Good luck - 11 transfer Northern Ireland

snowJo

Ex-Spendaholic wrote: »

Well done to all the kids. :T:T My son did it last year so I know what you have all being going through. Luckily he got his and our first choice grammar and I can't begin to tell you the relief of getting that letter. Its as nervewracking as the results letter.

Facingthefuture its difficult to explain in writing, easier via a conversation. I'll do my best.

Child 1 Scores 90 Applies to Wellington College as his first choice.

Wellington gets the pile of forms for all the kids who have put it as first choice.

Wellington then take the highest scores from the bunch of forms they have received up to their capacity numbers. In this round child A is in.

Child 2 Scores 92 Applies to Grosvenor as his first choice

Grosvenor do the same exercise as above but child 2 doesn't get in as there were too many applications with higher scores. Child 2's form then goes on to his 2nd choice school which just happened to be Wellington. He gets a place in this round and Child 1 is knocked out of the running so his form moves on to his 2nd choice school which is Inst.

Virtually all of the schools are accepting kids on strict rank order. It makes no difference where you live or if you have 20 brothers at the school. There are a few exceptions though who have a pool system in operation for a proportion of their entrants based on siblings at school etc. Sullivan Upper and Methody spring to mind.

My advice to you all is put down each and every school you would consider. Do not let anyone tell you different. If you want a particular school for your child but aren't sure if the score is high enough put it down as your first choice anyway. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. List every grammar school that is feasible for your child to travel to.

Thanks for posting this. Such a pity AQE and schools don't supply us with this type of information that we really want to know.

Rach39

Just spoke to Principal's secretary at Rathmore and she confirmed that they use grade only and if oversubscribed within a grade will go straight to other criteria - won't look at score within a grade band. Not good news for us!! She did say, however that just because they were oversubscribed last year that was no indication on this year.

snowJo

Doggies wrote: »

Hi Snojo, we are in the same boat with 95, but trying not to dent her confidence, so we are upbeat and hoping. If she doesn't get the school she wants, we'll cross that bridge in June.

Facingthefuture, I have read up on the admissions criteria for Friends, Wallace etc and they state that the order of your choice will not have any effect on getting a place.

I am going to see the Principal at 10.15 in the morning, first appointment, so I'm nervous! As we will be first he may not have sussed out all the scores yet as there are 2 P7 classes. So may come out none the wiser. Although he'll know about last years scores etc, it may or may not be the same this year. Its so hard to know and hard not to go by last years scores.

Also my daughter had a bad urinary tract infection throughout the 3 AQE exams. First sample was lost by our doctors and it took 2 antibiotics to clear it up. On her first test she asked to use the loo before it started and when she returned the rest had started their test. Second test she was freezing and had to wear her coat, and the electric went off. So going to ask the head is there any point of getting a note from the doc. Not sure it will make a difference, but she was genuinely not herself throughout the tests and was only confirmed well at the start of Jan.

OOh bedtime I think. My mind is working overtime. Night all

At least you'll have some idea what's going on after your interview today. We haven't been told anything about interviews in my son's school. Not even a note to say anything is taking place in the near future. I have sent my son to school today to ask his teacher what is happening as half-term is looming too.

We are in the middle of the Belfast High/Ballclare High/BRA triangle of schools, so it's all much the same for travelling. Now comes the waiting game for the next letter at the end of May!!

Doggies

Hi Snojo, Interview all over. Was pretty straightforward. Principal filled in the form for me and I signed. We put the top Lisburn grammars first, then Hunter House 3rd. She prob won't get into Wallace or Friends, but it makes absolutely no difference where your choice of school is. It means if she gets Hunter House she'll get the bus pass. We are also applying for special circumstances as her standardised class scores were 109 for English and 106 for Maths. She got 95 and was expected to do a bit better. We will maybe be ok for Hunter House. Don't want her struggling in Wallace or Friends.

