11 Plus Exams Forum

My son had his first one at school today. All the pupils were taken to the hall and shown how to do 3 questions. Before they started, the head teacher asked "can all of you who are being tutored please raise your hands".

Surely it's irrelevant? I think its wrong to single these pupils out.

Is it just me?

All pupils are entitled to the familiarization sessions whether they are being tutored or not, so my guess is that she asked this question as a means of finding out informally whether tutoring actually made any difference to the children's ability to tackle the familiarization questions. It would be a flawed approach, however, since those being helped to prepare for the test by their parents might not consider that they were being tutored!

Just my opinion. I don't think she should have asked it, though.

I don't think it's an appropriate question - has this HT been in post long?

Maybe she was just trying to see if what she'd heard on the grapevine with regard to tutoring was true (ie: a large number of children are tutored).

Guest55 wrote:I don't think it's an appropriate question - has this HT been in post long?

I'm glad you agree. I thought it highly innappropriate and would leave some children open to further bullying - my son included - who now has the added pressure of everyone knowing he is being tutored, and therefore is 'expected to pass' by the less well informed.

The HT has been at the school for many years, but I understand isn't particularly in favour of the 11+. We had a 'parents intro to the 11+ evening" a few weeks ago, whereby the application/allocation process was explained. It was very short and not particularly informative. In fact, I have gained more knowledge from my few and far between visits to this site. So, for that alone, I would like to thank Etienne, Patricia, Sally Anne, Guest 55 and all the regular contributors.

Ed's mum wrote:Or to see how she needed to pitch the familiarisation...because if they were ALL being prepped then she would know that they had prior experience, or if some had been prepped she would know which ones to look out for. Teachers always assess prior knowledge before they start teaching. It could have been a bit like that.

Hmmm... I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt on this one, but the school doesn't have a very good success rate (approx 6 or 7 out of 60 children). I know of a handful (maybe 6 at the most) which was confirmed by my son today that are being tutored.

I know this is very un-PC, but a high proportion of the children come from low income households and 'tutoring' is not the norm. And before you all jump down my throat, we are also a low income household - and are sacrificing holidays and the niceties this year to pay for the tutoring.

Nicki6567 wrote:We had a 'parents intro to the 11+ evening" a few weeks ago, whereby the application/allocation process was explained. It was very short and not particularly informative. In fact, I have gained more knowledge from my few and far between visits to this site. So, for that alone, I would like to thank Etienne, Patricia, Sally Anne, Guest 55 and all the regular contributors.

Thank you Nicki.

The presentation that should be used is a Powerpoint presentation that is sent to all Bucks schools (state and private "Partner" schools) by Bucks CC.

It is pretty basic, but it does quite a good job of explaining the allocation of places, which is a mystery to many parents. I think it has significantly reduced the number of errors made in completing the CAF.

Beyond that I can only say that very few Heads really understand the 11+ process, and generally the information peddled at these evenings is pretty dreadful stuff. Anti-11+ Heads, such as yours, will rubbish the process or fail to impart anything worthwhile, private Heads with a Year 7 class to fill will put a slant on the process that deters many parents from putting their child through the process, and lazy or new Heads will often make utterly ficitious statements.

I do hope that all those who read the Bucks section are public-spirited enough to share the address of this website widely so that some of this misinformation can be taken out of the system.

Sally-Anne

Sally Anne,

You will be proud of me

I spoke to a couple of parents on the night and pointed them in the direction of this site.

It has proved an invaluable source of information and I would have been woefully unprepared without it.

When I went to the Y5 thing I was shocked that GS was portrayed as 'only for the exceptionally bright' - I had to be very diplomatic and say 'Oh I understood the 11+ selected the top third' ...

The HT knew I taught at a GS yet still got so much wrong I had to keep asking 'simple questions' to draw out the truth.