seer green failure

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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yummy mummy

seer green failure

Post by yummy mummy »

only five pupils passed 11 plus this year, is this considered a failure and would you use this school !?
any recommendations for new schools, willing to move in chiltern area.
JuliaB
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:31 pm

Post by JuliaB »

How many in the year group? What proportion sat the 11+?

Our school had 4 pass out of 30. Another local school had 14 out of 90, another had 6 pass out of 48. Broadly similar wouldn't you agree?!

A friend of mine - her son did 11+ and passed two years ago while at a prep school. There was one other boy who did the same. There were 40 in the year group, but only two did the exam. You could argue that the school has a 100% success rate in 11+!!!!!

JuliaB
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear Yummy Mummy

As the Bucks 11 plus has very little to do with the national curriculum, the amount of passes is NOT an indication of a 'good or bad school'

There are many arguments....

Affluent areas are more likely to have parents who can afford private tuition, in addition the parents may have the money and the knowledge to home tutor [ DIY ]

My own childrens junior school, excellent school with many good points. My daughters class over 2 thirds of the class passed [ an extremely bright cohort, the handful that went to the uppers scored highly in their GCSEs] The following years saw a marked difference in children passing down to 12, then 9 then 8.......same school, same teachers, different children.

So, your school has little bearing on the number of children passing, its more likely down to parents gathering information, using a tutor or DIYing.

Please also bear in mind that Bucks state schools are NOT allowed to coach for the 11 plus, in any shape of form. Private schooling is another matter, they have more freedom in teaching VR skills. I know of one local independent that interviews the parents of year 5 children to ascertain whether the child is going for the Berks/Bucks 11 plus OR a common entrance exam, the children are then split into classes accordingly for the teaching/coaching of the exam.

I do understand that not ALL private schools coach, the ones I know, do.

Patricia
Guest

Post by Guest »

My friends kids go there apparently year 6 is a small year group with only about 20 children in the class. About 5 children are going on to private school so I guess about 15 took the exam with 5 passing and a few getting 119 or 120 who are appealing. I guess this is about average for Bucks schools? She reckons the school is good and a couple of years ago over 50% passed - it just depends on the ability of the year group.
Jed

Post by Jed »

Average?? That's very good!

Pass rate of 33% already and probably up to 40-45% by the time a couple more get through on appeal.

Our local primary of 70 children had only 7-8 outright passes this year, yet it is towards the top of the Bucks leagues tables.

Jed
Road Runner
Posts: 410
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:32 pm

Post by Road Runner »

My sons school had 21 pass last year and I think 3 successful appeals. This year it only has about 14 or so I've heard.

Someone I spoke to yesterday said that thier sons school in Bucks has had only half the number pass this year then last year and some real shockers in that children who were really expected to pass didn't.

I remember reading on here sometime last year that it was thought that the test can be easier one year and harder the nex?

Could this be true?

My son passed last year and I don't wish to take away any credit from him (his year group at our school were particuarly bright) but could it be true does the difficulty of the test change from year to year. Or are ther less children this year which alters the average marks?

Melx
Jed

Post by Jed »

Bucks and NFER are supposed to compare tests across different years to avoid variations in difficulty affecting the pass rate. They do this using a variety of means, such as getting a sample group to take example tests which are then used for comparison with another sample the next year, and so on.

Having said this, I DO think it's getting harder for the average bright Bucks state primary child to pass. It's a statistical fact that the pass rate is much higher in private schools, and this is probably a combination of in-school coaching and out-of-school tutoring. But I'm not sure if the percentage of places in grammars going to private school children is actually increasing. My feeling is the emphasis these days on coaching must raise the bar somewhat for those who still toe the 'familiarisation is enough' line. It may be my imagination, but in our elder daughter's grammar there do seem to be more pony clubbers around in the lower school than there used to be. Someone may have some harder evidence than that!

Jed
JuliaB
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:31 pm

Post by JuliaB »

Haha I laughed at that Jed. Pony clubbers!!

JuliaB
Max

Post by Max »

Do they actually offer a "certain Percentage" of Grammar school Places to state school Kids ? I always thought it was whoever passed the eleven plus , either state or Private got the opportunity if the school has a place.

My "State School" daughter recently sat her 11+ at local grammar and we noticed quite a high percent of private school kids taking the exam on the day there.

My first reaction was we haven't got a chance here!! The competition was so high

Some parents where bringing their kids in with a cockiness about them as if they should be guarenteed a place. If they can afford to pay private for Primary why not continue and pay for secondary ???
Guest

Post by Guest »

No grammars do not allocate places according to where your primary education was based - places are granted on merit alone.

However, I agree with some things you have said. The purpose of grammars was to educate poor but bright children who would not otherwise get a decent education. How many grammar school kids does that apply to these days with competition for places being so tough with children coming from the private sector where many schools gear up to the common entrance exam or state sector children have middle class parents can affors to tutor or have a good enough education themselves to DIY. I can think of many examples of prep school kids who have also had a tutor to ensure they get the coveted free place.

Unfortunately the reality is that many prep schools cost around £3-4000 a year while at secondary level this can rocket to three times that amount. If you have more than one child to educate for many parents that means a loss of surplus cash that could otherwise be used for holidays etc. Why would any person of sound mind want to pay £12000 per year plus extras for one child when they could get an equally good education for free? I'm sure there are many parents who don't think like this but those that do could possibly tip the scales against those that sit exams because they could not ever possibly afford to use the private sector be it prep or secondary.

I shall now sit back and wait for lots of angry parents who disagree with me to reply!!
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