Good luck - 11 transfer Northern Ireland

snowJo

Ho,hum............feels like ages since the results came out, and yet there's STILL another 2 months to wait to fins out which school my child has been allocated.

Doggies

Snojo, glad someone is thinking the same as me! I check on here almost every day and look at my calendar in work to see how many more weeks are left! Its ridiculously sad, but I can't help it. My daughter is talking about new uniform etc for the school she wants. Don't want to dent her confidence and say 'don't get your hopes up'. Just keeping fingers crossed for her.

snowJo

Me too Doggies. I check this forum everyday to see if there's anything new......any hint of any news.......any rumours......a snipett.......anything at all. Time is passing so slowly at the moment. All my son is concerned about is getting a blazer, any blazer, for September as he's never had one before.

Doggies

Hehehehe, at least he's not worried about what actual school the blazer is for! Madam can't wait to get a new school bag, a more grown up one from her current Minnie Mouse bag. Oh and a PE kit!

facingthefuture

Me too...I check everyday.....don't know what I am expecting.

snowJo

To all those who are appealing the mark received in February - any update on how it is progressing?

RikM

I just saw Ruane announcing that one of her "proudest achievements" was "getting rid of the 11 plus".

My first reaction was "get a clue!", my second was; as something to hang your hat on as an achievement, it seems singularly flawed. Not just in concept, but also due to the almost complete lack of success attained in actually ending selection...
If the current state is an "achievement", I hope I never see one of her failures.

travelling_light

Hi, reading this with interest as we're looking forward to the testing experience and all the waiting this autumn. If you could give one piece of advice what would it be?

Doggies

Rikm, couldn't agree with you more. I saw a clip of her on UTV the other day at Stormont. She was asked a question which she didn't have the mathematical ability to answer! I had to turn her over, makes me so angry.

Travelling Light, my bit of advice would be to start practise work asap, maybe around Easter time. A little bit every day if possible, even just a few sums. The transfer tutor which you will find online is very good. I think its around £35 which is worth it. There are lots of little tests on there and advice. I found it very helpful. Gather as much work as you can to get through. My daughter didn't seriously knuckle down into work until Sep. I feel if she had have spent more time during the summer practising, even simple sums etc, it would have helped. This of course is partly my fault for not taking the time each day to do some work. Even half an hour, keeps their wee brains working. Some of the Maths she found hard to grasp. This year she finds it all simple. Once it clicked it stayed, but took months and months of practise. Of course, it all depends on the childs ability, but if they have a bit of interest and drive, go for it. Encourage them all the way and lots and lots of praise. She did have a tutor for a few months for her Maths. It did help, but most of the improvement was down to sheer hard work and going over examples till we were both fed up! I took 2 weeks off at Halloween and we spent most days doing Maths. But lots of time out, fresh air and walks to keep the mind active.

I wish your little one the best of luck. Its a long road, but hopefully worth it.

RikM

travelling_light wrote: »

Hi, reading this with interest as we're looking forward to the testing experience and all the waiting this autumn. If you could give one piece of advice what would it be?

I'm probably not the best source of advice from a training/practice perspective (because we basically didn't do any, beyond the stuff the school was doing anyway).
But one area I think may be deficient in general is exam technique. Stressing the simple things like "read all the questions first. Start with the ones which look easiest." And "be aware of the time you have left. If you're not going to finish,focus on the questions with the most marks" and "if you have time left, check and double check your answers".
My 10 year old hadn't a clue about the basics of taking tests. Doing practice papers is only part of the equation.

Oh, try not to stress out about it - kids pick up on it and assume there is something to be scared of.