The Watford Consortium academic exam today

[thumbelina]

thankyou decaff and watford girl.

i am there to join you watford girl and anyone who wishes to challenge the education dept at herts regarding the extremely poor substandard and hazardous to navigate service they provide

it is unacceptable to put kids through an 11 plus - (i am sure a child pyschologist would outlaw the 11+ esp for summer born 9 year olds) and then ofcourse the schools turn around and say ooopsy we dont have enough places for your child even though they are clearly deserving...

the bogus renters, the repeat of exam papers, the bringing forward of exam dates and then offering another date, the STILL not being any clearer of where you stand regarding a successful application, the bringing in cross sibling rule after having removed it less than 5 years ago.... - DONT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING DO THEY?

if you protest enough you will be heard and that justice does prevail.

[WP]

issues are: last minute parachuters ie. takers of distance places,

You don't know that bogus renters are taking places, and WGGS says they won't (other schools check too).

stop making rash decisions and changes regarding admisions criteria without looking at the issues sensibly...who on earth thought is was ok to make kids not even 10 sit and 11 plus exam???

That would be the officials in Mr Gove's department who decreed early testing (and Herts, who approved, thinking it would solve the problem of the limited number of choices they were offering).

[thumbelina]

i do know that there are bogus renters but i am not about to tell.....
to prove: its very simple.
address 1 month prior to application date= address on application form= address after allocation date. if different= investigation. thats all. not rocket science

and yes M Gove started the early testing but herts didnt need to take it on.....like Bucks chose to ignore Goves recommendation

[Ringostar]

Bucks was given exemption for this year only, as any other admission authority could have applied for it. Next year, it would be same for Bucks.

[thumbelina]

i would like to avoid a silly tittle tattle but atleast bucks gave their kids and parents time to settle in. i think that herts educational dept would do well to take a look at how bucks administer their 11+

it seems in herts we are trying to navigate a system in place by herts council where the bottom line is:

`there simply arent enough places for all the deserving and able kids`

[Ringostar]

i would like to avoid a silly tittle tattle

Great idea. The way is not to respond back, otherwise, other members will respond with their views.

it seems in herts we are trying to navigate a system in place by herts council where the bottom line is:

`there simply arent enough places for all the deserving and able kids`

This is the story of all the regions.

[jzw22]

This is the story of all the regions.

The situation with WGGS and Parmiters is a bit more extreme than most regions because of the split admissions criteria between tests and distance+siblings. With only 35% on tests the competition is fierce and the scores for a place are extremely high, 240+ in inner an 250+ in outer.

The tests are meant to be standardised so in the inner zone you are looking at a top 8% of the population score, which equates to the top 2 from a class of 30. If you compare this with roughly top 20% to be considered Level 5 on the key stage tests.

The simplest and fairest solution is to drop the siblings and distance places and move to a solely test based admissions. The required scores would drop and there would be less chance that a really bright child would miss out.

I'm guessing this year will see some people who expected to get a place on distance miss out because of the re-introduction of the cross-sibling rule.

[tense]

The simplest and fairest solution is to drop the siblings and distance places and move to a solely test based admissions. The required scores would drop and there would be less chance that a really bright child would miss out.

Ah yes, a return to grammar schools & secondary moderns . I think you'll find this doesn't quite fit with the education policies of either the Government or Opposition.

[decaff]

Government have forbidden reintroduction of any new 100% selective grammar schools but those that already exist can remain. I don't think a return to grammar system would be good but it would perhaps deal with bogus renters relying on distance. I agree with what Jzw22 said I think there will be many dissappointed parents who miss out on a distance place at both WGGS and WBGS with reintroduction of cross sibling rule. Also don't forget children of staff will have priority at both schools.
Perhaps a solution would be to limit admission of siblings to those who live in local area. I have heard rumours that SCD may introduce sibling rule for WD3 children only but I am not sure if this is true.
As for renters is goes on. Someone I know moved in with their parents and them moved back to their own homes shortly after their child started year 7.

[herty]

thumbelina - If you know of bogus renters you should report them. But all renters are not bogus. There is nothing wrong in genuinely moving to an area prior to applying for secondary schools and then living there - and gven the cost of buying houses, renting is the only option for many. Not all renters are lucky enough to stay in the same house for years; rents can go up or tenants be given notice to leave - so be sure you are actually giving examples of deliberate flouting of the rules.

Re the cross-sibling rule, if you wanted to object, the mechanism was in place to object - that deadline has passed without objection, suggesting most parents are happy with the status quo - I know I am.

The individual schools have always given separate advice on the exams, partly because the results have been used differently by different schools so info relevant to one school would be irrelevant to another.

I do agree the exams have been administered in a very unprofessional and unfair way this year, but the fault here lies with the rules governing entrance exams being changed by central govt at a very late stage. That said, the county council should have ensured that all parents received information about the changes in good time - if they can manage to send out Moving On booklets in time, they can send out more info re exams too, arrange meetings etc etc.