Council staff secretly recommending 11plus private tutoring

[crashtestdummy]

Mystery: I am in Kent. The council official concerned was speaking informally.

[mystery]

Ah OK. What they said was in part right - but certainly not all indies in Kent do tutor specifically for the Kent 11plus - one not far from us does not. They advise you to get a tutor!

I must don't think that the answer is primary schools should spend time practising the practice papers. They should spend time giving all children the best education they can -- that's as far as a school can ever go in levelling playing fields. It's very hard to level muddy playing fields.

[magwich2]

Well I don't think any of this is anything new - I remember being given endless practice papers for the 11+ in Eastbourne 30+ years ago. My father was an electrician and one of his many moonlighting jobs was for the Head of the local secondary-modern. Part payment for his new shower was in old 11+ papers!
Our neighbour was a junior school teacher and paid for her annual holiday to Australia by tutoring for the exam.
In fact none of ours needed that much tutoring - its more important to have a good education at junior school and to practice a few papers so that nothing is a great surprise. If your child needs hours and hours a week over several years then that is a problem and they will probably struggle at a grammar school.

[Guest55]

East Sussex went comprehensive in 1978 .. a bit more than 30 years Magwich2

[yoyo123]

I took my 11+ in Gloucestershire in 1968. No prep, we had one go at the papers, we were told they were new for that year (VR with hindsight), next day we trooped into the dining hall and did the paper . I loved it , it was like puzzles!


(I came joint first in the school )

Each year the A stream ( 40) and some of the B stream passed..

Rowanfield Juniors btw!

[Amber]

Rowanfield Juniors btw!

Sadly, I doubt that any child from that school has actually even sat the 11plus since Gloucestershire became superselective Yoyo, let alone passed it.

[kk dad]

[quote="magwich2"]
"If your child needs hours and hours a week over several years then that is a problem and they will probably struggle at a grammar school.".

Don't agree with this statement. I know I spent many hours with my dd prior to her eleven plus and she was successful in getting a grammar school place. I'm pretty certain had I not spent that time coaching her she would not have got in. Once in, I spent no time with her whatsoever, yet here she is thriving and excelling in her peer group.

[yoyo123]

Rowanfield Juniors btw!

Sadly, I doubt that any child from that school has actually even sat the 11plus since Gloucestershire became superselective Yoyo, let alone passed it.

Oh what a pity , the head of Rowanfield and the head of Dunalley were great rivals and competed as to who had highest pass rate each year

[Kingfisher]

"If your child needs hours and hours a week over several years then that is a problem and they will probably struggle at a grammar school.".

Don't agree with this statement. I know I spent many hours with my dd prior to her eleven plus and she was successful in getting a grammar school place. I'm pretty certain had I not spent that time coaching her she would not have got in. Once in, I spent no time with her whatsoever, yet here she is thriving and excelling in her peer group.

Of course there are exceptions, kk dad, but magwitch wrote 'probably' in the posting and this is certainly my experience. In DD's super selective indie, there are students who come into this category who are not coping with the academic rigour and are struggling across the board, way below the standard of everyone else. On the other hand, there are those who fly because their natural ability is far above everyone else.

Exceptions, exceptions!

[kk dad]

But that would imply my dd is an exception and I just don't get the sense that is the case.

By and large, the majority of her fellow pupils were tutored or coached one way or another to get in, and if i rely on what my dd tells me, it was alot. Most have adapted and cope with the pace of learning with the exception of one or two and this is reflected in each of classes in her year group.

I'm not yet convinced by the argument that children who receive significant tutoring but pass the eleven plus will 'probably' struggle. Obviously some will, but I think they are the exception as opposed to the other way round.