The Eleven Plus C.V.

Will there ever be a change in the admission system for the eleven plus? After all there must be some very bright children who do not pass even though they have all the characteristics of being remarkably bright and able.

It could help some children if an application form could be added to the test results. The form would take a bit of filling in – but could help educators to look beyond 11+ results. There would need to be all the usual sort of information about the candidate –and then parents could be invited to submit detail about their own backgrounds and personal development.

On the application form parents could be asked about what they are looking for in a school. They could also be offered the opportunity to say why they want their child to be considered as a worthy grammar school candidate,.

The eleven plus child could be asked about personal preferences, interests, hobbies and attitude to academic life. In addition to the short biography there could even be a short statement about how the candidate feels that he or she has the ability to cope in a fast moving academic environment. Bright children should be able to articulate their dreams and ambitions at a young age.

An example of the ability of a child to communicate in a a mature and honest manner came our way today. We had a application today from a past pupil wanting to do some voluntary work with us. His C.V. had 13 A* GCSE passes – plus two other subjects at A level and diploma level. We had worked with him towards the 11+ but he used us a sounding board for his theories on a range of mathematical topics. We recalled him well because he explained the formula behind quadratic equations when he just nine years old.

It may also be helpful if the child’s school could be prepared to complete some core questions about their child’s abilities and potential. After all it is the teacher at school is who at the heart of the child’s progress. There may even be a case for a comment from a teacher who knew the candidate in previous years.

It is difficult to know how long a submission of this sort would take to build and create. An articulate and well informed child would shine through on a carefully prepared C.V.

Eleven Plus Slamming Doors

Do you remember the story of Rebecca? She was the girl who liked to slam doors. An edited eleven plus cautionary tale by Hilaire Belloc lives on:

She was not really bad at heart,
But only rather rude and wild;
She was an aggravating child...

It happened that a marble bust
Of Abraham was standing just
Above the door this little lamb
Had carefully prepared to slam,
And down it came! It knocked her flat!
It laid her out! She looked like that.

The children who were brought to hear
The awful tale from far and near
Were much impressed, and inly swore
They never more would slam the door,
-- As often they had done before.

The passing of the Children’s Act of 1908 paved the way for later reforms. The law attempted to safeguard the children from physical cruelty – and also showed concern for the mental and moral welfare of children. There was a time, for example, when reasonable punishment was allowed by a teacher or parent and guardian. Many years ago a child of five could be taken from parents and deported for stealing.

There is considerable debate at the moment about the rights of children who are being educated out of school – and parliament is naturally much involved in trying to safeguard the children. In a number of decisions by parents to keep their children out of school the word `bullying’ is used.

It would be interesting to know how many children who are being educated out of school are also preparing for the eleven plus. Very bright children are often mature beyond their years in some areas. The same child may, however, be emotionally at the same stage as other children of the same chronological age. For most parents a caring and sharing school would tick most boxes. Parents of bright children, like all other parents, just want to feel that their child is being given the best possible opportunity to do well academically.

It is very likely that children who are successful in the eleven plus will come from many different backgrounds. The children will have had many different experiences growing up. Some will have always felt cosseted and loved. Other children will have felt bullied and oppressed. Some of the children who pass will be very bright. Others will earn a grammar school place by hard work and determination.

At one time or another, whatever the circumstances, it is possible that your eleven plus child may occasionally become a little frustrated and feel like slamming a door. You could consider just whispering the words:

She was not really bad at heart,
But only rather rude and wild;
She was an aggravating child...

and then end with the lines:

They never more would slam the door,
-- As often they had done before.

Eleven Plus Research

It is probably time for some research into the eleven plus. The internet has helped to expose the strengths and weaknesses traditional eleven plus materials. The same internet has allowed an abundance of materials to flood into homes. There is no case for regulation but a controlled trial may offer some parents useful information.

