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Are you considering Croxley Danes School for your child? We've collated everything you need to know about Year 7 entry in 2024. Keep reading to learn about the school application process in South West Hertfordshire and how to help your child excel in the 11 plus exam.
About Croxley Danes School
Croxley Danes School is a partially-selective secondary school in South West Hertfordshire for boys and girls aged 11 to 18. It was opened in 2017 to address a shortfall in secondary places and will eventually provide an education to over 1,200 students. The school is a member of the Danes Educational Trust, and while it shares much of the ethos and practice of the other schools in the Trust, it is already developing its own distinctive traditions and character.
Students at Croxley Danes School have access to many new state-of-the-art facilities, including a drama hall, football and rugby pitches, netball courts, an all-weather multi-use games area, and tennis courts. Extracurricular activities are valued as an important part of school life and children are encouraged to get involved to broaden their horizons and develop new personal and social skills.
Address: Croxley Danes School, Baldwins Lane, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire WD3 3LR
Local authority: Hertfordshire County Council
School type: mixed partially-selective school
Headteacher: Stephen Thompson
Number of pupils: 800+
Key info for Year 7 admissions
Admissions contact: [email protected]
Number of places in Year 7: 180 (of which 18 are allocated to children who pass the musical aptitude test)
Open day date: 23rd September 2023
SW Herts registration opens: 11th April 2023
SW Herts registration closes: 16th June 2023
Music assessment date: 4th September 2023 (round 1), 18th–22nd September 2023 (round 2)
Exam type: SWH Consortium
Common application form (CAF) deadline: 31st October 2023
National school offer day: 1st March 2024
Croxley Danes School term dates
The 2023–2024 term dates at Croxley Danes School are:
Autumn term: 5th September – 20th December 2023
Half term: 23rd–27th October 2023
Spring term: 8th January – 27th March 2024
Half term: 19th–23rd February 2024
Summer term: 15th April – 19th July 2024
Half term: 27th–31st May 2024
How to apply to Croxley Danes School
If you would like your child to be considered for a place in Year 7 at Croxley Danes School, you will need to complete the common application form for your local authority.
If you would like your child to be considered for a specialist place based on musical ability, you will need to register them to take the musical aptitude test with the SW Herts Consortium. This group of partially-selective schools all administer the same tests, so if your child is applying for a musical aptitude place for entry to any of the schools in the consortium, they will only need to take the test once.
1. Register for the musical aptitude test
You will need to register your child with the SW Herts Consortium between Tuesday 11th April 2023 and Friday 16th June 2023. You will then be notified of your child's test venue on Friday 7th July 2023.
2. Apply for a school place
You will be notified of your child's scores in the musical aptitude test via your parent portal on the SWH Consortium website on Wednesday 19th October 2023. You can use your child's results to decide whether to apply for a place at Croxley Danes School.
To apply for a school place, you will need to name Croxley Danes School on your common application form. You must complete the form for your home local authority:
Buckinghamshire residents: Buckinghamshire Council
Hertfordshire residents: Hertfordshire County Council
London Borough of Barnet residents: Barnet Council
London Borough of Enfield residents: Enfield Council
London Borough of Harrow residents: Harrow Council
London Borough of Hillingdon residents: Hillingdon Council
Before completing your common application form, make sure to check the school's oversubscription criteria first. In the likely event that more children achieve the qualifying score than there are places available, the school will need to apply oversubscription criteria to prioritise places.
The application form must be submitted to your home local council by 31st October 2023.
What's on the SW Herts musical aptitude test?
All children who have applied for a place under the music criterion at Croxley Danes School will take the first stage test after school on Monday 4th September 2023. The test takes about 45 minutes in total and will assess your child's understanding of pitch, melody, rhythm and texture:
Pitch – 20 questions: pupils listen to two sounds and have to indicate whether the second sound is the same as the first, or whether it is higher or lower. Some of the pitches are less than a semitone apart.
Melody – 10 questions: pupils listen to two tunes consisting of five notes. They have to decide whether the second tune is the same as the first or if one of the notes has been altered. If there is a change, they need to identify which note has been altered, by giving the number of the note.
Texture – 20 questions: pupils listen to a chord and must decide whether each chord has two, three or four notes.
Rhythm – 10 questions: pupils listen to two patterns of notes and have to decide whether the second pattern is the same as, or different from, the first, and where any difference occurs. Each rhythm is four beats in length.
Your child's first stage music test results will be available on Thursday 14th September. Children who are successful in the first stage music test are invited to the second stage which takes place the following week. In the second stage, your child must play or sing a piece of their choice for examiners. Marks are awarded for accuracy, musicality and musical communication, from a total score out of 45.
What is the pass mark for the SW Herts music test?
There is no specific pass mark for the music test. Examiners attending the second round test will award marks out of a total of 45 based on the following areas:
Accuracy: maximum 15 marks
Musicality: maximum 15 marks
Musical communication: maximum 15 marks
Scores are not age-standardised. Children's marks in the second stage will be ranked from highest to lowest, with children achieving the highest marks most likely to be offered a place at the school. In the last four years, the lowest scores to be offered places were 17 (2022), 18 (2021), 18 (2020) and 22 (2019).
Croxley Danes School admissions criteria
Croxley Danes School has a planned admission number (PAN) of 180. Children who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which names the school will be prioritised for a place and the number of remaining places will be reduced accordingly. Places will then be allocated to children in the following order:
Looked after and previously looked after children
Children with a sibling at the school
Children of permanent staff
Up to 10% of places (18) are for students who pass the SW Herts musical aptitude test
Children who live closest to the school, determined by a straight line distance
How can I help my child prepare for Croxley Danes School?
Croxley Danes School is an all-ability school, so children don't need to pass an academic exam to apply for a place. However, the transition from Year 6 to Year 7 is a big step up for children, so there's no harm in using this time to help your child prepare for the next level of academic study.
Consolidate Year 6 knowledge
By consolidating their knowledge of the Key Stage 2 national curriculum in English, maths and science, your child will finish Year 6 with academic confidence. The two particularly sticky areas that we recommend focusing on are:
Revising spelling and writing basics as these are not systematically taught in Key Stage 3
Practicing number fluency and maths learning objectives introduced in Year 6: ratio and proportion, probability, order of operations and circles
Atom Nucleus is an online learning platform that can help your child build academic confidence in core subjects. Your child will experience a personalised learning journey to recap all elements of Key Stage 2, helping them get ready for a flying start to Year 7.
Engage with their progress
Setting regular goals and celebrating achievements will help keep motivation high. Atom offers data-driven insights into your child's progress towards mastering Key Stage 2 content, making it easy to see where they need to focus next.
Personalised support for your child
Wondering how to make sure your child is excelling with their school curriculum, stays on track with their progress, and gets help when they're stuck? Online learning is a particularly efficient, cost-effective (and fun) way to do this!
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