Eleven Plus New Year Resolutions

A mere thirty days ago you and you eleven plus child sat down to discuss the `Eleven Plus Resolutions’. The promise and resolutions were made in a spirit of reconciliation and pledges. Some will have been easier to keep than others. Examination candidates, and their mentors, will give their word to almost any thing if they think it will help.

(Some resolutions apply to the child, some to the parent and some are shared by both.)

I resolve to behave in such a way that I will respect the needs of the eleven plus and will work as hard as I can.

I will be polite and respectful to my mother and father (to my son or daughter) at all times. I will never raise my voice – unless I am excited by a correct answer.

I will keep my eleven plus materials neat, clean and well organised. I will pick up and put away. I will never leave a used cup or class on the hallowed eleven plus desk. I will always put any cutlery away.

I will do my eleven plus work when it is time to work. I will not argue or seek arguments. I will try hard to maintain a steady and purposeful direction towards the examination.

I will make reasonable adjustments to my work schedule. I know that one meaning of the word `reasonable’ is `in accord with common sense’. (I understand that definitions of the words `common sense seem to vary from generation to generation.)

I will treat everything to do with the eleven plus with dignity and forbearance.

It is not hard to understand why sometimes it is hard to maintain the intent of too numerous `New Year Eleven Plus Resolutions’. The old eleven plus proverb (borrowed from antiquity) maintains that it is impossible to square the circle. All parents and their children can do is their best.

Past Eleven Plus Results

I heard today about three sets of parents who wanted to leave one school and go to a different school – because the desired school had had better eleven plus results. The parents decided to try to move during the eleven plus year to give their children the best possible chance. The children would leave behind the friends they had had through out their school careers. The mothers were sure they were right and their present school was wrong.

Comparing schools on the basis of previous eleven plus passes can be a little misleading at times. Let us look at four different schools. Suppose the number of children winning places in grammar schools to be 26, 23, 20 and 21. It would be possible to place the schools into rank order – A, B, C and D. If your child was in school D you may wish your child to go to school A. Schools A, B and C had comparable intakes. But school D had almost twice as many children sitting the eleven plus. On this basis should school D be ruled out?

Schools A, B and C had year intakes of around 50 children. School D had around 80 children. Does School A still look the best choice?

School A, however, is about to enter a year of transition. The Head Teacher is retiring. The much loved, and highly respected, Year 5 teacher is about a take a year out to do voluntary work in Cambodia. The school is about to have an exclusion unit added – that would take in troubled children from the other schools. One of the school governors is to appear in court for threatening a parent who was downright rude.

Is school A still the best choice?

School C had an outstanding OFSTEAD report. The head is to take over the management of school A as well as run school C. School A is looking for a new full time head.

School D, however, is about to move into new buildings costing millions of pounds. The IT suite will be the envy of all the schools in the authority.

Should parents be conservative during Year 5 – or can they exercise their rights? Are good eleven plus results worth more than friendships?

The scenario with the parents mentioned about has yet to draw a final curtain. The first shots have been fired.

Is there more to a school than last year’s eleven plus results?

Eleven Plus and Independent Schools

There is a thought provoking article in The Telegraph today.

An article written in by a respected journalist is always interesting and can broaden the debate.

Solving Eleven Plus Problems

If you bought your eleven plus child an educational science kit for Christmas, and it is still languishing unused, you could try this little experiment. Create a circuit where there are two light switches – and each one can only be in one of two positions. There is also an electric bulb.

If you are a brave and forward thinking parent you will have the confidence to try this will all the members of your family, the task is to tell, on the basis of turning one switch only, what turns the light on.

Trial One

The light is off. Your eleven plus child turns one switch and the light comes on.

Trial Two

The light is on. The switch is moved and the light goes off.

Trial Three

The light is on. When the switch is moved nothing happens.

Trial Four

The light is off. When the switch is moved nothing happens.

Whichever way the problem is presented everyone in the family will find that they need to follow a similar pattern of steps.

In the first case the only thing that needs to be understood which position and which switch was used. The remaining trials require more than one thing to be remembered. Take Trial Four where nothing happens.

The present position has to be rejected,
The original position of the switch has to be rejected.
The present position of the switch that has not been turned has to be rejected,
The alternative position of the switch that has not been turned has to be the one that turn the light on.

