the 11 plus exam

[beaconhouse]

hi, i live in kent which means tha my eldest ds is due to take his 11 plus exam in sept to decide if he will get into grammar school or not (we dont have normal comp schools where we live) I cant believe how worked up and stressed i am getting about it. I always thought that i would be laid back and relaxed about the whole thing but now starting to think that the whole of the summer holidays is going to be spent evising for this exam....it seams so wrong to put so much pressure on a 10 year old child . some of the stuff in the exam, particualy the maths paper is stuff they haven't covered in school so unless they put in some exra work they will be a a disadvantage. i also don't know of many children who take the exam without having extra tuition which hardly seams fair....sorry...ranting a bit. How do other people get through the whole 11 plus thing? x

it is optional!!!

I was the same! I initially decided not to put ds in for the 11+. Then changed my mind. He went to a tutor once a week from the march to when he did the 11+ in the November. He did practice paper once or twice a week. I found it really really stressful. Waiting for the results in March last year was awful. All my friends were the same. I knew how ridiculous I was being getting myself into such a state but couldn't stop. Good luck!

get down to smiths and get the bond papers and the cgp 11+ practice papers. Bond also publish how to do 11+ maths verbal reasoning non verbal reasoning etc.

Without extra help your child could be severely disadvantaged because here in west kent its not just about passing, we have the super selectives so its about getting a higher score than the other kids in order to get a place.

hi, we now have super selectives too (oh great joy) ...exactly how bright does a ten year old have to be???? seams so unfair to tell, lots of perfectly bright kids, that at the ender age of ten they are not good enough. that said will be out getting the bond practice papers tomorrow......yes it is an optional exam, but if they dont pass then they end up at a not so good school. its a rubbish system which i dislike but as thats the area i live in i have no real choice x

Dd is doing one hour a week over the holidays. No more. I refuse to get worked up, stressed or put her under pressure. If she doesn't pass then that's fine.

Our local grammar says the top 25% get in.

You don't need to work all holiday. Children do pass without you know! No child should be put under pressure and coached like that.

West Kent does have grammars which take on distance not score (once you've passed). Only Judd, Skinners' and Tonbridge Girls are super-selective, the rest - Tunbridge Wells Boys, Tunbridge Wells Girls and Weald will take all they can within a certain area.

Whereabouts are you beaconhouse? Tunbridge Wells Boys Grammar will take children from as far north as Sevenoaks, so up to 10 miles away and he would not need anything higher than a 360 pass mark.

Try the Bond 10 minutes papers - 10 minutes a couple of times a week isn't onerous IMO and will at least put him on a more level footing with those who are doing hours.

Thanks, i am in the catchment area for maidstone grammar schools. Talking to other mums they used to go on catchment area but now their first level of intake is those boys who scored the highest in he exam and not just those who pass....ten minutes a day is a good idea. thanks