Over to You

We added a forum to our Extra Tuition Centre site today. When I was growing up I used to read about forums in Ancient Rome. My reading was all to do with gladiators and lions and fights to the death.

In one way it is heartening to think that our forum will not cover topics about fighting and death. We are offering topics related to children, parents and how children learn. Our gladiators are Mauro – a computer genius. He listens carefully, speaks little and delivers the goods. He understood all about the languages behind the forum. What an eleven plus candidate he must have been! There was also Jonathon who has put our new web site together. Jonathon explained that our new website now covered over 90 pages. He designed the site and basically told us what to do. Then we are lucky to have Pinar. It is quite clear that she is a forum guru. She mentioned that she has made over 5000 posts to forums that interest her. Surely all those years ago Pinar must have been a super gladiator.

I must confess that I have never made a posting to a forum before today. I know that a blog is one form of a forum. But this blog is different – it is simply personal thoughts. It looks as if a forum engages in more than a chat. There are all sorts of forums to do with personal interests. There are also forums set up to promote awareness of issues.

Our forum has a moderator – in our case Pinar. She will monitor the threads that develop. At this stage we have no idea of the way our forum will develop because the content is not prescribed by us. As I understand it, the nature and intent of a forum is that conversations and discussions develop according to the users.

Anyone can start a new discussion or thread – or comment on an existing thread. As an organisation we have been established around 30 years. In that time we have been aware of many changes in education. We have been asked an extraordinarily wide range of questions. It is quite remarkable how few parents have felt the need to criticise their schools and teachers. Parents are remarkably resilient – and in the end all parents want is the best possible for their child. We are looking forward to seeing what develops.

All we can hope is that the hard work by Mauro, Jonathon and Pinar serve to stimulate and enrich. If we can achieve this we will have satisfied a major objective.

Executive Search and Selection

Wanted a Hard Working Child

The Role
• You will report directly to your parents.
• You will demonstrate full responsibility to your teachers and school.
• You need to `Lead, Motivate and Develop’ a team culture of working hard at school and at home.
• You will direct and motivate your family to try to make sure that you deliver an Eleven Plus result that all the family can be proud of.

• As a key member of the Eleven Plus team you will have budgetary responsibility for buying a wide range of eleven plus papers. You will make sure that you work through the papers and ask for help when you get stuck.

The Requirements
• Ideally a calm, hardworking child with lots of outside interests.
• A desire to `get though’ life without arguing too often with your parents.
• You will be enthusiastic about working towards a goal. You may waver at times but you are expected to keep focused.
• You will be capable of settling down to work willingly and happily.
• It is essential that you are passionate and dynamic. `Laid back’ individuals should not apply.

About The Examination

The Eleven Plus examination demands a degree of commitment and self sacrifice. You will not be able to do everything you want – but will need to learn to budget your time and effort. Be careful in your relationship with your parents – after all you might need them one day for more than food and a roof over your head. You may feel grumpy at times but greet your parents and teachers kindly and with compassion. Everyone just wants you to do the best you can.

Apply To

Forward your CV by email – and include details of your current pocket money remuneration package. Quote `hardwork'.
Executive Search and Selection
56 Hope and Prayer Lane
info@searchandselection.com


Salary – To be negotiated

Generous Benefits Package – Including chauffeured car, Food on the table, Protection from siblings.

The package also includes holidays to foreign countries, personal servants to tidy your bedroom – and clean up after you.

You will be issued with a clothing allowance for school work, relaxation and special holiday gear.

Most important of all you will provide your parents with the material for a long drawn out dream. They will love you whatever the result.

New 11+ Tests

Why do we have eleven plus tests if all they do is tell us scores after our children have written a battery of tests?

Why can’t we have a test that measures industry? Surely an able, hardworking and loyal child is going to be far more use to a school than a child who only works sporadically? The ability to work hard over a sustained period confirms the child as an asset to the family, the school and society in general.

We all hope that the brainy but lazy or indolent child will eventually grow up – and thankfully they do the end.

What about sensitivity? Don’t schools need sensitive and caring children? Surely a family will do the best it can to bring up a son or a daughter to be well mannered and thoughtful?

Some children are always going to be rather rude and boorish. Is there a place for children like that in a traditional grammar school? In many schools children are accepted only on scores on tests - without an interview. Perhaps a more enlightened vetting procedure would help some children. Not all children are suited to grammar school. Some children could well be happier in the grammar stream of a comprehensive school.

So what happens when you have a child who is obviously very intelligent, rather introspective and does not always like work? At school a child like this may have very high marks in subjects that are of interest – but will neglect areas that are of no significance.

So does it matter if the child does not really want to be a leader? So what if games and the play activities of other children are boring. Not every child has to be a good mixer and highly socially acceptable. Some children do not feel the need to be sociable and pleasant to all concerned.

Later on in life this child is going to try to find a job with an employer who is able to acknowledge intellectual development and sheer brains. In some jobs a key area of concern may be the ability to mix with colleagues. There are lots of other jobs, however, where it does not matter if there is little social contact.

So do we really want the eleven plus tests to identify a child who is kind, caring, hardworking, not prone to arguing and academically able? If we do then we need think about changing the tests. We need to think about other methods of assessment. We want our teachers of years five and six to be able to have time to stretch and extend their bright children.

Above all we want our primary schools to be able to deliver to the grammar schools, children who are ready for a grammar school education. We want children who are happy and content with their lot. Happy children could make happy parents. Happy children could ensure happy teachers. What more could a child want?

Food for Thought

What happens when you are offered food that you simply do not enjoy? My great grandmother lived on a farm. She was a Van Tonder. The family history, on her side of the family, was recorded in the family Bible. This was a large and very heavy book - or so it seemed to me when I was seven years old.

We went to visit my mother’s grandmother twice a year. There was a long sandy drive up to the farmhouse. There were about six gates to open and close. The journey was broken - and certainly not fast.

My great grandfather used to sit on the veranda and look out over a slight valley and enjoy the sight of his cattle. My great grandmother wore very formal clothes. She was also a formidable cook. My father, a kind and thoughtful man, used to fear our visits. On one occasion he had remarked that had enjoyed the pumpkin. Great grandmother duly delivered large bowlfuls of pumpkin twice a day on all subsequent visits.

This was no ordinary pumpkin. It was naturally fresh from the fields. It had the `secret’ ingredient of pepper.

As we drove up to the farm house my mother would hand to my father a brown paper bag. In today’s world we call the bag a `doggy’ bag. In those days it was referred to rather more inelegantly. It was our job as children to try to distract great grandmother while our father shovelled pepper flavoured pumpkin into the bag.

Now we all know the saying `the cat was let out of the bag’. This refers to a secret that is exposed. Can you imagine great grandmother’s feelings when the pumpkin was let out of the bag inadvertently?

So warn your dear eleven plus child to be very careful about grandparents - and even more careful about great grandparents. It has nothing to do with inheritance. It has nothing to do with family secrets. It is all to do with being very careful about what words are used.

We sometimes meet exercises in English where we have to complete or explain a range of sayings. For example:

If music be the food of love play on.

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.

The first quote comes from Shakespeare - from Twelfth Night. The second from Mark Twain. How will we expect our Eleven Plus children to be able to complete quotes like the two above if they do not read? But - do we really expect a ten year old to sit down with the collected works of Twain and Shakespeare? That is too much to contemplate. Do we buy DVDs and hope the words will stick? Perhaps computer games where mad cooks chase customers around restaurants.

I suppose in the end we know that the responsibility is partly ours as parents, partly the schools as educators and partly our childrens’ drive to educate themselves. Without that final drive the dream of the Eleven Plus will remain elusive.

Oh yes - the words `Family Bible’ were mentioned earlier. Our Family Bible, on one side of the family, was in Dutch. I suppose that if your child has trouble with quotations you can simply say that it is all `Double Dutch’.

An Open Letter

An Open Letter to all 11+ Children.

Dear Children,

Your parents will have told you never to talk to strangers. There is, however, one man that you should be able to talk to and that is Mr. Andrew Bailey. Mr. Bailey is the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England.

He issued the new £20 note for the `Governor and Company of the Bank of England'.

On the reverse of the notes is a picture of Mr. Adam Smith. Mr. Smith raised questions like:

‘Why do we regard certain actions or intentions with approval and condemn others?’

As you know every eleven plus child has to put up with approval and condemnation at certain times. On one paper that you write a score of 56% is highly regarded. On a different paper, under different conditions, that same score will be roundly condemned.

Naturally you will want to please your parents most of the time. Doing your homework and sitting down to do Eleven Plus work will please your parents - most of the time. But not always. You might choose the wrong time of day, the wrong work or the wrong working conditions. You may be able to argue to your parents that starting on an eleven plus paper at 9.30 on a school night is a laudable action. Your parents, however, may feel that you should be in bed. This could condemn you to a short and sharp discussion. The moral side of the question could be: If you are engaged in serious and wholesome activity should you be castigated and made to feel unwelcome?