The experiment was first set up by J. Huttenlocher who was in part looking at how few steps were needed to solve the problem It was found that some six year old children were just as good as twelve year old children.

This seems to suggest, but this could be a rather wild hypothesis, that some six year old children could possibly solve some problems that some eleven plus candidates find difficult. Perhaps the parallel can be drawn out a little further – some eleven plus children may be able to solve some problems with fewer steps than their parents. (If any one has any experience of this happening please let me know!)

Lot and Lots of Similar Eleven Plus Questions

Back in1212, long before the eleven plus was a twinkle in the eye of the educators, Etienne started the Children’s Crusade. Etienne was a shepherd boy who had a vision He appointed himself as an ambassador to make a pilgrimage.

As he marched through France he was joined by thousands of boys and girls – and some were even bearing arms. As the madness spread through the country, parents were unable to control their children. The children howled until they were able to join the march – and some even crept away in the night.

Is it difficult to imagine a similar Eleven Plus crusade in today’s world? The children would be able to make the crusade from the safety of their computers and phones. Bebo, My Space, Skype, Messaging and Face Book would offer relatively safe havens for the children. Their parents would be able to monitor their conversations, twitters and chat.

Would the eleven plus stay in the same format if every child who has embarked on an eleven plus course was able to be part of a massive eleven plus `chat’ scheme? Children would be able to communicate their answers, thoughts and grumbles. The children would be able to comment, in their own words, on particular papers and formats of papers.

There may even be some children who do not agree with the present control and standardisation of the format of today’s eleven plus. These children would not necessarily be the demonstrators we have seen recently complaining about university fees. These could be children who are genuinely embarrassed by the content of the exercises they have to endure. By the time the brightest of our present children have understood the principle behind the formulaic analogy question – then their curiosity and excitement must be contained. If you have seen one: Grass is to green as snow is to (black, purple, and white) then you have seen the lot!

But our eleven plus children are only around ten years old. Would they be strong enough at this tender age to be to resist pressures from their parents and tutors? Should they be content to continue to attempt to crack `play play’ codes like: “If 123245678 in code is paramount what is 8321?

After all if you have seen one you have seen the lot!

Eleven Plus Predictions

How will parents be certain that their child will be able to react in a positive manner in the actual eleven plus examination?

First of all parents must know their child pretty well by the time the eleven plus examination comes along. There will have been many different opportunities for a child to be able to prove the ability to rise to the occasion.

However a mother loves her child, and is able to see more than strengths, it must be recognised that parents do not have access to a set of objectives they can judge their child by. Predicting eleven plus success is not like predicting consumer trends – there is much more to it than a line on a graph.

Parents are able to look at their children with hearts full of faith and confidence but they can not rely on a scientific formula that will safely predict academic success. A child can walk into the examination with a confident wave of the hand – secure in the knowledge that many hours of work have been spent in preparation. There may even be time for a few cheerful words with close friends. Some children will be able to demonstrate a complete resistance to nerves and feelings of fear and fright.

Why then should a child sometimes emerge with a totally unexpected score? Was there an unforeseen happening to cause a popping of the `concentration bubble’? Did a question emerge that was not in one of the practice exercises? Did something happen at school or at home?

Eleven Plus Compassion.

We once had a very bright girl who attended lessons. Her mother was invariably cheerful and upbeat and very positive with her daughter. The daughter achieved all but perfect marks on two papers – but failed one, inexplicably, by one mark.

Mum did not want to appeal. “If she had been meant to pass she would have passed. I am quite happy with the local school.”

Her head teacher said that would support an appeal. I offered to attend an appeal. Her dad said he wanted his daughter to go to grammar. The girl said little. Mum did not want to change her mind. “What will be, will be.”

Both parents were professionals within different fields.

The girl was quiet, modest and very able. She was not one to laugh and joke – she simply wanted to do her work to the best of her ability. She certainly had the necessary tools to be able to argue with her mother about going to a grammar school – but chose to adopt her mother’s advice. If the girl had had a different personality would she have pressed for a place?

We know that a person’s personality alters as he or she grow older. Certain traits must become ingrained while others give way to new ones. The shock of not passing the eleven plus may have helped the girl, mentioned earlier, to almost freeze her thoughts – and listen without question to her mother’s arguments.

