A great majority of parents think that they know the best way of bringing up their own children. When they look at other eleven plus children, and their parents, they can see where others have gone wrong. Is the other family engaged in studying the wrong eleven plus papers, or selecting the wrong time of day to do the study or even contemplating the wrong school?
Ask a group of eleven plus parents about why they want their children to go to grammar school.
“A grammar school can help to build character.”
“Grammar schools give you the contacts for the rest of your life.”
“The education a child receives will help when attempting to enter a good university.”
“A successful eleven plus candidate is given the opportunity of living a full and useful life.”
Today millions of people have been filling in their census forms. The census is used to determine future needs and trends. A simple question about the eleven plus may have been able to offer fruitful information that could have been used by local authorities, schools and pressure groups all over the country. One question could have opened up a national debate that may have had far reaching significance on the nature and extent of education in the years ahead.
Parents chatting in the playground can’t change the world – but they can become significant force in any discussions about pressures and priorities. A nation wide eleven plus will not be a universal panacea to the present ills of today’s education system but a few more children may benefit from the perceived mores and traditions of an established grammar school education.
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