chestnut grove school, wandsworth
A visual Arts Specialist College
The school admits 150 pupils each year. 30 places are offered to children who show an aptitude for Art and Design and 30 places to children who show aptitude for Modern Foreign Languages.
There are two kinds of places at Chestnut Grove:
Specialist Places
General Places
These are allocated to pupils with an aptitude for either:
Art and Design
Modern Foreign Languages
We are able to allocate up to 30 places for each of these specialisms.
The procedure for applying for one of these places is as follows:
a) Fill in the Chestnut Grove specialist place application form, which is in the ‘Choose a Wandsworth School’ booklet, or available from the school. N.B. You can only apply for Art, or Languages, not both;
b) If your child is in a Wandsworth Primary School, give it in to the primary school, with the normal transfer form, on which you put your 6 choices;
c) If your child is in a school in another borough (e.g. Lambeth) send the specialist application form (only) back to Chestnut Grove itself.
N.B. Don’t forget that you must also put Chestnut Grove on your list of 6 schools, or your application won’t count! You have a better chance of getting a place if you put it First Choice.
d) As soon as we receive your application form for a specialist place, we will write to you, inviting your child to a ‘Specialist Selection Day’ on SATURDAY, 5TH DECEMBER. (See below for details of the day).
e) We then inform the local authority whether your child has, or has not, been successful in gaining a specialist place. If you have not, your child is automatically considered for a general place.
The other places at Chestnut Grove are divided into 5 ability bands, so that we can take a balanced intake.
These bands (A, B, C, D and E) are determined by the Wandsworth Test. It is therefore essential that all students applying to Chestnut Grove take this test.
a) If your child is in a Wandsworth primary school, he or she will take the test in the school;
b) If your child is in another borough’s primary school, you must make sure he or she takes the Wandsworth Test in one of the borough’s Test Centres on Saturday, 28th November. Wandsworth Town Hall will inform you where to take your child on that day.
COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT SPECIALIST PLACES
Q.1. Can we apply for both art and languages?
A.1. No, because both tests are on the same day – Saturday, 5th December.
Q.2. What happens on the Selection Day?
A.2 Art: Pupils do some art work during the morning, and the Art Department assess this for their potential for excellence;
Languages: This is a mixture of oral and written tests.
We make sure that this is not a daunting experience. The Art is a fun morning, and, although the Languages is quite difficult test, we make sure that pupils are made to feel welcome and relaxed. We also make sure they are fed and watered with juice and biscuits!
Q.3. Does it help to speak another language already?
A.3. No. The test is looking for aptitude, not knowledge. The test is not in any language which any pupil is likely to know – deliberately to ensure equal opportunities for all pupils.
Q.4. What happens if my child applies and is unsuccessful?
A.4. Your child is automatically considered for one of the General Places. This is why it is essential that he or she takes the Wandsworth Test – because we need to know which band he or she is in.
Q.5. Why were so few specialist places allocated last year?
A.5 Our specialist places have been complicated by the common application form now being used by all London boroughs. Basically, in Art, for example, we have a huge number of applicants (about 150 last year) but we are only allowed to offer places to the 30 who demonstrate the most aptitude. However, if 10 of those pupils who are offered places have not put us as their first choice, and get their first choice, that specialist place is wasted, because we are not allowed to re-allocate those places to the next 10 children on the art waiting list.
This is why we hope that parents applying for specialist places this year will also be putting us as first choice, so that these places are not wasted.
For General Enquiries about applying for a Wandsworth Secondary School contact Pupil Services on 020 8871 7962.
For Chestnut Grove School admissions contact the Admissions Officer at Chestnut Grove School on 020 8772 2512.