Anyone in Bucks with Child in Year 5? 11plus question

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DD1 is in Year 5 at the moment and came home from school on Friday saying thatthe 11plus results were out and that this time next year it would be her turn (WHere has my baby girl gone!) She is fairly bright but not exceptional, should we start doing some preparation work with her for the tests or just see how she goes? Anyone with any experience of the bucks selective system any advice gratefully recieved!

I'm not in Bucks but we have the same system here in Kent. I think it helps to know what happens in primary schools where you are. Each child taking the 11+ is not aiming to achieve a pre-determined score, but is competing against every other child taking the exam as there are limited places and those scoring the highest will pass. So, does your child's school offer any preparatory work for the 11+? Do other primary schools? If yours doesn't and the others do, then your child isn't competing on a level playing field.

I don't personally believe in having extra tuition for the 11+. At the end of the day, if a child is bright enough they should pass and, if they are not bright enough to pass without extra help, then they may pass but might struggle at grammar school. However, having said that, you have to do what is best for your child and, if other children are having extra tuition, is your child then at a disavantage? It's a difficult decision.

What does your child's primary school do with regard to giving an indication as to whether your child would be OK at a grammar? At the boys' school, we get a letter at the end of Y5 indicating whether the child is grammar-school material, borderline or high-school material. A mock exam is then taken in September and, on the basis of these results, a final letter is sent indicating whether the school feels the child should sit the exam. I would trust the school's assessment.

Hateful educational system - The result a kid gets may not get them a grammer school place as there is also a recommendation from the headteacher. Check out the local authority appeals procedure as well & don't go by what the school says go with how you feel about your kid. Look through some past papers as well for technique & to explain the process.

There were some thick kids at grammer school & some bright ones at secondary when I went through this process. The 11 plus doesn't get all those who would benefit a place in a top school. PTA parents, local rich or important parents, all got places. No one from a council house got selected. Was never a select on ability only in my view. Hope this has changed?

dh went to school in Bucks and went to a selective boys grammar. When he took the exam (think it was 12+ then, 25 odd years ago) he was up against lots of kids from private prep schools whose parents had sent them solely to ensure they would secure places at the Grammars. You could ask the school what specific preparation they will do in class for it (I'm sure they do, after all the results reflect on them too) and if you know anyone who has an elder child (perhaps a sibling of one of dd's friend) already at a grammar school , ask them what out of school tutoring they organised , if any.

Because DD is at a state school they are not allowed to do any preparation except for the one practice paper and also they are not meant to give you an indication of what they think either so pretty unhelpful. We only moved to the school in September so they still need to get a feel for how they think DD will do. I have started to ask questions at the school gate so will see what happens. I agree its a rubbish system I "passed" and went to the local grammar school whereas my brother"failed" and my parents had to appeal at every stage to get him into the school he wanted

I am in Lincs and we have th 11+
the schools generally do a lot of work with the kids beforehand, mock ups and strategies for doing the tests.
I have some non verbal and verbal reasoning papers around, you get them from amazon, ds found it handy to familiarise himself with the type of questions.
You can also take your child out, and schools cna usualyl advise you on whether your child is likely to pass and succeed at a gramamr school.
It is a false economy to coach as if you do too much, then they may be out of depth at a grammar.
I know one child in my sons class (he is at yr 7 gramar) who has left despite his parents pushing him really hard to pass, paying for all coaching and stuff.
He just could not cope with the really hefty academic workload.

You might find this website useful - www.elevenplusexams.co.uk. They have a forum just on Bucks as well as other areas around the country that are still in the 11+ system.

My lovely godson just failed by a few marks having moved into the area (Aylesbury) recently and had very little preparation for the exam. I think he might have passed had he had a bit more preparation at school, not private tutoring although apparently a lot did. However, he's a lovely lad and I'm very proud of him for having such a good attempt . To my mind he'll do just fine wherever he goes.

My niece has just passed her 11+ in Bucks and Berks (she lives on the border). She's not from wealthy background or posh school - SIL and BIL live in a council house and niece goes to the local school. I don't think they've done any cramming. Dh grew up in Bucks and passed the 11+ there - again, his parents didn't do anything extreme to help him (neither of them had been to university so I don't think they were terribly up on playing the system). And he went to the boy's school everyone wants to get into (Dr C's in A, if you get my drift).

So my guess would be you don't have to go to extreme lengths to help her, although if the school can get hold of past papers, I imagine it would help her.

HTH

lol, Edam, dh went there too! He says offically the state schools probably won't admit to working towards the 11+. He doesn't remember doing anything specific, but it was a long time ago. MIL used to teach in Bucks so may tell a different side !

LizS, how old is your dh? Mine's 37 - maybe they knew each other! Did you hear about the really awful case there? One of dh's teachers has been jailed for abusing boys during dh's time at school - dh had no idea it had been going on. Headmaster covered it up at the time.

dh is a year older and left in 1985. He was also seemingly oblivious to what was going on although there seems to have been some standing (somewhat sick, in retrospect) joke about being sent by the perpertrator to the bursar.

I did my teaching practice in Bucks and had my primary school sessions on the two days when they were doing the 12-plus (this was 10 years ago). It was all very laid back - similar to the hype for SATS.

Right now, I am preparing girls for 11+ exams in science for entry into independent schools, and we basically do questions from past papers and go over exam technique (like reading the question, and watching out for the number of marks available for the question).

There is some research that suggests it's the boarderline kids that scrape into grammar schools that benefit most from them in terms of results achieved. So, perhaps if you have such a child some coaching isn't such a bad idea? (Of course if they then really can't cope and drop out like piffles son's compatriot, perhaps not, but many don't and will get markedly better results)

"It seems therefore that selective systems obtain good results ... because the grammar schools are remarkably successful in enhancing the
performance of their least able pupils ? the ones who gain their grammar school
places by a relatively narrow margin. There is a common view that ?borderline?
pupils fare better at the top of secondary modern schools, rather than ?struggling? in
grammar schools; our research completely contradicts that assumption."

Thanks for all the replies I was Dr C Girl in Little Chalfont and don't remeber any cramming for 12 + but now it seems to have all changed!