Tutor has gone on holiday!

Eleven Plus (11+) in Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Wrekin

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

brummum
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:48 pm

Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by brummum »

Hello

This isn't a question, just a bit of a rant :!:

I've posted about my son's tutor before - now out of the blue she tells me she can't see him this coming week as she's going on holiday - 3 weeks before the exam.

I'm so annoyed :x

There's a mom at our school who tutors, she took my son for an assessment session a few weeks ago - I'm just hoping she can fit him in this week.

Surely if someone is being paid to tutor a child specifically for the 11+, they could wait another couple of weeks for their holiday :!:
moved
Posts: 3826
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by moved »

Personally I think this is bad form. The 11+ is not far away. What warning did your tutor give you? If none, then go with the mother at school and trust yourself for the last couple of weeks.

From a personal point of view I am unwell but I still work full time and teach all of my 11+ pupils so I find it difficult to understand a holiday now. I always advise families against a holiday this halftem when their children have exams.
no_ball

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by no_ball »

personally speaking, we are taking DS away this half term. All this talk of exams and preparations etc...can lead to burn out. If the foundations are sound, then the rest should fall into place at this very late stage.
brummum
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:48 pm

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by brummum »

Actually she's done this quite a few times - "can't see him next week, going to the dentist" - that kind of thing. She's visiting family up North apparently.

I don't think she really 'teaching' him anything now, just timing papers - nothing I can't do at home - if I can get the toddlers out of the way :)

Like you say no_ball, if the ground work has been done he should be okay - if he doesn't know it by now, then its a bit too late.

We are going to spend half-term week doing papers, but not going over-the-top, just to get him used to the timing factor.

Be glad when it over to be honest.

Can you find out it your child has passed or failed before they allocate the schools, or do you have to wait till you get the email/letter next year?
serialtester
Posts: 123
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:36 pm

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by serialtester »

Sadly it's a bit chicken and egg, 'they' can't know if your child has passed/failed until the allocations have been done. There is no cut off score and the system has to work through preferences etc... so you don't know until you get your offer.
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by mike1880 »

As far as I remember the timetable, "they" know in most cases by mid-December IIRC - i.e. they've had the scores back, done the ranking and produced the initial view of allocations. But there's no right under DPA/FOI for anyone to see exam results before they're published - which in this case means 1st March.

Mike
serialtester
Posts: 123
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:36 pm

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by serialtester »

mike1880 wrote:As far as I remember the timetable, "they" know in most cases by mid-December IIRC - i.e. they've had the scores back, done the ranking and produced the initial view of allocations. But there's no right under DPA/FOI for anyone to see exam results before they're published - which in this case means 1st March.

Mike
Do they?! The swines!!
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by KenR »

Hi Mike and Serialtester
As far as I remember the timetable, "they" know in most cases by mid-December IIRC - i.e. they've had the scores back, done the ranking and produced the initial view of allocations. But there's no right under DPA/FOI for anyone to see exam results before they're published - which in this case means 1st March.
Don't think that is quite correct - Out of country complicates things significantly.

I worked on a proposal a few years ago for some new school IT infrastructure for Calderdale (which has grammar schools) and as part of the tender they issued the full workflow process required in order to allocate each child to a school. I recall this went on well into Jan and even February for borderline candidates as you have to integrate out of county preferences and late admissions which the grammar local authority won't have directly access to on their databases. I believe there were at least 3 information transfers and exchanges all of which could have resulted in LEA candidates being promoted into a grammar school offer (due to withdrawal) or demoted from a provisional offer(due to a late change)
brummum
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 1:48 pm

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by brummum »

I think its a shame you can't get an early indication of a pass or fail.

Yes he's passed - now wait and see if you get a grammar place

or

No he's failed - now forget grammar and go and put the best possible spin on the local comp
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: Tutor has gone on holiday!

Post by mike1880 »

brummum wrote:I think its a shame you can't get an early indication of a pass or fail.
The Admissions Code says you "should" be given your results before you have to fill in the CAF. I think it's probably worth someone having a really serious attack on this when next year's admissions policy comes up for consultation, taking it to the Schools Adjudicator if there's any indication that CEM could get results back within a week from a test in (say) 2nd weekend in Oct (i.e. same as Gloucs).
KenR wrote:Don't think that is quite correct - Out of country complicates things significantly.
Making offers takes that long, but test results are through quite quickly. As far as I remember the timetable, the LEAs exchange information about school rankings (all schools, not just GSs) mid-December (i.e. they've already had scores and the schools have received their list of applicants, ranked it and returned it to the LEA), and they use that to work out who they expect to make offers to. The LEAs exchange offers data about the third week in Jan, and all offers are finalised in mid-Feb when they notify parents of children with statements which school they intend to name. That's a very simplified view, obviously!

Mike
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now