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help

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:41 pm
by Guest
My middle daughter takes hers in September but the primary school she in has been appalling about it. No preparation for the tests, we have done it all with her and when the grammar school at the open evening said "oh yes all the practice tests have been sent out and you all know how you got on by now", we thought what practice tests?

Our school did nothing and I mean nothing with them and so after me ringing and pestering them they gave them to my daughter and the 5 other children (very small village school) who wanted to take it on the very last day of term!!! No supervision, they had to do it in the coffee lounge on the floor at the coffee tables, in 40 mins, while the rest of the school had a last day party in the hall next door. My daughter managed to score 57/100 and it wasn’t double checked, just marked by a teaching assistant. Oh yes and they only had time to do the verbal reasoning and didn’t bother with the non verbal one!!
It is appalling and I don't know where to take it, there is a new head teacher starting September and I feel slightly sorry her because I am going to descend on the first day of term!!!
I think that I'm going to take it to the LEA, and then have to contact the grammar as they said she could do it in the proper conditions there if the school was difficult, of course the last day of term was way too late to get the ball rolling.
Now I'm just a bit worried as she takes the first one on Sept 15 which only a week after going back to school

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:33 pm
by Sally-Anne
Hi Guest

My suggestion would be that you start with a letter to the new Head at the end of the holidays. Outline the points you have made above in very measured terms and explain that you will want an urgent appointment with her because of the timescale you are working against. I think that would work better than descending on her out of the blue with all of this. It will also give her time to decide on her "policy" towards the 11+ - is she going to take it more seriously than the last Head or not?

Once you have that answer you should ring the LEA and discuss it with them if you need to and pursue the Grammar School option if you aren't confident in the school's response.

My guess is that you shouldn't need to - unless the new Head is very against the 11+ she will want to sort this out as 11+ success is an important part of the school's reputation.

As has been said many times, keep copies of everything, make careful notes of all phone calls (who you spoke to and when, what was said) and get everything that you can in writing. If you need to Appeal after the result it will all be valuable information.

Good luck - please do ask more questions if you need to.

Sally-Anne

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:56 pm
by Guest
From what my sons teacher told us they are not allow to prep the children for the 11 plus In our area (north yorkshire) they will sit a familiarization practice test on 11th of september then the actual 11 plus on the 14th and 18th september from which the highest score from the verbal and non verbal reasoning will be added together any adjustment for the age of the child (don't really know what this will be)to give the final mark. Sadly I don't think you are on your own where the school is concered I think this sounds pretty much standard.

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:10 pm
by Sally-Anne
Dear Guest 2 (I think! - it gets a bit confusing when Guests don't use any name)

That is pretty well standard procedure - some official familiarisation sessions and then 2 - 3 practice papers. Any further coaching is officially unnecessary and discouraged, but of course, parents do it.

Guest 1's real problem is the dreadful attitude of the school towards the very small amount of official preparation, which puts her daughter at a disadvantage compared to children at other schools.

Schools have been known to make mistakes or have a poor approach towards the 11+. All parents should watch out for shortcomings in the way that the familiarisation, practice and actual tests are administered by the school. I should add that the disruption should be fairly major to be of value at an Appeal - another child sniffing repeatedly will not cut any ice with an Appeal panel. The school failing to run one of the familiarisation sessions or practice papers would, as would the school not providing a quiet environment for the actual test.

Sally-Anne

Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:19 pm
by Ambridge
I agree with everything Sally-Anne said. Remember, hind-sight can drive you truly mad!

It all sounds very unsatisfactory and it could be very difficult trying to confirm what you child has been through next term, so do put pen to paper now and keep copies, perhaps you can encourage the other parents to document what happened as well.

If you do contact your LEA make sure you phone them first so that you address any correspondence to the appropriate person.

Good luck and keep in touch.

Ambridge x