There is a picture on the £20 note drawn in great detail. The drawing shows men working on a machine making pins. Men had to do certain jobs on this great machine. There were about eighteen different jobs. One man had to straighten the wire, another had to grind the end and yet another had to make the head. You, being a modern child, have always known about machinery – but think of those men all those years ago. Some will have come to work in a factory from being on a farm Other men will have had little education but will have had to learn new skills.

So when you sit down to your eleven plus papers think of two things. The first is that what you do will be regarded by different people at different times as being either worthy of approval or condemnation. The second is that at some time your life you will have to learn new things. Sometimes you may not enjoy what you have to learn but in the end you have to do the work.

So tonight, before you go to bed, talk about Mr. Bailey and Mr. Smith. Mr. Bailey helped to buy your evening meal. Mr. Smith helped you to understand right and wrong – and the dignity of hard work.

Sweet dreams.

Shaun

Sweetening The Pill

I thought that it would be useful to include some information on the infectious diseases of childhood. We need to start with the diseases that are common to most children - before attempting to comment on the specific diseases of the eleven plus child.

Chicken Pox

We know there is a pimply rash, headache and a fever.
The incubation period is 11 to 23 days.
Chicken Pox is infectious until two days after new spots have stopped appearing.

Mumps

Swollen glands in the neck and pain.
The incubation period is between 12 and 26 days - usually around 18 days.
Mumps is infectious from a few days before to until about one week after the onset of the swollen glands.

Wednesday

Slight headache, grumpy answers, no eye contact.
Duration Wednesdays in term time.
Wednesday is infectious unless a worthwhile family treat is suggested. By worthwhile we don’t mean Disneyland Paris - we are just talking about a takeaway or similar priced treat.

Verbal Reasoning

“Oh do I really have to do those questions. You know full well that I hate them. Anyway Dad can’t even do them.”
The incubation period lasts for a full three minutes.
Verbal reasoning is infectious only if the questions are hard.

Full Paper

Uneasiness, slight discomfort in the abdomen, a need for new glasses and a feeling of general fatigue.
The duration is usually for the four minutes preceding the paper, the fifty minutes of the paper and the dreaded minutes to do with the paper being marked and `gone over’.
A Full Paper is infectious only on a Sunday morning at around 8.30.

Parents have to be able to diagnose and treat all types of illness - be they real or psychosomatic. We all know the words: “A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.”

Spelling and the 11+

We have known for many years about shorthand. The Ancient Greeks and the Roman used shorthand. The first official inventor was Marcus Tiro in about 63 BC - and his system had 13000 symbols. Think of the outcry amongst parents of Eleven Plus children if they, and their children, had to learn so much new material.

The Pitman system is used in England - and this has 26 strokes with a range of dots and dashes to represent vowels and diphthongs. The problem with the Pitman system is that you have to be a reasonably good speller.

Today’s executives are expected to be able use their own computers and word processors. This is not to say that the day of the shorthand typist is over. The traditional picture of a shorthand typist is a woman invited into a room. With a hitch of her skirt she settles down to take dictated letters and reports. Those days, thank goodness, are gone for ever.

So how is this going to leave our eleven plus child who can not spell? Spelling checkers are only useful if you can spell at least part of the word.

Part of the answer is to help your child to collect and learn all spelling mistakes from school and home. Collect the spelling mistakes as they are made. Set up a system of learning the errors.

I worked today with a serious eleven year old. Her next goal is the SATs tests in May of this year. She could have felt satisfied after passing her eleven plus examinations - but she wanted to keep feeling stretched. Communicating in writing is a big part of the SATs tests. She passed her eleven plus examinations by working through multiple choice papers - just making a series of little pencil marks. She has, however, problems with sounds within words. She continues to need to work at her spelling.

If only she could be offered a secretary. This would take a lot of stress out of her life. She would not have to feel concerned if she could not spell a word - because she could employ someone to spell for her.

Why should she be able to employ someone? Quite simply she is very bright. Her spelling will continue to cause her concern in the years ahead. Naturally she will be given help with her spelling at different stages of her life. If spelling does prove to be a problem in the years ahead it is probable that she will simply invent her own system.

So in years to come, when your grandchildren are contemplating the eleven plus, you will be able to say confidently that you once read about the famous woman who developed a new system of shorthand.

Praise and 11+ Desire

How do you deliver your child to the eleven plus examination in full working order? You will have covered and revised as many mathematics topics as possible. The whole family will have enjoyed the challenge of the verbal and non verbal reasoning papers.

You still have the problem of making sure that you maintain a balance between your desire for an academically inspired child and a happy and contented child. These two positions are not mutually exclusive.

This is how one family have tried to inspire their daughter and grand daughter to take an established interest in cooking to a higher level..

Find a superb location high in the hills. Kit the child out with all the proper equipment.



Engage the services of a five star chef. (A family friend.) Start preparing a paella.

Cook the paella with the aid of helpful advice from the rest of the family.



Enjoy the praise and bask in reflected glory.

A little wine, some tasty bread - and forget the eleven plus for a few hours.

A Reasoning Question

Some years ago I had the privilege of refereeing a rugby match at Hadlow College in Kent. This is top Agricultural College - with a range of courses from a Certificate in Land Based Studies - with no entry qualifications - to BA Hons and BSC Hons degrees.

The men who made up the rugby team were hardy types - they were used to being outside in all weathers. Some of the men were working the land and others with animals.

I left home to set out for the game on a cold afternoon - without a cloud in the sky. There was a pleasant and reserved welcome from the home captain. The opposition team arrived just after I had had a welcome cup of hot tea,

We ran out onto the field on time. There were about 70 spectators - after all this was a college event. Fifteen minutes into the game the conditions changed. The sky darkened - and about five minutes later snow began to fall.

In a very short time there was so much snow on the field that the white lines had disappeared. As the flurries of snow grew stronger the spectators drifted away. A scrum collapsed. A front row forward had his face pushed into a lump of snow. He rose from the ground, cold and wet, and used a string of colourful language to describe the conditions.

I blew the whistle for half time - even though we had only just reached quarter time. The linesmen had already left for the security and warmth of the common room. We never went out again. I do remember that a senior member of staff managed to develop a lethal alcoholic punch.

The students took it all in their stride. I am sure they simply chalked the events up as experience.

So when you dream of your child entering university, and you picture your most loved offspring curled up in a chair in the common room or snug in the library, think of the young men and women who would hate to carve a life in an office. Think of hardy young people who relish the idea of leaving their warm beds at five o’clock every day of the year to milk the cows and muck out the stables.

You are aiming at a grammar school. You want the best possible academic education for your child. But in the end your child will make up his or her mind.

You can study at Hadlow from two hours a week to three years full time.

The full time courses range over Animal Management, Agriculture and Machinery as well as Fisheries and Equine.

There are short courses in gardening, chainsaw operation, tractor maintenance and stable management.

So now you know, if you child does decide to do a course at Hadlow you can be confident that answers so some questions will come easily. After all it does take a special type of brain to be able to answer some reasoning questions. For example:

A Hadlow College student had to look after three horses called Jock, Windy and Sandy. The white horse was not called Jock. Jock was not brown. Sandy was not brown.

The brown horse was called ..

The white horse was called ..

The black horse was called …

Sixty Seconds to Exam Success

What can you do in 60 seconds?

You can mix yourself a tranquilliser smoothie. This is easy to invent. If you are mixing one early in the morning you will need vastly different ingredients to the `late at night slurp‘.

Write a list of five positive and nice things your child would like to hear. Give yourself extra points if you can think of something original.

Deliver a pep talk on the value of sustained learning. A pep talk is uplifting and is meant to be fun for all concerned. When you deliver your pep talk you try to have a laugh in your voice and a smile on your face. You are not discussing a sad and dismal subject. You may need to explain to the rest of the family that this is not a `telling off’.

Send a text message to your best friend inviting your friend to share a moment of your time. Simply text about your joy of being alive. After all when you work with your child towards a goal you are allowed to enjoy yourself.

Explain an 11+ question where you : ‘Express as a simple ratio 5 : 15 and 5a : 15a.

Spend 60 seconds talking about the ancient Babylonians. Babylonian children had a lot to learn as there was a different name for every number up to 60. The Babylonians invented sixty minutes and sixty seconds for measuring angles - and described a straight line as 180 degrees. We need these facts for eleven plus questions.

Ancient mathematicians and astronomers went on to use sixty minutes in an hour and then sixty seconds for a minute.

So when you say to your child, “This will only take a minute,” you are really travelling back in time. If your child forgets that there are 90 degrees in a right angle and there are 360 degrees in a circle just whisper that this has been known to mankind for around five thousand years.

Recipe for Success

Tomato juice
Cucumber
Carrots
Celery
Half a small onion.

Whizz for 60 seconds.

Before breakfast add a touch of sauce.

Before bed add a glass of champagne. Sweet dreams!

