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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Get me there on time!

Tarryn and Chris were married in Spain. They arrived in style with a beautiful black horse. The journey was eventful because the horse decided to take a lap around the seventeenth and eighteen green before they could alight to wow their guests.



If the eleven plus examinations are at your child’s school then you will know just how long it takes from waking to breakfast to leaving and then arriving. Naturally you want to arrive on time.

Some children do the 11+ test at a local grammar school so this involves different sets of traffic lights. You timing is changed. In years to come this might become a very familiar route – but you can’t afford to gamble on the day of the actual examination.

Simply drive the route a few times, ahead of the day, to make sure you are aware of local traffic conditions.
The last thing you want is your anxiety about arriving on time to rub off on your child. Remember too, that any unforgivable signs and words may be repeated at the most inopportune moment.

Avoid any or all discussion or last minute advice about examination technique and timing. Your last words, and in fact your only words on the subject all morning, just need to be: `Good Luck. Just do your best – we will love you what ever happens.’

You will of course have followed an action plan where the countdown started a full 24 hours before:
Food
Sleep
Pencils and general stationery
Keeping yourself calm
Not harping on about the examination
Siblings
Watch
Petrol
After exam snack

The list is endless. Good luck!

Do you remember the discussions about transport to your wedding? How fast will the horse go? Can we rely on the driver? What happens if we arrive early? Does the horse need food? Where can the horse get a drink? How do we recompense the driver?

Arriving at an 11+ examination needs just the same amount of scrutiny. Tarryn (my niece) and Chris arrived relaxed and unflustered. We hope you do the same.

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