This Thursday, my thoughts turn to all those Year 6 students who are going to be sitting their 11+ tests.
Yes Lil Man is in Year 6, and no, he won’t be one of those stressed kids today.
It was a big decision, the whether to get him to sit, or not, and I posted about my thoughts here.
Ultimately, at the big meeting, where parents were given all the information about this dreaded test, I spoke with both his class teacher and the head, and was advised to at least sign up for the test if we were unsure, it was better to have signed up, and not sat than to not sign up, then regret your child not having this opportunity. I was also advised that Grammar School my not be the best choice for him. This I agree with, but I wanted him to have the opportunity to decide for himself.
I dutifully got all the books, and was there for him. If he wanted to do it, we could go through the books, and tutor him. He looked, but found even the simplest questions quite trying,
Now, this mum is very proud of her Lil Man. He’s gone from lagging behind all the time in his academic career, to actually hitting the expected level of progress, well that was last year, before all this crazy grammar stuff hit! I was not going to push him. I have been realistic when talking to him as well. But he is registered to take the test, just in case.
For those that don’t know, the 11+ tests are a set of tests that are done so children can apply to Grammar Schools, where there is a very high academic standard. It’s a hard slog, of you were tutored to pass the test… you may be playing catch up the rest of your academic life. But if you are naturally a bright child, then you will be pushed to reach the heights that you can achieve.
But this, by no means, means that if you aren’t at Grammar School you are thick, unintelligent, or that you won’t get anywhere in life.
Education, especially secondary, is what you make it. If you want to learn, and make something of yourself, you will try hard wherever you are, and your teachers will be great at either school, it’s up to you to reach for the moon… if you miss, no worries, you’ll still end up in the stars!
Good luck those who are taking it.
Lil Man made the decision to not sit it. He feels he would struggle at a school where academia is the be-all and end-all. He is an intelligent little guy, but it shows in different ways!
But I Smile Anyway... 
Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:44:51
I don’t understand how your school system works over there too much. I know they start taking standardized tests in third grade, when the kids are around 8 or 9 here. They also make high school students take them in order to get their diploma. My son had to take them last year. He’s in special education so they are able to use the computer to get help. I always hated taking those tests. I also hated taking exams to get into college. I hate tests! I get all nervous and hate studying. I was intoxicated half of the time while doing papers and studying for exams in college. Lol.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:48:36
I hated all tests too. The standardised tests here are at 6-7 and 10-11. But these ones are optional, in order to get you admission into these Grammar Schools which are highly academic. But you know what, as long as you are willing and able to learn, you can get to university from any school! This is just added pressure.
When I got my GSCE’s and A-Levels, I applied for my University, and one of the reasons I chose my course where it was, was because they had no exams. I feel like exams can be a waste of time for so many things! What pressure to put on such young children though!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:58:02
So what happens if they don’t go to a grammar school? Is grammar school like a private school where you pay tuition? So, GSCE’s and A-Levels are exams to get into college (university)? I took the ACT in order to get into college. College is usually four to five years for a bachelors degree. I agree, all of these exams are a waste of time. Kids are not robots. Kids and even adults learn and think differently.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 20:31:18
No, grammar school is still a free, state run school, but for the more academic student. I agree with you… Waste of time!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:40:07
I wish we had such options available in India 😦
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:42:47
It’s not always best though… I find the Indian parents the worst for pushing children that maybe aren’t ready for these things!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 18:40:39
It is not the be-all and end- all. Grammar schools are great for some people, but not everyone! My mum insisted I went, I hated it and did not study for any of my exams. It is a wonder I got anything at all! (most of it I got later on in life anyway)!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:38:43
I hear this so much Judy, that’s why, once I started back in school, and got lots of feedback from people regarding it, I knew it wasn’t for Lil Man!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:40:32
It is great that you prepared just in case he wanted to do it though, and he got to make his own mind up 🙂
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:44:23
It needed to be done. There were times when I questioned myself… maybe I should have pushed him, but seeing the look of stress on some kids faces, was heartbreaking. Some kids didn’t even have holidays, after being tutored all break!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:49:30
That makes me so MAD!!! 2 years beofre the test Miss Hap had 3 months of tutoring. She hated it and found it easy so we left it. In the summer hols before she took it, the kids at her old school all had extra lessons but as she was starting a new school in year 6 she was not included. The school was literally just built and had 11 kids in year 5 &6 combined! She took 11+ at old school with no tuition and no stress. I did have a few practice tests for her to do over the summer but she wasn’t interested! I would never have forced her to go as I hated it. Having said that, I was proud of her for passing, and hope she makes more of it than I ever did!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:51:49
Bless her, that’s how it should be, not forced, a natural aptitude for the academic, which can then be fostered at the right school for the child, not pushing a child to pass, just so you can say your kid is in Grammar, then seeing that child suffer for 7 years!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:57:50
God, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! No point in boasting that your kid is in Grammar if they hate it and fail everything!!!!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 20:30:06
Exactly! 😊
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 16:44:16
Too much time is spent testing instead of teaching.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:37:27
It’s true, and so many of these tests, us teachers disagree with!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 14:18:59
I hate tests like these sis I’ve always been a believer in letting kids learn at there own pace with just a gentle nudge.
