11 plus support thread 2022

[PalindromemordnilaP]

Anyone else have a DC sitting 11+ this Autumn?

If so, would you like to chat on a support thread?

DD is sitting her exam tomorrow.

Anyone else? Waiting for the results will be nail-biting.

I'm feeling emotional tonight. DD has just come to have a chat with me where she thanked me for all of the help that I've given her to prepare for the exam and said "I wouldn't have been able to even attempt it without you Mummy."

I'm so proud of her. She's sometimes been resistant to practice and I worried that she'd think of me as a pushy mum that forced her to work when she didn't want to. Instead she's grateful that I helped her.

So dd sat today! Came out happy enough but it was double comprehension and that's her weakness. I'm not sure the vr and maths will have brought it up. I'm really not sure 😭.

@ChocolateElephant how did you DD feel about the comprehensions?

I hope you manage to busy your mind while we all await the results. We're going away for a long weekend next week and I'm hoping packing/travelling will help the time pass.

She came out feeling "OK but not as good as the mocks." But the breakdown of her mocks the spag brings up the low comprehension mark.

And she didn't quite finish maths or vr (she usually does in the mocks.)

She was doing so well in the mocks - well above average of the cohort doing mocks but I'm worried it if she's dropped in all 3 she may not pass.

She's super bright - if school have said she's exceeding and her mocks are all high is there any chance to appeal? I think in previous years I read the appeal is only really if something wasn't followed correctly 😔. Right now I am not liking this system. I really dont like her plan B choice!

Long weekend sounds lovely! I need to get my head back in my work game but these 3 weeks will drag!

Update : DD1 is feeling fit to sit in the exam. We have been focusing on it from two years . I am glad it will be all done for my DD2 will be sitting next year. So i wont get the joy of getting rid of books. They will be moved from one room to the other

@tea1tea2 glad your DD was well enough. DS was ill a few days before his and I was dreading having to try and get a doctors note and do a postponed exam date, I just needed it over, and so did he! Thankfully it worked out for us too. (We also moved books from 1 room to another 😂)

now wait for results begins.

Well done Tea's child.

It's such a strange feeling isn't it. I so hope it's all been worth it!

She came out with such a positive spirit.She said it was hard and struggled on long maths. But she guessed others so did not leave any question behind. She said its not the end of the world if i dont get in . Her attitude towards this makes me feel really proud. I was expecting if it was tough she will get upset but she surprised me.

Well done to your DCs.

How are you all coping with the 'waiting'?

It's only been 3 days since DD sat that exam and it feels like half a year has passed.

Oh each day feels like forever!!! I just want to know. I've been reading up on appeals...

I didn't even know that you could appeal. There was some disruption in DDs exam room during the first exam and one of the other parents complained to the school. The school have said that, if there appears to be a discrepancy with that particular exam, they've noted the disruption and it could be used for appeals.
DD did finish that section of the exam though, so I think she must have managed to blank out the distracting noise.

We have no "excuse" other than her mocks (proper ones set in a hall by a group of tutors) were really high.

And trying to big up the Plan B school when secretly really not liking it! I hate not knowing.

My DS has asked if he can get the results before me. I've said it's not possible as I have to log in online etc.

Got me thinking and stressing though, how easy is it to understand the results when you get them. Does it clearly state a pass mark per school and what the score achieved was?

We have one test that's used by 4 schools, but each sets their own pass mark. So DS could pass for one school and fail for another.

We know that he should get offered a place based on distance to his preferred school if he meets the pass mark, but 2nd choice is further away and probably similar pass mark. 3rd choice is much further away and a lower pass mark, but he still might not get in on distance if he does pass there. 4th choice is furthest away, highest pass mark and DS hated it, so I'm totally ok with him not getting that one.

@jessieminto I think it will be different depending on which exam your DC sat and which schools you're applying to.

For the test DD did, every child will receive their 'ranking' on 22nd October. The top 360 are guaranteed a place at one of the two grammar schools as that's how many places they have. If your child ranks 361+ they may get a place if not all of the 360 children that ranked higher than them accept the place. Realistically, in the past it seems that a rank of 400 or less will almost certainly get in.
There's no distance criteria for our grammar school and DCs travel a fair way to sit the exam.

