Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Eleven Plus Technicalities

The role of the interview plays an important part in many types of selection. Our Attorney General interviewed a new house keeper – but failed to take a photocopy of the details. The wolves have howled for blood. She has, so far, been able to keep her attackers at bay by stating that she admitted her misdemeanour – but should not lose her job because of a `technicality’.

I hope no eleven plus child is ever rejected by an eleven plus appeal board on a `technicality’!

Part of the interview process (apart from the paper work) must be the interviewer – and the interviewed – weighing up each other’s appearance.

The Ancient Greeks tried to classify physical appearance which would correspond to different types of personality. Aristotle wrote a treatise on physiognomy where he tried to predict personality patterns from facial appearance.

When an eleven plus child presents a `long face’ then parents will know that there is something untoward.

A smiling eleven plus face suggests a happy and confident eleven plus child.

When parents cast a swift glance at the face of their eleven children they must be able to determine volatile mood swings and attitudes.

Equally an eleven plus child needs only to look briefly at the faces of his or her parents – to know how to react. Is mum smiling? Has dad frowned?

It is easy to surmise that a child acquires beliefs, attitudes, habits and self image from parents. The eleven plus `self image’ must come from how parents react to their children. The relationship between a parent and a child must develop over the eleven plus year. We hope that bit by bit parents will gain in confidence. This could lead to their children feeling less pressured – and more confident.

Towards the end of the eleven plus year parents need to make sure they have completed all the paper work correctly. First of all parents to apply to the correct authority. Parents also need to make sure that they list the schools of their choice in the right order. After all the eleven plus paper work has to be correct otherwise their child may lose a coveted grammar school place on a `technicality’.

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