But have always seen things ikebana this as degrading for children. A child’s mind is fragile enough as it is without another thing to worry about like are they good enough will they fit in. So I say good for Lil man to make his own choice and for you for letting him and respecting it and not trying to push him☺
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:35:28
Bro, I have seen the fallout from the pushing, and I am not giving him something else to deal with, on top of his life, as it is!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:40:03
Well done you for being an open minded parent. Supermum😉
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:41:49
Thanks Bro, I do try!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:58:25
You do a great job☺
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 20:31:36
😊
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 11:59:29
We place too much emphasis on those tests here, teachers find themselves spending too much time teaching the students how to master the tests, and some important curricula is being ignored. Children develop and learn at their own pace. Interests peak and skills develop in their own time and way. Best of luck to your little man ! ☺
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:32:26
Exactly! Here, in state schools you are not allowed to tutor, or teach to this test at all, but I know private schools who almost forget the usual teaching, instead, focussing on these tests…. practicing and practicing… Sorry, but what is the point?!
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Sep 11, 2015 @ 01:06:13
Sadly, they and their school are graded based on test results, and a lot of appropriation dollars are on the line. It’s all about the $$.
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Sep 11, 2015 @ 07:21:36
It’s awful… We don’t get re numeration in the same way, but our ratings are affected,a mad we get inspected… But it’s hard when it’s neither the kids or teachers fault that they fail…it’s the system
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 11:33:33
these tests sound horrible.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:31:06
It’s labelling, totally!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 21:36:43
too bad
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 21:39:22
Yup…
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 11:19:51
That sounds like the standardized tests we have here. Think they’re in year 2 or 3 of a new educational system and people are rebelling. Parents are having kids opt out or older ones are making the choice themselves since these tests don’t seem to have an impact on grades. My munchkin might actually be lucky that he’s in a Special Education program since they’re immune. I never got the point of these kinds of tests anyway since they appear to treat every child as a carbon copy of each other.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:30:51
It’s awful Charles. They will have to sit a standardised test at the end of this academic year, aged 10-11, and there was one in Year 2 aged 6-7. This 11+ is up to the parents and child, purely to get them into Grammar school!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:33:03
First one for us is in 3rd grade, which is aged 8-9. It’s insane, especially for little kids. When this thing started, people were reporting 1st graders stressed to the point of vomiting and kids giving up on reading for fun.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:40:51
And shouldn’t school be a time of fun for these children? What is up with the governments, pushing for all these tests that don’t prove anything. They only mean that teachers sometimes have to push kids more than they are capable of, resulting in unconfidence, and failure…
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 20:09:46
I think many politicians and adults forget what it was like to be children. They see the ‘fun’ stuff as frivolous even if it’s nurturing creativity and helping a kid find what they truly want to do. The tests have nothing to do with the kids either. Not sure how it works over there, but here it determines how much money schools get and a teacher’s future. The student kind of comes in third and that’s a distant third.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 20:35:31
Yup it’s like that here too, politicians want their scores high on international tables… They don’t figure in how many kids,we now have from overseas with little or no previous education, yet they are still expected to achieve the same as your average English child… It impacts on all. We need to focus on them, then the more gifted aren’t pushed enough, and those middle of the roaders or English speaking strugglers sometimes lose out. Of course certain levels won’t be attained then!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 20:45:09
Or even if kids care about the areas that they’re looking at. That’s the thing that drives me nuts. A big push for math and science, but it’s done at the expense of other subjects. I recently learned that they don’t even teach spelling any more around here. Definitely explains a lot.
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 21:38:38
Yup, we are focusing on spelling this year a lot more!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 09:29:53
Loud applause. The 11+ is a load of … Well, you know what. Your lad sounds like he has a very sensible head on his shoulders. Tell hmmm from me … enjoy your education. It is there to serve you. Not the other way around. Go crazy with what really interests you and NEVER GIVE UP. 😀🎶🏆💯
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:28:27
I shall definitely tell him that!!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 08:54:56
It is great that lil man was trying it. Most kids would not even think about it. It is just wonderful that he isn’t pushed. Intelligence has nothing at all to do with any degree or award. Everybody makes their ways in their perfect ways. And it is the most beautiful thing when they are supported in that. Big hugs, Ritu 💖
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 19:27:38
Absolutely! I had a mum come up to me at school today, who read my post, and she said what I wrote was so good… I was touched!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 20:42:36
Wow!!! That is cool! Does she follow you?
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 21:37:30
Yes she d0es!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 21:43:11
That’s very cool. Now you be careful what you tell about your school days… lol
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 22:10:53
LOL!!!!
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Sep 10, 2015 @ 22:20:01
😃
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