Stratford schools
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magwich, I love reading about your conspiracy theories and your insider knowledge, and I agree it is interesting to hear about playground gossip (as long as it is not presented as fact). But don't you think mommyjo's explanation has more credibility? The Prep schools have inflated their results beyond the real ability of their students by spending one hour a week or more from Year 4 (or earlier) on preparing for a now defunct verbal reasoning exam. This year, that turned out to be time that could have been better spent on proper learning, and there has been a correction. Some of the state schools near me have also built a reputation for getting children through the 11 plus and become very popular on that reputation. They have also been hit.magwich2 wrote:This year, however, the Prep got 7 out of 19 through and I understand from playground gossip (don't diss it, its usually very helpful!!) that The Croft has similarly poor results.
As far as I know, my son's school had a 100% success rate of the children who entered (although that was proportionately very few of those in his year). There is a lot of hype on this forum about how poor the state sector is (not least from your good self!) and I have to say I sort of believed that hype and had serious doubts about whether I should be putting my son through the exam. On the other hand, it didn't square with my experience. At both schools my son attended (First and Middle), the teaching was mostly good and sometimes inspirational and they kept telling me my son was working at a very high level and they seemed to take every opportunity to push him and help him achieve his potential. I feel their advice and approach was vindicated by his result. I feel sorry that there were many others in his year working close to his level but were not entered, as many of them could have qualified. (I also feel a little guilty that I am rewarding the fantastic skill and dedication of the teachers by jumping ship!)
Several parents of younger children have asked me about the 11 plus experience, and I think the prep schools may face even stiffer competition next year, because word is getting around that you no longer need private education or expensive tutoring to get in. Warks is a bespoke exam now, and what counts is genuine ability and quick-thinking in the face of unexpected material, not wrote-learning of standard methods for questions in a familiar format. This situation can only be perpetuated if CEM continue to change the question styles every year - I very much hope they do!
I can see how out of area people familiar with the KEGS exam might have a slight advantage, but I researched all the previous posts about the content of the exam on the Birmingham forum, and based on the account my son gave of what was in the Warks exam, they are similar in ethos but not so similar in question format. Also, I would have thought children from Solihull or Shirley would also enter for KEGS and only take the Warks place as a fallback.
I agree speed is important, but my son also reported that the level of difficulty in the questions was generally higher than any practice materials we used. If it is true that some dyslexic children were given an extra 10 minutes, then they would still need to be pretty good to make that pay off in terms of a qualifying score.
I agree that statistics about numbers qualifying from particular schools/areas should be published, and it wouldn't hurt to include details of how many qualifying children were given extra time - if only to satisfy magwich, scourge of the council communists.
Since CEM don't publish any papers no one is "familiar" with the KEGS exam, as you can easily see from reading the Birmingham forum. All anyone has to go off is the memory of previous years' exams filtered through the memories of stressed 10-year olds.
And since the Warks exam is a month before the KEGS exam, any similarity between the two will favour children taking the KEGS exam, so I should imagine if there's any effect it will be that there are more Solihull children passing the KEGS exam and going there rather than to Stratford schools.
Do they put something in the water in Warwickshire, or is there some other cause for the rampant paranoia that seems to have broken out this week?
Mike
And since the Warks exam is a month before the KEGS exam, any similarity between the two will favour children taking the KEGS exam, so I should imagine if there's any effect it will be that there are more Solihull children passing the KEGS exam and going there rather than to Stratford schools.
Do they put something in the water in Warwickshire, or is there some other cause for the rampant paranoia that seems to have broken out this week?
Mike
Based on the B/Ham KE CEM experience it's quite common for prep schools to find their pass ratio drop significantly after the introduction of a Univ of Durham CEM exam although the pass rate for the traditional Independent 11+ exams tends to stay the same.
I know in B/Ham both Hallfield and Westhouse (Edgbaston Prep Schools) experienced a significant drop in the pass rate for B/Ham KE Grammars when they first introduced the new test format about 4 years ago. Their pass rate for KES and KEHS (Independent) stayed about the same.
Some would argue that the format was achieving it's goals of levelling the playing field!
I know in B/Ham both Hallfield and Westhouse (Edgbaston Prep Schools) experienced a significant drop in the pass rate for B/Ham KE Grammars when they first introduced the new test format about 4 years ago. Their pass rate for KES and KEHS (Independent) stayed about the same.
Some would argue that the format was achieving it's goals of levelling the playing field!
stratford schools
I was not actually complaining about private schools losing their supposed advantage. DS is at a good state primary and the change of format of the 11+ exam looks likely to save the Magwich family enough money for at least 4 good holidays each year!!
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My son attends a good state primary school and as I said before, 9 out of 16 who did the 11 plus passed - and some of whom were not even tutored[/quote]
I agree - again this is based on gossip, but children from one of the local independent prep schools (the one that advertises their scholarship and 11 plus passes) were very upset at the exams, complaining that it was totally nothing like what they were taught to do.The Prep schools have inflated their results beyond the real ability of their students by spending one hour a week or more from Year 4 (or earlier) on preparing for a now defunct verbal reasoning exam. This year, that turned out to be time that could have been better spent on proper learning, and there has been a correction. Some of the state schools near me have also built a reputation for getting children through the 11 plus and become very popular on that reputation. They have also been hit.
As far as I know, my son's school had a 100% success rate of the children who entered (although that was proportionately very few of those in his year). There is a lot of hype on this forum about how poor the state sector is (not least from your good self!) and I have to say I sort of believed that hype and had serious doubts about whether I should be putting my son through the exam. On the other hand, it didn't square with my experience. At both schools my son attended (First and Middle), the teaching was mostly good and sometimes inspirational and they kept telling me my son was working at a very high level and they seemed to take every opportunity to push him and help him achieve his potential. I feel their advice and approach was vindicated by his result. I feel sorry that there were many others in his year working close to his level but were not entered, as many of them could have qualified. (I also feel a little guilty that I am rewarding the fantastic skill and dedication of the teachers by jumping ship!)
My son attends a good state primary school and as I said before, 9 out of 16 who did the 11 plus passed - and some of whom were not even tutored[/quote]