There is no time and no place for an experiment into the value of different teaching materials – because this would be very risky for the families and the children involved. An investigation could, however, cover at least three main areas:

1. Do eleven plus materials actually boost a child’s performance?

2. Would children have made the same progress if different materials had been used?

3. Do children forget everything they have learnt very soon after the examination?

The trial would need to have a number of schools that would be willing to participate. There would be little point in conducting a trial if the head and all his staff were violently opposed to the eleven plus. If schools were not willing to co-operate then alternative methods of sampling would be needed.

The eleven plus work could be tested against reading and verbal reasoning quotients – and some areas would be able to add mathematics. Children would be tested before starting on any eleven plus work – and then re-tested after six or seven months.

The children who were in the control group (no eleven plus stimulation) would simply continue with ordinary work.

We would expect:

1. Eleven plus materials do not really help.

2. Different materials do not really make a difference.

3. Children will forget most of what they have been taught within six months of the eleven plus.

The report would be published and read with considerable anticipation by widely varying groups. Anti eleven campaigners would be able to latch onto some of the findings to prove that the eleven plus is a vile and un-necessary examination. Some parents would be grateful that they had an opportunity of helping to determine their child’s future – with out being told that the National Curriculum: `Does not do it that way.” Tutors would read into the conclusions what ever they wanted to find. Other parents would acknowledge the value of the research but would continue to try to do the best for their children. The lives of the researchers would be examined. At least two researchers would land up on the couches of the early morning news programs.

Publishers would continue to publish.

Examiners would continue to examine.

Parents would continue to worry.

Children would continue to sail through the year.

Life would go on.

An Eleven Plus Song

Before the 1944 Education Act some parents had a choice about where their child was to be educated. If you had money you could choose to have your child educated privately. Parents with less money could not easily make a choice – hence the introduction of the eleven plus.

We could write the words of a song:

She had the money, he had the talent.
She had her school, he had his.
He was a late developer, she developed early.
He has no preparation, she was taught and taught.

Chorus
Oh! The Eleven Plus
Oh! The Eleven Plus
Better jobs, better professions
Doors closed on those who can not pass.

She had the culture, he had the drive.
Her back ground was rich, his was impoverished.
He was outside the zone, she lived near the school.
He had desire, she had birth and brains.

Chorus
Oh! The Eleven Plus
Oh! The Eleven Plus
Better jobs, better professions
Doors closed on those who can not pass.

Perhaps the eleven plus tests need to take into account children at schools who do not teach to the eleven plus – to try to nullify, to a certain extent, the effect of educational and cultural advantage. There must be a number of schools which seldom send a child to grammar schools – and lucky children at other schools where a good proportion of children have a better chance – or even a fairer chance.

The eleven plus examination takes place on a certain day at a specified time. There is little room for compromise. The examination, in its present form, can not take into account the preparation a child has had at an ambitious school – nor can the papers make allowances for children with few books and opportunities at home.

She passed with joy, his heart was sad.
She went to grammar, he could only dream.
He went on to get a first, she managed a third.
He had the drive, she had the advantage.

Chorus
Oh! The Eleven Plus
Oh! The Eleven Plus
Better jobs, better professions
Doors can open for those who could not pass.

The Eleven Plus Gang

“I leave the eleven plus stuff to my wife.”

“I don’t do the eleven plus. My husband does all the work.”

“My mother is a retired teacher and she does all the eleven plus work with her grand daughter.”

Some of the more entertaining of the eleven plus questions must pull all of the family in. Parents have the ability to do well at most eleven plus questions because they have wisdom and experience. These are great substitutes for burning desire and ability.

The role of an observer to the eleven plus journey is not always straight forward. The word ethnology springs to mind. An ethnologist is a person who studies the many facets of other humans. One such man was the sociologist William Foote Whyte. He made a study of an Italian slum corner just before the Second World War. He met up with the leader of the gang and gradually became assimilated into the gang’s various activities.

