“Bing” is the sound of the email you’ve been eagerly awaiting. The email from the school regarding your child.
Will it be an acceptance or a rejection?
For you, this marks the culmination of a year or more of dedicated efforts with your child. You’ve done everything possible towards the ultimate goal of securing a spot at their preferred school.
The joy that follows the opening of the email confirming their acceptance is undoubtedly immense.
But what if you find out that your child has not been accepted?
If your initial reaction is one of “failure,” I urge you to reconsider.
The statistics are quite striking. Most sought-after private schools are significantly oversubscribed. It’s not uncommon to have as many as 10 times the number of applicants compared to available spots, especially at the 7+ and 11+ stages. Viewing rejection as a mark of failure would mean considering thousands of children (and their parents) as “failures” each year.
However, this is not the right perspective to adopt at all. Each school has a limited number of spots available, and the competition is fierce. Often, many children perform well on assessments and demonstrate promise and aptitude, but the available spots cannot accommodate all of them. The factors that lead to a school choosing or rejecting an applicant can be subtle and difficult to identify.
So, how should you feel if your child is not accepted by the schools you prepared them for? It’s natural to feel disappointed. But then, it’s time to move forward and celebrate their (and your!) achievements.
Guiding your child through the process of preparing for an exam is an accomplishment worth recognizing. The skills and knowledge they acquired from you during that process are valuable and will undoubtedly contribute to their ongoing success.
When those emails land in your inbox, open them with a sense of anticipation, but also with the understanding that, regardless of the results, you have succeeded in supporting your child.
Education Pathfinder 