer your specific questions, a PAN is the number of children the school takes in a year. So the PAN for Stroud High is 120, in Sept 2016 it will be 150. So they take 150 children in to year 7. In reality, a few extra children will get in on appeal and so the year 7 group may end up being 154 for example.

When you register and take the exam, you take one exam which is then used by all the schools. BUT it can only be used for the schools you list at the point of registration. So if you tick all the boxes for all the girls/co-ed schools, then you will get results from all those schools.
The result is not one figure. Each school give a 'mark' based on the group of children who have applied to them. So the pass mark is different for each school and you may get a place at one but not be eligible for another.

You must choose the schools at the point of registration, if you choose eg Pates and don't get in, you can't then look at Denmark Road unless you ticked the box for Denmark Road on your original form.

It is a good idea to do some familiarisation for the exam, as it is quite fast - you have to get through a lot of questions.
Your deadlines are the registration date and the exam date.

After the exam you have 3 (ish) weeks until results and then a few days/week to fill in your application form for secondary schools. You will have a good idea from the results where you stand.

Hope that helps
Stressed?Moi?
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Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:28 am

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by Stressed?Moi? »

Just as an aside:

PAN is the number of places available for a school year.

You can apply in the summer for the grammar school place; it was in July if I remember correctly (not sure how it will work out-of-county - best to speak to Gloucestershire Education Department) and choose at which grammar school the child would like to sit the test

They sit the exam in September

At the end of October, you will be told their ranking for each school.

Shortly thereafter you will submit your school preference in order to the Education Department (first choice down to fifth in this county). If your child has a high rank for a particular grammar school and you want them to go to that school, you put that one first and so on down the preference list.

If your child isn't of a high enough ranking to qualify for that grammar school, they will automatically drop to their second choice, then third and so on. If for example your child is ranked 140 for HSFG and you put that as first choice but that rank isn't "good enough" then they will be considered for their next one, ie, Ribston where their rank may well be "good enough" and she would then be given her second choice, and so on. If the rank isn't "good enough" for that school, she will automatically drop to her third choice and so on. None of the schools know what rank the child has put them, so if she dropped to her second choice, that school won't know that they were "put second".

This is all done over the winter and you will receive your allocation in March.

Just a few things to think about are, would your daughter be happy at an all-girls school and if not, perhaps consider only co-ed ie, Pates, indie or local comp. Travel distance. Ross is a bit of a trek to either of the schools. After school clubs, bus fares/petrol costs can mount up, the dreaded your child is sick can you pick them up call, distances for sleepovers/social events with schoolmates are all things it's worth thinking about. Sorry if this sounds patronising and I'm sure you have weighed it all up anyway, but just thought I'd "put it out there".




Bit Janet and John and clumsily phrased, but it's just a giste.

Edit - crossed with steppemum who has explained things far more succinctly!!
posy
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:42 pm

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by posy »

both of you ...huge thank you....not patronising at all ..you'd never beleive i am actually a pretty intelligent human being really...but we have had both girls in independent sector from kindergarten and dont know anyone who has been through GS process.

All your points are very valid ...DD already does very very long day at school and in fact currently weekly boards as has more fun then treking home on bus ! Losing the boarding is biggest drawback/concern as it is very helpful as I work away half the week and husband is a bit fickle with picking up after school activities etc.

But big plus is GS place would mean I could work less and ergo be at home a bit more for her anyway.

So I am right in thinking now ( thanks to the idiots guide you both provided brilliantly) we could put down pates first and denmark second and denmark cannot not give us a place if she scored high enough for them but not high enough for pates ....phew !

thanks again, and well done to your children and you if you have already been thru this and survived

Posy
steppemum
Posts: 480
Joined: Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:27 am

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by steppemum »

posy, initially you don't have to choose which is first and second, just make sure you have registered for both.
Once you have the results, then you will know better what to put on to the application form, which comes right at the end of the process.
Weaver
Posts: 107
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 8:40 pm

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by Weaver »

My DD is at HSFG and knows a few girls who get the school bus in from the Ross area, though it is apparently often late!

As others have said, you need to make sure you register your DD to take the test (June, I think), and I'd suggest you tick the boxes to share the results of the test with all the girls' grammars + Pates (except maybe Stroud High, if there's no way she could travel that far every day). Of course you will be visiting lots of schools to see which feels like the best fit for your DD, comp and grammar.

Then in September is test day. A few weeks later you will get your DD's ranking for each grammar school you have opted to share with. The ranking will be different for each school. Then, armed with this info, you must complete the Glos Country Council school application form, putting the school you most want first. If she is within PAN for that school, her place is assured. If she is not, it will depend how far down the list they need to go.

It is entirely possible for the top 120 ranking places in each of the girls' grammar schools to be taken the same girls - but as they can only go to one school, in practice the schools will need to go much lower down the ranking. There is a helpful thread somewhere which talks about how far down the ranking each school has needed to go for each of the past 4 years.

Then you wait until early March for the formal allocation letter.

Hope that helps. Good luck!
DebsB
Posts: 144
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2013 7:25 pm
Location: Cheltenham

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by DebsB »

steppemum wrote:posy, initially you don't have to choose which is first and second, just make sure you have registered for both.
Once you have the results, then you will know better what to put on to the application form, which comes right at the end of the process.
Absolutely. You won't need an order of preference until you put in your CAF (common application form) to your local authority at the end of October. For now, all you need to do is start preparing her for the exam (English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning). In the summer, you'll need to register for the test. Registration will open on Monday 1 June 2015 and close at noon on Friday 3 July 2015 - put these dates in your calendar now! I nearly missed registering last summer and would have been gutted if DD hadn't got a place just because I hadn't been organised!

You register to sit the test at whichever school you like, and then you can choose to "share" your results with some or all of the other GS. This means that your DD's score will be passed to these other schools, and she'll be considered for those schools equally alongside everyone who sat the test there and everyone else who "shared" with them. You have nothing to lose by ticking to "share" results with all 4 possible Gloucestershire grammar schools: Pate's (co-ed) and Denmark Road (on here often typed as HSFG), Ribston & Stroud High (all girls).

Your DD sits the test in September, a month or so later you get the results, which used to be a confusing mixture of scores and rankings but since last autumn have been just rankings for all Glos GS. You get an individual reply from each school, which compares your DD with all the others who sat there or shared with it. You either get told that your DD is "within the top 120" or whatever the PAN for that school is, or that she's not qualified, or that she's qualified but is outside the PAN and so can't be certain of a place and her ranking is X. They also supply information about the previous few years, and how far down the rankings they ended up offering places. This varies a lot between one school and another.

It is only after you get the results that you have to decide an order of preference. Because you are in Ross, you'll need to apply through Herefordshire, regardless of the locations of the schools you want. That means you only get 3 slots on your form, I think. You should fill in your three preferred state secondary schools (whether grammar or otherwise) in your true order of preference. The schools don't know what position you put them in on the form, and even if they did, it would be illegal for them to take that into account in deciding whether to give you a place. Your order of preference just tells the computers which place to give you if you are in the happy position of being eligible for a place at more than one of your preferred schools. You can also apply to indies if you like, but that's nothing to do with the CAF.

Hope that helps.
CKMum
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:39 am

Re: Help...new to whole thing and completely bewildered

Post by CKMum »

Posy

I will DM you.
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