Taking 11plus a year later

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Hollyb
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 4:48 pm

Taking 11plus a year later

Post by Hollyb »

Hi there - my daughter is strictly speaking in the wrong school year. She is a late summer birthday and was kept back in kindergarten. She's currently in year 4 but should be in year 5. Will she be able to sit the 11plus when she reaches year 6?
Daogroupie
Posts: 11100
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by Daogroupie »

I am amazed she was allowed to stay back. Our education council refuses all applications to stay back so it obviously depends on your council. I would consider it unlikely that they would allow 12 years old to sit, but maybe your council is more relaxed than mine! DG
Jean.Brodie
Posts: 451
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 6:55 pm

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by Jean.Brodie »

Hi Hollyb!

I would ask the Borough directly. It's up to them to tell you HOW to get this done, not that you can't!

Good luck!
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by Amber »

https://groups.google.com/forum/m/?from ... choolstart" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This forum might help you. It is perfectly legal to keep a child out of school until after their 5th birthday. I did it with mine. The law is being challenged and tested all the time. This group might point you in the direction of help.

I think that it has been done before; I did know someone who was planning to try but in the end decided that the local school suited her child better.

Good luck and well done for keeping your child out of school. The best thing you could have done IMHO. :D
agathachristie
Posts: 225
Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2011 1:46 pm

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by agathachristie »

Hi Hollyb, you should contact your council directly, or rather the head of primary should contact the council on your behalf and also you should contact the schools directly. A number of schools have now become academies and have their own prescribed admissions criteria. Good luck.
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by Belinda »

What was the reason your DD was put into the year below when she did eventually start school? I would have thought that regardless of whether children are kept at home (e.g. Home Ed) for a period of time they would, on going to school, be put in an age appropriate class. It sounds as though someone didn't check DOB's? or there was a particular reason? Was she premature and should have been born in late Sept / Oct?

Regardless of ability at 6 when she went to school, I would have thought she would have been placed in an age appropriate class. :?

Sorry I don't know the rules on 11+, but yes, as others have said, speak to the school, LEA.

There are students in the wrong years at grammar, both up and down, for a variety of reasons. Placed ahead in primary, educated abroad etc.
Best wishes.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by mystery »

You need to check very carefully with whoever is the admissions authority for the schools you are wanting to apply to --- could be the schools themselves, the local authority, and maybe a strange combination of both. Don't just go on what the first person you speak to tells you as it could differ from school to school, and also lots of people get this kind of thing completely wrong. You need to double-check the written regulations for whatever test you are putting your child in for.

For example, in Kent, I don't think you could sit the Kent 11plus assessment a year late and then enter year 7 at the right age. You could well find out that wherever you are your daughter needs to sit it in less than one year's time and enter year 7 the following year if you want to be sure of a grammar school place. Or you need to take potluck on entering year 7 as a late applicant and take a different test set by the school if you've missed their testing round for children the right age.

As these tests are usually "age standardised" you are not necessarily doing your child any favours by sitting it a year late anyhow as it will all wash out in the age standardisation.

Get all your answers in writing / e-mail, and check them against any written rules there are about the test published by the school and local authority.
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by Amber »

Belinda wrote:What was the reason your DD was put into the year below when she did eventually start school? I would have thought that regardless of whether children are kept at home (e.g. Home Ed) for a period of time they would, on going to school, be put in an age appropriate class. It sounds as though someone didn't check DOB's? or there was a particular reason? Was she premature and should have been born in late Sept / Oct?

Regardless of ability at 6 when she went to school, I would have thought she would have been placed in an age appropriate class. :?

Sorry I don't know the rules on 11+, but yes, as others have said, speak to the school, LEA.

There are students in the wrong years at grammar, both up and down, for a variety of reasons. Placed ahead in primary, educated abroad etc.
Best wishes.
I deliberately chose for my DD not to be in what you call 'an age appropriate class' , ie she was the oldest in the class rather than one of the youngest. This was the big battle - keeping her out of school was relatively easy; making sure she then didn't just get put into Year 1, thereby missing Reception, was much harder. It w very important to me that she wasn't just slotted into the year I had fought to keep her out of. However, what we did was miss out year 2 entirely and she went from year 1 to year 3 as she had matured a lot by then. And then she missed out year 4...

None of it did any harm, and I reckon it did lots of good.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by mystery »

It sounds a good plan. You were lucky though. No school round here would let you do that. I have friends in Scotland who do that so the child is the oldest in the year rather than the youngest in the year and they maintain this right through to the end of school. I suppose if everyone did it, it would get awkward to plan for places. Some children would be best placed two or three years below or above the "age appropriate" class. However, not everyone is likely to do it, so schools that show a little discretion like yours did Amber are to be welcomed.
West Kent Mum
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:32 pm

Re: Taking 11plus a year later

Post by West Kent Mum »

A friend's DD started school (reception) one year late due to a very severe illness which made it impossible for her to start school when she should have started. She has stayed with her class during KS1 and KS2.
She was allowed to sit 11+ by KCC now when she is in Yr 6 and she passed the test. She has applied to the local Grammar Schools and according to the parents it is now up to the schools to decide whether to offer her a place.
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