11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi,
My Bubs goes to a catholic primary that is a feeder school for a catholic secondary. When I approached the Head in regarding to sending my Bubs to KEHS or Camp Hill she in no uncertain terms told me that the school would not be offering any help what so ever!
So folks... I know I have to apply but when and how?
KEHS will be opening applications July 13? but I'm not sure about the others.
I'd like her to apply for as many as possible (independent schools) as the other options in this neck of the wood are a bit grim and not suitable for someone like her.
Any advice gratefully received.
Thank You

http://www.kingedwardthesixth.org/index.htm

According to the KE website, all primary schools should have had brochures to pass on to you by now. It appears that the deadline for applications to the KE is July 12th and the first Open Evening at Camp Hill Girls is July 4th. Not my area at all (I'm just generally curious about the world, and have happy memories of Brum being where Mum and I went for "retail therapy" as I spent much of my childhood and adolescence in Staffordshire ); no doubt plenty of folk with proper local knowledge will be along soon to help you.

It is understandable that state primaries are not meant to "prep" children for the 11+, but all schools should be able to offer some assistance re the process of "transitioning" - our primary has the official line that they aim to prepare the children generally for all available secondary schools, with no special consideration for GS entrance testing - we are also in an "opt-in"area, and to be fair, they do take at least a polite interest in where one would like one's offspring to go. Perhaps yours doesn't like to lose DC out of their "system"?

I think it is a case of get online and apply at the right time... some schools are very anti selective secondary education and will not offer any help. usually this is the case just for prep for the exams but also can lead to them not helping with applications etc .


plenty of info on here and resources available too - plenty of parents who have had kids go through the test who can advise 9and sympathise)

thank you both so much! The head is very anti-grammar schools and believes all the little 'God fearing' robots she churns out should go to the secondary that supplies the primary with quite a few extra curricular sporting help. (I'm not against believers as such but feel my child is better off in a school where religion is not the be all end all, she has already been in trouble when she questioned something and asked what about the works of Darwin )
Ah...shopping in Brum has changed....big Bin Lidded Building now lol

Sorry but always find it odd when non-Catholics send their children to a catholic school and then criticise the catholic ethos of the school.

My two boys attend catholic primary and the eldest was the only one in his class to sit any grammar school exams. They offered no support at all and at times seemed to make it as difficult as possible -such as arranging trips on exam days. The school are very much focused on preparing the children for the catholic secondary of which they will become a feeder school from September. My youngest is one of only two taking the exams this time round. They don't see it as their role to prepare for the exams and it can be very frustrating, but you have to consider that if it isn't the norm then they would Not see it as a priority.

State schools are not allowed to help with selection tests, it is not just because it is a Catholic school. I have to agree that if you send a child to a faith school, then you have to support the ethos.

I work in a Catholic school, I am not Catholic, but I support and respect the underlying principles of the school, my conscience would not allow me to work there if I didn't.

While I agree that Epud should not be surprised that a Catholic Primary is big on religion , I think that many of us end up compromising our principles to do our best for our children. The best primary local to us is a Catholic school; we were lucky that the next best school is also very good and non-faith but I can see that if that was not the case then I would have considered the Catholic school despite being devoutly atheist. I'm also not a believer in selection at age 11 but that has gone out of the window when the other options were considered for DS1. I may even end up going down the indie route for DSs 2 and 3 if they don't get GS places despite vowing pre-kids that I would never privately educate them

Our primary sends the Y5 kids to various events such as sports training and science days at local comps which to me are clearly very thinly disguised promotional attempts. I would guess that around a third of the children sat the 11 plus (maybe closer to half the boys at the local boys options are really poor) but, apart from a KE foundation poster on the noticeboard, none of it was organised or promoted by the school.

My dd attends a community Primary in Solihull and we have not received or seen any KE brochures or application forms - nor did we receive any for my sons.
The school are certainly not against Grammar schools, but, as with the majority of state Primaries, don't do anything in particular to encourage entry or make the options clear to parents.
I got my dd's form from CHB. I believe that all the Grammars have them.

Hi Ebud:

I've just registered (I have been ghosting this forum for a few months) but just wanted to say that here in Birmingham we have the same situation at our state primary.

The Grammar Schools poster has gone up and the registration pack was handed out to children who wanted to take the test (Teacher had them come to front of the class - not sure if this was about school checking who was intending to sit the exam). Oddly enough, I have had two telephone calls from parents who were referred to me (a foreign Mum married to Englishman) by the Year 5 teacher to fill them in on all things 11+.

I just wanted to say that I have referred them on to you all here at the Forum and to the KEVI Grammar Schools http://www.kingedwardthesixth.org/ here in Birmingham as a starting point.

If anyone does have tips for us newbies as we start the process, I certainly would be grateful. I'm worried about how to handle things if #1 child doesn't pass (both teasing by peers at school [which happened this year to friends] or feeling negatively about the school she ultimately will go to). Any advice on how to smooth those 'bumps' in the road would be greatly appreciated. If there are essential things we must do - (we do plan to go to open days later this half-term) - please let me & others know.

In the meantime thanks to all who have posted here - I've learned a lot in the last few months visiting this forum.