Hurstmere

Eleven Plus (11+) in Bexley and Bromley

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martinbexley
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:00 am

Hurstmere

Post by martinbexley »

Could someone explain what the "bands" for Hurstmere selections are. It doesn't really affect me but I am just interested in how the selection process works. I note that Bexley were completely against the additional entrance exams.
Bexley
Posts: 128
Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:13 pm

Post by Bexley »

http://www.hurstmere.org.uk/

Looks like each band is a separate ability level and children are taken evenly from across the ability spectrum to fill the initial 210 places and after that the overscubscription criteria applies to applicants placed on the waiting list.
crystaltips
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:13 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by crystaltips »

How do they select the pupils in each banding though? Do the criteria apply within each banding until it is full? Or does the admission criteria come first?

Leigh City in Dartford used to operate a similar system and at one point it was on criteria within each banding and then changed to criteria for admissions and then bandings were applied once places were allocated.

Being borderline catchment for this school this could make a lot of difference for my son as if he falls in a low admission banding the distance could go out further which means he will be more likely to get a place in that instance or it could tighten the distance criteria if the banding is oversubscribed.

Chances are with Bexleyheath being in the state it is that all other schools will be even more heavily subscribed than usual.
Sue
crystaltips
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:13 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by crystaltips »

Have now discovered how Hurstmere will work and stats for 2007/8 transfer.

Each banding has it's own catchment

This year's bandings/catchment as follows:

Band 1 3.4 miles
Band 2 2.2 miles
Band 3 0.8 miles
Band 4 0.4 miles
Band 5 0.8 miles

This info is on the Bexley website

So basically unless you live on their doorstep the kids have to pass their entry test at a higher level.
Sue
picardygirl
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:31 pm

Post by picardygirl »

crystaltips wrote:
Chances are with Bexleyheath being in the state it is that all other schools will be even more heavily subscribed than usual.
Why do you say "with Bexleyheath being in the state it is" - what do you mean, the Ofsted Report?
traceyanne
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 2:58 pm
Location: bexley

Post by traceyanne »

So does that mean all children that are nearer than 3.4 miles away in band 1 will get in?
picardygirl
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:31 pm

Post by picardygirl »

traceyanne wrote:So does that mean all children that are nearer than 3.4 miles away in band 1 will get in?
Thats how i'm reading it!

I suppose it opens up the catchment area for the higher ability boys, and makes it harder for the less ability boys who live over 0.8 miles from the school, whereas in previous years the catchment has been approx 1.1 miles for all abilities!
Bexley Mum 2
Posts: 851
Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by Bexley Mum 2 »

Does anybody know what the different bands equate to? Is it, for example, something like the first band being sound level 5s; band 2 being potential level 5s; band 3 sound level 4s; band 4 potential level 4s and band 5 level 3s and under? And does each band have the same number of children?

I'm worried that, in an area where good non-selective places are few and far between, this banding system may have reduced the number of places available to non-selective children.

I also can't get my head around how a prospective parent would have any feel at all for whether or not their child might get a place - unless they had an idea which band their child might fall into which, coupled with their distance from the school, might give a rough idea - hence my first question.

Confused, me???!!!
Tracy
Posts: 1123
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:28 am
Location: Bexley

Post by Tracy »

BM2, the banding will not reduce the non-selective places as the school is totally non-selective anyway.

The way I read it is the school is trying to take a full mix of children which is difficult enough when Chis & Sid is up the road.

So regardless of the 11+, the boys take the Hurstmere test where there is no pass or fail. The result is simply placed in a band. Each of the bands has equal places. The places are then filled up accordingly.

The distances shown on the Bexley website suggest that the higher the child's ability, the more chance there is of getting into the school but this doesn't necessarily equate to being 'selective'.

I too would be interested to know how the bands are split. It may be that the top band could be anything from 4a s upwards.
crystaltips
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2008 5:13 pm
Location: Bexley

Post by crystaltips »

picardygirl wrote: Why do you say "with Bexleyheath being in the state it is" - what do you mean, the Ofsted Report?
No offence intended....
I mean that as the school is now in special measures is of grave concern to all prospective families and I have been advised that their Ofsted was not good which I would have assume is the case as they would not be in special measures if their Ofsted report was glowing in anyway. Also, rumours abound about this school be it good or bad. I know parents that have kids there that think it is "great".

This is our local guaranteed school and I have serious concerns for my son if he ends up at BS. I went to an even bigger secondary and I can remember some of the issues that arose when I was there. Also the fact that BS was mentioned in the Evening Standard as one of the worst schools nationally does not do it any favours. It is a shame as this school has a lot of potential in the right hands I'm sure, but now it is in special measures it's going to take some time to bring it back round and I don't want my son to be part of that process.

I did visit with my daughter (now Y7) and was impressed with the facilities but a lot of the kids let it down. Listening to ipods in class, chewing gum, being flashy to visiting parents. It did not bode well for me, other schools in the area (and then only ones I didn't visit were Westwood and the church schools) seemed to give a much better impression whether forced or not you don't know, but imo BS did not stand up well, although it was better than Welling, where we witnessed kids bunking off over the fence as we arrived and 2 fights in the corridors, staff complaining about lack of ICT equipment. That was a def no-no! We put BS and CP on our form as we knew we stood little chance of Blackfen which was our first choice and my daughter thought BS and CP were "OK". Fortunately, my daughter passed and so our non-selective problem was solved.

It is only my view and I will be going to see BS again in September just to give it another chance to "wow" me. I'm not trying to down the school in it's entirety, but I think any parent should now have questions to ask before they send their child to BS about how they will deal with their situation and what short and long term measures they are going to take to ensure its survival and improvement.

I am very aware that BS needs support from the local community but I will be thinking very hard before it goes on my form this time.
Sue
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