Roll on results day!

[MadMum.com]

Is anyone else feeling the same, I have got myself so stressed over the whole 11 plus situation. This may sound horrible but I can't see my daughter passing. She is in top sets at school but when it comes to tests she is still making so many "silly" mistakes espically in maths which is the most needed subject in our area.

My dd however always thinks she has done well not realising the mistakes she has made and even when we go over them she doesn't learn from them.

The issue I have is that like most kids she has her heart set on a grammar school and not just any grammar school a superselective, in her head there is no other option I have tried to suggest and praise other schools but she is not interested in any.

I just want the results in so I can deal with the tears and emotions if needed and try to find a school she will be happy in.

Is anyone else going through the same thing, as all I keep hearing is so and so passed their mocks, so and so keeps getting 99% etc.

If I knew parenthood got this stressful I wouldn't of ever signed up to it!

[silverysea]

Go to open evenings at all the possible schools and make sure to visit departments she might find fun- mine especially liked cookery, art, and English as they like books, also science-they should be putting on a good show of fun activities- every school has its plus side. Also ask your guide what they have enjoyed since joining the school.

[bexamy]

Yes! My daughter is a carbon copy of yours. I don't think she will pass either. She was part time at school in years 2 and 3 due to illness and was gradually integrated back into full time schooling during year 4,so that by the time she entered year 5 she was full time. Worked hard with her as she was is so determined to go to the grammar. She has done well to remain in the top sets although she did drop and only got back into the top sets during year 5. She has visited our local secondary schools on open days in June this year, and was totally unimpressed. She commented on poor spelling and grammar on the display pieces of other children in English and on the maths the work was in her words too easy. I have to say it was a bit grim, but the options in our area are not exactly exciting or challenging, which is why a majority go all out for the grammar.

[MadMum.com]

Snap, we have 3 good girls grammars in our area, one ok secondary which my dd really doesn't want to go to but, more then likely the only one she would get into due to location.

I have gathered all the info on open events and we will start looking. I didnt want to look before results day incase she does manage to pass and then happens to fall in love with another school. although that is very unlikely. My dd has already been to visit a few schools with her school, and the only school that was a comp that she liked was 10 miles away from where we actually live. I would have no problem with taking her if it meant she would be happy but they only take within a 3 mile radis!

In her class half of them both sat there regions 11+ plus another area, today when I dropped her off there was 100's of children and it dawned on me how fierce the compition is.

I have tried my best like most parents, we have spent the last year looking at papers and working on maths, but some of these children have been tutored from a young age and I'm starting to doubt whether we actually did enough!

[poohbear]

madmum I am so with you on this. I am counting down the days and really feel very stressed. Today I have been looking at plan b which involves a private school because for various reasons the local comp will not be suitable (very long story). I don't think we can really afford it but at the same time it would solve the problem if operation 11+ doesn't go! my son like your daughter is very very bright, top of class since reception etc et. but can make silly mistakes especially when nervous. he keeps changing his mind about how he thinks it went. his older brother passed and so we hope he will too..... oh dear feel I may get a few grey hairs by October.

[Dande]

Feeling the pressure too.

The new exam in Bexley has everyone up in arms, and it's the unknown of how the children dealt with the speed/complexity of the questions as we've seen nothing like it before. Have always thought of my DC as bright, but with this new test, argggghhhhh!!!!! Sections were not finished. Then there are the "silly" mistakes that were coming out in force in the practice papers just before the test.

She came out of the test really confident - but that worries me, maybe she didn't understand the questions properly!!!!

The poor child can't win!

