Thanks Crazy Crofter, it's reassuring to hear your experience. I am frankly amazed that I haven't really had to incentivise DS yet but we will definitely need to do this in the summer. He did ask if he could have a reward if he scored highly in the test but we said no, we will only reward effort and this would be after the test but before the results. I would be delighted if we could improve speed in maths over the summer.

DS's break will be mid August so he will get back three weeks before the test. I don't think this is ideal but it's the only time me and his dad could get off work together. I think he will benefit from the break though and as he will spend a lot of time reading then I suppose it is still prep in a way!

Are any of you considering Alcester Grammar School?

Hi yes I’m considering Stratford girls and Alcester , I’m just out of catchment but I’ve heard their scores are lower than Birmingham School

Hi Raych One thing that confuses me about Alcester is that its a grammar school, that first picks by catchment and then by ability? So how is it a grammar school. They seem lovely from speaking to them on the phone, but we are way out of catchment, but could move. Did you know they are doing informal visits in early September in the mornings?

When I was looking, I got the impression they prioritise the catchment circle in the first round of offers but they still have a cut off. I think it was around 216 or something. So I think if they didn't have enough applicants from the circle above their cut off they'd offer to the highest scoring non-catchment applicants at that point. After 1 March, the waiting list is just based on score. They definitely go lower than the Birmingham girls grammars - around 212/213 I think.

The catchment circle is pretty large, so it still ends up being a very selective school. We didn't go for it in the end as travel costs once you get outside Birmingham are extortionate. But I've heard good things and I know a girl who's very happy there.

Thanks crazycrofter, my husband isn't even keen on applying for the grammars and this one would mean we would have to move, so I have ticked to share but it would be such a struggle.

Is there a Haybridge open day before Oct? You really need to look round with your daughter and then as soon as you have her results book in for a morning tour of both FW and Alcester if she scores highly enough. They usually have tours the week after the results. Then you/your daughter can decide order of preference based on having seen them all and compared.

No sadly there are no open days for Haybridge before October which I think is mad. We are visiting FW on Tuesday on their open day and Alcester + Camp Hill have the same open day, the 5th of July. I wish we could visit for an informal visit as there are a lot more decisions to make.

Perhaps Haybridge would give you a tour on a school day if you explained the circumstances? It's very difficult to choose between a school you've seen and one you haven't. We found the tours we went on after the results much more useful than the open days because you could sense the atmosphere on a normal day, see the school in action etc.

I agree, I'd rather see the school in action, than some glitzy open evening. None of us do well in crowds. Hope everyone is enjoying the sun today