Whyte learnt to speak Italian and took part in many of the gang’s activities. He was taught how to gamble and to bowl. He also engaged in other activities that have no part in the rambling of an eleven plus blog. Gradually he became more and more involved in the life style of the gang – and then he suddenly realised that he was no longer an observer – but was an accepted member of the gang.

Much the same feeling of `incorporation’ must occur during the approach to the eleven plus examination. Bit by bit members of the family have to become involved in the `eleven plus gang’. The eleven plus gang has to learn new and old facts. Work has to be done on papers. The question of timing becomes important. Forgotten skills and attributes have to be revived and brought into the open for scrutiny.

There will be a gradual shift of priorities where the observer becomes a participant. Once this paradigm shift is in place, the roles of the various members of the family will change. It may be that `mother’ has a hitherto unknown ability in solving anagrams and codes. The `father’ may be a true and sustainable expert in withstanding specious arguments about the value of study and the worthiness of reading. The younger sibling may have a more comprehensive knowledge of tables.

What the eleven plus child has to cope with is a shifting of the roles within the family. Some of the shifts could be seismic –almost like the displacement of rocks at a fault. Imagine that grandpa can do more than play golf and moan – he is really good at maths – and he can make jokes about how much to study! Auntie Isabella is not just the quickest slurper of a Martine in the family – she is also good at non verbal reasoning questions.

Little bit by little bit the eleven plus will become part of the history and the fabric of the evolving family. The family, for example, may start with assumptions about the candidate – and then find new facets that can be burnished and polished. The child may have categorised the family into different and discrete `units’ – and then finds that he or she has to re-evaluate and re-think his or her role.

Is Our Present Eleven Plus Syllabus Too Narrow?

“The eleven plus examination, as it stands at the moment, is an `ism’ not an `ology’. Discuss.”

This is one of the questions that prospective eleven plus parents will have to pass before submitting their children to the stresses and strains of the eleven plus. “Antidisestablishmentarianism”, for example, is an `ism’ – as is magnetism but Kidology and Physiology are `ologys’.

Eleven plusism implies a belief in the eleven plus and what it stands for while eleven plusology is to do with the study of the eleven plus – as well as the study by children and parents within the eleven plus.

Our eleven plus children are subjected to the `ology’ side of the eleven plus – because this is to do with studying a particular branch of knowledge – where every thing is limited towards the examination. It is no good studying something of interest outside of eleven plus work because it won’t come up in the examination.

The ologys are not completely finite. Skills learnt in verbal reasoning exercises may sometimes be carried across into non verbal reading exercises.

Eleven plus `isms’, however have the power to be able to lead parents into realms far beyond the remit of the examination. Big Brotherism is an example of an ism that transcends taste while tribalism leads to thoughts of football crowds.

If we see or hear the word criticism in connection with the eleven plus we think immediately of parents worrying that they are not doing enough for their child. If criticism comes into a child’s vocabulary we must surmise that the child is feeling despondent about the attitude of his or her parents.

Some parents may choose, when possible, not to involve their children so deeply in the eleven plus to the exclusion of other activities. It may be better to shun the ism side of the eleven plus and go for a much wider ology.

ReadinG problems and the Eleven Plus

Some eleven plus children will be approaching their eleven plus examinations with a reading problem. All eleven plus children have to write the same examination – but not all children have similar reading skills. Some children may even have a descriptive label while others, with similar problems, may be in a system that does not recognise the `specific learning problem’.

Some children are in schools where there are specialist teachers who are able to support the classroom teachers. Some eleven plus children may even be in a class where the teacher is trained in coping with children with difficulties in reading. Other children may be withdrawn to a special class – while others are helped by specialist and well trained teachers.

Children are usually offered extra help at school after a full and comprehensive examination or battery of relevant tests. Most classroom teachers will be aware of the child’s problems but may not have the tools to be able to help the child in their care. Naturally most eleven plus parents will have been aware of problems with reading and interpretation of questions – and will have tried to help their children as best they can.

