Suited to grammar??

[Tinkers]

DD is maths orientated as well, again another one with a much high NVR score compared to VR. She 'just' sees patterns.

Years of mental maths practise at primary mean she is still reluctant to show working. I'm trying to drum into her to show working so she can prove she knows what to do even if she makes a slip up.

[kenyancowgirl]

eal238 - just to be clear, it sounds like you are talking about a private or independent school, not a local grammar school? It may be that the school is local to you, and is called a grammar school but if you are being interviewed etc then I suspect it is fee paying as opposed to the local grammars here which are state schools, therefore an entrance test is the only decider! It doesn't make any odds to what you have said about statistically boys are often seen to be more mathematical and often prefer the subject however - I think it may be to do with the logical nature of maths and boys brains vs the general emotional nature of creative writing and girls brains!

[eal238]

Sorry, yes, my son is sitting for a fee paying grammar (but the OPs titles asks about being suited to grammar? I thought a grammar is a grammar is a grammar regardless of where in the country or whether it's fee paying, so I apologise if I have been naiev in my interpretation), but what I was trying to say is exactly what you have just said (I did edit accordingly, to clear up), that boys seem to be wired for maths from a nature perspective, even before nurture has a chance to play a part. It stands to reason, if you have a natural affinity to something, an edge, that you would come to love it because you had an aptitude for it.

[parent2013]

I couldn't stop smiling when I saw this thread. It is a very common problem with boys. Most of them are:
Excellent/good at numbers
Good/Average at comprehension
Below average (Terrible) when it comes to creative writing.

It is not that they can't write, I think it is that they are not taught to think differently (i.e. creative). My theory is that they have a switch inside a body that needs to be switched on. We managed to do it ....somehow. DS was able to write 2 pages of crisp writing in Olave's (and Kent, Wilson) without any issues and got "likely". I will therefore say that boys do have the potential but you need to give them the right tools, framework and methodology. Having said that, I don't expect that to be provided by local state school.

[kenyancowgirl]

eal238: Sorry, yes, my son is sitting for a fee paying grammar (but the OPs titles asks about being suited to grammar? I thought a grammar is a grammar is a grammar regardless of where in the country or whether it's fee paying,

No - not really - fee paying grammars may well have been grammar schools in the old days, but are different from the state grammars that still exist in some areas of the country. In your case (did I see elsewhere that you are in the North East?) it is really a name. Effectively a fee paying school is that - it needs parents to pay to get bums on seats, it may have a selective entrance test to get in, but the actual standard can vary tremendously particularly those who are borderline passes - I genuinely am not trying to diss your child's achievement here, just trying to make a distinction as I see it - the state grammars are selective also - you pass an entrance test for a few number of places, so have to be in the top x to get a place and, as they are free but usually offer an outstanding rated education, even the just passes are very high level passes. Super selectives are state grammars with even smaller numbers requiring the child to be in the top say 100 (on the day of the test) in the county (of the children who took the test). I'm not an advocate of selective education, be it grammar or independent but would probably be able to argue a fairly effective case that it is generally harder to get into a state grammar than it is to find an independent place - not least because so few state grammars actually exist any more but there are many many fee paying schools! Mind you, as many on here will know, I could argue black is white if I had to!!

[eal238]

No offence taken :] I actually have no idea if my son was a borderline pass whatsoever, or what his exam results were, I just know approximately 300 sat the exam, 100 are interviewed and are competing for one of 75 places - this is my first foray into the world of private education. I do know, however, that the RGS in Newcastle is one most outstanding schools in the North-East, even if only grammar by name.

I had no idea the education system was such a minefield down south, as opposed to up here - I just thought it was a comprehensive system everywhere - again, I apologise for my naivety. Thank god I live up here is all I can say!

[Daogroupie]

6 text papers, 2 in Maths, English and VR would not get you anywhere near the super selectives in my area. It is a long hard graft against thousands of other applicants. The students who this week are opening letters and emails offering them scholarship tests and interviews have worked like dogs all over the summer, last term and Christmas. Natural ability just does not cut it when everyone else is working every day and getting further and further ahead. Some students took a long break over Xmas and it has cost them dear as others worked every day. I don't see any posters on the Habs. Merchant Taylors, St Albans and North London Consortium threads posting that their students got through on natural ability I do see those who worked hard and still did not get through not really understanding what went wrong. The reality is daily graft and those students will now thrive in secondary school because they have the work ethos of trying hard for something they really want. So in my opinion being suited to grammar is being prepared to work for it while others watch TV , post on social media and hang around the shops. DG

[eal238]

Changed my mind.

Futile.

[kenyancowgirl]

eal238 - I wish it was a comprehensive system everywhere - and a good one at that! That would forego the need for grammar schools, state or private! Alas it appears pigs may fly first! DAO is right in that the numbers for the grammars down here probably relate to being a ratio of 1:15 places per applicants (my son's GS has 80 places and about 1200 applicants) although for the equivalent private school the RGS numbers seem familiar. But well done to your son and good luck for the interview - is he scholarshipping (I know, not a word, but it really OUGHT to be one!) as well? Do let us know how he gets on!

[Immortal Dreams]

6 text papers, 2 in Maths, English and VR would not get you anywhere near the super selectives in my area. It is a long hard graft against thousands of other applicants. The students who this week are opening letters and emails offering them scholarship tests and interviews have worked like dogs all over the summer, last term and Christmas. Natural ability just does not cut it when everyone else is working every day and getting further and further ahead. Some students took a long break over Xmas and it has cost them dear as others worked every day.

Whilst I can see your point, I don't think this is the case. I did 3-4 test papers in the summer and maybe half a bond book my friend recommended over christmas and I am now in a very highly ranked super-selective indie (I would rather not say which one). With indies the interview is designed to weed out those who would not keep up with the high standard of work in that school. Even the papers have some "trick questions" you cannot learn from past papers, tutors or other 11 plus teaching materials. Hard work is extremely important but it cannot do everything.

However, I digress from the OP. I feel that whether or not your son likes certain subjects I don't think matters, people learn to love things and schools accept one cannot excel at everything. And besides, as DG said:

The reality is daily graft and those students will now thrive in secondary school because they have the work ethos of trying hard for something they really want... DG

Work may not do everything, but it does help! If your DC finds a subject difficult, even 10min a day or 30 min a week can help. Eal238 - it may not be futile! Best of luck