Measuring how well your child is doing towards the eleven plus can be a mixture of science, dark arts and sheer make believe. At times it may feel like gazing into a crystal ball. All adults know that gazing into a crystal is done in the hope of inducing a hallucinatory vision! All parents know too that this is a secret that they do not have to pass onto their children.
Before we can ask for a properly prepared and carefully controlled answer to: “How well is my child going to do in the eleven plus?” we need to follow some obvious rules.
Rule 1 – It is perfectly permissible for parents to hear what he or he wants to hear and not what is actually being said.
Rule 2 – Ask the question in as precise a form as possible. “How will my child’s examination nerves affect his or her chances of doing well in the eleven plus?”
Rule 3 – Ask to have the numerical scale defined. “On a scale of one to ten, what are my child’s chances of passing the eleven plus?”
Rule 4 – Make sure that the question you are asking is analogous to reality. “There are three weeks to go to the eleven plus, what are my child’s chances?”
Rule 5 – If it is necessary to resort to some form of hallucinatory stimulation then do it properly.
“Should we go for it?”
“Yes!”
If you were measuring your child’s shoe size, and you established that a larger shoe size may last a little longer, you may be inclined to listen to the shoe clerk. Yet a simple ten percent swing on test results may make all the difference between a pass and a fail.
If the eleven plus providers sat down to a brainstorming session – aided by some form of stimulation – then would it be possible to work out a secure method of extending the eleven plus to be able to take into account areas such as achievement, retention, attitude and personality?
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