Some eleven plus parents may feel that they are forced to become politically orientated towards trying to apply pressure on some one or some body in order for their child to have the best possible opportunity in the examination. The political orientation is probably not to do with party politics – but with a pragmatic desire to make something happen.

If parents take their child to twenty different eleven plus teachers they will be offered twenty different opinions on the effect of the perceived reading problem on the child’s ability to cope with examination papers. The different eleven plus teachers may have varying methods of assessment – and will certainly have different methods of trying to help the child.

It is likely that some parents will listen respectfully to the different eleven plus teachers –while others may feel inclined to argue. Some eleven plus tutors, for example, may focus attention on perceived behaviour problems while others could focus on lack of attention. Some tutors may be trained in reading problems as well as the eleven plus while other may tend to specialise in the delivering good eleven plus lessons.

Some eleven plus teachers may have difficulty in accepting that a child is dyslexic. Some parents may feel they understand a lot of educational problems once their child has been diagnosed as dyslexic. In the similar manner some children will accept they have a problem and endeavour to move on – while other children may feel the need, at times, to blame their `dyslexia’ for all types of ills.

It is most likely, however, that a child with a reading problem, whether labelled or not, probably needs compassion, understanding, comprehension and interest. After all the examination is hard enough without the child experiencing the additional difficulty of being not entirely sure of what is being read.

Parents, of course, have one massive advantage over all the specialists, teachers, tutors, psychologists, ophthalmologists, therapists, doctors, paediatricians, hearing specialists and neurologists – and that is that parents have that wonderful ingredient called love.

ReadinG problems and the Eleven Plus

Some eleven plus children will be approaching their eleven plus examinations with a reading problem. All eleven plus children have to write the same examination – but not all children have similar reading skills. Some children may even have a descriptive label while others, with similar problems, may be in a system that does not recognise the `specific learning problem’.

Some children are in schools where there are specialist teachers who are able to support the classroom teachers. Some eleven plus children may even be in a class where the teacher is trained in coping with children with difficulties in reading. Other children may be withdrawn to a special class – while others are helped by specialist and well trained teachers.

Children are usually offered extra help at school after a full and comprehensive examination or battery of relevant tests. Most classroom teachers will be aware of the child’s problems but may not have the tools to be able to help the child in their care. Naturally most eleven plus parents will have been aware of problems with reading and interpretation of questions – and will have tried to help their children as best they can.

Some eleven plus parents may feel that they are forced to become politically orientated towards trying to apply pressure on some one or some body in order for their child to have the best possible opportunity in the examination. The political orientation is probably not to do with party politics – but with a pragmatic desire to make something happen.

If parents take their child to twenty different eleven plus teachers they will be offered twenty different opinions on the effect of the perceived reading problem on the child’s ability to cope with examination papers. The different eleven plus teachers may have varying methods of assessment – and will certainly have different methods of trying to help the child.

It is likely that some parents will listen respectfully to the different eleven plus teachers –while others may feel inclined to argue. Some eleven plus tutors, for example, may focus attention on perceived behaviour problems while others could focus on lack of attention. Some tutors may be trained in reading problems as well as the eleven plus while other may tend to specialise in the delivering good eleven plus lessons.

Some eleven plus teachers may have difficulty in accepting that a child is dyslexic. Some parents may feel they understand a lot of educational problems once their child has been diagnosed as dyslexic. In the similar manner some children will accept they have a problem and endeavour to move on – while other children may feel the need, at times, to blame their `dyslexia’ for all types of ills.

It is most likely, however, that a child with a reading problem, whether labelled or not, probably needs compassion, understanding, comprehension and interest. After all the examination is hard enough without the child experiencing the additional difficulty of being not entirely sure of what is being read.

Parents, of course, have one massive advantage over all the specialists, teachers, tutors, psychologists, ophthalmologists, therapists, doctors, paediatricians, hearing specialists and neurologists – and that is that parents have that wonderful ingredient called love.