Secondary Considerations

[Luce]

Absolutely, Smunder, perfectly handled, it's important for them to know about their boundaries. I'm completely squicked out by children having 'boyfriends' or 'girlfriends'.

[Smunder Woman]

It is weird, although I think it's more "normal" at high school. He seems quite relieved about it all, I'm mostly wishing I could take my own advice about boundaries and looking after myself

[Loralei]

A padded jacket, Luce? https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/product/ki ... padded3112

Gap always do them too.

Thanks for the recommendation, emma. I ended up getting J a similar one - which I cant now see on the site - in a size 13 (I'd usually go for 12-13 anyway) and it fits over his blazer fine. I'd actually decided his cheap but brilliant Decathlon waterproof would do, given he can have a vest, shirt, jumper and blazer for warmth, but he really likes the Uniqlo one, so for £20 he can keep it!

[Smunder Woman]

Joe, who is so dyslexic he can barely read, has somehow gotten into top level maths in school. I generally don't care about these things as long as they're trying their best, but he's so excited. It's actually great to see him so buzzing about school (I won't deny that I'm slightly delighted he's gotten into a higher class than all the wee shits who have been telling him he's thick since P1 )

[Ruby]

Oh that's lovely. Bless his heart.

[Glint]

That's great news, smunder.

[emma_p]

That is brilliant. Well done Joe!

I just submitted G’s secondary application form Usually you’d know the results of the entrance tests to make a more informed decision but this year they were all delayed (he hasn’t even sat the Wandsworth test yet - the borough we are in!) so we’ve just gone with where we’d like him to go and are just hoping for the best.

[Flora Poste]

That's amazing Smunder! Good on him!

I've just done my third sanity check on our application! What did you put top in the end? We heard a couple of days ago that A got a full music scholarship to KD, which doesn't mean an automatic place but a really good chance by September, so we've put that first and then Gr. second and we'll see what happens. We've got a couple of local ones she should get into anyway as back up.

Have you heard anything more about the Wandsworth test going ahead? Lambeth have cancelled theirs this year!!

[emma_p]

Oh well done A!! That’s brilliant.

The Wandsworth test is still going ahead in December.

I put the Kingston boys school first - we should find out if he gets to the next round on Nov 9th. The school we’ve put 2nd we are very local (5 mins walk) and in every other year we can find stats for G would have got in. Gr is 3rd but I don’t think we stand much of a chance. They only offer 70 places to those who do best in the Wandsworth test and those are offered on distance basis too.

[Flora Poste]

Yes, I don't think we have much of a chance for Gr, but A really liked it and wants to give it a go.

[emma_p]

My preference was for Gr 2nd too but we gave G the choice and he went with the local school. It’s also rated outstanding and gets very similar results.

I think this year the applications and admissions will be very different to previous years - loads of people have moved out of London, people are opting to go private to minimise disruptions etc so it is definitely worth applying!

[emma_p]

G got through to the second stage of testing for the Kingston school - it is in 2 weeks I’m pleased for him though, he really wanted to get to the next stage but found it so hard.

[Flora Poste]

Well done G, that's great news! Is that an interview stage or more tests?

[emma_p]

It's final set of tests in maths and english. The first set were mainly multiple choice so it's apparently longer written answers for maths and english plus some creative writing. But no one really knows because they never publish past papers.

The email from the school said: "You will probably have completed your local authority application form (before the 31st October deadline) and may have named xx as one of your choices. If following the news that George has been invited to the Stage Two Tests you wish to add xx to your application form or change the position of xx in you preferences you can still do this. If your preferred school is xx, then you must place it first on the Application Form.

All local authorities that are participating in the Pan London coordination have agreed to allow parents to change their choice of schools until 10th December. Please contact your home local authority directly to do this.

I'd asked Wandsworth about this but they didn't reply to my emails or answer my calls. I did end up putting the school as first choice but it would have been good to know beforehand

[Elya]

secondary! it's too much - doesn't seem long since J and G were tiny N1 babies together.

I've just done J's application - we feed into the local highly rated comp, so pretty straightforward but still very odd having a child old enough for this!

[Loralei]

If your preferred school is xx, then you must place it first on the Application Form.

This makes me really angry. The position you put a school shouldn't affect your chances of getting in (other than the likelihood of being offered a higher-priced choice, obviously). Schools shouldn't even know where they placed in your choices. I wonder if there is prestige in being able to say x families placed them as first choice

[Texaco Shirley]

Isn’t it just for the LA to allocate the place?

[Flora Poste]

I'd asked Wandsworth about this but they didn't reply to my emails or answer my calls. I did end up putting the school as first choice but it would have been good to know beforehand

I only know about this because Lambeth did a secondary transfer Webinar and they mentioned it then. I haven't seen in mentioned anywhere else. And it is irrelevant for us because the Wandsworth test results won't be out until mid-January apparently, so I couldn't change our choices even if she does do well enough for Gr.

[smalex]

Good for George! I have to say I'm so relieved we don't have anything like this round here, it sounds very complicated (and stressful)!

[Luce]

God, me too. Are there no good state schools in your area to simplify things? Or is this just a preference thing? God knows the whole thing was complicated enough!