Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Eleven Plus (11+) in Kent

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MMMum
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:24 pm

Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by MMMum »

What are the reasons to go when your child is still in Y5? Why not wait until Y6? I feel like I would like to go, but can't think of any good reasons....
monstermum
Posts: 342
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:26 pm

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by monstermum »

Because you can look at the schools with a clear head - by the time it gets to now in Year 6 it's tricky to think straight about anything! Also I've found it has given me time to ponder for longer. There is little time between now and the closing date for choices. Also I ruled out some schools which means I have more time to focus on a few.

Hth
pheasantchick
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Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:28 pm

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by pheasantchick »

Visiting in year 5 is a good idea because : ( sounds like an exam question!)

1) to show dc's what senior schools look like - they can be intimidating
2) to get a general impression of what each school looks like
3) so in year 6 you can focus on what is important to you,
4) so dcs can spy all their friends also visiting the schools
hermanmunster
Posts: 12818
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by hermanmunster »

pheasantchick wrote:Visiting in year 5 is a good idea because : ( sounds like an exam question!)

1) to show dc's what senior schools look like - they can be intimidating
2) to get a general impression of what each school looks like
3) so in year 6 you can focus on what is important to you,
4) so dcs can spy all their friends also visiting the schools

all these and:
5) real pest if you can't get to one in year 6 / clashes with another event
tigger2
Posts: 755
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:35 am

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by tigger2 »

pheasantchick wrote:Visiting in year 5 is a good idea because : ( sounds like an exam question!)

1) to show dc's what senior schools look like - they can be intimidating
2) to get a general impression of what each school looks like
3) so in year 6 you can focus on what is important to you,
4) so dcs can spy all their friends also visiting the schools
Agree with all of the above posts ....year 5 visits really helped both my dc's....they are able to get a feel for the schools without any sense of urgency. Just a personal opinion but our year 6 visits will be 'day' visits to see a couple of schools in action
Booklady
Posts: 522
Joined: Mon May 19, 2008 10:39 pm

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by Booklady »

Definitely do school visits in Y5. I don't know about in Kent - but over here in Bucks the open evenings are all around the 11+ dates - and as they generally are late nights (often finish about 9pm - and there's soooo much to see!).

Also great to get the child focused on where they would like to go - if they need to qualify through the 11+ - they then know what they need to do to go there! Helps focus the mind!! :D
Samlet
Posts: 306
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 10:18 am

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by Samlet »

I found it really helpful to incentivize my DD - she knew why I was making her work because she had seen the school she wanted, and seen how many other people were visiting and therefore possibly applying.

Also if you really get into a school visit, you can find yourself short of time, so knowing that you don't have to get it all done on one night is reassuring.
anotherworriedmum
Posts: 289
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2011 3:04 pm

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by anotherworriedmum »

I agree with Samlet, its very motivating when you are ploughing through past papers next spring/summer to have seen the prize and know what you are aiming for!
Okanagan
Posts: 1706
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by Okanagan »

hermanmunster wrote:5) real pest if you can't get to one in year 6 / clashes with another event
That seemed to happen a lot here. 2 secondaries of 4 in the town having their open evenings on the same night - you'd think they would coordinate dates to avoid clashes when they're that local to each other wouldn't you?

Or when they set a date which unavoidably clashes with something else - we had one this year which was on a Saturday, and with no options to even do tours at any other time. That particular day happened to clash with a national championships sport event which ds's training had been building up to for a while. As it wasn't going to be our first choice, or even our second, we didn't go to it. But going in year 5 would have given two bites of the cherry.

We did find though that in year 5 several of the secondaries organised events which the Y5 kids went to with their primaries, so they had actually already visited most of the local schools in a more cursory fashion and had come away with opinions formed on those visits. I was surprised at how definite ds already was, before the open evenings, on what his personal ranking of the local schools was - and how closely that actually matched mine which based on a different set of criteria/judgements.
Mama2
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon May 14, 2012 9:27 am

Re: Y5 - why go to school open days this year?

Post by Mama2 »

I agree with everyone's above posts. We arrived in Kent at the beginning of Term and it has been a whirlwind trying to visit all the schools, focus DD on 11+ and make a decision about schools.

I would definitely visit in Year 5. :D
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