to think that the 11plus forum is the scariest forum in the world!

[stillenacht]

anyone agree??

My take on it is this...

... Dumfounded believes that someone who doesn't like the 11plusforum has come on here, and posted under different assumed names.

The multiple usernames make impolite references to a particular person on the 11plusforum whom he or she dislikes.

Now, I don't know whether I have the right end of the stick, I don't know which usernames Dumfounded means, and I don't know who she thinks is being targeted. However, that's what I take Dumfounded's cryptic posts to mean.

However, I think Dumfounded is wrong, as who would bother to do that? Why not be openly rude and offensive here? It isn't heavily moderated. Perhaps Dumfounded has spent too much time studying cryptic 11plus verbal reasoning papers

Anyway, that's my take on the matter. I may be totally wrong.

PS I don't think my username has offended Dumfounded... but if it has, it's totally unintentional.

Some of what you say is true. Why would you send your child to a grammar school if you thought it wouldn't suit her?

However, your children are at a top primary school. They have no need of a tutor. Many children are at sink primary schools, and the parents feel unable to help their DC themselves. Why decry those parents who want the best for their children? (And I don't mean me here, as I have tended to discourage my own children from doing academic work at home as I find them far too swotty as it is!)

What is intensive coaching, and what is merely filling in the blanks left by poor teaching?

Your DD2 indeed sounds like good grammar material. But in North London (my area), your DD would struggle to get in without "intensive coaching". That's the way it is here. I know plenty of parents who have assumed their child would be bright enough without much help, and have been surprised to discover they haven't got a place. This is because there is a coaching arms race, where every year more and more parents hire a tutor "on the quiet".

I guess what I'm saying is, I found the 11plusforum helpful because it gave me information about my area and what standards were needed to gain a place.

LeQueen - just to pick you up on this point

"If your child is genuinely academic, all they should need are a few past papers with which to familiarise themselves with the actual mechanics of the 11+ paper....
If they need 2 years of intensive tutoring in order to pass the 11+, then they shouldn't be allowed through the doors of the grammar school because clearly it's not their natural environment."

Many grammar schools do an 11+ exam that is based on verbal and nonverbal reasoning. There is no point coaching for this exam, all you need to do is a handful of past papers. DD did this type of 11+ exam.

But I've learned from MN that some grammar schools test knowledge. Don't ask me why they do this - sounds a bit unreasonable to me. And the knowledge they test isn't taught at state schools by the time the exams are being sat. In these areas, the parents almost have to coach because their DC's won't have done the work they are being tested on.

HTH

LeQueen
I agree when you say, "I just wish that no one coached - it would make for a far more level playing field." But that's probably because it'd have saved me effort in filling in my DS's huge gaps, as he would have got in on natural ability.

You also say "last year at DD's school, 25 out of a class of 27 passed the 11+, so I reckon the school has it covered."

Surely many of those can't be suitable for a grammar on your criteria. They just got in because the school was good at coaching. At my own school (in prehistoric times!), a similar percentage also passed, and quite a few were not in the least bit academic. They got places at the expense of children who were bright enough but didn't go to such a good (focused) primary school.

Or are you saying that many of the 25 were coached?

PrivateMessageLover (aka moderator Ed's Mum??? )
I agree that Confounded isn't a mod. His or her posts were not considered or clear enough.

I probably do have the wrong end of the stick re Confounded's assertions.

Wot a mystery, hey!

I'm not on the ball at all, am I? Confounded Dumfounded is all I can say.

I wasn't saying that the 11plusforum moderators were considered and clear, just that Dumfounded's posts weren't considered or clear enough for them to be a moderator! As Dumfounded's posts were ill-considered and opaque, I was hardly praising the moderators.

However, I obviously hold them in much higher esteem than you do...