11 Plus Exams Forum

Hello! Kendrick school open day coming up. Is there any merit in taking my dd to see the school on its open day a year early? I would like my dd to see for herself and if she really likes the school, then she can feel really committed to the 11+. I don't want to put pressure on her if she doesn't really want it for herself. Or what it do more harm than good? Thanks in advance for your advice.

We visited in year 5 and year 6 (when the open days were in Autumn), so you wouldn't be alone visiting when your DD was in year 4. It's worth visiting all schools you are interested in a couple of times.
While it isn't something to mention this time, next time you go around in year 5 make sure that DD is aware that she will be taking the exam in one of the classrooms. Doing this help my DD visualise the experience beforehand.

I'm sure you will have looked at the threads in here about Kendrick open days, but to repeat just in case

It will be extremely busy. The corridors get quite crowded. Warn your DD beforehand, especially if crowds are an issue. A normal school day isn't like that so don't be put off.
The head can seem quite scary and stern during her talks. She certainly put me off when I heard her. She isn't like that generally and is lovely. The girls all seem to like her and she is very approachable.
There's no parking at the school. Don't think about parking close by illegally and think you'll get away with it in the evenings. Traffic wardens will likely be out and about until quite late. Queens road and oracle car parks are best and give you a chance to see what the walk to school is like.

My DD will be in the textiles room.

Absolutely, we did both schools we were interested in , in Y4 and y5. By Y5 my son expressed a clear preference for what would have been my second choice and was also the hardest one to get into. It gave his the extra impetus to put the work in and that's where he ended up.

Y4 its more about a look round the school.

Good luck.

We went to look at all the schools in year 4 and again at the ones we had liked in year 5. By year 6 it is too late and I think sometimes it takes a couple of looks to get a feel for a place. When we took dd in year 4 we met lots of her school friends so it is certainly not unusual...

Late Year 4/early Year 5 is ideal - go round on a normal day once you get down to the final choice.

Any school that won't let you visit on a normal day should be discarded; what is there to hide?

+1

We also visited the schools of interest in year 4 and 5. From my point of view, the main benefit was that after each visit I would have unanswered questions in my mind, so the second visit to each of the schools was very helpful in getting a clearer picture and deciding which school would best suit DC.

Definitely can have a motivating effect if they love a school which requires a bit of effort to get into!

Thanks everyone who posted here in response - I didn't want to be that pushy parent but one needs to start somewhere Your responses have been very encouraging and if anything, I think visiting Kendrick early will help rule the school in - or out!

Guest55 wrote: Any school that won't let you visit on a normal day should be discarded; what is there to hide?

As far as I know, Kendrick has just the one annual Open Evening - they don't show people around during a normal school day, I believe it's because they would find it too disruptive (100s of people attend the Open Evening, perhaps they fear large crowds trooping through the school on a weekly basis if they allowed visits on other occasions?)

We did the Kendrick Open evening in the autumn of yr 5, and also saw several other local schools in yrs 5 and 6. As Tinkers says, be prepared for the crowds and see if the Head's speech appeals to your DD.

Many schools I know have a weekly visit throughout the year - numbers are capped so it isn't disruptive.

I've worked in a school that did this and, in my opinion, it's far preferable to the annual 'bun fight' of an Open Evening.