Open Days

[lolomimi]

Amber - I'm sad to say it's, er, gin....

[cairo]

Amber - I'm sad to say it's, er, gin....

Really?? I always thought it was vodka (which I don't drink)....might explain why my friends look puzzled when I give them it when they ask for a vodka and tonic!

Anyhow, going back to your original query. There are 2 schools of thought regarding Open Days for grammar schools. The first is that you should take your DC to them all in Y5, thus hopefully inspiring them to work hard and "getting it out of the way" before the pressure of the exam in Y6. The second is not to bother, unless and until you know whether your DC has got a high enough score to be offered a place (at the beginning of Y6) when you can phone up and ask to see the schools which are actually options for you. After all, none of us really wants our DCs absolutely set on one school which they don't pass for.

I took the first route with DS1 and the second route with DS2; and I have to say that the second was preferable for me as it was less stressful that way. Mind you, I did have an extremely motivated son, so I didn't feel the need to dangle that particular carrot in front of him.

Will pm you with details of a tutor. Good Luck!

[Amber]

Amber - I'm sad to say it's, er, gin....

Really?? I always thought it was vodka (which I don't drink)....might explain why my friends look puzzled when I give them it when they ask for a vodka and tonic!
!

Innocents abroad, the pair of us, Cairo!

And I totally agree re open days - personally I cannot see the point of dangling a school in front of a child, having him or her falling in love with it, then having to say "er, sorry, you didn't make it". Several people have told me that this motivates a child, but like you, I felt there was enough 'motivation', aka pressure, knocking around as it was. In a county where so few pass the wretched exam anyway, the chance of disappointment is much higher than the chance you might have to take a child to see a school he has passed for- what's the worst that can happen at that stage? He doesn't like it? Fair enough, look elsewhere then.

I suppose if you had a pig lazy child who really didn't see the point of lifting a finger in preparation, but who was blatantly super intelligent enough to be a dead cert if it did knuckle down, then maybe some point in it. Otherwise, wait and see what your choices are, IMHO.

[lolomimi]

Amber and Cairo

That's a very useful point you make about raising expectations through an open day only to have them dashed by not passing.
I think the whole thing is really tricky... The reason that I had thought about an Open day was because DD is actually very set on another (independent) school which, to be frank, we would struggle hugely to afford, but a couple of her new friends are (allegedly) going there (we'll see what happens). I figured that if she could see another school which also looked exciting and fun, it would at least motivate her to give the exam prep a go.

It's not easy having moved, and I want her to feel good about the options in front of her, but also to be realistic about them. Ws are also looking at good 'comps' but I think we're out of the catchment for our first choice, so we're wondering what to do for the best...

You know, those ordinary every day issues of being a parent!!!!!! Phew.

...
Now where's that bombay sapphire? Feel the need coming on already!!

lm

[Amber]

It all sounds very sensible lolomimi, apart from having let her see the expensive indie in the first place!

It's not easy having moved, and I want her to feel good about the options in front of her, but also to be realistic about them. Ws are also looking at good 'comps' but I think we're out of the catchment for our first choice, so we're wondering what to do for the best.

Move again?
Try not to worry- lots of the comprehensives here are good and most of the ones which aren't are improving steadily.

I did look at the blue stuff at the supermarket today- but am sticking to the soft drinks after hearing the advice of our wise politicians. So glad they are now advising us on how we should protect our livers - at least it stops them messing about with education for a while.

[lolomimi]

Amber - she's only seen the website..... ! Such is the power of marketing!! Smily happy people doing exciting things! Who can resist!! ( And to be fair, pate's website helps in that direction too)

It was all so much easier when we just headed off to the one secondary school in our locality. This choice business is a mixed blessing.

Anyway - we 're going to progress the tutoring this week, and then we'll take it from there.

lm

[capers123]

I do have a bottle of Bombay Sapphire in the drinks fridge. And Gordon's. And three different Dutch Jenevers. The 6 litres of Quince Gin are stored on top of the kitchen units. And there's a bottle each of 10 and 20 year old Hasseltse Jenever in the cupboard from the Belgian National Gin Museum.

I would very strongly recommend looking at all 4 grammars, and maybe approach the test as 'let's see which one(s) you get offered'.

[Amber]

Amber - she's only seen the website..... ! Such is the power of marketing!! Smily happy people doing exciting things! Who can resist?

A definite point in favour of parental controls lolomimi. She can get the same ideas from looking at the Butlin's website, or even the much closer Bristol Zoo, and it will cost you less.

I do have a bottle of Bombay Sapphire in the drinks fridge. And Gordon's. And three different Dutch Jenevers. The 6 litres of Quince Gin are stored on top of the kitchen units. And there's a bottle each of 10 and 20 year old Hasseltse Jenever in the cupboard from the Belgian National Gin Museum.
I would very strongly recommend looking at all 4 grammars, and maybe approach the test as 'let's see which one(s) you get offered'.

Drinks fridge sounds very Abigail's Party, Capers. And the juxtaposition of your second paragraph with your first suggests, to my mischievous mind at least, that it wouldn't hurt to partake in some of the former before attempting the latter - something I would definitely endorse, having shuffled, stone cold sober, round the hallowed corridors of one of the county's grammars, some 4 years ago now, jostled on all sides by over-zealous parents and their ultra-enthusiastic offspring.