The World Rugby Cup is growing closer.

Rugby referees from all over the world will be studying their `Laws of the Game”. I presume it means that American referees will have their Law Book with American spellings.

All the rugby referees have to referee the game in English. I wonder, however, in which language the South African referees learn their laws. Do they learn the Laws in English or Afrikaans?

There is one basic law for an offside at a ruck. The term `offside line’ means a line parallel to the goal lines through the hindmost foot of the players’ team. In Afrikaans this reads:

Losskum anders as by ‘n Lynstaan

Terwyl ‘n losskum plassvind, is ‘n speler onkant as hy:

a) van sy teenstanders se kant af daarby aansluit, of

b) voor die bal daarby aansluit.

Now the Football World cup takes place in South Africa in June of 2010. (The Football World Cup is not the same as the Rugby World cup.) This gives the football referees time to learn the rules of football in another language. I am not sure how often a football referee from Equador would have heard a game refereed in Afrikaans. There would need to be a lot of studying and learning of new terms in order to be able to referee football in Afrikaans in South Africa. This is why all games will be refereed in English. The universal language!

Much the same thing happens in our preparations for the eleven plus examinations. We have pleasant and intelligent children who have to learn a new language. Our children have to learn to use words like:

Evaluate
Expression
Structure
Grid
Image
Identical
Sequence
Re-orientate
Identified

If your child at school has been exposed to these words as part of the National Curriculum, and also by being in the presence of a gifted teacher, then he or she will have an advantage. If these words are part of your vocabulary at home, and your child is used to hearing and using these words, then you will also gift a good advantage.

If, however, you need to make sure your child understands the words and can use them then effectively you will need to develop a program to help your child. You really do want to give your child the best possible advantage.

Look over a wide range of selection papers and pick out key words and terms. Copy the words into a list - and also take the time to write down the context in which the words are used. As the year develops keep adding to your vocabulary list.

When your child has to take centre stage in the eleven plus examinations, and beat off the challenge of other children, you will want to have provided the best possible tools.

At a pinch you could also offer the reward of a trip to South Africa fir the World Cup for doing as well as possible in the eleven plus examinations. I could come with the family to try to help to translate at key moments. Please give me a ring. I would love to go.

Heads or Tails

Sometime we feel the need to demonstrate a practical solution to a problem. When we were at school the key point in the term was seeing the dissecting tools laid out in a science lesson. Our heart beats would rise. Would we be offered a worm or a rat? What was in the teacher’s mind? The smell of formaldehyde would precede the white coated science teacher. He would walk out with a tray covered by a white cloth.

We would be given the `sermon’ for the need for respect for death, the importance of taking care with sharp instruments and the necessity of not flicking or throwing the more unsavoury parts of the dissection around.

Generations of children must be delighted that the barbaric practice was stopped some years ago. It is highly unlikely that any thing like this will ever be allowed to happen again. But teachers sometimes do feel the need to do practical exercise.

Take, for example, an exercise covering probability and graphs.

Each child in a group of 4 spins a coin 100 times and counts how many times it comes down `Tails”. This is repeated twice.

The question is, “Does the coin usually come down tails or heads?”

We drew attention to a question like this to a boy attending one of our lessons. He was offered the exercise just before the end of the lesson. We encouraged him to write down an estimate of his answer before he started on the practical exercise. We found him a little section of carpet so that the noise of the falling coin would not distract the other children. The whole exercise would hopefully take not more than a few minutes.

Twenty minutes after the lesson ended there was a little group of children and adults on their knees in the corner of the waiting room. They were flicking coins. This enterprising boy had enlisted not only his parents but others waiting for their children.

As teachers we have to careful of so many things. Suppose the group had been seen by a member of the public who reported us for running a gambling den? Suppose one of the granddads taking part slipped in a little side bet? Suppose, by chance, that tails had actually come up more often than heads?

The boy must have left his lesson bursting with excitement. His parents must have fallen in with his wishes. The other parents and grandparents must have been caught up in the natural curiosity of the child to solve a problem.

Thank goodness that we had not been teaching dissection in KS2 Science. We would have been in court by now.

Counting Blessings

“What mathematics books should we use? My son is writing his eleven plus examinations later this year. I know how to work the examples out but my son does not always understand my methods. Please help.”

Oh dear! We all have that problem. Some times it could be that your son does not understand the method you have used. On other occasions he simply does not understand how to approach the question. He may not have been taught the basics of the question. This is not a failure by the school – it is simply that the requirements of the eleven plus examinations are sometimes different to those of the school. The school may simply want to introduce the topic you are trying to cope with at a different time.


Let us take the scenario of a girl living in London and she is trying to win a place at a Grammar School. She and her mother decide to try the route out before pinning their hopes on entry to the new school.

She will need to walk 2 km to a bus stop and then travel by bus to the nearest train station. She will then go by train three times as far as she has already travelled. The total journey is 24km. How long is the bus journey?

Mum: “What are we trying to find?”

Girl: “The length of the bus journey.”

Mum: “Which unit will we need to use?”

Girl: “Oh Mum. It tells you in the question. We need to find the bus journey in kilometres.”

Mum: “How far is the total journey?”

Girl: “Well Mum, the total journey is 24 kilometres. We walk 2 kilometres and then go by bus and then train.”

Mum: “What can we call the length of the bus ride?”

Girl: “We call it “x”. Why do we always call numbers x?”

Mum: “So if you have already walked 2 km you will have travelled 2x km. The bus journey is three times as long as this so you will have travelled 3(x + 2).

The whole journey is then: x + 2 + 3(x+2) and this is equal to 24 km.

x + 2 + 3(x + 2) = 24 km
x + 2 + 3x + 6 = 24 (Brackets first.)
4x + 8 = 24
4x = 16
x = 4

So the bus journey is 4 km."

If this all seems a little far fetched with a girl having to walk, catch a bus and then a train before she reached the school of her choice – we actually discussed a very similar situation with a mother last week.

The lengths some parents will need to go to in order to try to help their children reach the school of their choice always astounds me. We checked the route on one of the journey planners. We are simply in awe of the determination of the mother and the ambition of her daughter.

So to return to the question, “What mathematics books do we need?” You are going to need far more than selection papers. Look at KS2 and KS3 study aid books. They will present the examples logically and clearly. Read through the examples together.

Occasionally think of the mother and daughter we mentioned earlier and be grateful for what you have.

The Last Word

A dolphin in danger or distress will emit a short, sharp, high pitched whistle that acts as an SOS. Its companions will nose it to the surface if it needs air, and there are cases of dolphins being supported in this way for four days.

So dolphins have the ability to show compassion and feeling.

They also have large brains, around the size of man’s. The problem dolphins have is that they do not have vocal cords. This means that they can not talk. This is important because it means that they can not talk back! Dolphins have a vocabulary of at least thirty two sounds. These include clicks, whistle, barks, rasps, squeals and groans.

A ten year old human will make very similar sounds when they are encouraged to work through an eleven plus exercise when they would rather be doing something else.

Parent: “I know you want to watch the end of the film. I know there are only fifteen minutes left to go. I know you did extra yesterday, but don’t you think it is time for some extra work?”

Dolphin: “Bark, bark!”

11+ Candidate: “Oh Dad. Bark, bark! Oh please, Dad. I just want to see the end of the film.”

Parent: “We had an agreement. You said that you would do some work five days a week. You said that even if you had done something extra on one day you would still do some work every day. Now I have been patient with you. I have explained my position. Please would you reconsider and do some work?”

Dolphin: “Squeal and Groan.”

11+ Candidate: “Yes but. Squeal, squeal. Groan, groan.”

Parent: “We worked out yesterday what you were going to do today. You know exactly what to do. Please do not try my patience. You have done very well so far for the whole of this month. I have kept to my side of the agreement. I have never done any rasps and whistles. So please keep your side of the bargain.”

Dolphin: “Rasp, rasp, rasp!”

11+ Candidate: “Oh, all right then. I will just this time. But you have made me miss the end of the film. I think it is unfair. Rasp. Rasp. Any way, I am off to my room.”

Parent: “Thank you dear. I knew you would do your work in the end. You really are a very good rasp rasp. I am very proud of you. You really are growing up and doing your best.”

The dolphin, naturally a friendly and sympathetic friend of the whole world, really has the last word with a softly spoken and gently whispered, “Click, click, click!”

Motivation

One of the problems some parents have is motivating their son to want to do well academically. Some ten and eleven year old boys appear to be a little unfocused at times. This is where a little work on bonding could help.

We know that the New Zealand rugby squad have been away on a three month training and development course. The emphasis, we believe, has been on physical and mental development. The World Cup is approaching and the New Zealand team want to be winners.

A huge and fearsome man lived on a farm about ten miles from where I went to school. He played rugby for the Springboks. He did not have access to the training facilities that are available to today’s rugby professionals. He trained by running across ploughed fields. He did not have training partners but he did maintain a large herd of donkeys. To practice his tackling he would tackle a donkey. We were all in awe of this mountain of a man. Every year our first rugby team were taken to his farm to watch his incredibly demanding and unusual training schedule.

