Friday 5 May 2017

Post #105 - The 11 Plus Examination/Selection Tests

My son is in primary year 5 and therefore this is the time in which we decide whether to enter him for the 11 plus examination/borough selection tests.  Yes, you did read correctly, my local authority is one of the precious few which decides, at the tender age of ten or eleven, whether your child is a success or indeed a failure.  I grew up in this borough and me, along with my two brothers all failed the selection test; my mother, in her infinite wisdom, passed hers in the 1960s and attended "A Very Good School"  During the mid 1980s, it was generally thought that I'd pass and I forced my mother to contact the local authority to query the result, but to no avail.

Whoopie shit - only about four children out of a class of thirty actually 'pass' anyway and, I'll wager that their parents have been paying out for personal coaching for months beforehand?  The rest, don't and are scattered to the various 'non-selective' educational establishments.  My son's school has recently become an Academy and has been forging links with all of the Grammar Schools in the vicinity, as part of the increasing need to raise the standard of attainment in the school.

Once we are aware of the result of Ted's Educational Health and Care Plan we can make a decision from there; if it's a 'no' then we'll appeal the decision.  Bob attended Ted's class assembly this morning and the latter couldn't keep still, look anyone in the eye or keep his hands away from his crotch.  His disability becomes more apparent as the years progress.


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