Empty Places in Y 7

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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Booklady
Posts: 522
Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 10:39 pm

Empty Places in Y 7

Post by Booklady »

Bucks Herald article and discussion

http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more- ... -1-6534799" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

12/13+ opportunity?

Discussion also highlights the 11+ tourism issue. As one of those waiting to hear on a review, I hope the boards are acutely aware of this - and generous with review places! :roll: :roll: :roll:
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by Tolstoy »

Rational makes some very good points. My other pet hate is when you move towards more and more DC getting in on appeal you are penalising those DC whose parents will not or cannot go through this process. It is the same with 12+, many parents do not wish to put their DC through yet another test with the risk of disappointment.

I think the saddest statistic is SHFG. I have not lived here long but it seems this is an area where many of the DC have been penialised by the tourist issue (lowest percentage pass rate) and possibly because it is less central for commuting. Someone on the discussion thread raises the old chestnut about DC not being suitable so best they attend an Upper. Rubbish I for one know that my own DC would have had no problem keeping up in one of those schools with a number of empty spaces and I am pretty certain he is not alone in that. What a waste.
BlueBerry22
Posts: 184
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2014 9:16 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by BlueBerry22 »

Thanks for posting - it does make interesting reading as one of the parents who are bussing their child miles away to an US when I am 100% sure he would have thrived at the GS he can see from his bedroom window.

Almost too late for 12+ though I think as registration was before Xmas for many with exams in Jan/Feb (JHGS is next Weds)

DS is adamant he wants to pass 12+ to validate himself vs his GS peers but he does not want to move school and why should he ? I know a number of others that will be sitting with that mind set on Weds but whether they change their minds with 121 in their hand who knows. There could well be empty places on into Y8.

Good luck to all - I hope the authorities get it right this year.

BB22
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by scary mum »

Shocking, although it should be pointed out that Chesham have always had excess places (except last year?). Ironic that it is the Bucks grammar heads who introduced/are in charge of the new 11 plus, which has led to 11 plus tourism & spare places in their schools. 5/6 years ago John Hampden was so oversubscribed that the intake area shrank considerably, what a change - is this just the new 11 plus/tourism, or is it less popular for some reason (I know these things wax & wane, but traditionally it has been schools on the edge of the county who have spare places).
scary mum
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by Guest55 »

There have always been spare places in Y7 ... this is very old news.

The Floyd actually has one of the highest number of families putting it number 1 but a lower proportion of those chldren qualify. It has to compete with two single gender schools in a town where qualification rates have plummeted. Personally I think it's the best of the three schools ...
ConfusedAylesburyMum
Posts: 128
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:42 am

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by ConfusedAylesburyMum »

What the article does not say is that Floyd has an extra Year 8 class - so normally a a 5 class intake they took a sixth class into the current year 8 as a result of 12+.

So would be interesting to look at the overall admission numbers rather than solely focus on Year 7 which does only have 4 classes.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by Guest55 »

Agreed ConfusedAylesburyMum - they are also very good at including new Y8s into the school community.

The FOI came from the group that want to get rid of Grammars so their motive is more than 'facts'.
Lillie
Posts: 231
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:34 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by Lillie »

For comparison sake, does anyone know what was the number of empty spaces at these schools the year before the CEM test was introduced. Is it significantly different?
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by Guest55 »

I haven't got those figures to hand but have found an old list from 2010 - there were about 111 empty places from what I can see.

As I said, old news.
Rob Clark
Posts: 1298
Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Re: Empty Places in Y 7

Post by Rob Clark »

To be fair to the newspaper, it does make it fairly clear what is behind the story – 'a campaign group' is mentioned very early on and the actual group and its spokesperson are both named later in the story.

As Guest55 says, I'm not sure this is anything new. There were always odd spaces at DCGS when DS was there, because if a child changes schools for whatever reason (child doesn't like school, parents re-locate etc etc), it isn't possible instantly to fill that space.
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