I few years ago I had the privilege of taking a three week trip on the `Lord Nelson’. This is a ship designed to allow people with disabilities to enjoy the challenge of the sea. It was an incredible experience to share the excitement of people in wheelchairs being hauled up the mast. A trip like that, where the able bodied have to share the emotions and lives of the less physically able, is illuminating.

So how then does this leave our ten year old boy? Sending him away on a three month `toughening’ course is not all that attractive. (I bet, however, at times it is!) Learning to tackle donkeys is equally repulsive.

But thinking about others – learning to care and share - might be the answer. So develop a pragmatic `Five Step’ routine:

Step One: Clean the interior of the family car on a regular basis.

Step Two: Organise at least two cups of tea a day.

Step Three: Pick up all clothes - without being asked.

Step Four: Vow to do at least fifteen minutes a day on papers – without being reminded.

Step Five: Take a weekly apple to the teacher at school to show appreciation.

As a parent rejoice in your kind and thoughtful child.

Problem Solving

Sometimes we are going to meet questions that exercise our minds. We can but hope that similar questions will not be asked in the real eleven plus examinations.

Seven years ago a man was three times as old as his son was then. The father is 37 years old. How old is the son?

Ask your child, “What are you trying to find?”

Answer: “The age of the son.”

“What unit of time do you need?”

Answer: “Years.”

“Do you know any facts?”

Answer: “Yes, we know that the father is 37 years old now.”

“Do you know any more information?”

Answer: “Well the question did say that the seven years ago the father was three times as old as his son was then.”

We now come to your completely logical solution. This will astound your child. Your partner will look at you completely differently from now on. You will have proved to the world your intelligence and aptitude. (And so on and so forth!)

“Let the “x” years be the son’s age now.

Seven years ago he was (x – 7) years old.

Seven years ago his father was three times as old as this.

So we need 3(x – 7)

So now his father is 3(x – 7) + 7 years old.

So now we back in the realm of easy eleven plus work.

3(x – 7) + 7 = 37
3x – 21 + 7 = 37
3x – 14 = 37
3x = 51
x = 17

So the son must be 17 years old!

If your can apply this sort of reasoning to the more complicated eleven plus questions then the whole family will sleep easier at night.

Reading Together

One of the problems with encouraging your child to read a book is that you may feel the need to read the book yourself. How can you entertain a stimulating discussion with your child if you know nothing about the book?

“Well dear, did you enjoy it?”

“Yes.”

“Which part did you find the most interesting?"

“The middle.”

It would be so much easier if you were able to discuss the author’s interests – and reference your discussion to other similar books. Many years ago an author called Enid Blyton developed the reading habits of thousands of children. She had several series of books. Once you had read one then everything was predictable in the others.

If you were to start reading the same book at the same time as your child you could discuss what could happen next in the story. You could talk about the style of writing and the development of the characters.

But what happens if you just hate the type of book your child enjoys? If you both enjoy fast moving adventure stories then you would share common interests. What on earth are you going to talk about if your child simply loves science fiction – and you can not stand that type of book? Can you force yourself to read a whole book just to be able to take an interest in what your child is reading?

Of course you can look at the cover, page through some illustrations and read the `blurb’ on the cover. This will give you some insight. What do you do if you feel you have to censor the book without reading it? Of course contemporary children’s books from reputable publishers should be completely acceptable. You know too that classic children’s literature may appeal to some children – and this too will have been looked at closely by generations of parents. You should also be able to rely on good quality non fiction books.

Your librarian will be able to give you and your child advice – and should take an interest in your dilemma. The big book shops will all have well stocked children’s sections. Some children may enjoy plays – others poetry. You may find that the only thing your child will read is a specialist magazine.

This is all very well – but how can you review and discuss a book with your child if you have not read the same material? You know the title and the author. You won’t, however, know the favourite character or the best part. If I knew how to solve this problem I would try to present a solution – but nothings springs to mind.

“Mum, did you enjoy the book?”

“Oh yes!”

“What was the best part?”

“I’m not sure. What do you think?”

“Oh Mum. You never did read it. Did You?"

Emergency Measures

We live down in Kent. We often see boys with an earring in a pierced ear. The boys are never quite certain if they are being told the truth when they are told about the different use sailors make of earrings.

I like to explain to the boys how the influence of the River Thames with all the docks and ships and the ship building along the River Medway drew men and boys to the sea. The story goes that the `Men of Kent’ wore an earring so that if they fell from the top of the mast and died their shipmates would have enough money to bury them at sea. If a sailor was killed in a foreign port then the earring would also provide enough money to cover their burial.

Sailors also used to have a tattoo for more than decoration. Men have had tattoos since early history. Some tattoos are to make the man more warlike. Others are for decoration – and some for protection.

Some sailors used to believe that if they had a tattoo across their back the tattoo would save them from being flogged. I am not sure how effective those tattoos were because surely if a sailor had done something wrong they would still be punished. Naturally most sailors thought about sharks at one time or another. The remedy was to have a cross tattooed onto the soles of their feet to save them from sharks. I suppose we need to wonder about how the sharks felt as they saw a pair of twinkling feet ahead of them in the water.

This brings us to the lengths some parents will need to go to in order to ensure good luck and careful protection. There are tattoo parlours all over the country. If there was enough parent power we could build a case a series of eleven plus tattoos.

. the watch – to remind boys to think about time

. the book – to remind your child to read the question – and then read the question again

. the scales – so that your son remembers to weigh up different alternatives

. the running machine – to remind your son to keep on exercising

. the smiling face – to ward off any cross words

. the £50 note – to remind you to keep paying pocket money

With these tattoos we won’t need mermaids or dragons. Your son will be able to remain pure of mind and spirit.

There is, however, one ring that you will need to retain. That is the ring through the nose. You use this ring to tie a cord through and then to drag your son to his desk to work. You may only need to use this nose ring once or twice a year – but it is there for any emergencies.

Reading

Two Sundays ago we went for a walk in Shorne Wood Country Park. The park, in Kent, has recently opened a new Visitors Centre. The car parks have been made more accessible and it is now a remarkably pleasant place to visit.

There are well signposted walks through the park along with a large fishing area. As we walked around the lake we saw fathers and sons fishing – as a well as a scattering of enthusiasts on their own. In a little bay we came across a family of about eleven people. I think there were eleven because there was so much movement that it was difficult to count.

This was three generations of the same family. Naturally Grandfather and Dad had the top gear. They were dressed in their leggings and suits. The family stretched over two platforms with fishing chairs, three `bivvies’ and countless bags of gear.

There were six rods in the water. All the rods had alarms. This total investment in the sport of fishing showed a lifetime of achievement and an incredible interest in fishing.

Sitting, snug in a large fishing chair beside one of the rods was a nine year old girl. Naturally she wore a bright outfit. The large bowl of wriggling worms was right beside her. Every now and then one of the family walked across and threw a handful of bait into the water. She never looked up. Her head was buried in a book. Suddenly we saw and heard her alarm go off as the float dipped.

Grandfather ran across and shook her arm. She looked up into his face – but returned to her book. She never glanced at the rod or the line. Grandfather told her that there was a fish on her line. She nodded but continued reading. I think that this was the first bite anyone had had that day. The girl’s mother ran over and shook her daughter’s arm and implored her to catch the fish. The girl shook her head and continued reading. One of the brothers reeled the line in while another brother stood on the edge of the water with a rather large net in his hands.

We were all sure it was a fish. And the girl read on.

Parents who have children who love reading will recognise how sometimes the whole world is reduced to words on a page. Parents who have children who never read can only hope that one day their child will find something that interests and excites them. We know that some adults are readers and other never `have time’ to pick up a book. Some adults, for example, only read on holiday. Some children just hate reading and would rather do almost anything than settle comfortably with a book.

It does seem likely that children who love reading and like words and books will do better on verbal reasoning exercises. If your child does not like reading then you have a problem.

What about organising a fishing day? Beside every chair place a pile of fishing magazines, books and articles on how to catch fish. Advise all adults to withdraw fifteen feet from the fishing area. Your child will then have to learn to fish from the printed word. I wonder if this would stimulate a desire to pick up a book and read? You can only try.

Taking Part

I used to teach a boy called Graham Bowker. Graham was slightly larger than most of the other children in the class. A lot of other children could read better than Graham. He also found most of mathematics very difficult.

Graham was not very good at games. He had a rather strange way of running. He could run but the gait was rather uncoordinated. His feet sort of turned out and his arms waved all over the place.

Every one liked Graham. His smile was friendly and he would never say any thing offensive. Some of the little girls in his class used to mother him. They would check that he had eaten his midmorning sandwiches. When we changed after games some of the other boys would even help him tie his shoes because he found `left over right, and under’ rather hard to do.

