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

Tiny_Mum · 27 August 2011 at 7:13PM

Just wanted to say hi Dee and that you're not on your own in this. Back to school next week and going to chat to teachers about marking system and what is required etc, hopefully I'll be able to get some straight answers.:)

kaja_neale · 29 August 2011 at 10:30AM

My daughter is sitting both tests in November. Both her older sisters did the old 11+ so new experience for me!

She is top of her class & has been doing well in practice papers but it does not stop you worrying! I am concerned about her nerves on the day but luckily she will sit the tests in familiar surroundings.

Handy to have support on here for the coming months!

netskii · 29 August 2011 at 11:29AM

Thanks for starting this thread, good to hear others experiences!

My ds is going to do the AQE test in November, been doing practise tests all summer with good days and bad days!! I emailed a private tutor at the end of June when I heard the school's current P7 teacher was leaving, and he told me to get in touch at the end of July - of course I went and lost his number, so emailed him again and he hasn't replied... May try Kip McGrath in Lisburn instead - has anyone any experience?

Newbie5 · 30 August 2011 at 3:18PM

So glad to see this thread starting, followed last years and to be honest is where I found out alot of info. Have daughter sitting test in November, been doing tests all summer. School really didnt bother that much in P6 so got a tutor who comes to the house every week. Don't know how much help he is but makes me feel like I'm doing my best for her! Results have def improved sitting in the mid 70%s most tests and to be honest am quite happy with that. Anyone know what lowest scores accepted this year for Belfast schools, Victoria, Methody or BRA? Not easy to find this out and know it will have been different to last years. Any help welcome, bring on Christmas when it's all over !

dprovan · 4 September 2011 at 5:06PM

Hi fellow stressed parents,

Just posting an update. Well dd is back at school and things seem to be fairly slow paced to get them back into the way of things. We agreed that dd would do a test today and she completed one of the faifields tests and we scored it straight after. Dd continues to be able to manage her time well getting all the questions that she could do completed. I can also see that despite her body language at the time she must be listening some of the time to us as she was getting things right that she had struggled with before. She is managing the formulas and sums well but is really struggling with the conversions i.e. transferring metres to killometres or grams to killograms when decimal points are involved. Dd also continuing to make lots of careless mistakes ie she works out complicated sums to work out averages but when writing down, writes down the wrong number!!!

I am still trying to manage the balance between encouraging dd to do her best and to learn from these tests whilst not being critical etc. She got 70% which I congratulate her on, but at the same time I can see with a little more concentration and some work on those converting sums it could be in the 80s.... Dd ended up crying at the end.... So I will probably struggle to sleep tonight for the guilt. She was ok 10 mins after and now it is a distant memory but I think it just shows how much it is in the back of her mind.....

I still can't wait for this to be over.... 8 weeks and it will all be done... Im off to buy a couple of beers from tescos to see if it will help to deal with the late night guilt... Hope everyone else is doing ok

Saucepanhead · 4 September 2011 at 7:41PM

one2escape wrote: »

Im struggling to find a tutor for my son and we are debating whether to get one as well. My son is a paradox trapped in an enigma. We were told by the school to send him in for it and his tests marks a usually very good but on quite or number of occasions they are rubbish. We are debating whether to send him in for it or not. Hes intelligent enough for it but hes a lazy child in school. Hes the type, (like me!), why write a paragraph with one word would do.

He scores usually high on the tests because you only need a one word answer but the times he has a disaster he makes easy stupid mistakes due to is concretration. We are worried that if he gets it, (the school has said theres a good chance he would get a score to get him into a grammar school), he will not be able to cope with the workload. This is not because hes not smart enough just because hes a lazy. For me grammar school could make him or break him. BTW he has ADHD and is on medication for it and its the happy medium of not zombie and not totally hyper.

A child who has a statement like this doesnt need to be sitting papers because they cannot be refused from the school of your choice.

Golden_Anemone · 4 September 2011 at 8:23PM

Just to clarify - my nephew has a Statement and he had to be assessed by an educational psychologist as suitable for Grammar school before he was accepted. It was by no means as easy as his parents choosing grammar and him automatically getting a place.

What is the case is that a grammar school will get an additional funded place for any child with SEN that they accept above and beyond their enrollment number and therefore most Grammar schools are happy to accept any statemented children deemed capable of the demands of grammar school education as it gives them additional funding.

I'm not saying this to be argumentative but it is important that one2escape understands the process involved and that a place is not just automatic.

dee1000 · 4 September 2011 at 9:43PM

Hi

This is message of support to dprovan just read your message and I completely symathise, it sounds just like my house at the minute.
My daughter has been is tears a bit also, i am trying to be supportive and encouraging but she gets disappointed when she doesnt do too well.
I can see she is improving because there are questions especially in maths that she is getting right that she wouldnt have got right a couple of months ago, but she is also so careless. Sometimes when I look at her working out sheet i can see she has made a simple little adding up mistake and its made the whole answer wrong. It is so frustrating.
She is still having trouble with measurement, area of certain shapes and some of the maths problems.
Just wanted to sympathise with you cannot seriously wait until it is over our house will be alot happier.

Take care

Dee

dprovan · 5 September 2011 at 7:59AM

dee,

sounds like we have the same child. She is really struggling with how many centimetres/metre how many mill/litres, metres/killometres and will turn it to 100 instead of 1000 or the opposite and then work out the complicated equation perfectly but obviously get it wrong from this starting point.... I try to explain that she is doing the hard bit and that we will have to memorise the cm/metre part and you can see her eyes filling up....

I keep reminding myself that i am not one of those pushy parents, I will love my child no more or less no matter what the result and will be as proud of her whatever happens.... Instead I can see that she is very capable and just needs to make small adjustments/learning and then she will be cool. I also know that she will be devastated if she does not do as well as friends etc.... And after I think all of this, I can't help but remind myself that she is 10!!!! still my baby who should be outside on her bike or running about without a care in the world. But thats another story.....

one2escape · 5 September 2011 at 10:10AM

We are not going for the statement route we want him to get in by his own merits. Hes capable of doing the tests and scores prove that. Also there seems to be games afoot with ADHD doctor. There seems to be a cost cutting exercise at Antrim Area and they are calling in all ADHD children in for review to get them off the medication. Thats another story!!!! Just beginning to panic now forgot to send in his form to do the 11+ and the date they have to be in is 2 weeks away. The school hes going to his running a 11+ test after school club which hes signed up for. Hes, hopefully, beginning to reliase that he needs to stop being lazy in school as he wants to have the choice. We have talked to him and he seemed that he was understanding. We are not pushing him into this and his P6 teacher said we should do just to have goal to aim for. Win, lose or draw with the transfer test we have 3 or 4 schools picked so he have choice.

Anyone know when the first schools have the open days?

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

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free