Guardian article

[asdguest]

Interesting article about Bucks 11+ in The Guardian today.....

[SIT]

Good article and interesting that a lot of points raised ahve already been discussed at length on this (amazing) fourm.

Did anyone else notice the tuoring company logo on the photo, any thoughts o nthis comapny (DD just sat Buck now have DS to think about in 2 years time )

[southbucks3]

Cannott find it on the web pages, what is the title of the articles please, or a link?

[berks_mum]

Here you go -

http://www.theguardian.com/education/20 ... plus-tests

[pippi]

No test is completely tutor-proof, but we think we have taken the first steps towards making it harder to prepare for.

I think they probably have made it harder to prepare for. But I thought they had promised to make it easier to prepare for? This may to explain why state school children are doing worse in it.

[southbucks3]

Thank you, I had just that instant got hold of it.

The eleven plus tutoring company in the photo isn't local....bizarre use of Photoshop to duplicate the girl with long hair, do she sits at the front too.

Nothing new, although I would say the gap it mentions between lowest and highest achievers is actually the biggest in the country in Bucks county council area, not just similar areas or counties, this includes inner city schools.

The whole thing is just silly, only an estimated 38% of seats in local grammar schools have a bum sitting on it from a bucks county council state primary school. all that extra traffic, all those schools in other areas losing their high achievers to bucks grammars, all those kids losing out on the pleasure if local schooling and local school friends.

I do feel for the primary school heads and year six teachers, until they have this next few months done and dusted they have such a lot of mixed emotions from both children and their parents to deal with. They also have to cope with children who are told by their parents, "You can relax now, just have fun this year" or children who have had a massive confidence kick and sincerely wonder why they should bother trying.

Certainly the new test has proved very popular with the prep schools, as they can focus heavily on the areas of curriculum needed to pass, without blatantly tutoring their children.
However every one I know who had children in preps also sent them to tutors. Kerching!

[motion]

State schools are not interested or don't have the time to teach kids 11+ exam techniques. There is no incentive from the government to push for this in state schools. Why should a state school teacher concentrate on 11+, when this is not part of their objectives/goals? As long as the kids meet the expected national curriculum level at end of key stage that is good enough.

Changing exam types/format is not the answer, rather spend time and effort on improving the quality of education the pupils are getting.

Prep school teach kids exam techniques and have the time and incentive to challenge and prepare the kids thoroughly

[Tolstoy]

No test is completely tutor-proof, but we think we have taken the first steps towards making it harder to prepare for.

I think they probably have made it harder to prepare for. But I thought they had promised to make it easier to prepare for? This may to explain why state school children are doing worse in it.

Okay I was able to prepare my DS3 for the NVR section and the NR section in a week or two. What you can't do is prepare quickly for the VR section no matter how bright your DC and that is a mighty section of the test and IMHO far more divisive than the much maligned VR of old. Would love to hear some more experienced tutors than myself's take on it though. On a plus side at least the preparation for the new test aids school work, hence all those level 5/6 SATs out there.

And according to Rebecca Hickman, an education consultant and former grammar school pupil who helped compile the data, FOI requests to the eight secondary schools in Wycombe, which includes some of the most deprived and diverse wards in the county, suggest that children on free school meals and of Pakistani heritage have been less successful this year. "What we are seeing now is that it is impossible to devise a fair test of ability to divide children at 11 which will not discriminate according to social background, race and prior opportunity," she says. "Those with superior resources to start with will still come out on top."

... am guessing these children were also stummied by the VR.

Would also add that the few Y7s I have encountered including my own seem perfectly happy and not doomed to failure by the result.

[scary mum]

It is just as misleading as it always was to state that 20% of primary school children pass compared to 70% (or whatever it was) of private school children. The children at Bucks primary schools are automatically entered & the private school children choose to take it & presumably would not if they were unlikely to pass. (Sorry dipping in so may have missed some discussion).

[Guest55]

Until the first census next month I don't see how any analysis can accurately look at comparisons with previous years.

High Wycombe is a small area and who knows if the proportion of Pakistanis children getting level 5 was lower? Cohorts do vary and I don't think that one year's data is a firm basis for any conclusions to be drawn.