The school had 680 children from Years 3 - 6. Every single child in the school took part on sports day. Every child did two events. The timing was immaculate.

Graham had always come last in every event. He had never won a prize. One of the events he was involved in was the sack race.

We bought Graham his own sack. We showed him how to stick his feet into the corners and run on his toes. This `training’ was started just over three months before sports day. Graham was expected to walk and then run every single afternoon in his sack. Of his own accord he started using his sack at break time.

At first there were jeers and laughter - but Graham kept smiling and kept `training’ Other children wanted to be able to use sacks during play time - but it was explained to them that as it was Graham’s sack he was the only child allowed to use a sack in play time.

Naturally there were several `pre sports day simulations‘. We ran the practice times at exactly the same day of day as the proper sports day. At any given time there were usually three events taking place simultaneously. All the children and all the teachers were aware of the effort Graham had put into the sack race.

On sports day, without any collusion, and simply by chance the whole busy field stopped to watch Graham in his race.

The children had to lie on their sacks and then jump in and run. Graham knew how to put his feet into the corners. He could also run the course without falling over. Well, I will leave it to you to guess what happened.

He didn’t get the first prize. The second prize was also beyond his capability. He did, however, win the third prize.

Every child in the school was given a certificate on the day of attendance. The winners were also given certificates.

Every single child and parent in the school stood and cheered when Graham stepped up for his third prize.

I wonder what happened to Graham. This was many years ago in another country.

You may have some dark moments of worry and concern as the eleven plus examinations come closer. All you can do is provide the tools and the equipment your child will need. A whole lot of the effort in passing the eleven plus is up to your child. He or she has to make a big effort too. Somehow, however laid back your child is, he or she has to do the work. If winning is coming third - good luck to all the Graham’s of this world.

Something has eaten our fish!

I remember the name Tommy Bailey with great pleasure. Many years ago he was in my class at school. The class had a great debate lasting well over a week and decided that they wanted a fish tank.

The tank arrived in due course. All the children then poured over books on tropical fish. We raided the local library and borrowed every book on tropical fish the librarians would allow out.

Orders were placed in local pet shops and one by one the fish arrived. Every child had the opportunity of bringing his or her own fish.

The tank looked wonderful. Children came from other classes. Even the teachers stooped over the tank and made encouraging noises. It was a great success.

Little Tommy was a border. He lived on a farm many miles away. He did not have the opportunity of going to the shops to buy a fish – so he took the matter into his own hands.

One Sunday evening he rushed up to me and asked for the key to the classroom. I was the teacher on duty in the hostel and could see our classroom from the veranda we were standing on. Tommy grabbed the key and ran over the field to the classroom. A few seconds later he locked the door and returned the key to me. The bell for the evening meal rang a few minutes later and we all went in for our food.

I walked across to school the following morning – and saw a group of children crying at the door. The children rushed up to me.

They all yelled at once: “There is a big fish that has eaten all our fish!”

“Something has eaten our fish!”

In the bottom of the tank lay a very large fish. Tommy had caught the fish in the dam on his farm. He had brought the fish to school in a plastic bag. This big bloated fish had simply eaten over thirty tropical fish.

Tommy arrived a little later. It took some time to calm the children down. Little Tommy grew quieter and quieter. We said a few prayers for the fish – because I had provided one too.

After break the children discussed the tank and the fish. The talking revolved around the feasibility of buying replacement fish or abandoning the project. Almost every child wanted the `big bad fish’ to pay.

The class decided to abandon the fish element of the tank. They appointed Tommy to look for lizards.

The tank lay empty for three weeks. Then one Sunday evening Tommy arrived at my hostel door clutching a paper bag and asked for the key to the classroom.

He was in the classroom very early on Monday morning. All was forgiven – but not forgotten.

One of the girls pointed out very strongly that there was a big difference between watching three lizards and over thirty brightly coloured fish.

The whole point behind this story is that it is very important to listen to not only what children are saying – but what they really mean. If on that Sunday evening I had asked Tommy why he wanted access to the fish tank we may have had a different story. Tommy, you see, was the boy appointed by the class to feed the fish every Sunday evening. So I was accustomed to giving him the key on Sunday evenings.

So for all the new parents setting off on the eleven plus journey – every now and then question your child’s motives – and don’t take too much for granted.

Thinking About You

“I would like to say to this House, as I have said to those who have joined this Government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Little did Churchill know that his words would be echoed by parents all over the country as they embarked on the quest of the eleven plus.

We started getting eleven plus results in Kent yesterday afternoon – an afternoon post had been delivered.

The joy and the excitement in the voices! The realisation that all the hard work had brought success!

Quite simply, congratulations to all those who have passed.

Commiserations to all those who have not gained their first choice school.

Naturally we will do all we can to help.

In days gone by news was often delivered by telegram. The telegram my grand parents received about the death of Uncle George, back in 1942, was displayed beside his photograph and medals.

In today’s world some families have even been able to access their eleven plus results on line. They did not have to wait for the post.

There is no doubt that technology has changed our lives. Today we send messages of congratulations through emails or text messages. Some of us use Skype to communicate. Blogs are also used now to convey our excitement and pleasure. I wonder how many of us will sit down to write an actual letter. I should imagine that some children will even be given congratulatory cards.

So, on behalf of all of us involved in the eleven plus, we hope that every thing works out in the end. For some families, however, the blood, toil, sweat and tears is just starting again. You too are very much in our thoughts.

Putting up a Fight

Today may be a good day to try to find a joke book. Humour is often used to release tension. When the family sit together this evening, with the sound on the television thankfully turned off, try a few jokes. There are few eleven year olds who would be able to resist a corny joke like:

Why can’t a steam engine sit down?
Because it has a tender behind.

Doctor, doctor, every time I drink a cup of tea I get a sharp pain in my nose.
Have you tried taking the spoon out of the cup?

I chatted to a mother yesterday who explained that her daughter’s school last year had only managed six eleven passes out of just on sixty children. The mum went on to say that she really wanted her daughter to be one of the six next year. Her daughter, completely inconsequentially, made a remark about some types of non verbal reasoning questions being hard.

Questions in eleven plus examinations are tested before they are included in a formal eleven plus test. Naturally, when questions are written, there must be some questions that are efficient – and some that are inefficient. If the right answer is selected more often than is expected on a random basis the question has to be excluded from the test. In eleven plus examinations questions do not have to be designed to contribute towards selecting a wide range of ability. Eleven plus questions can focus on trying to select children for grammar school. To find this information a large sample of children is tested – and the actual eleven plus test is made up of questions that have passed the test.

Naturally an eleven plus test would not try to include questions that every one would get right. In the same way there will be no questions that no one can solve.

So while your mind is swirling around while you are waiting for the results tomorrow – you can’t use the argument that the test was unfair. The items in the test will have been tested ahead of the examination.

You can’t blame illness or nerves without proof from your doctor or a relevant professional.

You can’t blame the school for a low number of children passing the examination. Your child’s school will have done the best they can.

All you can do is think positively. If your child has passed – you need a big party. If your child has not gained the school of your choice – you need a big party. The last thing you want to do at this stage is allow your child to feel a failure.

As a parent too you must not feel a failure if everything has not gone to plan. It is a very hard lesson for a ten year old – but an even harder time for some parents. You would not have entered your child for the examination if you had not thought that your child would have a chance.

Try to be positive. Call for some of the `family favourite’ jokes. Ask grandfather to chat to your child and tell a couple of jokes that usually make all the family groan and smile.

But if you feel that your child had suffered an injustice – then fight at hard as you can. You owe that yourself.

A Good Luck Story

One of the reasons why non verbal reasoning tests were developed was to try to find a test that would differentiate, in a few minutes, between a person who was intellectual less able, of average ability and bright. Then there came a need to be able to find tests that would also find children and adults who were more than just `bright’.

Non verbal tests attempt to look at ability where the ability to think and reason is independent of educational attainment. Naturally if the element of time is added to the test then the test is looking for more than just the ability to think and reason.

Of course the more familiar a person is with a test the more likely they are to do well. If the eleven plus tests that were used in the actual selection process were published then people would be able to buy them. As the eleven plus tests are not published there is a demand for books and courses so that children can be coached.

The question that always passes through parents’ minds is the sheer unpredictability of the way in which their child will approach questions in the actual eleven plus tests. Naturally we hope that able children, who have been well prepared at home and at school, will do themselves justice. Children who have a long track record of achievement are likely to do well in the tests.

What is frustrating to all of us is when a child who does not sit on the top table at school in either mathematics or English achieves a surprising result in the eleven plus examinations. Last year we had a girl who was with us for about eight months. She never climbed any where near the level needed for entry to grammar school. In the lessons she was quiet and undemanding. She did not manage to complete the eleven plus course she was on with us – because she simply worked very slowly and carefully

Somehow she managed to rise to the occasion and pass the eleven plus examinations. She not only passed but did remarkably well. All the work she had done at school, at home and with us must have `gone in’. She was only on the second mathematics table at school. We have five levels of eleven plus mathematics courses – that range for work for the mathematically gifted to children who want to `try’ the eleven plus examinations. The girl we are talking about was only working through our middle mathematics course. So how did she pick up the knowledge to be able to reach the level that she did?

