11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi every1,

We recieved a call from my ds school today saying that the gs (in brum) he got into want to do a pre entry day for us both sometime in May/June. Apparently we will both stay for the entire school day. Has anyone ever had a previous experience of such a day or what its about. When i pushed the primary teacher for information he just said it could possibly be due to his condition and his not really sure. ( adhd and on spectrum)

Its made me a little nervous, I would hate to have to change schools in june for whatever reason. If ther is a problem would they not deal with it quicker rather then in a few months. Mayb this is normal for a senco child ? Anybody have any info, thoughts please...

I think this is a positive thing. Often secondary school invite children who may find the secondary transition more difficult than other in before hand. I know a boy at my son's school who went in regularly, with a group of others, the term before so he would be familiar with the school when he started. I would ring the new school and ask.

Hi I know that a friend of my DS who has aspergers was offered several visits to his new secondary school. He and his family were happy for this to happen. I think the first time he was allowed to have a parent with him and then he was encouraged to spend the day with the school support staff. I think it shows an awareness that children with asd often struggle with change and so giving more time for the transition.

If the reason of the meeting is due to getting ds integrated into the school then i would be very happy indeed. It did cross my mind that mayb the school were looking for a way to get ds out of his gs place once they found out about his condition.

If your DS passed the test and has had a place offered I cannot see how they could prevent him taking up the place. Have you been to see the SENCO at the school to ensure they know how to support your DS? I would hope that there is good communication between the primary and secondary but I would still be wanting to get a feel for the level of support available and these visits will allow that to happen. Perhaps they will give you a chance to meet with key staff and you can find out how they plan to meet your DS's needs. You may also be able to give them some insights into strategies that are useful to support your ds in particular situations.

I will get in touch with the senco teacher from the primary school and see what she knows. When we last spoke some months ago she said she would get in touch with the school he gets an offor at to try and do a smoth changeover.

We flagged up our ds' adhd before the test and he had a quiet room (big mistake!) and that has been it so far. An occupational therapist will apparently telephone the school before September to discuss his transition, but as far as I'm aware, that's it. I've not heard of it before. Perhaps they are just being welcoming.

I spoke to our senco teacher who doesnt have any info on it, she said if she finds out anything she will let me know. We will wait and see.

Stressed?Moi? wrote:We flagged up our ds' adhd before the test and he had a quiet room (big mistake!) and that has been it so far. An occupational therapist will apparently telephone the school before September to discuss his transition, but as far as I'm aware, that's it. I've not heard of it before. Perhaps they are just being welcoming.

Why was it a big mistake?

He was put in a room with two other adhd boys, one of whom kicked off during the exam and had to be bundled out of the room shouting. From what I can make out, he realised he had gotten antonyms and synonyms around the wrong way and got very frustrated. Naively I had thought ds would be in a room on his own, I hadn't thought that they would have put more than one adhd kid together. Ds said it was so noisy as they all (him included of course!) just fidgeted and shuffled their way through the exam. DS said that he just couldn't concentrate after the boy went and it just kept churning over in his mind and he was worried about how the lad was going to get on. Luckily ds held it together though and he's going to the GS he wanted, so we've got a happy ending. The lad who was removed from the room was given an extra 15 minutes to finish the exam and also got a place. If we had our time over, we would definitely have just asked for ds to be in with the main exam room, sat at the front of the room facing the front.

Sorry adhdad, back to your post.