Would like to get your child into a decent school? Its a jungle out there ! and unless you start now and plan your strategy, you will either have to be very lucky or very rich. If your child goes to a primary school, you would have much dodging and gloating at the school gates (Look out for Year 6 parents!). The truly amazing 11 plus showdown is entering its denouement as most letters head out from grammar schools and private schools to convey whose progeny has won the race - the great 11 plus race.
This coming year, it really is more brutal than in the past. Recession has driven more middle-class parents towards few remaining grammar schools. Military strategies for preparing for the 11-plus race include coaching, styling, the establishing of fake hobbies, playing obscure musical instruments, rehearsing interview techniques and in many cases taking fake exams in big halls. I have seen children as yound as year 3 being coached for the 11+ !. Many schools now boast a ten-to-one ratio of applicants to places. Plus the more competitive the entry process, the higher are the 'bragging rights'. Some parents compare them to Oxbridge! It is now common for Independent schools to interview the 10 year olds. Can you imagine your 10 year old being interviewd by two men in tweedy jackets ? asking her whats the difference between courage and foolishness, then staring out of the window while she struggled to react. Schools would counter that at a time of coaching, merely a really left-field question can locate a child’s true self.
That’s precisely what worries most parents. The tortuous process commences with registration. Private schools collect a typical fee of approximately £100. (Take into consideration most parents will sign up for four or five schools.) It is not unusual to have the form asking for detailed achievements ! For a 10 year old ? The form asks for 'hobbies' but be aware that this does not have to be a 'just a hobby'. It has be a passion. Sorry, make that obsession - which the child needs to know all about. I know parents who put the hobby down as Astronomy but then went to buy books, a telescope and discuss everthing the time prior to the interview. The middle class parents sure know how to make their children’s lives hell across the event. ‘Two years of Saturday mornings’ appears to be an 11-plus catchphrase. Even some expensive private preparatory schools now advise parents to engage home tutors.
At state primaries it is currently accepted wisdom that most but the genius kids of teachers need coaching to get into a grammar or perhaps a competitive private school. And in many cases the 11-plus coaches are selective - they’ll accept just the most promising pupils to allow them to claim a 100 % rate of success for grammar schools. Although not too many parents admit to coaching it is a common practice. Beware that parents at the school gates will deny it, not to mention share recommendations. Like! Mothers who’ve been friends for a long time start lying to one another, plus some are on no-speaking terms now: they’re too stressed. The exams can be arduous. Each school can have upto four papers: maths, English, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning - everyone of a good hour’s duration. So a ten-year-old whose parents have applied to four private schools might face 16 hours of exams.
They won’t necessarily be that formulaic, either - canny schools have started commissioning their own personal papers. However, you can get ready for the scary seating arrangements. Then come the "practice exams". These "mock exams" are to allow the child to experience what it would be like in an exam hall along with other children.There is a good reason for this as the sight of 250 rival candidates sitting in alphabetic rows and being barked at using a megaphone can make any child burst into tears! (My son who has just finished his 11+ tells me that the child sat behind him in the exam burst into spontaneous tears and started crying uncontrollably). There is also the question of what the child should wear. Many schools interview the mother and father, too, meaning they need to decide not merely exactly what the child should wear, but what they’re planning to wear. Most prep schools advise their students to wear the School uniform (Lookout for all the house captain badges !!).
Even when the letters come, it won’t be over; appeals (usually rows about catchment areas) will commence. It is often said that ‘It’s parents who create the stress. And the cause of it is unrealistic expectations. But can you really blame them?
http://www.11PlusDIY.co.uk