This is the unpredictable nature of children and the eleven plus examinations. We are working with the younger brother of another girl who was with us last year. One of us asked the sister how the girl was getting on at grammar school this year. Through conversation it had transpired that they were both in the same class at grammar school. The answer was, `Fine, she is doing well.”

So the eleven plus examination that our girl sat was able to work out not only this little eleven year old was `bright’ – and she was also `very bright’. Yet the tests she had done with us and at school, along with her performance at school and with us had never quite managed to pick her out as a strong candidate for grammar.

Did she deserve her place? Of course she did. Will she maintain her place in grammar school? We certainly hope so. A spare a moment for the feelings the girl in question. What a boost it must have been for her to have her ability recognised so publicly. Imagine the joy and pride of the family.

We hope there will be other wonderful stories like this over the next few days. Good luck to all concerned as parents and children wait anxiously for allocated places in the schools of their choice along with entry to grammar school.

Keeping Your Mind Off the Unfolding Events

Friday, for many of us, is an important day. The eleven plus results for many families will drop through the door. Careful preparation is required.

You have Wednesday and Thursday to tidy the house. Naturally part of that time will be spent in tidying the bedroom of the candidate. Clothes must be put away neatly and drawers reorganised. Don’t forget to clean the windows too!

Next you need a list. You need to plan for Friday afternoon and Friday evening. These are the key times for you and your child. You might decide to take the family for a swim to burn off all that pent up energy. You may try to bring as many members of the family round for a meal. The presence of so many loved and familiar ones will help you and your child to take your mind off the unfolding events of the day.

Now we come to Saturday. It is vital to plan an action packed day – with the proviso that it should not be an expensive day. There is simply no need to go over the top – whatever the results. You do not need to spend vast amounts of money to show your love and support for your child. Just think of familiar activities. Go for ideas that will make the day as memorable as possible. A visit to the cinema may help to keep everyone’s mind off what has just happened. If possible a long walk before bedtime will help all concerned to feel relaxed. Perhaps you can borrow a neighbour’s dog?

Sunday is the big day. You still have not had enough time for introspection and worry. You still don’t need to spend too much money. Having said that, perhaps a little retail therapy will help? A new CD or DVD could help? A new shirt or blouse may brighten up the day. Then embark on a planned drive to find some water.

Generations of people have found solace beside running water. It could be the sea, or a river or a dam. We hope that there will be some water of some kind reasonably close. You will then have time for a picnic lunch, a stroll by the water and a stretch in the fresh air.

You should be able to arrive home relaxed and pleasantly weary. A bit of T.V. and off to bed.

There can’t be much difference in your approach if your child has passed or failed. You still want to have a pleasant weekend – and not have enough time to think too much about the future. But if you plan for a weekend of family, food and exercise then you will feel much better.

Study Methods

Children are sometimes told to `study’. The words: “Go to your room and do some study now,” are used by parents on a regular basis. How will your child react to this? Is a ten year old expected to have good study techniques or do they need to be guided and helped?

First of all look at your child. There is no use sending him or her off to study if they look and feel tired. You will need to work out a routine where on study days your child is able to cope with some fierce mental agility.

Try to set up an environment where there are as few distractions as possible. It is very easy for the mind to wander when studying. For some children noise may distract them – other children could work through a hail storm and never look up.

Sometimes you and your child will agree that a particular topic needs to be learnt by heart. Rote learning is invaluable at times but try to make sure that there is real understanding. Good overall comprehension of the subject will lead to better retention of the material.

Some ten year olds will be able to make connections between what they are learning in different subjects. Others will need to have the connections pointed out to them.

So what you have to do is try to help your child to `get in the mood’ to study. Some children will thrive on starting with a clean and tidy desk or table. Other children will feel comforted by an apparent muddle of books and papers – but there may be some reason for their organisational skills.

Some children will try to pick a fight before settling down to work – on the grounds that this stimulates and excites their learning. Other children will drift off quietly without demur.

Many years ago I was a housemaster in a large boarding school. A large number of the boarders were taken out by family or friends. This left a number of children in the hostel. It was a tradition that children who stayed behind had to write a letter home. This took place after lunch on a Sunday. It was a miserable time for the children and the teachers on duty. The duty teacher had to read through the letters to make sure that the content represented a fair account of the previous week.

I had the bright idea of preparing ten different letters – one for each week of the term. The letters were pinned up around the prep room. The children ranged from seven to eleven years old. The sample letter provided the tools to be able to find something to say.

The system worked for a while. One Sunday morning a family arrived rather unexpectedly to pick up their son. The family lived miles away so the boy had to write frequent letters home. Dad had a pile of letters in his hand. Each letter, over the previous seven weeks, said exactly the same thing.

There were different staff on duty each Sunday to look after the children. The staff rota carried over five different teachers. What my bright idea had not taken into account was that this particular boy had selected the simplest letter and had laboriously copied the same letter out each week.

So the next time you utter the words: “Go to your room and settle down to some study,” try to make sure that you have done better preparation than I did.

Keeping relaxed.

“The results are due out very shortly. I am so worried for my son. He seemed to be so relaxed about the examinations.”

We know that a football team should not appear too relaxed before setting out on an important match. This would mean that they are not keyed up enough. If the team fail the manager is blamed.

We have heard about horses being `relaxed’ in the paddock before a big race. This would mean that the horse is not sweating unduly - and is enjoying the occasion. If the horse is relaxed the trainer is praised.

“The bride looked beautiful. She was calm and relaxed as she dreamed down the isle.” If a bride is calm and relaxed this may be down to the large shot her chief bridesmaid fed her a few minutes before.

“The F1 Driver was his usual calm and relaxed self before the start of the race.” Well he would have to be. It would be no use to anyone if his heartbeat went up too high at the start of a race.

Just because your heart is beating with fear and anticipation it does not necessary mean that your son is just as nervous. You may do well to recall that:

You have worked hard with your son over a sensible period of time.

He felt well prepared going into the examination.

You have told him that he was not to worry - and that he should do his best.

So good luck to the whole family!

A debating point.

We are often advised not to bury our heads in the sand. This can mean that we refuse to acknowledge a problem. Children at school are taught about ostriches running around sticking their heads in the sand when danger approaches. We can take this statement at face value or we can challenge it.

What possible reasons could there be for ostriches to appear to stick their heads in the sand?

It may be that the ostriches were simply laying their heads on the sand to listen to sounds.

If they were unfit ostriches they may even have been resting their heads on the ground because of the weight of their long necks.

Ostriches are also inclined to look into bushes to see what is there. They are inquisitive birds after all.

Every bright ten year old will be looking at a problem such as this a declaiming: “If an ostrich actually did stick its head into the sand it would most likely suffocate.”

If this is true does it also mean that if we refuse to acknowledge a problem it will go away? Try debating this point with your ten year old.

Reasoning help

On our eleven plus courses we teach reasoning skills. We naturally use a wide range of different methods to try to help to stimulate the children. Reasoning is not just confined to verbal and non verbal reasoning exercises. We use reasoning in our every day life.

Sometimes we use the word `reason’ when we say: “Why can’t you reason with me? I did put the car away last night.” In this sense we want some form of justification.

A different type of reasoning that does come up when we want a logical response

In eleven plus terms, however, we are most often use the word reason because we want our children to be able to think clearly and coherently.

When a reasoning test is constructed the questions are designed to look at ability in different ways. Somewhere on the paper your child will be expected to justify an answer. On a different question your child will need to be able to think logically. Very often your child will need to be able to think clearly.

To draw these responses from your child a variety of techniques will be used. An examiner has different tools that can be employed. You will find, creeping into the questions, different types of reasoning skills including:

OBJECT MANIPULATION
• Recognising objects from different angles
• Imagining movement and displacement
• Rotation/Reflection/Enlargement
PERCEPTION• Have to use all senses – Sight, Touch, Hearing
• The process of organising and using information received through the senses
CREATIVE INSIGHT
• Understanding relationships
PERCEIVING IMAGE PATTERNS
• Analysing patterns and structures
LOGICAL ANALYSIS
• Hypotheses, and planning a set of operations

It is easy to understand where some questions come from. For example looking at the list above it takes a very short time to recognise this type of question:

Amanda and Elizabeth Wilson were both born just before midnight on October 10, 1998. They had the same parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. Yet even though they had the same parents and were born at the same time, they were not twins! Can you explain this?

It is obvious this type of question is one of perception. You can’t look at it from a different angle and there isn’t much logic to it – so you have to organise the data in such a way that your mind accepts what is in front of you. You can, however, reason your way through to the solution.