Personality is studied through interviews, questionnaires, projective tests and direct observation of behaviour. There will always be some degree of scepticism about the assumptions that the tests are based on. Who needed the personality assessment?

The bright, articulate, well educated and down to earth mother?

The able, hardworking and `super’ little girl?

The human in the local authority who did not pick up the phone - when he or she looked at the wonderful marks on two of the tests – and the strangely out of line mark on the third test?

Should compassion play a part in the eleven plus?

Challenges to the Eleven PLus

A reasoning score, be it verbal or non verbal reasoning, gives an immediate and concise piece of information. This must be one major reason why reasoning scores are used in so many eleven plus examinations.

To sum up the whole of a child’s academic potential in a single score does, however, need to be treated with some degree of caution. The eleven plus test are supposed to be predictive – in that the results are used to say which children should benefit from a grammar school education. It would be interesting to read studies that confirm the effectiveness of the present tests.

The whole area of mental measurement is infinitely complex. Some of us may occasionally find the final test results very frustrating. The validity and fairness of the present eleven plus tests can not, at present, be challenged by parents. In the eyes of many there is not viable alternative.

Many years ago a Frenchman called Binet used a series of tests to identify mentally handicapped children. This lead to the development of other intelligence tests – and then to the widespread application of tests in schools. The reasoning tests used in the eleven plus are standardised, reliable and valid.

There does not, however, appear to be any appetite for questioning the validity of the tests. The stability of the tests is unquestioned – as they have been used effectively in their present form for many years.

The world, however, has moved on considerably in the past few years with the impact of the internet and social networking. Teaching in schools is being challenged on a daily basis. Children are taught with whiteboards and through on line lessons. Perhaps children being educated in today’s world need a different kind of ability test that is more suited to the world they will meet in another six years time.

The Eleven Plus Under Fire

Has much of the published eleven plus content become a little too docile? We hear of some children and some parents who have become preoccupied with the number of questions answered correctly on online tests and exercises. We have also been told stories of tutors who work doggedly through paper after paper.

The eleven plus for ten year olds could, for example, involve critical reading and wide searching examinations. The whole eleven plus experience for some children is to do with preparing `objective' or `multiple choice' answers. There is little room for criticism or detachment.

Some children will be able to pass the eleven plus after working through hundreds or even thousands of questions with answers that are either right or wrong. There is little room for shades of grey! Does the act of reasoning actually come into the examination?

It is a massive achievement to pass the current eleven plus. First class teaching from the thousands of well thought of eleven plus teachers from all over the country help children to `go to grammar. Even the most gifted teachers must, however, be constrained by the tight bands of the some of elements of the eleven plus.

Very bright children are subjected to a caricature of an examination. We have an incredibly able boy with us who is aiming at achieving marks in the top two percent. He tears through questions - at twice the speed of other able children. He does not need lessons as he can cope with the mechanical aspect of the present eleven plus. His face only lights up when he meets an occasional demanding problem. We have told him, and his parents, that he does not need lessons yet the family feel that he still needs to go through the motions of examination preparation.

Should we offer the present `eleven plus syllabus' or is it our responsibility `to go where no boy has gone before?'

Eleven Plus Shopping

It is simply time to dream again.

You are in the supermarket with your family. Your children say to you:

“Mum we can do the shopping? You go and sit over there. Have a nice cup of tea and one of those cream cheese cakes you love. We will sort it all out.”

Your thoughts go round and round.

Is there something dodgy going on?

What do they want?

Can I trust them with my list?

How can we pay?

My feet do hurt. I would love a cup of tea and a cream cheese cake.

Then you say those fateful words:

“Oh all right then. Thank you. I will be over here.”

You sit down at the table and sink back into your chair. The tea is wonderful. The first nibble is squishy. You are in heaven.

You see an eleven plus paper sticking out of your child’s bag. With a sigh you pull it out and start looking at question 34 again. The answer in the back simply can not be right. A strange woman leans across and says: “We can’t do that one either. We think that the answers are wrong.” Two other mothers, also complete strangers, lean over.

“We tried that one last year. We could not do it. My husband and I had a fight over it.”

The other mother says: “I creased to be a yummy mummy when we tried that question. I got so cross that I wanted to belt my child. Of course the answer in wrong.”