[Tinkus-Pinkus]

There seems to be a general sense of disease with the new CEM exams in Bucks and Bexley. It is ridiculous, that parents of top of the class bright children should be so fearful that their DD's have failed the exam. However I too am in the same boat. DD is top of the class, very bright, predicted level 6 SATs in Maths and possibly English too if the school will submit her for it (apparently it is very rare to submit children for Eng. level 6). Yet she was so distressed during the exam at finding that she couldn't complete all the sections (she is used to getting 100%), that she ended up in tears and apparently fluffed the last section as a result. She in convinced that she has failed. How on earth is this exam going to allow the bright children to enter the GS's? It seems to me that it will be the children who do not fluster easily, which is often not the bright ones. The brighter children often struggle if they don't feel like they are achieving what they perceive is expected of them and get upset. There is actually a lot of research into this. One indie in Oxford has set up a programme called how not to be little miss perfect, because they are so worried about the amount of pressure that high achieving girls are under and the effect on their mental health and results.
Me thinks there may be a lot of appeals this year if the brighter kids don't get through! Lets hope that thy all shine through. the not so bright kids will probably have been even more stressed hen faced with such time pressure.

[Snowdaddy]

There seems to be a general sense of disease with the new CEM exams in Bucks and Bexley. It is ridiculous, that parents of top of the class bright children should be so fearful that their DD's have failed the exam. However I too am in the same boat. DD is top of the class, very bright, predicted level 6 SATs in Maths and possibly English too if the school will submit her for it (apparently it is very rare to submit children for Eng. level 6). Yet she was so distressed during the exam at finding that she couldn't complete all the sections (she is used to getting 100%), that she ended up in tears and apparently fluffed the last section as a result. She in convinced that she has failed. How on earth is this exam going to allow the bright children to enter the GS's? It seems to me that it will be the children who do not fluster easily, which is often not the bright ones. The brighter children often struggle if they don't feel like they are achieving what they perceive is expected of them and get upset. There is actually a lot of research into this. One indie in Oxford has set up a programme called how not to be little miss perfect, because they are so worried about the amount of pressure that high achieving girls are under and the effect on their mental health and results.
Me thinks there may be a lot of appeals this year if the brighter kids don't get through! Lets hope that thy all shine through. the not so bright kids will probably have been even more stressed hen faced with such time pressure.

Although I understand everyones worry, with new tests it is always more difficult to guess how well you did.

My DD sat the Tiffin Girls stage 2 last year and it was first year it was run, with no info on format, test length, number of questions etc. Results only came out after school places announced 1st March so some who might have taken it and got good mark might have opted for another school, but the pass mark was 49.7% (and I think it ended up below 49 as some got places from the waiting list)

What I'm trying to highlight is the absolute mark is meaningless, ultimately you are competing against other candidates so your rank is the important key. If the test format catches everyone out, then pass mark could be many percentage points lower. If a school has 100 places no point in only having dozen people pass some arbitrary percentage.

Remember the tests have to try and separate the bright kids, if only 15% brightest sit it, then someone who is used to being near top of the class isn't going to be able to coast through into top quartile, unless class tests

[Daogroupie]

Spot on Snowdaddy! If it is a hard paper everyone will find it hard and the pass mark will go down. 49% for Tiffin last year is astonishing when our super selectives are in the 90%'s. So really your only worry is was there a large group of students who prepared for the exam in a more effective way? Tinkus Pinkus, what you are describing is what I call "Top Table Syndrome" and my students are normally in this mode when I first meet them. They have cruised through primary school not really being challenged at all and to suddenly find themselves in a room full of very able students who are better than them (simply because they have been preparing longer) has a very dramatic impact on them. That is why mocks are such a crucial part of effective preparation. I am sure your dd has done a lot better than she thinks she has. The ones to worry about are the ones who come out saying it was really easy (see Mill Hill thread in Herts Section) It is not going to be easy and any students who finds it really easy is probably misreading the questions. So the fact your dd found it hard is actually a good, not bad thing. I wish you well and await to hear your news. We are still today preparing for QE Boys on Wednesday so everything still to play for, every day counts! When will you know? DG

[silverysea]

Agree with DG- my dd definitely flusters very easily over every little hurdle, in any area, this eleven plus journey, whether successful in entrance tests or not, has been the making of her. She will even play board games with the family including v bright older sister, who gives no quarter, without stomping off at every setback- she is very difficult at home, yet school thinks (mostly) she is a superstar-well I know not in her inner dialogue of calling herself names etc., until now. She still does it but much less.