Timing the run
Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators
From our experience we have found that parents need to be my on the ball with their children's education. Don't assume that everything is going fine. Question everything.
We only became aware of problems as we had an elder daughter further up the school and her class was let down very badly by abysmal teaching. Of course by the time the 11+ was upon them they only 3 made it (and they were srcapes) when normally it was around 30%.
If there is a problem with standards and what is not being taught - we do maths and vr in this area - then to try to crack on with 11+ tuition at the beginning of yr5 when you haven't mastered the basics is an uphill struggle.
So many times I have heard that 'little Johnny is at the top of the class' only for him to fail the 11+. Well, the top of what exactly? If the whole class is a shambles then being top is not exactly an achievement!
Unfortunately at our school, unless you are prepared to engage a tutor or diy for a couple of years then you can accurately predict that your child will not achieve their potential never mind grammar school.
We only became aware of problems as we had an elder daughter further up the school and her class was let down very badly by abysmal teaching. Of course by the time the 11+ was upon them they only 3 made it (and they were srcapes) when normally it was around 30%.
If there is a problem with standards and what is not being taught - we do maths and vr in this area - then to try to crack on with 11+ tuition at the beginning of yr5 when you haven't mastered the basics is an uphill struggle.
So many times I have heard that 'little Johnny is at the top of the class' only for him to fail the 11+. Well, the top of what exactly? If the whole class is a shambles then being top is not exactly an achievement!
Unfortunately at our school, unless you are prepared to engage a tutor or diy for a couple of years then you can accurately predict that your child will not achieve their potential never mind grammar school.
Well, that really makes me happy that I don't live in Kent and do live in Gloucestershire.
That said, my niece passed for a grammar in Rochester with no tutoring 2 years ago, having gone to an average state primary.
At appeals I do hear about 'Little Johnny' who was in the top set, glowing reports - 'works hard' and the like, but looking at the CAT test scores, along with SATS, (which all happen match the 11+ test result), they're actually just slightly above average, not in the top 20%. If we allowed their appeals, then they would probably struggle, and that's not fair on either the child or the rest of the class. But at least the parents would be able to say that their child went to a grammar, irrespective of how well they're doing there.
I still remember a classic statement from a parent at an appeal: "He's had a lot of tutoring both for the exam and to get him up to speed with his school work, and we'll make sure that he carries on getting that extra support if you allow the appeal". So if he needs extra support to be in a grammar school, doesn't that defeat the object? The child did not have any special needs. Doesn't the child deserve some time to chill out after normal homework instead of having extra catch-up lessons?
That said, my niece passed for a grammar in Rochester with no tutoring 2 years ago, having gone to an average state primary.
At appeals I do hear about 'Little Johnny' who was in the top set, glowing reports - 'works hard' and the like, but looking at the CAT test scores, along with SATS, (which all happen match the 11+ test result), they're actually just slightly above average, not in the top 20%. If we allowed their appeals, then they would probably struggle, and that's not fair on either the child or the rest of the class. But at least the parents would be able to say that their child went to a grammar, irrespective of how well they're doing there.
I still remember a classic statement from a parent at an appeal: "He's had a lot of tutoring both for the exam and to get him up to speed with his school work, and we'll make sure that he carries on getting that extra support if you allow the appeal". So if he needs extra support to be in a grammar school, doesn't that defeat the object? The child did not have any special needs. Doesn't the child deserve some time to chill out after normal homework instead of having extra catch-up lessons?
Capers
Capers, I agree, you should only need a few months familiarisation and not years of tutoring for the 11+. The child will suffer otherwise. That's if all is going well at school.
Sometimes I feel quite sick at the amount of tutoring my dd has had. She should go to school and then have time to play afterwards. However, after many complaints and getting nowhere we simply use the school as a childminding service while we work to pay for the tutoring. In hindsight we should have moved her years ago but we kept being promised that things were on the up and when we did decide to jump ship there were no suitable alternatives.
This year's school report was fantastic, dd has done so well and is miles ahead of some of her classmates. When filling in the reply slip, we felt like adding: To whom should we address the bill?
I would like other parents out there to not be fobbed off by poor teaching standards especially in maths when you eventually realise that the yr5 syllabus hasn't been covered not to mention the 11+ syllabus!
Sometimes I feel quite sick at the amount of tutoring my dd has had. She should go to school and then have time to play afterwards. However, after many complaints and getting nowhere we simply use the school as a childminding service while we work to pay for the tutoring. In hindsight we should have moved her years ago but we kept being promised that things were on the up and when we did decide to jump ship there were no suitable alternatives.
This year's school report was fantastic, dd has done so well and is miles ahead of some of her classmates. When filling in the reply slip, we felt like adding: To whom should we address the bill?
I would like other parents out there to not be fobbed off by poor teaching standards especially in maths when you eventually realise that the yr5 syllabus hasn't been covered not to mention the 11+ syllabus!
