Kent test dates 2016

[mystery]

I am sorry, but I don't see what's wrong with someone wishing to do that and I do think that if someone has a clash between tests that it should be possible to try and do something about it - it's a shame that it's only illness that seems to be acceptable as a reason. There are usually different sittings so it should not be a problem for an admission authority to provide an alternative date for the very small proportion of people who are trying to co-ordinate a house move to time with admission to a school they would like their child to attend.

They are all English state schools and we all pay for them in the same way whether we live in Essex, Kent or anywhere else in England. It shouldn't make a difference where someone lives at this point in time as long as they can get a place honestly via the admissions test and the admissions policy for that school ; clashing test dates is very unfortunate and as the clash is not (I hope) deliberately designed to stop certain candidates gaining a place who are not otherwise from doing so via the correct admissions policy and procedures, it is only reasonable to hope that something can be done for candidates affected by the clash.

There are some children at my child's school who gained a place from a neighbouring authority and moved in the summer just before the start of year 7. They seem very nice and normal - not aliens from outer space.

[kenyancowgirl]

Legally it might be right, mystery, but I think Toadmum is more looking at the moral side of parents carting their children from East to West, North to South, sitting tests left right and centre, at any and every school that has the "no catchment" rules, with no care for the actual impact on the child (in terms of the exhaustion they are likely to feel - and the possible sense of abject failure for every test they "fail" to secure a school place with.) Let alone the trauma of uprooting their entire lives to then take on a place - the pressure on a child that they MUST succeed and love the school as the whole family's life has been affected....State schools (grammar or not) were set up to serve their local community, not for people to travel to the other ends of the earth to access. Toad mum is not saying they can't do this, more that perhaps they oughtn't to.

[mystery]

Yes, there are going to be some people moving for the wrong reasons who would have been better staying put and using whatever their local school is but let's hope they are in the minority - only a small percentage of those who would be disappointed by a date clash between the Kent test and a CEM exam in Essex or wherever.

Moving house is expensive and there are a lot of people who move area for various different reasons which are of benefit either directly, or indirectly, for their children. Some people therefore time it all to fit with a move to secondary school to minimise the number of moves.

Yes, I am sure you are right that I did not read Toadmum's comments and incorrectly assumed she was saying it was a good thing that no-one would be able to sit both a Kent test and a CEM test for somewhere or other not in Kent.

"State schools were set up to serve their local community" ......... I think we would need a very long trip through the history of compulsory education across England to completely unpack this one in all its various shades of local.

I agree wholeheartedly that school journeys that take up a lot of a child's time are counterproductive in many different ways. But there are parts of the country which would have to be abandoned by families if everyone was to live at an ideal distance from a secondary school .... my ideal would be 10 minutes each way! The closest secondaries in our county involve a very long day for a child whether selective or not. We should move but no-one here apart from me can be bothered!

[mumsdarling2]

I found Bexley council very helpful last year. I remember them publishing two dates one of which clashed with another exam slightly far away. I wrote to them with the 'real' reason requesting a slot on the day which worked for us. They were very obliging and gave me the date I asked for.

[mystery]

That is good to hear. Let's hope Kent is equally obliging.

[Mich895]

Hi grgygirl, the Bexley dates for the 11+ are now on the council website. Children attending a Bexley primary school will sit the test on Wednesday 21st September and children attending schools outside Bexley will sit either a morning or afternoon slot on Tuesday 20th September or Wednesday 21st September.

[grgygirl]

Thanks Mich895. Relieved to see their isn't a clash.

[mystery]

Me too.