disappearing thread
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 3:27 pm
I posted on a thread this morning which seems to have disappeared, can anyone explain?
The UK’s largest 11+ forum, with more than 750,000 posts contributed by over 35,000 members and an unrivalled team of experts to advise and assist you on your 11+ journey.
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/
https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/viewtopic.php?t=18683
I am sorry that the original thread cannot be restored in full, but the Moderators are still looking at what went on among the other posts.NorthLondonMum wrote:You have my sympathies. It is very hard trying to access the private sector from state primaries, due to lack of knowledge and advice if nothing else. I firmly believe some schools are fair in their procedures and saw this last year when some of the most able children in my son's school were offered scholarships/bursaries at top schools, but perhaps it is not true for all.
Perhaps it is harder for "middling bright" children (no disrespect to anyone, this is what most bright children are, including mine), and also I have noticed that schools that are not top tier academically seem to have closer ties with their feeders, perhaps because the private preps need to make sure all their pupils get in somewhere and the senior schools need regular "bums on seats". Perhaps this also applies to the non-scholarship candidate applicants at top schools.
Of course we all know that there is a great range in the states of preparation of the applicants, so how the schools can truely select the pupils with the most potential I do not know. Yes they have reports and interviews, but if you don't do well enough in the exam these are not a factor (unless your prep school head picks up the phone and gets you an interview - yes that does happen).
I am interested in your thoughts about the difficulty of the papers compared with the past papers issued, as I have a daughter still to navigate through this difficult process. The consortium have papers from 2008/2009/2010 on their websites whereas a year or two ago they only had a sample paper, are you saying that the 2011 papers were significantly different from these, or could it have just been the stress on the day? Having looked at the papers I have noticed an emphasis on problem solving, logic problems and utilising new information in the harder questions, this is always going to be tough to deal with in an exam situation.
Regarding your comment on the schools making money from the registration fees, certainly there seem to be some London schoools that seem to encourage a huge number of applications when they really don't have that many places to give at 11, perhaps we have got to the point where we have to question the ethics of that. The flip side to that is that anyone can apply and should not be prevented from sitting the exam if they want to.
I hope your daughter is successful in getting an offer from a school that suits her, which schools has she had interviews at? My son had mixed success with his applications last year, but he got a place at a London independent (not our first choice) and really couldn't be happier than he is.
There are many very strong opinions on this forum, and there is no "censorship" of views unless, and until, those views become personal insults or comments that are likely to cause offence. The specific issues that lead the Moderators to act are clearly set out in the Forum rules - name calling, flaming, insults, swearing, inciting religious or racial hatred and, lastly, trolling.JKRowling wrote:Don't you think it is ironic that this is a site dedicated to parents sending their children to sometimes some of the top schools in the country where opinions and strong intelligent viewpoints are encouraged yet the moderators seem to be determined to censor any opinion.
The content of the posts was not controversial. The issue that caused some posts to be removed is the one I have highlighted in bold, and it has been mentioned already on this thread by me and by another long-standing Forum member.The thread started by a few people(not one) rasing genuine concerns and generally speculating and as we do not knwo the answers all we can do is speculate.