School gate gossip

Eleven Plus (11+) in Warwickshire

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Dave1879
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:03 am

School gate gossip

Post by Dave1879 »

My wife said she overheard a few mothers at my dd school saying how very easy the test was. These are the same mothers whose dc were apparently not even going to take the test a few months ago!- there's such a shroud of secrecy to the 11+ -not many dp tell the whole truth I've found. My dd is now thinking she's done really poorly now as she found it difficult herself. Anyone else had this issue?
scarlett
Posts: 3664
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

Re: School gate gossip

Post by scarlett »

Hi Dave , I'm not in your area but with two Kent tests under my belt , I can assure you I most definitely would not worry about what the other children are saying. I found it was the children who thought it was easy who actually didn't do very well...it's not supposed to be easy , is it ?! When my dc said something was easy I found they'd usually read the question wrong. It's best to ignore all talk. Last year I got myself in a terrible state going over and analysing every last detail and it was all a waste of time as my son passed . You can't change anything now so it's really best not to know !
Daogroupie
Posts: 11101
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: School gate gossip

Post by Daogroupie »

Not from your area either but totally agree with the last post. Those who find it easy have usually made mistakes, see the Mill Hill thread in the Herts area. If it was easy they would have hundreds getting really good marks which is no use at all. They need to be able to selective the students who perform well which they cannot do if everyone does. There will be nuances and secret tripups that over confident students will miss. A double negative always knocks hundreds out. Slow and steady wins the race. There are lots of tortoises at selective schools who got the places that the hares were too careless over! DG
ginx
Posts: 2151
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: School gate gossip

Post by ginx »

School gate gossip is horrid. Not everyone will pass even if every dc found it easy. Pride comes before a fall and those dc who said it was easy - and weren't even planning to take the 11+ - don't worry.

I don't believe it was easy, dc may have meant they found it easier than expected - and I doubt they found all sections "easy". Ignore them. It's not supposed to be easy. They may have mis-read the questions, answered them quickly and incorrectly. DG is right, tortoises are better than hares. Leaving out questions and getting the ones you've done right is better than racing through and getting most wrong. Over confident students are not always the best.

Last year, one mum went around telling everyone her daughter was going to the gs before she even took the test; she carried on saying this after the test; her dd got a very low score. I felt terribly sorry for the dc. The mother avoided everyone for ages. She is an intelligent lady and I cannot understand why she said that. I can only assume she gave her dd many practice papers and she did them until she got them all correct; and the exam wasn't like the practice papers - or the dc went to pieces in the exam.

I've heard people say the test was easier than last year (how do they know?)

Tell your dd not to worry. Try and avoid mothers at the gate. Your poor dd. scarlett is right, it's done now, but dc comparing notes? I bet if one says it was easy, some feel they just have to agree. I feel sorry for your dd, though. Try and reassure her, their comments don't mean anything. Wait till results and I bet they haven't all passed. I hope your dd is ok.
Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: School gate gossip

Post by Okanagan »

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if, at least in parts, it was a little easier than last year. The average raw score in the maths in particular last year was so low that it probably made it hard to differentiate between the candidates, so if I'd been setting the paper and seen that pattern of results I'd have tried to ease it a little too. The bigger the range of actual outcomes the more accurate the results are as a reflection of ability. There is no point setting questions they can all do, or questions none of them can do - that tells you nothing.

Because the standardised score is determined by the average and the standard deviation of the actual raw score, then an easier test would just mean that you'd need a higher raw score to get the same standardised score. At the end of the day there are still the same fixed number of places available, and it will still be the candidates who score highest who get offered the places, so having a supposedly easier paper doesn't correspond to it being easier to get a place.
Brum Mum
Posts: 604
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:27 pm

Re: School gate gossip

Post by Brum Mum »

I really thought that it would get easier once the test was over, but it doesn't really does it?

I do think in some cases where children said that it was easy, it was just relief that it was done with. I've heard some say it was easy and some say it was incredibly hard. Regardless of whether they say it was easy or hard, the results will give the correct answer.

Its a stressful enough process without people making it more difficult for each other. I found people being strange about the whole thing before we'd even properly thought about it. :(
kongo1959
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:17 am

Re: School gate gossip

Post by kongo1959 »

Dave

My dd thought the Birmingham exam was easy and the Warwickshire exam was hard, however, her results proved the opposite and she just started year 7 at SGGS.

Good luck and keep the faith!
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