The chat then moves in different directions. All five mothers are listening and talking at the same time. Your child runs up to you. He greets the other women and informs you that the shopping is finished and you have to go to pay. Before spinning away he glances at the paper and says: “I know how to do that now.”

There is a chorus from the assembled mothers. “How?”

My friend’s nine year old sister worked it out. It is a rotation as well as a transformation. See?”

One of the mothers says: “You are so lucky.”

Another says: “And they did the shopping!”

The third mother, the one whose child passed last year, asked: “But what did he want?”

The fourth mother remarked: “Out of the mouth of babes.”

Eleven Plus Sugar

How much sugar do eleven plus children need? Our society has become addicted to sugar. About one hundred and fifty years ago sugar was virtually unknown in the West. Children today meet sugar in all sorts of ways – from little `lifesaving sweets’ to `must have’ biscuits.

There is a fairly general feeling that refined sugar is bad for the body. The only real contention is just how bad sugar is for us. Some medical authorise used to think that sugar caused diabetes and contributed towards coronary thrombosis and ulcers.

Some `experts’ also feel that the `sweet tooth’ so beloved by many of us is not a natural urge – it has come about through social convention.

There is a village in Ecuador called Villacabamba where people live for a long time. Of the eight hundred or so inhabitants nine were over one hundred and one was one hundred and forty two. Their diet has remarkably little fat and even less sugar. They eat a lot of vegetables and only eat a few grams of meat a week.

It would take a very brave mother to suggest, and implement, a simple diet with little fat and sugar in the build up to the eleven plus.

Some children may benefit from a reasonably well balanced diet; we sometimes see families where children arrive for their lessons with little cartons of fresh fruit and raw vegetables. We are more like to see sweets and coke.

Few mothers, however, in today’s world need to be reminded that eleven plus children, like so many of us, just need to eat sensibly and well.

Eleven Plus Percentages

Your child has a bike which is now rather small. You bought it at great expense some time ago. The bike has stayed the same size – it is your child who has grown. You want some money for the bike – and don’t want to give it away. You do not want much money for the bike – after all it has been used.

A friend offers you £35.50. You work out that this would give you a return of 17% if you did not trade the bike in.

Your child’s older sister, who is at grammar school and it at all times a bit of a `know all’, maintains that you need to make a profit of 26% on a private sale when you take into account what the shop is offering in incentives.

You mumble rather inconclusively as you just want to get rid of the bike. At the moment the bike is just one more bit of clutter. Your brain then lights up. Your eleven plus child should solve the problem and then receive the bike as a reward for going above and beyond the so called eleven plus syllabus.

You and your child have studied percentages.

117% of the bike is the cost price.

126% must be £35.10 multiplied by 117 and divided by 126.

Your child’s answer is £37.80.

You settle on this revised price. You try to work out if the extra £2.70 is worth upsetting your friend. You want to acknowledge your daughter’s acumen but you do not want to loose the friendship.

The Eleven Plus Dilemma

a) Do you stick with the original quoted price?

b) Do you simply give the bike away?

c) Do you take the extra money and spend the difference on a very small glass of wine?

Trying to Organise an Eleven Plus Child

Some people like to enjoy a highly organised approach to eleven plus preparations. Others may prefer to be a little less systematic. Most of us will be somewhere in between. Some child will like to have their eleven plus papers spread out so that they can pick up where they left the work on a previous occasion. Other children will put their work away leaving their work place wondrously neat and tidy.

A comparison with a computer manual and organising an eleven plus sessions may throw some light on the subject:

Recommended tools to change a component on a computer:

Small flat blade screwdriver
Small Philips screwdriver
Small plastic scribe
Bios update

(Confidence to do the job)

Recommended tools to prepare for an eleven plus lesson

Pencil
Paper
Eleven Plus paper
Clock or watch

(Desire and willingness to do the work.)

The Computer

Keep the work surface clean and tidy
Ground the system board
Change the component

Eleven Plus lesson

Keep the work surface clean and tidy
Remove distraction
Work on the paper

Some parents will try to help their children become more organised. Some children will persist and want to do things their way. There could even be some arguments. Parents can always say: “I know better. Keep your work place tidy.”

If your child persists with an unwarranted argument then quote Mark Twain:

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

An Eleven Plus Debate

There has not been a country wide debate on the value of the eleven plus for some years. An important ingredient in the early arguments for the eleven plus was the ability of the examination to find bright children, who were poor, but would benefit from an academic education.

