Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelctive?

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

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resrtr
Posts: 72
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:39 pm

Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelctive?

Post by resrtr »

Any inputs helpful...parents of KEGS kids ..what do you think?
Catseye
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Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 6:03 pm
Location: Cheshire

Re: Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelct

Post by Catseye »

resrtr wrote:Any inputs helpful...parents of KEGS kids ..what do you think?
Sorry to be poking my nose into your affairs but for the sake of clarity,what do you mean by standards going down?

Does it mean the that the grades may fall or the value added may fall?

btw, future league tables will be more weighted towards value added in the future just in case that's what's troubling you.
Blitz
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Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:58 pm

Re: Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelct

Post by Blitz »

The present Year 10 are the first year of the catchment area.

All boys took a language GCSE at the end of Y9- Either French or German.

The results were:
70% A*
24% A
6% B

In my DS's class they achieved 24A*, 5A and 1B. Many of the boys were only 13 years old when they took the GCSE.

I would say standards are rising as it is no longer a school full of tired boys making ridiculously long journeys to and from school. I don't think parents realised the long term affect a daily 50-60 mile round trip has on their children's education and general well-being. (BTW, the 1B was achieved by an high scoring ooc boy)

The catchment area is the best thing KEGS and CCHS have done.
KB
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Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelct

Post by KB »

The catchment area is to protect the school from applicants coming in from London and to keep places open for 'local' children. To stop the bar being increased rather than bringing it down.
The marks the children have are similar to those entering the Colchester schools which are still ' superselectives'.
The differences in marks translate to pretty small measures of 'ability '. There are many children even just below the cut off who would excel at the schools.
The very well respected recently retired Head at CRGS always maintained that 11+ ranking had little relevance to performance at the school for those who did get a place.
One of my DCs was a prime example of that....

In terms of how well an individual child would do at the school there is no reason to think they would do less well now than if they had been there 10 years ago.
SlighlyStressedMum
Posts: 162
Joined: Sat Sep 12, 2015 4:20 pm

Re: Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelct

Post by SlighlyStressedMum »

No idea about standards but imo it can only be good not to have boys dragging themselves in in hideous commutes, being unable to commit to spoets teams, after school clubs etc. The distances some children are forced by their parents to commute are quite frankly ridiculous.
resrtr
Posts: 72
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:39 pm

Re: Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelct

Post by resrtr »

Thanks for your replies. I agree ,long commutes are a nightmare and kids miss out on lots of things .have been curious about the difference in results , quality etc when schools are super selective and when they are not. Always thought QE results are very good because they are super selective.Would like to hear your thoughts.
Minesatea
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Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:08 am

Re: Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelct

Post by Minesatea »

I think you need to bear in mind that there is a considerable difference in the entry standards of grammar schools, regardless of whether they are considered superselective or not. The cut off mark for KEGS has only gone down a handful of marks since the introduction of the catchment area. This cut off is still about 40 marks above the in catchment cut off for Westcliff for instance and very similar to CRGS'.
The cut off for ColCHSG is significantly below that of CRGS, yet ColCHSG get better GCSE results every year. When you are looking at these schools small differences in the selection is really not relevent.

If your DS has qualified for more than one school, and you like them both, go for the easiest travel rather than worrying about the status of the school.
MrsB
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:02 pm

Re: Has KEGS standard gone down after not being super seelct

Post by MrsB »

It's highly unlikely "standards" (whatever they are) have gone down. It's important to bear in mind that the difference in academic ability between the children is actually quite small. Our experience is that there are one or two kids who are off the scale bright, but for the bulk of the children, the difference is fractional - eg the child who comes (say) 25th in the CSSE scores, and the child who is 50 places below the cut off, are actually very close in ability. The whole intake represents a tiny fraction of the overall population in terms of academic ability, and that has not changed.

It's also worth remembering that children develop at different rates, so a child who is now just above the cut off and may not have got through in pre catchment days may in any event develop at a faster rate than someone who is comfortably above the cut off. I have a friend who is a doctor, but failed his 11 plus in the days when it was a damn sight easier than it is now!

And finally, wherever your child sits on that scale, their learning is highly unlikely to be affected by being in the same class as a child who got 10 or so marks less on the 11 plus. The teachers are the same and the children will be receiving the same standard of teaching as before.
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