The 2008 model typical 11 plus parent

Lassie · Post by **Lassie** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 4:46 pm

Has made a list of where all the children in their dc's class will be going in year 7 and, of course, their child has the top place. Makes comments about who can afford private education, how much more individual children have been tutored in comparison to theirs and reads what is right for their child in every admissions criteria. They quiz other children about what schools they have selected, what their results are and make statements such as "Oh well never mind, your sister is obviously brighter than you!"

I have been through this system 3 times now and I have met this person this year in the playground and all I can say is thank God I have no more children!

Snowdrops · Post by **Snowdrops** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 5:43 pm

Was that you I was speaking to the other day then

Seriously, I KNOW what you mean!!!!

I'm sure glad this is my last one going through the system too.

Ed's mum · Post by **Ed's mum** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:23 am

...and they either look amazed when you tell them that you are not paying for a tutor, and tell you that you are the ONLY person they know who isn't using one...

...or, they drop the mention of a tutor into the conversation, about two weeks before the test, and let you know that DD or DS has been attending one since within the womb (but of course they keep that info secret until the very last minute!)...

huntlie · Post by **huntlie** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:05 pm

You forgot to add the most frequent, at least in our area - the one you never see at the gates of your child's primary, because her child is at private prep. But you see them all right on entrance exam day, flocking around in their uniforms (from the one luxury supplier only of course)!

T.i.p.s.y · Post by **T.i.p.s.y** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:14 pm

Do I sense some antagonism here?

Ed's mum · Post by **Ed's mum** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:38 pm

Huntlie, I gather from another post that you are rather anti prep school. I am afraid I do not share your view on this. We are ALL trying to give our children the best education that we possibly can. Who am I to say that what one set of parents choose to offer their child is better/worse/more advantageous/more unfair than another.

As long as I was not breaking any laws, I would do anything I could for my child. If I felt that my children needed to attend a prep school then I would have sent them there. Unfortunately I could not afford to and did not perceive a need to . However, I did uproot them from their small village primary to send them miles away to a larger, in my eyes BETTER school, to help them obtain a place at a good school post primary. Many people could not have done that - you need a car, time etc to commute to a school in a different county. In some peoples' eyes, what I did was perhaps not the done thing...

I think that we need to be careful that we don't judge others simply because they have taken their child's education, and the mad scramble for a 'good school' to the level beyond which WE would go.

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:27 pm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/se ... laces.html

Interesting!!

sj355 · Post by **sj355** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:42 pm

Guest55 wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/se ... laces.html

Interesting!!

Indeed! However Professor Jesson losses the plot when he argues:

Private schools are not required to follow the national curriculum and are therefore free to coach for grammar school entry tests - one reason why parents choose these schools in the first place," said Prof Jesson. "The contrast with pupils in state primary schools could hardly be sharper. These pupils have, by law, to follow the national curriculum and any coaching would have to take place outside of school and at substantial additional expense."

The latter approach is definitely extremely cheaper than attending a private primary school!

SunlampVexesEel · Post by **SunlampVexesEel** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:14 pm

...and goes on about the standardisation process being unfair and how DS/DD had to do extra well to overcome the unfair advantage being given to summer born children...

SunlampVexesEel · Post by **SunlampVexesEel** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 3:39 pm

Guest55 wrote:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/se ... laces.html

Is there evidence that preparation for 11+ skews the ability to pass the test? I would be really interested to see if anyone has studied the raw IQ (if there is such a thing that is not biased) of a group and then observed their performance with/without tutoring/preparation.

I would be very interested to know how easy/hard it is to take an average (100) child and get them to achieve 125 in the 11+. i.e. How corrupt is the testing regime as a whole.

As for prep school/tutoring... you can't blame the individuals... it's the system wots broke.

Regards
SVE