Naturally you will be helping your child to try to develop a set of strategies to cope with solving reasoning problems. On some papers there could be some questions that even you will need to read twice! So preach:

• Re-Read the question.

• Read the question again – this time to look for clues.

• Use diagrams

• Guess and then check the answer.

Did any of this help in working out the puzzle about Amanda and Elizabeth Wilson? One our bright ten year olds on the last course did it about 15 seconds!

In the Examination Room.

Some children will do the actual eleven plus test in their school – in familiar surroundings. Other children will do their practice tests, and then the proper test, in a less well known environment. All that parents can ask for is a level playing field.

Think for a moment about the role of the teachers and examiners administering the test. The teachers will want the children they are testing to do as well as possible. They know that some of the children will arrive upset and worried. They know too that others will take the new surroundings in their stride.

The teachers will hope that the children being tested will arrive ready for the experience as fully prepared as possible. Unfortunately for the teachers, however, the children will demonstrate a wide range of uncontrollable behaviour patterns. Being tested for an eleven plus examination is not quite the same as being tested on shoe size or having to decide which toothpaste is most suitable.

In the actual examination room the teachers will try to create an appropriate atmosphere at the beginning and the end of the assessment session. The teachers will try to be pleasant and friendly. You can be sure that they will use encouraging words and ideas. It is most unlikely that they will stop beside your child, shake their heads, and mutter: “This one won’t pass!”

The teachers are more than likely reiterate that no one is expected to get everything right. I am sure that your child will hear him or her say, “No one is expected to get everything right!”

The teachers will explain what is going to happen very clearly. The whole atmosphere will be one of sincere encouragement

I am sure that they will call your child by his or her Christian name. If your child does become a little distressed the teachers will chat about hobbies, interests and common events.

Some where along the way there should be some humour. Many children like humour. Very few children like teachers who are reserved or too solemn. You should be able to count on some smiles too!

The teachers will also be taking test fatigue into account. As teachers they will know that if children work through lots of tests with no time limits that children become tired. What they won’t know is if your child has also become a little bored. As parents, try to keep a little balance in the eleven plus preparations. Don’t let your child become too fatigued and bored before the examinations. You want your child to arrive happy, excited and pleased about being tested.

We know that the teachers will be trying to avoid distractions to upset their children. It is most unlikely that the teachers will walk around ceaselessly.

You should know too that the test instructions will be adhered to. There will be a procedure laid down in a handbook or a manual. Any eleven plus examiner will need to be fully conversant with the instructions. Be reassured that oral instructions will be followed carefully. Naturally timing will also be strictly controlled.

Finally you must know that while the teachers are being nice to your child they will not be coaching or teaching any children. Your child will be able to ask relevant questions – but will receive no help during the actual paper.

Grammar schools need bright and able children. The eleven plus examination, with all its faults and problems, tries to find bright and able children. I am sure that you too have a bright and able child. Good luck!

Ten Points to Confidence

We know that some children become anxious when they are faced by being tested. Preparation and practice will help to build your child’s confidence.

Children should also do better when they practice and understand the skills and strategies needed to take tests.

• Go over the directions and the sample exercises with your child. The more careful and painstaking you are, the more likely that your child will apply these same skills in the examination. On the day of the examination you want your child to read every word in the instruction sections. So practice what you preach! Don’t rush it!

• Reassure your child that the practice tests are not the real tests. One of the definitions of practice is that practice means to acquire or polish a skill. If your child is learning a new skill then he or she will need your support. If you are polishing a skill then you are trying to help your child get ready for the actual examination – and you certainly don’t want any stress then! So no stress in your communication during polishing sessions.

• It is essential that you go over the answers together. You want to be able to discuss any improvements as well as problems. If you only focus on areas of difficulty it is hard to be able to comment when actual progress is made.

• Your child must feel that you are enjoying working together. There is no problem with not knowing an answer or how to approach an unfamiliar topic. What you definitely want to avoid is the, `I told you so!’ or, `We have done this – so why can’t you remember?’

• What you are trying to achieve are conditions that are as similar as possible to those your child will meet on the day of the examination. You want your child to achieve his or her full potential. The examination room will be quiet and earnest. Your work with your child should be the same.

• A key goal is helping your child to feel that he or she can approach a wide variety of questions - and cope. Naturally you also want your child to use time wisely.

• Remind your child that for some answers he or she will have to try to organise the facts and information given in the question – in order to be able to come up with a solution. Reading and re-reading the question should help.

• Explain too about `gut instinct’. This is when you know the answer – but you are not sure. You could still be wrong – but one answer must be right. Just go for it!

• Talk too about an `inference’. This is when you are not told the answer directly – but the question has pointed you in the right direction. You want to help your child to be able to make judgments and generalisations.

• Finally you want to be able to distinguish between fact and opinion. Explain that an opinion will state a point of view – and you often find descriptive words in opinions. The Eleven Plus is an examination. The Eleven Plus is a hard examination. There is a difference!

Investing, Shareholders and Dividends

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We often think of the word `investing’ when we think of our children’s future. To some of us if there is an `investment’ we also think of shareholders and then dividends. If you put a lot of time, money and effort into your child’s education you expect a return.

We tell our children that the only way to get on in life to is have an education. We explain to them, very carefully, that passing the 11+ and then GCSE and `A’ levels is the way forward. We use words like: “You need to make the most of this opportunity.” If the words `Eleven Plus’ are mentioned, in the same breath as `opportunity’ we are often thinking about some form of profession.

I chatted to a family recently. The Dad said: “I am only a plumber.” He went on to explain that he had left school with very few qualifications and had had to study at night school. He wanted something different for his child. But what he did have was a lovely family, a nice car and a good address.

Do you think that it was just because he had had a restricted education he wanted something more for his children? I had the feeling that he did not want to be fobbed off with `second best’ for his child. He spoke well about the school his child attended. He was more than happy with the teacher and remarked that the school had a good head. But most important of all, this Dad had a respect for education.

As parents we are allowed to have aspirations. We thrive on dreams for our children. We also know how to be realistic about what can be achieved.

I met another father a few weeks ago and he wanted his extremely bright child to have the opportunity of doing well in the eleven plus examination – and in entrance tests for a local private school. He thought that his child would do just as well at both schools – but that the independent school would open more doors in the future.

So this father wanted more than good GCSE and `A’ Level passes. He was looking for different outcomes from the education system.

Both sets of parents were investing in the way they thought best for their child. Both parents were shareholders in their children’s education. And each father wanted a dividend from the time, money and effort.

This places a heavy burden of expectation on us as teachers and educators. When we work with a child for an hour a week we are not only trying to give the child the tools to pass an examination, we are also trying to fulfil the aspirations of the parents.

Academic Ability and Applied Ability

The manner in which children are tested for the eleven plus varies from region to region and school to school. It will always be impossible for there to be one eleven plus examination for the whole country because different schools want different types of candidates. Naturally the composition and makeup of the tests will also need to change periodically.

There will always be some children who will be able to take what ever is thrown at them in their stride. These lucky children will not be phased by strange looking questions or unfamiliar formats.

For many children there will be remarkably little distinction between academic ability and applied ability. These will be bright children who work hard and love challenge.

So what is it that some parents most fear about the eleven plus examinations? Some children will be tutored and other children will not. Some schools will take pride in the number of eleven plus passes and others won’t. Some children will prepare for two years and other children will simply do one or two papers. Some school will send out practice packs – and others will recommend commercially produced materials.

One of the fears that parents have is how their child will react in the actual examination room. Parents will be aware of their own child’s personality and motivation.

We once had a remarkably bright girl who had done wonderfully well in all her tests at school and with us. She was quite simply a one of the most able girls we had worked with. Quite inexplicably, when she was given her first set of eleven plus results, she was pleased that everything was well below average. She passed the other eleven plus examination she sat with flying colours because she did not want to go to the same school as her brother. She wanted to go to an all girls school. Her parents had always made the point how easy it would be for transport if both children could go to the same school. If both children were at the same school the mother would be able to return to a full time job.

In the end both children were at grammar school – but at different schools. What happened to the poor mother and her job? Well we hope she did the best she could for herself and the family.

Some parents will always have the `cup half full’ attitude to the eleven plus examinations. They will acknowledge that they are doing the best they can under the circumstances. They will accept their child’s strengths and weaknesses. They will simply fit the examinations into the busy family schedule.

Other parents will react in a different way. They will be concerned that they may have missed an opportunity in terms of papers or tuition or tutors.

Now these approaches probably represent two extremes. Yet one concern parents have is shared by almost all parents. They don’t know what the `on the day’ attitude of their child to the examination will be. So what ever the questions or the preparations, all parents can do, as they wait for the results, is just hope that their child has done h

Waiting for Results

We are waiting, just like so many other parents, teachers and tutors for the approaching 11+ results. We know for some there will be great joy. A number of parents will be quite extraordinarily excited. Some, however, will feel faint and need some form of stimulation.

