Raw scores

[tigger2]

Similar here...we have 21 girls and 10boys

[scarlett]

Thanks tigger...just have to be patient !

My children always seem to be in a class where only 2 are the same gender as them...the rest all the opposite..causes no end of problems

[GPmum]

we have equal numbers of girls and boys!!

[doodles]

Did search birth stats and found some info but it would take somebody less mathematically challenged than me to make head or tail of it.

Anyway feel I am really grasping at very thing straws if I start analysing birth stats on my day off when I really need to do the hoovering

[Samlet]

You'll never know exactly, but yes it would make sense that if your children are in a low school population year that they have a better chance of getting grammar places than those in a high population year. I'm presuming that they fill up the grammar schools in the place allocations and leave the spaces in the non-selectives if in the area as a whole the school population is significantly lower than the total number of school places.

You are worrying me now as my tiddlies are in high school population years.

It doesn't work like this in Medway which has had consistently falling roll numbers for several years. They don't fill up the grammar school places because of the policy of only putting 25% of the cohort in the grammars - the theory is that if the proportion was higher, it would disadvantage the other schools. This has meant that for the past few years some of the Medway grammars have had lots of spare places - ironically these are available to those from outside Medway with a Kent or other area pass.

So, it isn't any easier to pass, but once you have passed, if the cohort is smaller there is less likely to be an oversubscription problem.

[mystery]

Here in West Kent according to LA data approx 30% of the year 7 school population is in grammar schools. So yes it does seem to differ in some way between Kent and Medway.

[Samlet]

But maybe that is balanced across the county by areas without grammar school provision at all and others with grammar schools but empty places in areas such as Folkestone? It might still end up as 25% of the whole cohort in the whole of Kent? I don't know.

[Chocolatey Mum]

My DD took the Kent test last year and when all the figures came out ( found on ***** ) the first round 21% were more boys than girls but after head teacher appeals this evened out.
I was mighty relieved when my DD passed without the need for HT appeal as recent head change has meant that less children were being supported, compared to when my DS sat it in 2008. As a mater of interest ds had full support under a different head and dd no support - result dd scored more highly on all papers than ds. Just goes to show the schools don't know it all.

Just as a matter of interest the lowest paper score in 2008 was 113 but whether that was affected by bringing the whole thing forward to sept from January made any difference.

I remember all the same feelings and looking at birth rates comparing ratios in class Grasping at any straw possible. I hated the idea that the school knew before us and the waiting game until the results come out seems worse for us parents even though we know nothing can change after the test has been sat, it doesn't stop us trying to find stats and figures to support our own feelings . I'm sure we could find any stats that support the feeling that our DCs are THE one- just like any politician can pluck whatever stats they want to support their chosen subject.

Good luck everyone.

[penguin]

are you told if your DC has passed after HT support? - is this made obvious on the official email?

[tigger2]

No it isn't Penguin...you will only find out once you get your letter from your dc's school confirming scores in each paper...it should make clear what the scores needed for each paper were so you will realise pretty quickly if an ht review was made and was successful.