It would be very difficult to have a broad debate about the present effectiveness of the eleven plus without the presence of newspapers. Would a barrage of negative articles about how the eleven plus was failing poor pupils help to sway people’s attitudes?

Would the intervention of powerful forums like `Mums Net’ help to build a tsunami of opinion that would force the government to act?

The underlying assumption of the eleven plus is that the examination will filter out a number of bright and able children. The evidence for this may have been compelling some years ago – but it may be time to question the nature and content of the examination.

Children from poor backgrounds may benefit additional preparation – but the sheer economics may help to militate against their progress. Books, papers, connection to the internet, teachers, tutors and transport all cost money. As in all walks of life the parents may be very willing to do what they can – but may lack the financial resources to be able to help their children.

A wider public airing and debate may help some parents caught in what some call the `poverty trap’. The notice of a `means tested eleven plus’ may, however, be an anathema to some.

Any attempts to question the eleven plus would bring in the main political parties.

I have seen the immense value of the eleven plus in its ability to change the lives of children.

Boys who were hitherto uninvolved and disaffected; clamouring for more work.

Girls learning to love mathematics - and subsequently wanting to `do’ mathematics at university.

Bright children achieving their potential.

Class room teachers being delighted by the progress that some of their charges may have achieved.

Parents happy and proud of their children.

Eleven Plus, Speech and Sport

Some of the present grammar schools are really ancient. They have a system of `houses’, `prefects’, `school loyalty’ and `team spirit’. It can be argued that this structure can, to a degree, explain how grammar school children can compete with the best of the public schools.

Sir Robert Morant, who was a product of one of the best public schools, worked on the 1902 Education Act. This act was to develop the idea of Local Education Authorities and provide funds for non religious education. The act also made more provisions for some money to be set aside for Adult education. Grammar school education was largely secure.

When a child entered one of the early grammar school the emphasis was often put on trying to level out the different accents of the children. It was felt, in some quarters, that the way an Englishman talks and moves would affect his social mobility. Speech alone was a significant social ticket.

When we listen to presenters on regional and national television – and to Members of Parliament – then we must be thankful that there have been changes in attitude towards accents and local idiosyncrasies.

For many years sport has been used to play a part in developing character. Sport is still highly prized as a worthwhile formative influence. We worked with a family some time ago where sport was a vital element in the choice of schools. A boy with a wonderfully positive character passed the entrance test to two schools. The boy was a very good swimmer. He had the marks to go to the one very successful and highly academic grammar school – which had a good history of sporting achievement. He chose to go to the lesser grammar school in order to make more time available for his competitive swimming. He was a national age group competitor and needed hours in the pool. The boy and his parents recognised that there was simply not enough time in the day for work, sport and play.

The Head Teacher of the primary school where the swimmer attended wrote (we were told) to the Head of the grammar school explaining the training schedule and the commitment that was entailed.

Entrance to grammar school used to be made up of intelligence tests, attainment tests, critical compositions and reference to the child’s school record. This has been replaced, in some authorities, by single subject ability tests.

Eleven Plus Methods

There have been many raging debates in Education over the years. One persistent discussion has been over the best way to teach a child to read. There are times when an eleven plus child needs the disciple of reading and learning through the whole word method and there are times when a child needs the methodical approach developed when learning phonics.

Comenius suggested a whole word or `look and say’ approach back in the sixteenth century – and students in English training colleges were appraised of this method before the 1914-18 war. Phonics, however, was the usual method of teaching children to read.

Many teachers liked the whole word method because it appeared to offer a wider range of reading, more attractive illustrations and a release from phonic drills. It was also felt that some children found the phonic drills boring. Every now and then the debate reopens in some educational quarters but it looks as if the great majority of teachers acknowledge that a combination of methods is better.

Another debate that crops up now and again is the amount and degree of differences in maturity between boys and girls as they approach the eleven plus. I was in Bluewater today. There is an amazing food hall with a variety of `chain’ food shops. There are hundreds of tables.

There was a group of five girls, around the age of thirteen, on a table near ours. The girls talked the whole time. The talked through each other and over each other. Several girls were conducting two conversations simultaneously while texting friends at the same time. They flicked their hair and the conversation ranged over an incredible number of topics. The girls left the table and a group of six boys took over.

