Where do I find the 11+ thread?

[BaconAndAvocado]

That's it!
DS2 sitting his Kent test on Thursday and need some advice.

Hope all goes well for all those sitting too!

Ha! For those saying NVR is a waste of space, try spatial reasoning that's now part of the Kent test! Its one saving grace is that it's untutorable!

....I should add that one of my DC was in the same boat - found NVR/spatial easy but really struggles with spelling and other stuff.

Needless to say In bucks it makes up only 30 percent of the result and of course it's the one thing dd consistently does well at...

Shit school here we come

Grammar schools don't actually select the top x% of children, they select x% of children who can do well in a test on a certain day. They want all rounders who will go on to do well in other tests. Good luck to the lot of them, and remember they all do the same GCSEs, A levels etc.

Agree with that. Grammars def don't cream off the brightest at all!
I chose to go down a less pushy path full of cramming - yes DS had a tutor but I avoided the ones who were too pushy. Was it the right thing to do? I think so - the whole thing is just so distasteful- I've never felt comfortable about it and you know where or if you want to draw the line.
DS is now at secondary and he's happy there.

Thanks @ParadiseCity and @Love2dance. It's been a tough year.

Completely empathise with the story about the costings. So far the gs has asked for an autumn term contribution of £100 and I know they expect the same for othet terms, on top of bus pass costs and £450 school uniform (sports kit was 200 alone)

hidden Grammar school might not suit your DC - not because it's a GS but because it just might not. I'm really not convinced that the pastoral care is up to much at the one my DCs attend. I don't feel the teachers know my children (or are that interested in their personal development). Other GSs in the area have a very different feel, and I do think the local high school has more about it as it isn't an exam factory.

I've let my DCs choose their school (rightly or wrongly) and saw the 11+ as a way of maximising their options. Obviously now my youngest is in the process I'm shitting it because the school she wants to go to is the one That her siblings go to.

Foxy one of the issues I struggled with is that I think it is incredibly hard to know what a school is REALLY like until your child is in it. For primary, we visited the local school liked it (just as well, as there wasn't really any choice) and were pleased to send our DD there. But it turned out to have a number of issues and not to suit DD. So we moved her. Now she has been in scyfor a while we do know more about what she is like and what suits her. But I do think it is a bit of try your best to find a good match and hope, sadly.

School not scufor!?!

It is. I know some parents who are GS focussed from year 3 and won't contemplate the local high (had a bad reputation but has been turned around). They start wittering on about percentages who 'succeed' from the primary school, demanding numbers (which we don't have as it's nothing to do with the primary school). I probably was the same though with my oldest. Seemed like a no-brainier at the time, but if I knew then what I know know, i might have made different decisions. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

My fantasy ideal is that my kids will be in the environment that supports them to do their best and facilities happiness. But clearly I get caught up in what is or isn't a 'good' school, what is or isn't 'success' and my own secondary school experience. I think the local grammar would be right for DD. I think secondary might suit DC2 better (worried perfectionist). But who on earth really knows. I think if I had been in your situation I would also have let my DC make a final choice. You can only try your best at this parenting malarkey!

Tell me about it. We too want to keep options open, hence DS is doing the 11+, but we decided not to apply to the most local boys' grammar which is very popular because, having researched it and speaking to a friend whose DS is there, I consider it an exam factory with deficiencies in their pastoral care.

My fantasy ideal is that my kids will be in the environment that supports them to do their best and facilities happiness

Be lovely wouldn't it.

Shame reality is often the stresses of tests and a "choice" between schools they won't cope at or a scholl where 60 percent of kids don't get a-cs...

It is hard not to let ones own secondary experiences affect ones judgment. I went to a huge comprehensive which was socially beneficial overall but a disaster academically. Many kids had behavioural problems which affected teaching. Knives, violence and high level disruption were common, as was bullying.
I came through it ok and wasn't bullied but it took years longer than it should have to get myself to where I wanted to be academically and eventually, professionally.
I don't want DS (gentle, bit quirky, a bit of a dreamer) to go through the same thing, but I'm also conscious that although the system is unfair, there is some amazing teaching going on in state secondary schools, especially if you live in a high population area.
My cousin is at a well regarded boys' county grammar and I have noticed a growing tendency he has to be very self-critical and he seems less comfortable in his own skin (could be just teenage stuff too I guess).
As many say, it is all about finding the right school. We do however need really good BS detectors because as Hidden says, you don't truly know until the child is at the school.
I still hate NVR by the way. :( : / : ) ; ) ??

We've got 9 days to go till the Sutton SET, my nerves are starting to shred but DC seems unbothered so far. I'm sure there's chat at school about it though.

We don't yet know the time or venue of the SET, either - it would help me quite a lot if they'd at least tell us that much!

If you're looking at grammars, how many other schools are you going to look round? We have an open evening to go to the same night as the SET, which isn't great, and lots of evenings between the SET and the 2nd stage are taken up with open evenings too.

Gosh Rue they are leaving it late to notify you! Wasn't there an email or something? I would start badgering them tomorrow.

We are looking at every school in the area, 6 in total I think. Who knows where DD might end up so decided better to look at them all.

The email with SET info is due out on or about Tuesday, a week in advance. Not much notice though!

We've got 6 spaces the form, lots of local schools, very few of which we're close enough to to get a place. Planning on seeing about 6 over the next few weeks though.

Those who kids have just taken it can you shed any light on just how "hard" it is?

We are bucks so not sure how much a difference that makes however my dd has been practicing on the bond11+ website and when I compare it to the CEM books we also have the books are alot harder.

Im.now worried that all the practice has been pretty much a waste of time if it's going to be more like in the books as...

DS sat SW Herts yesterday and will also sit Bucks. We were also using the CEM books (which we also found hard). DS said it was "ok" whatever that means, but he definitely had more time (he says) than that given in the CEM practice papers. Having said that, he is someone who sometimes makes silly errors even when he has got extra time!

Don't know why, but I have a feeling he will find Bucks harder. Anyone around whose DC sat Bucks last year?
I do find them very organised, offering a practice test etc.

The CEM maths is impossible we just looked at one that was asking the perimeter of a shape made out of hexagonal. It gave the area of the hexagon and the height.

I don't recall ever learning bow to work out the area of a hexagon the Google search showed some really weird formula and I'd have never thought to divide it into triangles.

I'm no carol vordeman but I'm not exactly phoebe from friends either.

And 5 mins to answer 10-15 questions?

All if which take multiple steps to work out?

Wtf

If it's like that we r fucked

Giles you know that you have done too much 11plus prep when you immediately think 'well that would be 6 triangles which would be 3 rectangles which you can push together. Divide the height in half to find out the length of the large rectangle then divide the area by the length to find the width, then multiply by two.' I reckon that working with dd has pushed back my Alzheimer's diagnosis by a few months at least .

She said that the test was easier than the practice papers, but she is notorious for making simple mistakes and seeing a trap and leaping straight into it. CEM seems harder than GL. Just tell him to do his best and you are proud of him.

Should say I am not sure that she would figure that out by herself but it has boosted my maths knowledge.