It sound completely different where you are, but equally as stressful.

We're going to look at the result first, so we can prepare to tell DD either way.

Different again here - if you pass and you're in catchment historically that does mean you are in. However if you are only just passing then you dont know for absolute sure until March when the allocations are decided and then its distance

We live close to the school so if she passes she's in. They post the results though so last time round not everyone got them on the saturday some had to wait til monday!!!

So state options aren’t going well, i.e. 2 state options down of 4. I’m getting a bit disheartened and worried about private day school options, that will be more of the same. Who’s in the same boat? Just looking to cry on someone’s shoulder😫

Yup similar boat only we can't afford private. I really am not keen on the local state school although I tell myself she will be "fine" etc...

It's interesting how different it is place to place. Round here a 'pass' means nothing, there will be hundreds who will be able to say they've passed, but they wont get a place. The results needed are high, some of the schools do have a catchment and only take 5% out of catchment which pushes the marks required ridiculously high, but honestly, even the in catchment ones required are well above the pass. Others are super selective so it will be the top scores, in order, from the top. It's one of those DS wants, but as he's out of catchment for the other the marks required would have been comparable anyway.
I absolutely feel your pain @Frogusha , our plan B is currently non existent. Most schools round us are pretty dire (I know this is just my opinion, and I'm trying to be reasonable about it, but it's hard!) We are looking round 4 or 5, including awful catchment school, at the end of the day there may well be no choice so I want to know what I'm working with. We are also looking at 1 private school, we aren't well off enough to consider most private schools, this one happens to be quite a substantial amount less than most, plus possibility of scholarship maybe. It's not particularly high flying and family cant really understand why we're looking at ot, but it's very small and this is incredibly important to my son, and seems very nurturing and all about the individual. It's not really a game we want to play, especially as we have a 3rd child so if number 2 ends up going private, we cant really tell number 3 they can't have it as their plan B! Doing many many sums currently, and praying for good results. The stress is real!

I think the pass mark is manipulated here so the first 170 get in but they do state it's not guaranteed. There are only the number of places there are. Out of catchment there is only a handful of places and those go to the highest score so incredibly hard.

I would consider private if we could afford it. We can't. It will be local estate school so I'm trying to big the good sides up!

Yes it all sounds very different in each area. Only the top 20 by rank get a guaranteed place here. Then it goes by distance based on everyone who passed. So DS has a friend in his class on our street, but we live 30 meters closer to school than him. It could easily turn out that friend gets 50 marks more than DS but doesn't get in based on distance and DS does. Crazy. We're 900 meters from the school and the furthest distance they took in 2020 was 1800 meters so at least we are well within that. Phew. DS just needs a pass, fingers and toes firmly crossed.

It's all so complicated.

I can't quite figure out what I think is the fairest method.

We used to live just outside the catchment of a grammar that had a catchment that extended much further in the opposite direction. They let in every child that passed and lived within catchment then, if any places were left they were given to those that passed out of catchment, nearest first. But the vast majority of places went to in catchment kids, so you could be living closer to the school than an in-catchment child, have a much higher score and still not get a place.

I used to find this "unfair", however now we live right next to a super selective grammar and I'm thinking it's unfair that so many kids are travelling from hours away meaning that bright local children, who would be 'grammar school material' don't get a place.

Ultimately, I don't think there is a 'best' way and wish work/family had enabled us to move to a non grammar area.

My daughter has also sat the 11+ and I've never been so anxious to find something out. We were told results by 21/10 but if we haven't heard by 15/10 to call and they will ensure its on its way.
My daughter was so relaxed and walked into the test saying what will be will be. It was then I knew, she's got this! Afterwards she said that the test wasn't as hard as she thought, had some tricky questions but she struggled with the timings and did miss some questions out.
Got to admire her honesty 😂 she is very keen to get into the local GS and I'm keeping everything crossed for her. Good luck to all your children too😁

DS sat for the super selective that is Plan a yesterday. Honestly I teared up when he came out, what a long road this is. He was very very confident tho and said he thought it had gone very well and his words “it went as well as it could have done”. Can’t ask for more than that. Now got a 2.5 week wait to see if he’s got through to the second round.