What grinds my gears...

[Great Boos Up]

18 hours ago, Dr The Singh said:

People who call me Indian....fook off you bastard's, im english

Calm down Chief, or the big punctuation god's will come for you.

[Great Boos Up]

5 hours ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

The 11+ secondary school transfer test.

 

We’ve spent a small fortune on private tutoring for our daughter over the last 12 months and she’s studied really hard for it.

 

But she got herself in a flat spin on the day of the test and became really nervous and anxious about it.

 

Just opened the results and she’s missed the pass park for the local grammar schools.

 

Fair to say it’s all kicking off in our house right now so I’ve hidden away in my office until it all calms down.

This is a horrible test. I myself at 11 broke down worrying about it. (a long time ago) It's a vivid memory. The good memory is that my dad turned up at the school and pulled me out of the exams and I sat with some Canadian girl who it meant nothing to. I was such a timid teenager too and failed every exam by being anxious.

On the plus side, I was confirmed dyslexic at 16 but then fought back to get 13 O levels in the January retakes and have been fighting back ever since.

My point and experience being the only thing to fear is fear itself. Tell her it means nothing and you know she's brighter than you are and her life is going to be wonderful.

[leicsmac]

5 hours ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

The 11+ secondary school transfer test.

 

We’ve spent a small fortune on private tutoring for our daughter over the last 12 months and she’s studied really hard for it.

 

But she got herself in a flat spin on the day of the test and became really nervous and anxious about it.

 

Just opened the results and she’s missed the pass park for the local grammar schools.

 

Fair to say it’s all kicking off in our house right now so I’ve hidden away in my office until it all calms down.

It's like a standardised all-or-nothing test isn't the best thing for all kids, isn't it?

[Izzy]

3 minutes ago, Great Boos Up said:

This is a horrible test. I myself at 11 broke down worrying about it. (a long time ago) It's a vivid memory. The good memory is that my dad turned up at the school and pulled me out of the exams and I sat with some Canadian girl who it meant nothing to. I was such a timid teenager too and failed every exam by being anxious.

On the plus side, I was confirmed dyslexic at 16 but then fought back to get 13 O levels in the January retakes and have been fighting back ever since.

My point and experience being the only thing to fear is fear itself. Tell her it means nothing and you know she's brighter than you are and her life is going to be wonderful.

Your point about fighting back is what I've been telling my daughter all afternoon/evening. It's not about the test or the result, but the resilience she now shows in dusting herself down and getting back on the horse.

 

The 11+ is just a shit set up really and too much pressure for kids her age imo. She's been among top of her class since reception and her reports always say she exceeds the expected standard in every subject. But she fvcked up on the day through nerves and may now end up at a crappy comprehensive where she'll get eaten alive.

 

I keep telling here it's not the 'be all and end all' but she's not having it. I pissed around at school and only ended up with 3 x C grades in the first year they introduced GCSE's and ended up doing re-takes. But I hated it so left school at 16 to get a job and never looked back. I now work for myself and I'm doing O.K. but she doesn't want to hear any of this right now. Especially as most of her mates passed  

[Izzy]

1 minute ago, leicsmac said:

It's like a standardised all-or-nothing test isn't the best thing for all kids, isn't it?

It just annoys me mac that all the work, effort and results she displays day in day out at school doesn't count for anything. It's all about how they do in a one off 90 minute test which doesn't seem right somehow. 

 

I know I sound bitter because it's my kid and I suppose it's our fault that we live in one of only a few counties that still do the 11+. The problem is that she's a bit of a perfectionist and spent too long on each question trying to get them right and then ran out of time and missed a load of questions out. 

 

But it is what it is and we'll have to deal with the fallout. Just hate seeing an 11 year old kid in bits thinking her life is now over...

[leicsmac]

Just now, Izzy Muzzett said:

It just annoys me mac that all the work, effort and results she displays day in day out at school doesn't count for anything. It's all about how they do in a one off 90 minute test which doesn't seem right somehow. 

