11+ failure

Eleven Plus (11+) in Kent

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supermum

11+ failure

Post by supermum »

just had my son's 11+ results and he failed with a score of 455,he needed 519 t0 pass.now does anyone have any advice for me as i embark on the review/appeal?his elder brother passed his and is at RMGS and i wanted my younger son to go there too.
Sympathetic parent

Post by Sympathetic parent »

Before you embark on a appeal, you should be honest about what would be best for your son. He's quite a way from the pass mark (which will be based on how that year's cohort performed). Did everyone's jaw drop (yours/the teachers', etc.) when they heard about the result as he's consistently one of the top performers in the class; or is he an able, above average pupil but not as high-achieving as his brother.

Parents wanting one child to follow another is not enough. An appeal may make your son feel like he's disappointed you. We have two daughters and were put in the same situation as yourselves with the youngest. We tried to downplay it. She seemed to forget about it quite quickly is now in a good comp which she loves.

If you have a good alternative school where your second son could thrive, why not let him go there out of his brother's shadow? Emphasise the talents he has that the 11+ DID NOT test, and move on. If on the other hand he is genuinely a high flyer who underperformed significantly on the day or the alternative schooling is not acceptable, then you've nothing to lose from an appeal.
supermum

Post by supermum »

that's probably good advice however our local comp has a bad reputation and i certainly don't want him going there
Sympathetic parent

Post by Sympathetic parent »

That's a shame about your local comp. They do vary so much.

I'm not sure what we would have done in your position for our youngest daughter. I guess we would have taken another very hard look at the comp (looking specifically at how they do with the TOP 25% of students), appealed anyway without telling our daughter and looked gingerly at private alternatives.

It's hard not to think 'what more could we have done'. But it's not anyone's fault and now your only duty is to think 'what more can we do'.

Good luck.
Concerned Father.

A Comp or not a comp

Post by Concerned Father. »

Could you help me on how you judge the local 'comp'? Is it a comprehensive or a secondary school? What are your fears regarding your child going there? How have you informed yourself about the local schools? What information are they offering you?
Sympathetic parent

Post by Sympathetic parent »

Regarding results, I believe you need to get the detailed results from the prospectus/website of the comp and the grammar. It's no use knowing the raw fact that the selective grammar achieves 98% 5A-Cs at GCSE and the comp 41%. This tells you nothing as the selective takes the top 25% of the ability range only and the comp includes children who have severe learning difficulties.

Once you have the detailed results broken down into grades and subjects, take the TOP 25% ONLY of the comp results and then compare this to the complete grammar results. I believe this is a better way of trying to judge what an individual child will achieve. Look also at the trends.

Regarding atmosphere, discipline, etc. this is harder to judge. Perhaps try to talk to some current parents you know and respect and find out what they think before judging the whole school on a few rowdy pupils in hoodies you may see in town. And pop into reception on some flimsy excuse during break time to eye up the behaviour!

This is what we did. Does it help?
Teresa

Post by Teresa »

Can i just say i have two children in grammar schools one girl one boy and a son who goes to a secondary school which is said to be in a deprived area ,and as such only gets about 35% getting 5 a-c grade
G C S Es.
I am pleasently suprised with how well my son is doing,he always works hard and the teachers say he is a pleasure to teach,i`m expecting him to do as well as my other two,i think if you have a child who wants to learn they will do well .
The school isn`t perfect and some of the behavior isn`t great,but neither is it at my son or daughters grammar schools,but the teachers show a great deal of enthusiasm for him to do well,so im sure he will.
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