Eleven Plus Hugs and Kisses

Do you remember the bit towards the end of Act II of Sleeping Beauty when the young prince, with some of his court, goes on a picnic to the forest? Gallison, the Prince’s aide, tells of seeing a stag. The Prince’s companions hurry away to join the hunt.

The Prince decides to stay – and dreams of romantic love.

The Lilac Fairy appears and shows him a vision of Princess Aurora – who is fast asleep. The Prince follows the Lilac Fairy to the palace where Aurora lies. He enters the palace and awakens her with a kiss.

The magic spell is broken.

There can not be one single eleven plus parent who has not read this story to their much loved child.

There may be a few parents, when they give their child a final good night kiss, who wish that something would happen to awaken the true potential. How do parents know that their child has `true potential’? There are signs.

He or she is possibly more interested in science than most other subjects.

It is feasible too that he or she knows more than other children of the same age. This could be possibly because he or she has read a much wider range of books.

He or she is often `hard’ on any potential failings on the part of the teacher – and is quite capable of expressing his or her views on schools in general and teachers in particular.

There may be sweeping visits to a wide range of after school activities – until something strikes a chord.

The parents of an eleven plus child will be vitally interested in any progress – and will be able to recall each and every single social, emotional, intellectual and physical event.

Of course eleven plus papers will be coped with easily. Sometimes it may look as if the drive towards excellence is slipping – but this may be down to test fatigue rather than a temporary lessoning of ability.

At times too it may look as if motivation is a problem. This may be very difficult for parents to cope with.

But parents are wiser than their children. Parents know that they must be confident and not force confrontation. Every parent knows that what ever has happened during the day will be forgotten after the last good night hug and kiss.