Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam today

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anansiathespider
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 11:37 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by anansiathespider »

The room mine was in received a 2 minute warning only.

I do agree that there should have been consistency in instructions between the rooms, but I'm not going to make a complaint about it. After standing in front of someone in the queue who commented (to one of the umpteen family members that they'd brought to accompany one child) about the parking provision and went on to reel off the parking arrangements of multiple exam centres and school entrance exams, I feel utterly defeated by the whole process.
anansiathespider
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 11:37 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by anansiathespider »

Sorry, and was at the back and couldn't see the clock.
daddyshah
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:01 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by daddyshah »

There needs to be consistency when administering examinations. I would suggest a formal letter to the school head teacher and governing body, highlighting the particular problems faced by your child in this regard and pointing out alleged inconsistencies in their exam administration process. It is incredibly frustrating for a child not to be able to gauge the timing and not having the invigilators announcing the remaining time at regular intervals. It is important that the school is aware of such deficiencies and must act to address these at the earliest.
loobylou
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Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by loobylou »

anansiathespider wrote:The room mine was in received a 2 minute warning only.

I do agree that there should have been consistency in instructions between the rooms, but I'm not going to make a complaint about it. After standing in front of someone in the queue who commented (to one of the umpteen family members that they'd brought to accompany one child) about the parking provision and went on to reel off the parking arrangements of multiple exam centres and school entrance exams, I feel utterly defeated by the whole process.
Anansiathespider, don't lose heart. Latymer was by far the most daunting of the exams my dd attended - huge numbers of people, so many families coming with their children, such chaos - but she did OK. I am sure Latymer will have learned from this year's experience and call back a sensible number of children for round 2. All the best for your dc.
anansiathespider
Posts: 82
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 11:37 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by anansiathespider »

Thanks loobylou, that's kind of you to reply.

The sheer numbers were overwhelming and being aware that this was only one sixth of entrants. I was also shocked by the number of people who drove, despite being asked to use public transport if possible (I appreciate that some people can't use public transport, but half the sports pitch was covered with cars) and also how many people treated it as some sort of extended family outing! The impact on Latymer is phenomenal - they have to hire portaloos etc to accommodate the sheer numbers.

We're having a week off this week as end of term, then going to start looking at English. That actually won't be too much of a chore over the summer, as we both like it.

I once again got hopelessly confused in the forum shop. Is anyone able to point me in the direction of some useful books please?
Trakka
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2016 8:32 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by Trakka »

Good luck anansiathespider. I really hope it works out for you and your DC.

The recommended practice materials on this site for Latymer look to be the same as HBS:

https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schoo ... tta-barnet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hopefully someone will be along to confirm this!
Daogroupie
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Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by Daogroupie »

Are these extra family members actually being allowed to come onto the premises?

Latymer will not be able to increase the amount of students they are taking through as they have already published the number on their website as part of their admissions critieria. DG
streathammum
Posts: 1252
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:02 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by streathammum »

That would be unusual. When my son took the test in Sutton, parents had to say goodbye to the kids at the gates and no parking or toilet provision was offered at all.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by ToadMum »

streathammum wrote:That would be unusual. When my son took the test in Sutton, parents had to say goodbye to the kids at the gates and no parking or toilet provision was offered at all.
Presumably the toilets were for the children, not the accompanying adults? It seems odd that they would need extra toilets to cope with successive catches of a sixth of the total expected to take the test, though. How do they cope with their own students during the school day?
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
streathammum
Posts: 1252
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:02 pm

Re: Poor clock provision and time warnings at Latymer exam t

Post by streathammum »

Oh, I assumed that the children could use the school toilets, so the toilets must have been for adult - maybe it doesn't work with the layout of the school somehow?

Absolutely no reason to allow parking on the school field though, unless they're charging a fee.
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