 

I know I sound bitter because it's my kid and I suppose it's our fault that we live in one of only a few counties that still do the 11+. The problem is that she's a bit of a perfectionist and spent too long on each question trying to get them right and then ran out of time and missed a load of questions out. 

 

But it is what it is and we'll have to deal with the fallout. Just hate seeing an 11 year old kid in bits thinking her life is now over...

I absolutely agree with this. When I was teaching in the Far East pretty much every aspect of education was preparing the kids for one all-or-nothing exam when they're 17 to pick a university. The stress levels and the fallout...it was sometimes really horrible to see.

 

It's an unfair way of assessing ability and isn't fit for purpose IMO.

[Buce]

1 hour ago, Great Boos Up said:

Calm down Chief, or the big punctuation god's will come for you.

 

Yeah.....

 

about that...

[Great Boos Up]

52 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

Yeah.....

 

about that...

Two jokes in one sentence mate. Double wooosh. 

[ozleicester]

Teaching and studying towards tests... fvcking stupid society. Peoples value is not the results of a test.

Universities, teaching people to get marks is not teaching them to be useful members of society.

Society!

 

[Webbo]

4 hours ago, ozleicester said:

Teaching and studying towards tests... fvcking stupid society. Peoples value is not the results of a test.

Universities, teaching people to get marks is not teaching them to be useful members of society.

Society!

 

If you needed a life saving operation would you want the best qualified surgeon or 1 that helps out at a food bank?

[ozleicester]

9 minutes ago, Webbo said:

If you needed a life saving operation would you want the best qualified surgeon or 1 that helps out at a food bank?

I would like the one that is best skilled to do it.. not necessarily the one who just scored 100% in their literacy test in year 3

Edited 14 October 2017 by ozleicester

[Strokes]

47 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

I would like the one that is best skilled to do it.. not necessarily the one who just scored 100% in their literacy test in year 3

How would you evaluate who is the best skilled?

[ozleicester]

3 minutes ago, Strokes said:

How would you evaluate who is the best skilled?

I would evaluate their entire year, their involvement in the class, their results throughout the year, etc etc... as opposed to as end of year test that they are trained for.

[Strokes]

Just now, ozleicester said:

I would evaluate their entire year, their involvement in the class, their results throughout the year, etc etc... as opposed to as end of year test that they are trained for.

So lots of tests as opposed to one test then?

[Webbo]

1 minute ago, ozleicester said:

I would evaluate their entire year, their involvement in the class, their results throughout the year, etc etc... as opposed to as end of year test that they are trained for.

That's a lot of fuss for someone on their death bed. Wouldn't be easier to just look at their test scores?

[ozleicester]

Just now, Strokes said:

So lots of tests as opposed to one test then?

please check your comprehension skills. You will NOT be performing my life saving surgery

 

1 minute ago, Strokes said:

I would evaluate their entire year, their involvement in the class

 

[Strokes]

1 minute ago, ozleicester said:

please check your comprehension skills. You will NOT be performing my life saving surgery

 

 

[Crinklyfox]

13 hours ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

It just annoys me mac that all the work, effort and results she displays day in day out at school doesn't count for anything. It's all about how they do in a one off 90 minute test which doesn't seem right somehow. 

 

I know I sound bitter because it's my kid and I suppose it's our fault that we live in one of only a few counties that still do the 11+. The problem is that she's a bit of a perfectionist and spent too long on each question trying to get them right and then ran out of time and missed a load of questions out. 

 

But it is what it is and we'll have to deal with the fallout. Just hate seeing an 11 year old kid in bits thinking her life is now over...

Is there any chance of a re-sit?  If she's as dedicated as you say she would probably do better next time.  It's bad for her to miss out on the Grammar School and it's bad for the Grammar School to miss out on a talented child.

[theessexfox]

Is she far off from getting in? I missed the pass mark when I did it and I eventually got in on the waiting list. 

 

The correlation between 11+ scores and A level results is absolutely non-existent. 

[Izzy]

9 minutes ago, Crinklyfox said:

Is there any chance of a re-sit?  If she's as dedicated as you say she would probably do better next time.  It's bad for her to miss out on the Grammar School and it's bad for the Grammar School to miss out on a talented child.

