Entrance exams at age 10!!!
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Entrance exams at age 10!!!
Our son will sit the Dollar and High School of Dundee entrance exams for Junior II at the end of this month. He is 10 at present and is in p6 (year 5 I think). Does anyone know if they will be slightly easier than 11+? He hasn't done any 11+ papers, but finds the KS2 tests a doddle, so I assume they are at too low a level, but giving him 11+ may be too hard and blast his confidence.
Any advice?
Any advice?
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T.i.p.s.y
Being educated in Scotland and having friends with kids at school there the curriculum is more advanced than England. One of my friends moved her child from a Scottish state school to an English school and she has moved ahead one year because of differing birth date rules and is still way ahead in her new school. I think 11+ should be ok but I'm not convinced the 10+ paper will be easier than an 11+ paper.
In my opinion Dundee is a better school academically than Dollar although on paper Dollar seems better with smaller class sizes and more land, and the pastoral care is pretty good too.
In my opinion Dundee is a better school academically than Dollar although on paper Dollar seems better with smaller class sizes and more land, and the pastoral care is pretty good too.
Thanks for the reply. I am surprised that Scottish schools are ahead as children start school in England almost a year earlier. I also apprecaite your thoughts on the two schools. I suppose Dollar is a little closer, and the environment is fab, but seem to be pretty good on results. Dundee was voted best Scottish Independant School by the Times this year, so looks like they are highly thought of. We are thinking about this fairly late in the day, and I am not sure that there is too much we can do to improve DS chances. Both schools are very difficult to get in to, so we may end up at Strath or Morissons.
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T.i.p.s.y
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T.i.p.s.y
He is no genius, but quite bright. He has done Kumon for a while and as a result is very numerate, and not bad a Cloze reading. He hates creative writing though schools says he is good at it, but sadly he doesn't believe them! His current primary class has 33 children and although his teacher tells me he is the top student for maths there are 17 children in the top maths group! The range of ability in that group is vast, and my concern is that DS won't have covered enough topics. I am not too hopeful that he will make it, but we can always have another shot next year after putting in some effort.
Strath is good and very easy to get in to as long as you can pay. Fees are 50% more than the rest and with some other siblings waiting in the wings that matters. Also much more of a boardning school with day pupils added, so saturdays are scholl days and in Senior School the day ends around 8pm. I would like to see DS more than that!
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T.i.p.s.y
I don't know the entry procedures but I think you should be proactive and write a letter to the school enclosing a school report explaining that your son is coming from a state school and has had no preparation - it can't do any harm and they'll remember his name when it comes to marking his paper. I think that the schools report will play a huge part in their decision. Scottish schools, on the whole, do not operate an exam pass or fail system and will take other info quite seriously. 
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T.i.p.s.y
Yes, Dundee and Dollar are good value for money.earn wrote:Strath is good and very easy to get in to as long as you can pay. Fees are 50% more than the rest and with some other siblings waiting in the wings that matters. Also much more of a boardning school with day pupils added, so saturdays are scholl days and in Senior School the day ends around 8pm. I would like to see DS more than that!
