No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

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duffymoon
Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:37 am

No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by duffymoon »

My DC is in Y5 and I find it quite unbelievable that the school haven't made a single comment about the 11+ test taking place this September.

Thankfully I'm familiar with the old test and know quite a lot about the new one, but I am concerned particularly for those parents of DC for whom this is their first DC taking the test, that the school haven't given a presentation on the test and what to expect. Infact I think its quite appalling that they haven't.

Just wondering how many other parents here haven't had a talk from their DC's school.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by Guest55 »

I'm not sure the 'official' Bucks presentation is out yet; schools usually show this. Our meeting wasn't until late June.
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by Sally-Anne »

The presentation is out - 4th item under Section 2 - it looks as though it was published a week to 10 days before half term.

https://schoolsweb.buckscc.gov.uk/schoo ... /index.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Although the primary schools will have been SATs obsessed for the first half term, they really should be on to this now. The big issue is for children who may need extra time, whose applications should be submitted a.s.a.p..

If there are Partner Schools that aren't on to it pretty quickly, there will be a problem there too, because the deadline to opt-in to testing is 10th July.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by Tolstoy »

My DSs school has one on the diary for June. Can't remember the date think it is near the end of the month.
Sally-Anne
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Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by Sally-Anne »

Tolstoy wrote:My DSs school has one on the diary for June. Can't remember the date think it is near the end of the month.
The trouble seems to be that schools are still operating to the old timetable when testing was in early October.
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by southbucks3 »

Also bemused at the huge difference in the approach between schools. My friends son is at a local private partner school, they had their first 11+ school meeting just after Easter.......for year four children!!!!

I truly believe local state primary schools should be forced to inform parents exactly what the majority of kids gaining entry to primary [secondary? - Mod S-A] school do to get there, rather than pootling along with this whole charade about no need to do any extra work for the test and how the practice test is sufficient familiarisation..... bla bla bla. Would a meeting at the start of year 5 be too much to insist upon, just so people know what their options are.
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by Sally-Anne »

southbucks3 wrote:Also bemused at the huge difference in the approach between schools. My friends son is at a local private partner school, they had their first 11+ school meeting just after Easter.......for year four children!!!!

I truly believe local state primary schools should be forced to inform parents exactly what the majority of kids gaining entry to primary [secondary? - Mod S-A] school do to get there, rather than poodling along with this whole charade about no need to do any extra work for the test and how the practice test is sufficient familiarisation..... bla bla bla. Would a meeting at the start of year 5 be too much to insist upon, just so people know what their options are.
I do have some sympathy for this suggestion, although not from the point of view of "what children need to do to get to secondary school", fuelling the need for tutoring.

What I agree with completely is that Bucks parents should be informed far earlier of the process and timeline for the tests. If presentations are held earlier in the year, some of the key dates might need to be approximate, pending the outcome of admissions consultations, but a later, emailed update could easily remedy that.

Under the old timeline, parents had approximately 8 school weeks notice of the process (early June - mid-October tests). Some will be lucky to get as much as 3 school weeks notice now.
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by southbucks3 »

Sally-Anne wrote:
southbucks3 wrote:Also bemused at the huge difference in the approach between schools. My friends son is at a local private partner school, they had their first 11+ school meeting just after Easter.......for year four children!!!!

I truly believe local state primary schools should be forced to inform parents exactly what the majority of kids gaining entry to primary [secondary? - Mod S-A] school do to get there, rather than poodling along with this whole charade about no need to do any extra work for the test and how the practice test is sufficient familiarisation..... bla bla bla. Would a meeting at the start of year 5 be too much to insist upon, just so people know what their options are.
I do have some sympathy for this suggestion, although not from the point of view of "what children need to do to get to secondary school", fuelling the need for tutoring.

What I agree with completely is that Bucks parents should be informed far earlier of the process and timeline for the tests. If presentations are held earlier in the year, some of the key dates might need to be approximate, pending the outcome of admissions consultations, but a later, emailed update could easily remedy that.

Under the old timeline, parents had approximately 8 school weeks notice of the process (early June - mid-October tests). Some will be lucky to get as much as 3 school weeks notice now.
Sorry, should have read "grammar" not primary.
I am not suggesting primary teachers should recommend having tutors, but a level of honesty about the preparation that children within the grammar system did and whether they were tutored by parents or organisations. That would at least open the eyes of some more naive parents to the reality of the whole debacle.
In fact a totally anonymous questionnaire on preparation could be filled in by successful candidates' parents and the results published in local press for all to see.
Anything to help transparency, reduce naivety and help keep parents informed. Every year we hear parents say "I just assumed they would be fine", "I went to grammar and thought they would follow", "but they are so bright", "tutoring never occurred to me", or my favourite "we decided if they couldn't pass the test without help then they didn't deserve a place."
Local parents need to wake up and smell the coffee, but to do that local primary school heads need to be less frightened of telling it like it is, and in good time.
Hyacinth
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 4:45 pm

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by Hyacinth »

southbucks3 wrote:
Sorry, should have read "grammar" not primary.
I am not suggesting primary teachers should recommend having tutors, but a level of honesty about the preparation that children within the grammar system did and whether they were tutored by parents or organisations. That would at least open the eyes of some more naive parents to the reality of the whole debacle.
In fact a totally anonymous questionnaire on preparation could be filled in by successful candidates' parents and the results published in local press for all to see.
Anything to help transparency, reduce naivety and help keep parents informed. Every year we hear parents say "I just assumed they would be fine", "I went to grammar and thought they would follow", "but they are so bright", "tutoring never occurred to me", or my favourite "we decided if they couldn't pass the test without help then they didn't deserve a place."
Local parents need to wake up and smell the coffee, but to do that local primary school heads need to be less frightened of telling it like it is, and in good time.
I couldn't agree more. There are many children in DS class that fall into the above categories. We were so close to it ourselves. The only reason we scraped through is because, this time last year, after the standard 11+ presentation, the head invited any parents that wanted to know his recommendation for their DC to make an appointment with him. I reluctantly made the appointment because I didn't want to seem like a pushy parent (this is how the avoidance of the issue makes you feel!). It was only at this point that I was told DS was suitable and recommended for GS but, if I wanted him to get there, I'd need to work with DS over the holidays to get him through the test.

I don't believe that the onus should be on the parent to search out this information. If the school is of the opinion that a child is suitable for grammar then they should inform parents of their options in good time. What the parent then chooses to do with that information is their choice.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: No 11+ talk/presentation from primary school

Post by Tolstoy »

Since moving here my views are changing. Okay I am very fortunate to have a good Upper option on my doorstep but I do think some people ( possibly a minority but certainly not naive) want to move away from the competitiveness. Whilst they are aware that some preparation is necessary they do not want to inflict a year or two in some cases of formal tuition on them.


I strongly believe that rather than putting more pressure on parents by 'officialising tutoring' schools should be preparing the children themselves. They prepare them for SATs and as all Bucks state schools give children the transfer test they should be doing more to prepare for it.

Yes they will never compete with parents who want to go to extremes to prepare their DC but I think that naturally bright DC don't need that. For example NVR can be picked up after one or two practice papers for most able DC. With CEM the maths is SATs based so a couple of papers to improve their pace will be ample. My DS is given mental maths tests already which have to be done at speed, are all schools doing this? If not they should be as it is a necessary skill not conected to 11+. Finally rather than tedious spelling lists (useless in my considered opinion) why not give them vocabulary lists which they then have to encoporate into a story, far more educationally beneficial.
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