New to 11+ - HELP

Eleven Plus (11+) in Warwickshire

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crabbejo
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:45 pm
Location: Scotland

New to 11+ - HELP

Post by crabbejo »

Hi

We are moving to England soon and have just found out my daughter will have to sit an 11+ exam soon after we arrive. This system doesn't exist in Scotland, can anyone offer any advice? Should we be revising the topics/tests with her? Found some past papers on Amazon, are they worth buying? Are the grammar schools much better than the comps?

thanks in advance
crabbejo
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:45 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by crabbejo »

c'mon guys, 100 views and no-one's got any advice to offer?
Ed's mum
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Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:47 am
Location: Warwickshire.

Post by Ed's mum »

Welcome to the forum crabbejo.
Can you give a few more details please...

Is your daughter going to be sitting the test THIS October? Is she registered for the test? Which part of Warwickshire are you moving to? Which schools are you referring to that are non grammar - so that we can give you information about them.

Certainly in the Rugby area many of the schools are very good whether grammar or not. There are others who frequent the Warks section who live in other parts of Warks who might be able to help you too.

Rest assured that we will help you if we can.
crabbejo
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:45 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by crabbejo »

Ed's mum wrote:Welcome to the forum crabbejo.
Can you give a few more details please...

Is your daughter going to be sitting the test THIS October? Is she registered for the test? Which part of Warwickshire are you moving to? Which schools are you referring to that are non grammar - so that we can give you information about them.

Certainly in the Rugby area many of the schools are very good whether grammar or not. There are others who frequent the Warks section who live in other parts of Warks who might be able to help you too.

Rest assured that we will help you if we can.
cheers Ed's mum :)

It's Rugby we're moving to. We have enrolled our daughter (and younger son) in Henry Hyde school, but have only just found out that she should already have been registered for the 11+ and would be due to sit it the wekend we arrive (I think).

So obviously we have not done any prep work with her yet and tbh we're not even sure what areas to be looking at etc as we're new to this system. I've found a few example papers and I think she'll be OK with the maths and english parts as she's generally a bright girl, but the VR + NVR parts don't really look like anything they've done in their current school. If you are saying the comprehensive's in Rugby are good schools as well, then that's not so bad, but again, we don't know anything about the high schools in the area. I was just really worried that this was going to be a massive disadvantage to her and that we are landing her in this situation which she isn't ready for.
fed up
Posts: 160
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:55 pm

Post by fed up »

You would have to check with WCC but I think that since you didn't register your daughter by July 17th 2009 she now counts as a late entry, which means however well she does she won't get offered a grammar school place in the first round of offers. This does reduce her chances of getting in.
Rugbymum
Posts: 349
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:05 pm

Post by Rugbymum »

I would agree about contacting WCC ASAP. I think you need to provide your choices for secondary schools very soon - if you have missed the open evenings, you can ring up the schools for private viewings.

In the Rugby area there are three grammars available to those who pass the 11 + for East Warwickshire - Rugby High for girls, Lawrence Sherriff for boys and Ashlawn has a selective/grammar stream.

If your child is at Henry Hinde, the nearest secondary school is Bilton School. Depending on your catchment area, other local schools are Avon Valley and Ashlawn School (this is very popular so if you want to get in the non selective part, you need to live in the Hillmorton/Dunchurch area).

There is also Harris School which is a Church school and therefore does not have a catchment.

With regards to practising for the 11 plus, have a look at the relevant threads in this section.

Good luck 8)
Charlotte67
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Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:59 am
Location: Cloud 9

Post by Charlotte67 »

Hi crabbejo,

Rugbymum has summed it up really. All of the schools in Rugby are above average but some are better than others...

If your children do not go to the grammars then you may (if you are provably religious and/or live in the right location) have a choice between your local (priority area) school and Harris (or Trinity in Leamington, if Catholic).

If you still have a choice of where to live, then the prevailing school of thought is to choose somewhere within Ashlawn's priorty area. Not right on the boundary though as your child/ren still might not get a place. Check out the WCC website for school priority areas (Eastern Area).

Ashlawn is big school, and some parents don't like the idea of it, however, the children soon get used to the size (both numbers and area) and seem to thrive on it. Interestingly, they have only 3 lessons per day, allegedly, in part to limit the time spent walking between buildings.

All of the non-grammar schools set by ability very early on; necessary as they have a huge range of abilities. These schools do have a fair number of bright children who do very well at GCSE (and A level at Ashlawn).

Rugby is a town with small pockets of socially disadvantaged families which are widely spread. All schools have their share of difficulties, but the reputations of some are better than others...

I understand that Bilton School is headless at the moment and has been encountering problems with a small but significant number of children.

In my opinion it is invaluable to ask for the views of parents with children at the school/s.

It seems to me that the specialisms held by the schools are irrelevant - it is not necessary to send a child to Harris just because he/she enjoys sport. There are equal sporting opportunities at all schools. Ditto, Avon Valley/Performing Arts.

My observations when doing the rounds a couple of years ago? I won't go into results as you can find those out for yourself - just the gut feeling. We only viewed Rugby High, Ashlawn & Harris.

Loved Ashlawn - very welcoming, organised & enthusiastic. Our favourite

Hated Harris - Found the building depressing & didn't like the atmosphere

Didn't know what to think about Rugby High - it looked like an art gallery & had such a feeling of priviledge (having visited the others), that my long forgotten lefty tendencies began to resurface.

Good luck!

Charlotte
crabbejo
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:45 pm
Location: Scotland

Post by crabbejo »

thanks for all the help charlotte, rugby mum et al

Didn't realise how much went into this in England :shock: In Scotland, kids just go to their nearest high school, unless you want to pay for private.

Seems like we are coming down at just the wrong time and have kinda missed the boat. Think the best thing to do is try and get some visits arranged if possible and ask other parents locally their opinions. She is a bright girl, so hopefully with the right support she will thrive even if she doesn't manage to pass the 11+

thanks again everyone
Rugbymum
Posts: 349
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2007 12:05 pm

Post by Rugbymum »

Charlotte67 - how interesting to hear your thoughts re the various schools you visited :D

We've looked around Bilton, Harris, Rugby High and Lawrence Sheriff (all except LS were open evenings).

Thought Bilton to be actually far better than our expectations (which were low). At Harris we found the atmosphere warm and friendly and their pupils were the nicest we met, they now have a new head so things are changing and hopefully their exam results will improve. We all fell in love with LS and my son especially found it very exciting. As for Rugby High, we were disappointed with their open evening - I know its an excellent school but we were expecting to be inspired like we were at LS.
Ed's mum
Posts: 3310
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:47 am
Location: Warwickshire.

Post by Ed's mum »

I agree with you about Rugby High School Rugbymum.

In NO way am I doubting what they offer or the results they get etc etc. However, I too was disappointed with the open day (this year) and it certainly did not stand out as LSS had the year before. I felt that the Head's speech lacked passion and did not 'sell' the school to me at all.

I truly do not mean to cause any offence as I am an Old Girl (and feeling it today!) of the school and I know how fab it actually is. I certainly would be happy to send my daughter there, despite the open day.

Crabbejo, please do continue to post and update us so that we can help you in any way that we can.
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