Initial Assessment

[matthews301]

i keep thinking what if he doesnt ... ooo he will be so dissapointed . . my son said the same .. but i dont think its just exam ch throughly pick the children there capability to thrieve given the chance xxx good luck every one and to all the children well done xxx also i think secondary school is tough no matter what but i feel when you are gifted ( its not cool is it) thats the problem i have my son gets frustrated he just wants to be challenged more and have some one to share his passions with ( maths ) ... all it takes to be at any school is the support of your family and love. if my son doesnt get in im sure he will be in the ( low number) of 42% that achieve a gcse at his state school never give up or be put off ive tried ch as my only boarding but 3 selective schools xx

[lippizaner]

Hi, can someone post on here when they hear? I am going to be behind everyone else anyway, as I am in France (postal system worse than the UK) plus we have a bank holiday on Friday the 11th for Remembrance day, so no post that day anyway. Hence feeling more nervous than ever, and not sure whether to hover round the post box or not each morning. Plus, forgot to say our post doesn't even arrive till nearly mid-day.

[Vonny]

Plus, forgot to say our post doesn't even arrive till nearly mid-day.

That's good - ours doesn't appear until mid afternoon

[jaknat2828]

Hi there, I have been following your posts from France with interest and am also awaiting the post with baited breath. I felt quite sick this morning. Anyway the postman came and went and nothing from CH. You know what they say no news is good news! Not over confident though, I have twin DS so double the effort/trouble required!!!!
We can live in hope though.
Good luck & fingers crossed to all those waiting by the letterbox this week.

[Natasha2978]

Still nothing to report.....other than that I had a nervier than usual driving lesson because I kept wondering what might be on the door mat when I got home!! I hate waiting

[matthews301]

nothing either
was trying to remember my letters.. when i got in there was a big envolope for all the forms you have to fill out although this was after all the tests ...
my ds soesnt want me to open it ( he wants to do it together) am wondering if it comes whilst at school if i had xray vision to look through and read and what type of envoplpe a thicker one with all jans details or a single letter???..
as you can see i think this is driving me nuts?? xx

[HowardH]

I have just come from the Admissions Office and all of the letters are bundled to be posted this evening.
I hope this will help to soothe a few jangling nerves!

[Natasha2978]

Thanks Howard! Okay so now I can forget about it for tomorrow and then watch out for the postman on Friday!

[MW224]

Oooh I do remember this from last year, I m pretty sure it was just a 'thin' letter and more info followed later. Wishing you all lots of best wishes! That horrid sick feeling when you see the letter!!!

[matthews301]

eeeekkkk friday it must be then .. i was hoping today
another 24 hours im sure i can hold it together xx

[matthews301]

letter here .. bad news for us gutted considering his a 5 a .. congrates to all those who made and and best of luck in the future xxx

[lippizaner]

Oh no, poor you. But didn't it get there fast. No chance of anything getting to us before Saturday then, and knowing french post, more likely Monday. ANd a 5 you said. That bodes ill for the rest of us. Although there HAVE to be some that get through! I wonder if everyone who goes into the first test is all 5A or so, and they just pick the absolutely brilliant?
Or are there deluded parents amongst us who think little Bob or Betty is more intelligent than they are really? Oh god, is that me? I was rather crossing my fingers that loads of kids would just not be quite up to it, although saying that it makes me realise how mean and selfish that sounds. We all think our own child the most deserving, don't we?
Has the school got harder to get into? Not that I think my DS will get in, what with being non uk resident etc. Oh well. I'll cross my fingers for the rest of you instead.
When we went to the open day last year (2010) the Maths master told me kids needed to be a Level 6, so maybe he was right. I did post on here about it, rather worriedly, and people seemed to think that was a bit high. Maybe it used to be, but maybe not now. Gnawing of fingernails.
Part of me desperately wants him to get in, but the other part (especially when he had his birthday just the other week and I thought this might be the LAST birthday he spends with me for years and years) wants to keep him at home. Not sure which part of me is biggest.
Whatever will be, will be, I suppose.

[matthews301]

he was a level 5a ( birthday in july) in mock exams so i just thought that would be good enough.
but having ralised after going to CH myself its not about levels its about attitude mixing how youtackle things social situations ..
my son through bordem in school has erractic behaviour and i far this would be a factor that was just a flight risk.. i feel now a bit stupid for thinking that he could be a ch pupil an silly for deluding myself ..
I also fel that seing this in black and white may aldo make my ds see that levels mean nothing in life you cant follow rules get along socially with othrs and generally respect everyone on a whole..
dissapointed isnt the word

[lippizaner]

Do you think that they got the chance to observe the kids enough socially in 2 hours? It would be a bit mean to exclude a child on two hours of meeting them, as they could be behaving very badly or very well! Or out of character under stress. Maybe your DS was stressed and didn't perform to his potential for some reason, if, as you say, he gets bored easily etc and can be naughty. Mine can too. More nail biting. Mind you, mine also did an exam for another school while we were over, with a group of boys from a posh prep school with a master not their parents and he said the prep school boys were unruly and naughty and he sat quietly! Fingers crossed!

[pinkhebe]

I really feel for you all, I remember exactly how you all felt. It was a thin letter that arrived, I nearly didn't notice it

If I remember rightly, before these initial tests you do also have to send off all the personal information about your lives, and I wonder if that is also taken into account? We know that it's not just the most intellegent children who get through, as, last year, another posters boy was working at about level 8 in maths, and after the residential assessment he didn't get in.

sorry your son didn't get through to the next round, although I always felt, that if our son wasn't going to get in, I'd rather he was knocked out now whilst there is still time to plan an alternative.