Support thread for parents of chilldren sitting the transfer test in 2011

molly68

It's a horrible situation for Caz100 and I fully understand why she feels she wants to to the best for her child. I seem to feel i have to explain myself again that my child was admitted to his 1st choice of school because he had a sibling already there over a child who had scored 2 extra points but I thought the school were very clear when they explained their admissions criteria at the school meeting. Not sure that proximity should ever take presidence over family but as I live close to the school that would never have been an issue.

flymetothemoon_2

Yes, it is a tricky one. Many schools do accept kids with a lower score because they already have a sibling in that school and then reject a kid with a higher score who has no sibling at the school. The only sure thing is that all schools must apply their pre-published criteria and stick rigidly to that criteria. In my experience, criteria has been clearly explained at open nights and I guess that no matter what the criteria are for a school there will always be people who just miss out and therefore wish the criteria had been better suited to them - it's simply never going to be possible to please all the people all the time.

BallyclareMum4

I think criteria should only be applied in a tie break situation and i don't see why having a sibling at a school should necessarily take precedence. What is the point of scores if a child is disadvantaged by being an only or eldest child in a family?

My child sat the exam for grammar school selection, achieved a grammar school score, but will have a 30 mile round trip because he doesn't have a sibling at the school which is literally next door to us. A child in his P7 class, who has achieved a lower score, will have nearly a 40 mile round trip (despite having a grammar school on their doorstep) is admitted to the school because they have an older sibling there. According to the bus timetable, my child will have a travel time of an hour and a half to get to and from school compared to the ten minutes it would take to get to and from the local grammar.

I think score should be the factor that determines admittance, then it's just unfortunate if a child living next door or a child with a sibling at preference school doesn't get a placement. (No apologies if this is controversial.)

I fully appreciate that there is a good secondary school very near us too, but as they don't accept second choice applications it was removed as an option.

We are delighted that he has been admitted to his second choice school as it was mostly second choice simply because of location. We don't know if we should try to get him on waiting list for local school or just let him suffer the extra long school day!

Surely the placement element of this process should be much more black and white? (Yes, I am ready for the ridicule and accusations of naivity!)

BTW no bitterness here it is simply a travel thing. I am really pleased for all who got first preference with or without criteria and i hope that all the children transferring in September will be content, happy and successful.

BallyclareMum4

confused_mummy wrote: »

Distance from school is normally part of the criteria. Each school has its own criteria and you have to find out if it was correctly applied.

In our case, proximity was not part of criteria.

BOBS

Can I ask of you that have completed AQE in 2011 - did any of you use the PMP papers ? Do you feel they reflected well in the final AQE results - my DD is attaining higher marks at home from PMP papers than she is getting in the papers they are doing in school although her teacher does admit they are quite hard papers they are being sat at school. Would be nice to know if anyone has used these and what they think. Many thanks

steveymp

leftieM wrote: »

Stevey, not everything people say is true and may be sour grapes on the part of people who are unsuccessful. I presume they had no evidence. If they did they would have had a good legal case.

Mmmmmm now there is a can of worms opened :rotfl:

I am simply stating what happened to friends and family members who had kids with top scores in the previous 11+ and the newer GL tests. I really don't care if you believe me, it is not a case of sour grapes by these people, their kids have gone on to excel in other schools :T

BallyclareMum4

flymetothemoon wrote: »

BallyclareMum4 wrote: »

E=molly68;53556805]Hi Ballyclare mum

DS got 100, but I'm only disappointed he didn't get accepted at BHS because of the convenience elemement (we're 15 mind walk from school!)
Our first and second choice were really joint first and second joice probably had the edge for us - we had to put BHS first on form due to transport pass
Ballyclare mum
Glad your DS is happy with the school he's going to, he did very well to score 100. However, when you say he didn't get accepted at BHS do you mean Ballyclare High School or Belfast High School (it's confusing because both schools call themselves BHS!). Either way, it is shocking to think either school would have turned down a score of 100.

Made a mistake - scored 100 in music 98 in AQE :-S

BallyclareMum4

BOBS wrote: »

Can I ask of you that have completed AQE in 2011 - did any of you use the PMP papers ? Do you feel they reflected well in the final AQE results - my DD is attaining higher marks at home from PMP papers than she is getting in the papers they are doing in school although her teacher does admit they are quite hard papers they are being sat at school. Would be nice to know if anyone has used these and what they think. Many thanks

DS found PMP easier and we didn't think they were an accurate representation of AQE.

Shaz3_2

BallyclareMum4

Two of my DD friends had the secondary school in ur area as a second choice and both got in with scores in low nineties and high eighties, I think it's very unfair of the school to state first choice.

Pmum

Ballyclaremum,

Did you get any info on whether the Secondary school was over subscribed this year and if they did take anyone who had put it second?