You should ring up the school and ask for an appointment or at the very least what their plans are. You see the witch Ruane wanted all interviews completed before last Friday, but our school has went against her again. Forms have to be completed and sent by 18th as far as I know.

Principal didn't give any secret information or anything I didn't know already, but its a relief that the form is complete. Just waiting on doctors letter now to accompany the special circumstances form.

steveymp

Thanks for the kind words on here, this forum is a great place :T:T

Just back from meeting with headmaster, both himself and his teacher where equally surprised at my sons score as we where:o

DS had heart set on certain Grammar school and it broke his heart when I explained it was pointless trying to get there now with his score. Headmaster and Teacher talked us around today and 1st pref school is now the Grammar:eek:

Last year the Grammar took in lower scores than DS attained, so fingers crossed and now we have another lovely wait until the last weekend in May :eek::eek::eek:

Well done to everyone's DS and DD for going through this process, it hasn't been easy:o

Oh and a final big thanks to the idiots on the hill for scraping the 11+ in the first place. Nothing like placing an 11 year old in unfamiliar surroundings for 3 Saturday mornings :mad:

facingthefuture

Steveymp good for you, it is certainly worth a go. Let us know at the end May how he gets on. You are so right about unfamiliar surroundings, it is crazy - the idiots on the hill are enjoying their fat salaries and pensions, no regard for our children.

butterflymum

Great to hear that you have a Headmaster who has given sensible advice.......nothing ventured, nothing gained. Shame you will have the uncertainties until end of May, but at least there is always the chance there will be a shining light at the end of the tunnel for your son after all.

Good also to hear that like yours and ours, many other schools seem likewise to have let common sense prevail and are holding the interviews this week.

mypie

It really is awful for the kids - I remember sitting my 11+ and even tho I was in my fimilar class room, surrounded by faces I knew and in an enviroment that wasn't alien my nerves were shot. I admire all the children who have sat the test and gave it there best shot.

snowJo

Doggies wrote: »

Hi Snojo, Interview all over. Was pretty straightforward. Principal filled in the form for me and I signed. We put the top Lisburn grammars first, then Hunter House 3rd. She prob won't get into Wallace or Friends, but it makes absolutely no difference where your choice of school is. It means if she gets Hunter House she'll get the bus pass. We are also applying for special circumstances as her standardised class scores were 109 for English and 106 for Maths. She got 95 and was expected to do a bit better. We will maybe be ok for Hunter House. Don't want her struggling in Wallace or Friends.

You should ring up the school and ask for an appointment or at the very least what their plans are. You see the witch Ruane wanted all interviews completed before last Friday, but our school has went against her again. Forms have to be completed and sent by 18th as far as I know.

Principal didn't give any secret information or anything I didn't know already, but its a relief that the form is complete. Just waiting on doctors letter now to accompany the special circumstances form.

I'm waiting for the end of school today to see if my son appears home with any information. Hopefully there'll be an interview this week to discuss the transfer form. I would still like to give my son the chance for a grammar school. He didn't get any tutoring and I only spent about £50 on a few packets of practice papers for him, which he did a couple of times a week from September to November. I think a score of 93 was fair enough and wonder how he would really rank if none of the children sitting the tests were tutored. I know of 2 kids who were tutored for 18 months at a cost of thousands and both scored 108. I wonder what their score would have been without it? I'm not worried about him being on a borderline mark and maybe struggling at grammar, because the kids who were tutored for the test won't be tutored next year and they'll all be back in the same boat. Anyhow, the choice isn't mine to make where he gets into.........roll on May!!

Doggies

Steveymp, our principal said exactly the same, go with your preferred choice. Who knows what way the applications and scoring will go this year. I know my daughter liked all the schools including the secondary, so she will not be do disappointed no matter where she goes. Do you mind me asking what yours got? If you'd rather not say, tell me to mind my own business! I read all of last years posts and its nice to follow who got what and what schools everyone gets in the end of this process!

Good Luck to all. At least the exams are over, and I am actually very happy and proud of my daughter.