11 plus

robin_banks

Person_one wrote: »

That's not what I have a strong opinion on.

There are plenty of people who have children who still manage to give a damn about other people's children too, and want a better and fairer system for all of them.

Seconded.....

robin_banks

A little something for the sharp elbowed among us;

http://michaelrosenblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/exams-testing-testing-testing.html?spref=tw

emsywoo123

Person_one wrote: »

That's not what I have a strong opinion on.

There are plenty of people who have children who still manage to give a damn about other people's children too, and want a better and fairer system for all of them.

Good for them. Whether I want better for other people's children or not does not affect whether I would do whatever it takes to save my children on a plane.

Which is, actually, what you were on about.

emsywoo123

I so enjoy the fact that idealists so often come along and imply that wanting the best for one's children somehow implies that we do not care for others.

meer53

I still think that for some parents, it's all about them and not the children.

I know parents who are mortified at the thought of their kids not being able to get into the local grammar school. It's not about the education though, it's about how they feel they are seen by their friends, they can't possibly be seen to have children going to anywhere other than grammar school. They can't really afford the private education that would prove to their friends that they have money, so are hell bent on their kids passing the 11 plus.

Not all children thrive in a grammar school environment, some hate it and would rather not go there. I passed my 11 plus with no extra help at all and loved it, so did my son. I could have tutored my daughter and got her into the local grammar school but i know for sure that she would have been miserable there. We talked about how she felt about school and we decided that she would be happier at the local high school, and she is.

Everyone wants the best for their children, not all local high schools, academies etc are bad, not all grammar schools are good, i definately wouldn't assume that a grammar school education is always best. It depends on your child.

emsywoo123

meer53 wrote: »

Everyone wants the best for their children, not all local high schools, academies etc are bad, not all grammar schools are good, i definately wouldn't assume that a grammar school education is always best. It depends on your child.

Steady, you are at risk of starting the "private school" debate :rotfl::rotfl: ........

bhatti3000

hi all

please can we stay on the topic, i don't really care if people agree or disagree (every1 is entitled to their opinion, we are all different and right in our own way) with the 11 plus, my kids are taking it next year.

i would really like to hear from people on how they have or will prepare their kids for the 11plus. i'm not in bucks anymore so will love to hear the normal chatter outside the school gates

i agree with some people, if you want your child to pass an exam, you will be nuts not to help them.

bless you all and thank you for the helpful posts

Sally_A

I think by actively "preparing" them you are pressurising them.

Be sneaky

Puzzle books
General knowledge quizzes for the whole family.
Make the child the quiz master and ask them to find say 5 questions for 5 topics, eg history, geography, science, sport, animals. A book of 1001 Q&A's will be a good Christmas gift.

Play games in the car - eg, driver says a word, child(ren) give more words that are similar, eg adult says small, child can respond with tiny, titchy, minute etc.

Play the Countdown numbers game.

Have a look at a previous 11+ paper and see which areas need to be worked on, but most of all KEEP IT FUN!

You child will then see the 11+ as a fun quiz paper rather than something their parent has been stressing about and pressurising him/her.

meer53

Sally_A wrote: »

I think by actively "preparing" them you are pressurising them.

Be sneaky

Puzzle books
General knowledge quizzes for the whole family.
Make the child the quiz master and ask them to find say 5 questions for 5 topics, eg history, geography, science, sport, animals. A book of 1001 Q&A's will be a good Christmas gift.

Play games in the car - eg, driver says a word, child(ren) give more words that are similar, eg adult says small, child can respond with tiny, titchy, minute etc.

Play the Countdown numbers game.

Have a look at a previous 11+ paper and see which areas need to be worked on, but most of all KEEP IT FUN!

You child will then see the 11+ as a fun quiz paper rather than something their parent has been stressing about and pressurising him/her.

We found that the hardest parts of the 11 plus exam were the Verbal/Non Verbal reasoning tests.

The English and Maths were a doddle compared to those ! I do agree that if you are going to put your child in for the 11 plus, you should familiarise them with the format of the answer sheet, i'm assuming that most use the multiple choice, colour in the circles type of answer sheet. If a child were to go to sit the test and has never seen it before, it would be awful for them.

spammy29

My son sat the 11+ last month, so waiting for the results to come out on the 30/11. I also have 2 children at the non-grammar secondary school.

Unfortunately the way the Buckinghamshire 11+ is set up, most kids will need about a year's preparation as the state schools can't provide anything except 5 sessions of familiaristion and three practice tests, in my area of Bucks the majority of children who pass are either from private schools who can teach the 11+ as much as they want, or the children of parents could afford tuition. The other option is tutoring them yourself, but you do need lots of patience! Also you child must be willing to put in the effort or it will just become a chore for them.

The test is 2 papers of 80 questions to be completed in 50 mins each on separate days, the best books for the Bucks test are the Internet Primary School ones, every area has a different type of test, so the tests. for the schools in for example Slough or Watford are different to the Bucks one.

The pass mark is 121 out of 141 but the raw score is adjusted according to age. I did know of one girl who was not only a year younger than everyone else (she had been moved up a year) but got the top mark.

Literacy is a very big part of it, get your children reading dictionaries and a thesausus, looking up new words, practicing their mental maths. Websites like Chukra are full of free resources.

Lots of children travel from outside Bucks to the Grammar schools, I see them in the morning getting on trains from London. The 11+ does cream the top 30 % off the the school year, there is a vast contrast between the resources available in the grammar schools in South Bucks and the ordinary secondary schools, one I visited used i-pads in the classrooms, whereas my two at secondary school have to buy their own reading books for English and I've been given a list of revision books to buy for GCSEs!

Unfortunately if you live in Bucks and you have a bright child it's the game you have to play, I would prefer not to have to but sometimes I feel that the school that my older two are at is more of an exercise in containment than anything else.