We know that no right minded parent will turn to anything so vulgar and debilitating as alcohol to help the waiting. In fact some parents will have already made a vow to give up wine and chocolates if their loved one does pass the examination. I can not think of any thing more extreme - but who am I to judge?

Other parents will naturally be increasing their consumption of tea and coffee. Both are very well known stimulants. Both beverages have amazing recuperative powers. Spare a thought however, for any descendants of Gustav III of Sweden. He was murdered in 1792. (It is possible that some of his line may be involved in writing the eleven plus examinations.)

Gustav III believed that coffee was poison. (We hope that none of his family have or had shares in Starbucks.) To prove his theory he sentenced a murderer to drink coffee every day until he died.

At the same time he pardoned another murderer on the condition that he drank tea every day.

He then appointed two doctors to supervise the experiment - and then to see who died first. Well you will have guessed by now.

The doctors died first.

Then the King, as mentioned earlier, was murdered.

The first murderer to die was the tea drinker.

The whole point of recalling those anxious days is to highlight the anxiety and concern of our present eleven plus parents. All of those who only drink tea - be very careful over the next few weeks. No late nights, no shouting at the children - and lots of smiling at your child’s school teacher.

For those who are only coffee drinkers be even more careful. In fact a pertinent piece of eleven plus advice would be have equal parts of tea and coffee - but neither in excess.

While you wait for the results you will be working everything out in your brain. The reasons for success. Where you may have gone wrong. (Did the family really need to take the long school holidays off to fly to Australia to see Aunt Mary?) How you will reward you child for passing. What you can give as a consolation prize for trying hard. Should you give the same prize for failing as you would for passing?

The really hard question will be trying to work out is what detox method you will need to adopt to get rid of all the stimulants in your body. Taking the discussion just that little bit further - what about booking yourself in a weekend break? Massages, facials, lettuce leaves, Jacuzzi - the full works. No one else will give you a prize for all the hard work you have done.

Keeping Education in Perspective

Our Geography teacher at school was Mr J.B. Clarke. J.B. loved three things – rugby, athletics and his wife. We were never sure of the order.

Naturally J.B. took the Ist 15 Rugby team. He was also in charge of the athletics coaching in the school. His wife had taken part in the Olympics as a hurdler. They were a talented and hard working family. The type of family team that is the backbone of every school.

In the year preceding our `O’ Level examinations a new Athletic track was carved out of the side of the hill. The grass was planted and as usual we waited for the rains. Then came the collision. The examinations took place just after sports day. The field was covered with little rocks and stones. J.B. wanted his field to be perfect. Where could he find the labour? Naturally his thoughts turned to his classes.

Period after period boys walked down to the field. Little piles of stones grew. The school tractor collected the stones and deposited them in a small ravine at the foot of the track. Naturally there were some grumbles about this forced labour from some of the boys – and we understood that one or two parents queried the amount of time their boys were out of the classroom.

Our Geography class missed nearly the whole term before the examination out on the field. The rains came rather late. The weeds thrived. Piles of screw drivers arrived. We then worked our way down the field digging out weeds. Our last Geography class before the examinations arrived. J.B. asked us if we wanted to go over any of the syllabus. The sun was shining. The class asked to go outside.

Very few of us passed the Geography examination. The field, however, looked magnificent. The hills were in the background. The grass was green. The rows of chairs were marshalled uniformly. Most of the women wore hats. There were fine and stirring words from all concerned. There was no mention of the time the boys had spent on the field.

Now every parent involved in the eleven plus will hope that their children do as well as possible. Children, as examinations grow closer, need gifted and involved teachers. Why would I remember Mr. J.B. Clarke’s name? Quite simply he loved his job. I am sure that academic success was important to J.B. – but he felt that there was a time and place for everything.

Taking time off every now and again from the pressures of study and school work can not be bad in the long run. It is simply a matter of trying to keep it all in perspective.

Fish, Food and the Brain

We have to be very thankful for the Swiss naturalist Jean Louis Agassiz. He lived between 1807 and 1873. He absorbed the idea of the German philosopher and physician, Bulchner, (1824-99) who learnt that the brain contained phosphorus. He said: “Without phosphorus there is no thought.” It was left to the French chemist, Dumas, (1800-84) who confirmed that fish are a natural source of phosphorus.

So generations of children have had to eat fish because it is: “Good for the brain.”

If your eleven plus child does not like fish then it would be very unwise to tell him or her that phosphorus occurs in many rocks and minerals of the earth. It would also be unwise to go into detail about the amount of phosphorus in other fruit, meat and vegetables. You may never ever be able to force a plate of fish down the throat of your child.

Naturally there has been a multitude of studies about fish and brain power. This has gone on for around a hundred years. It is a sobering thought too that parents and educators will be promoting the eating of fish for the next hundred years.

What happens when children and adults live on fish for much of the family’s life? Some children could be eating between ten and twelve fish meals a week. This diet is not selected by anxious parents promoting the eleven plus examinations but by families living on a island or beside a river.

We know that a lack of some types of food can lead to a deficiency - but a balanced diet should satisfy all the requirements of the body. It looks as if children need to eat fish about twice a week. It seems that the best fish to eat are the oily fish like:

fresh tuna (not tinned)
sardines
salmon
mackerel
trout
pilchards

So it took a Swiss naturalist to understand the point that a German philosopher was making. The investigation of a French chemist consigned all our poor children to eating fish. The Eleven Plus examination is uniquely English. This is real European collaboration!

Improving The Odds

We would all like our children to have a house like this one day. We know in our hearts that we need to spend time and effort in helping our children to pass eleven plus examinations. What we don’t know is if we will be altering the odds. We hope that a child who works hard at grammar school and goes to a good university will have an increased chance of owning a lovely home.


• 6 Bedrooms
• 6 Bathrooms
• 4 Receptions
An exceptional family house lavishly appointed with extremely spacious accommodation, wonderful entertaining rooms and a superb indoor swimming pool complex including 5 reception rooms, playroom, games room, pool room with sauna, gym and 6 bedrooms (5 suites). There is a substantial south facing sun terrace. Parkland grounds of approximately 3.5 acres.
If you have other questions about this property …..

We are all extremely thankful that girls now have as good a chance of as boys of doing well at school and university. So we know that it is not the gender of the child or the opportunity of finding enriching and stimulating work that stops all of us from owning a house like this. Inheriting the money too is also not the only route. The lottery? Well that gives us a chance – but quite poor odds.

There must be some dynamic that tips the odds in favour of one person or another. When we are working with our eleven plus children we can not control the odds – all we can do is try to provide a rich and fertile foundation.

We want our children to work hard. We want success. We want drive and desire. There must also be an element of dreaming in the whole equation.

So you will have done your best as a parent. You can not quite come up with the full amount of money to be able to gift the entire property to your child. You are going to have to be content with your lot. So one Sunday afternoon look on the internet for homes worth more than a million pounds. Plot a little map. Pile the family into the car. Take a little drive. Spend a few minutes at the gates doing a little dreaming of your own. Offer up a little prayer that your child will have better odds than you had.

Give Yourself a Chance

I am always amazed by the amount of effort that goes into helping children to learn to swim. Parents naturally start off with the dilemma of: to arm band or not to arm band.

The case for arm bands

Arms bands make parents feel safer about their child in the water.

The case against arm bands

In the long run, learning to swim without arms bands makes children feel safer in the water.

The next big hurdle is trying to decide if you are going to teach your child yourself or leave the teaching to a professional.

The case for teaching swimming yourself.

This is rather like teaching your spouse to drive. Enough said!

The case against you teaching your child to swim.

The professional will tell your child to put his or her face into the water. The child will obey. Your loved one won’t always do the same for you.

Then you come to the after lesson activities.

The case for the parents after a lesson.

“Come along dear. Let’s go and have some lovely chips. You must be so tired now.”

The case for the professional after the lesson.

“Well done. Drink your water and do your exercises. See you next week.”

Where then is the parallel of these observations with the eleven plus?

Your child will accept the teacher or tutor’s advice and professionalism. If you explain something you may be confronted by your child declaring to you there is a different method - that may be more difficult to understand - but infinitely preferable to what you have just said.

Getting outside help for the eleven plus examinations is rather like keeping your powder dry. You remember that years ago a soldier had to be very careful crossing a river because the powder could become wet. The professional swimming teacher will ask your child, very quietly, to swim a final length faster and with more enthusiasm. You, as a parent, will ask for a final push - and could be greeted by: “Do I really have to?”

However, and there is always a however, if you decide to coach your child yourself you will have your good times and your bad times. You will also build an incredibly strong bond with your child. You will have moments of great pleasure and joy. Just think of the excitement of being able to solve a complex problem together. Think of the companionship of working together and enjoying each other’s company.

It does not matter that you may not be as professional as the eleven plus teacher or tutor. You, as a parent, will demonstrate a fierce determination and will to succeed. You will also be incredibly understanding of your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Go for it. I urge you. You will never get the same chance again.