11 Plus Exams Forum

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We will be sitting the exam at Pates, simply because we live very close by and the last thing I need on the morning is rushing through traffic to Gloucester and finding somewhere to park etc. etc.

But I am worried about this as we have been given absolutely no information about the set up - are they in a large hall with lots of desks in a row, in smaller groups, in separate rooms - who knows?

After this is all over I shall post some info of what I found to help others next year.

Silverflora

Hi
DD plumped for Denmark Road to sit the test. They said they would be writing to parents who had registered to sit the test there, shortly after the closing date, to explain about arrangements. I'm sure it is the same for all the schools. So don't worry, you should get some details of how it will all work fairly soon.

Feels like it is getting a bit close now!

silverflora wrote:We will be sitting the exam at Pates, simply because we live very close by and the last thing I need on the morning is rushing through traffic to Gloucester and finding somewhere to park etc. etc.

But I am worried about this as we have been given absolutely no information about the set up - are they in a large hall with lots of desks in a row, in smaller groups, in separate rooms - who knows?

After this is all over I shall post some info of what I found to help others next year.

Silverflora

Hi there

My DS sat the test at Crypt and was seated in the hall but close to his mates, however a friend's DD went to Pates and was sat in a smaller group in a classroom with her school friends so don't worry, they try to make the process as painless as possible for the children! It's the parents who suffer...I remember the panic I went through in the hour or so that DS was in there!

Not long now...it's exciting for me this year sharing it with the new parents...whereas last year I was a nervous wreck!

You will be sent information about the set up at Pates. It is very well organised. .

mum3 wrote:You will be sent information about the set up at Pates. It is very well organised. .

Yes, and you will get a comprehensive pack explaining the whole process including some practice papers from Crypt should anybody be sitting the exam there.

Stroud High, with the rest of the yoghurt weavers & muesli macramé-ists...

Handed the form in at the school on the open evening. Heard nothings.

Hi as mum 3 said, Pates are very organised, the "helpers" are last years test sitters, so they know how the children feel. The school also try to put the children in the same rooms as their classmates form their primarys, and the helpers,if poss, are matched to the schools too.

The children are sent a coloured card, and are met at the door and escorted to the hall, then on to the rooms where the tests are sat. Both of our DC took a snack, a drink and a talisman for good luck.

The process is made as painless as possible, both my children enjoyed the tests (weird I know!)

As I said in another post, I stayed outside, with a book and a flask, as I couldn't bear to leave them! Be prepared to feel like that, you may not, but I was tearful and felt that I had left them to the lions!
My DD in particular was glad I was so near, and found it a comfort.

Good luck to your children, my DD will be on the door at Pates to help, and she is looking forward to helping now that it's all over for her!

I've been fairly laid back about it all up to now, but as the date looms closer, I'm beginning to get the jitters! My DS has started to do two practice papers a time on a Saturday, and one during the week. I am getting really nervous that he hasn't enough of the 'right' vocabulary - although he is getting the same sort of mark each time. I keep telling myself that he really loved one of the local comps too so if he doesnt pass, its OK - and I know this is true, but AAArgh - it's the uncertainty of it all. I'm not very good when I feel I have no control over matters - and I dont here! I can't wait for it to be over - even though its coming along too fast! And then we have to wait for the results. And then, if they pass, we have to wait to see if they have a place - it's all too much - I'm off for a lie down until March .........!

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