They’ll only allow a re-sit for exceptional circumstances like illness or a bereavement so that’s not an option unfortunately.

 

She’s gutted bless her but there is an opportunity to take a 12+ test apparently so we’ll probably put her through that next year. Hopefully she’ll pass that and only have to do one year at the comprehensive then move to the grammar in year 8 if she passes.

 

Thats the plan, but who knows. 

[Izzy]

3 minutes ago, theessexfox said:

Is she far off from getting in? I missed the pass mark when I did it and I eventually got in on the waiting list. 

 

The correlation between 11+ scores and A level results is absolutely non-existent. 

Yeah, she only scored 110/200 and the pass mark is 121. The problem is that because she’s so meticulous, she only completed about 140/200 questions in the allotted time.

 

So the questions she did complete she got most of them right, but she ran out of time. We kept telling her beforehand to move on if she didn’t know the answer straight away but that message obviously didn’t get through!

 

You’re right of course that failing the 11+ has no correlation with success at either GCSE or A level but right now she thinks it’s the end of the world 

[FoxesDeb]

1 hour ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

Yeah, she only scored 110/200 and the pass mark is 121. The problem is that because she’s so meticulous, she only completed about 140/200 questions in the allotted time.

 

So the questions she did complete she got most of them right, but she ran out of time. We kept telling her beforehand to move on if she didn’t know the answer straight away but that message obviously didn’t get through!

 

You’re right of course that failing the 11+ has no correlation with success at either GCSE or A level but right now she thinks it’s the end of the world 

This is probably a stupid question but is it set in stone that the test has to be passed? Are all the grammar schools massively over subscribed? I just wonder if it's worth chatting to the head of the schools and explaining the situation, after all percentage wise she did really well. 

[Izzy]

17 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

This is probably a stupid question but is it set in stone that the test has to be passed? Are all the grammar schools massively over subscribed? I just wonder if it's worth chatting to the head of the schools and explaining the situation, after all percentage wise she did really well. 

Unfortunately it’s not as easy as chatting to the head Deb. The application for year 7 schools is all done on line and independently assessed so the schools don’t get involved. There is room on the form to explain individual circumstances so I might have to just beg and plead on there! 

 

The grammar schools around here are all oversubscribed and they’ll only entertain applicants who’ve met the pass mark criteria unfortunately. We could still list them on our preferences but it’s probably a waste of time as she failed the test.

 

We’ll just have to bite the bullet for a year I think and make do with the local comprehensive (which is in special measures FFS) and then hope she passes the 12+ next year.

 

Kids eh? Who’d have em!

[Crinklyfox]

1 hour ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

They’ll only allow a re-sit for exceptional circumstances like illness or a bereavement so that’s not an option unfortunately.

 

She’s gutted bless her but there is an opportunity to take a 12+ test apparently so we’ll probably put her through that next year. Hopefully she’ll pass that and only have to do one year at the comprehensive then move to the grammar in year 8 if she passes.

 

Thats the plan, but who knows. 

Izzy you come across as a very straightforward guy.  So you may not have considered the option of illness.  You've already said that your daughter wasn't right on the day of the exam and not all illnesses are physical.  

 

Sometimes you just have to use the system as far as you can push it.  One of my children had special needs and I had to fight the system to get him the resource he needed and eventually a placement in a school for children with similar handicaps.  He's now progressed and is living independently so it was worth the effort.

[Izzy]

8 minutes ago, Crinklyfox said:

Izzy you come across as a very straightforward guy.  So you may not have considered the option of illness.  You've already said that your daughter wasn't right on the day of the exam and not all illnesses are physical.  

 

Sometimes you just have to use the system as far as you can push it.  One of my children had special needs and I had to fight the system to get him the resource he needed and eventually a placement in a school for children with similar handicaps.  He's now progressed and is living independently so it was worth the effort.

You’re a top poster on here Crinkly old chap and it’s good to hear that your lad is now doing well 

 

Maybe I should take your advice and look at the appeals process. I’m sure other parents will be and I guess there’s nothing to lose so it’s worth a shot.

 

Thanks mate