High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

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watford
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:37 pm

High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

Post by watford »

Hi all

Just wondering whether anyone has experience or heard of children that have done very well in the 11plus but then when in a high performing school not done as well as expected? I have this issue arisen within extended family.

Or perhaps have got into a high performing school through another route for example sibling and not academic but still done very well?
Cutting42
Posts: 186
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:06 pm

Re: High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

Post by Cutting42 »

watford wrote:Hi all

Just wondering whether anyone has experience or heard of children that have done very well in the 11plus but then when in a high performing school not done as well as expected? I have this issue arisen within extended family.

Or perhaps have got into a high performing school through another route for example sibling and not academic but still done very well?
Not so much the first but my friends twins at Ricky both got in on music and were not regarded as particularly academic. One got 5 a* and the other got 11 a* at GCSE this year and are both doing AS levels now with one heading towards medicine hopefully.
marsellusvega
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:23 pm

Re: High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

Post by marsellusvega »

The following might be something to consider

My DS is in Year 8 at QE Boys - he eventually got through on the waiting list so we were concerned he would struggle against much more capable boys and be unhappy at the bottom of the class. In fact he is in Set 1 or 2 for all subjects and doing well. One thing I have subsequently realised is that this may be because he was never formally tutored - I think many boys may have been highly tutuored to do well in the entrance test but some are now finding it less easy to cope with the school work? - some boys inevitably find themselves in the bottom of the lowest set. Of course all these boys are bright and will no doubt achieve excellent GCSE results but it does make you wonder whether their lives would be happier in a less competitive and demanding environment . Hope this helps?
braden01
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 4:13 pm

Re: High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

Post by braden01 »

I do know of some friends' children in selective schools who are very academic but are already (Yr 7) having to cancel extra-curricular activities due to large amounts of homework and tiredness. I guess it comes down to what you want for your child and whether you view only the academic side of their development as important or if you want them to have more balance. My husband (very academic) came very close to not going to university because he was just fed up with constant exams and pressure - he took a year out to go travelling and decided to continue in the end: and that was in the late 80s so suspect pressure is even higher now.
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

Post by Daogroupie »

Yes on both counts. There is getting there and what you do when you get there, two very different things.

Our school takes no account at all of how you got there and only looks at your contribution once there.

Some students are overtutored to get there and then revert to their normal level once they are in the school. We know students who were very low on the waiting list but got there in the end and outperformed many students who got a place on March 1st.

Lots of parent check out once their students are in secondary school, believing the job is done and they can relax. Then they are surprised when their students end up in the bottom sets.

I dont think it has much to do with pressure, it has everything to do with over tutoring which takes the student to a moment in time when they can perform on the day of the exam and then it is lost and they revert back to normal.

Peer pressure as well has a lot to do with it. An It group of students who think it is cool to muck around in class and do not work. Ask to get them moved if this is the case. You only need to be a table away to be able to get on with some work. DG
koala
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2010 7:34 am

Re: High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

Post by koala »

"Lots of parent check out once their students are in secondary school, believing the job is done and they can relax. Then they are surprised when their students end up in the bottom sets."

I think I am guilty of this ref their homework. But I have always encouraged them to be independent so their homework is theirs and they are not interested in any input from me. They do check the odd thing with their Dad, but very rarely. The trouble is, because he only rarely gets asked for guidance, he tends to give them a comprehensive answer to their question so they have 'checked out' by the time he has finished.

I think what I am trying to say is that we had more control over them up to about beginning of year 7. They are no longer interested in our suggestions for how their work might be improved. Are we alone?

Koala
Reading Mum
Posts: 1841
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
Location: Reading

Re: High mark on entrance but cannot cope with pressure?

Post by Reading Mum »

koala wrote:They do check the odd thing with their Dad, but very rarely. The trouble is, because he only rarely gets asked for guidance, he tends to give them a comprehensive answer to their question so they have 'checked out' by the time he has finished.
sounds just like our house :lol:
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