The boys sat without a word and ate in silence. They did not look around but concentrated on their food and their own thoughts. At least two boys did not lift their heads to look around throughout the meal. One boy stood, collected the plates and plastic utensils while a second boy threatened to pour the remains of a drink over the others. This was the stage when they erupted into movement. They talked and laughed raucously and pushed each other exuberantly as they sauntered off.

All this to say is that, like with reading, there is probably not one `best’ method of eleven plus preparation. Some questions will need to be analysed (phonic approach) very carefully. Other questions will require different reading and comprehension skills (whole word).

Some girls will be mature and sociable beyond their years – while some boys will be able to perform even simple tasks with great concentration. Parents are fortunate – they just have to work with the children they have!

Eleven Plus Sleep

Over three hundred years ago Samuel Johnson wrote about sleep:


“Sleep is a state in which a great part of every life is passed. No animal has been yet discovered, whose existence is not varied with intervals of insensibility. Once in every four-and-twenty hours the gay and the gloomy, the witty and the dull, the clamorous and the silent, the busy and the idle, are all overpowered by the gentle tyrant, and all lie down in the equality of sleep.”

Just on a year ago, in fact just before Christmas `Little Cat’ arrived at our kitchen door. She was cold, thin and very depressed. We did not feed her for two nights – but took her round to all the neighbours to see if anyone had lost a little cat.

If Samuel Johnson and seen Little Cat he would have been able to add several riders about the degree and extent to which some cats can sleep. Little Cat is a world champion sleeper. She likes her head rubbed before she drops off – but sleeps through anything and everything.

A study of the sleep habits of the eleven plus child may prove fruitful.

Few eleven plus children will be insensible – unless they are asleep.

Many eleven plus children will display a variety of moods as they tackle their eleven plus work – ranging from the witty to the busy.

Few eleven plus children will nod off during a paper.

Some eleven plus children may enjoy having their heads rubbed as they work through a paper.

Some eleven plus parents may feel a little sceptical, or even suspicious, if their bright and bubbly eleven plus child suddenly mummers - in an unforeseen manner: “Mum, I feel a little sleepy and won’t do this eleven plus work now. I think I need a little sleep.”

Evaluating Steps in the Eleven Plus

Do you remember how to evaluate the square root of 405 768?

You will recall that you had to follow successive steps:

Mark off the digits from the right in groups of two

40 57 69

Look at the 40. Find the largest square number whose square is not greater than 40, i.e. 6

Put the 6 in the working above the 40.

Multiply 6 by 6, and subtract the result from 40, leaving 4.

Bring down the next group – the 57.

Double the 6 on the next line and put down 12 – to make the first part of the divisor.

124 times 4 is too big.

123 times 3 is 369.

Put 3 above the 57 – and also after the 12 to make 123.

Multiply 123 by 3 to obtain 369 and subtract this from the 457. This gives 88.

Double the 63 on the top line and put down 126 as the frst part of the divisor.

Put 7 on the top line and complete 1267 as the divisor.

Bring down the 69

You now have 88 69

Multiply the 1267 by 7 to find 8869

Take the 88 69 from the 88 69.

The square root of 405 768 is 637.

Prove this by multiply 637 by 637.

It may be an idea to work through this example yourself before trying it with your child.

Some eleven plus children, who know how to divide, will be able to follow these instructions. Some nine to ten year old children may find it a challenge.

Square roots of this nature are not, however, in the eleven plus!

Is long division really necessary in the eleven plus?

Eleven Plus Chances

Some children may find the relationship between passing an eleven plus examination and future success a rather difficult concept to understand.

“If you pass your eleven plus, and go to university, you will get a good job with a nice house and a lovely car.”

“Well Dad did it without going to university. He sometimes says that he is doing better than some of his friends who went to university.”

One way of trying to explain to children, who have the ability to do well academically, is the difference between a `operator’ and a `supervisor’.

The operator is mainly concerned with machines and materials. The supervisor is concerned with human beings.

The difference between an operator and a supervisor or foreman is probably much bigger than the difference between the supervisor and the director of the company.

Try explaining to your child that the operating success of a business often owes much to the middle management who do get to communicate with workers. The future direction of the business, however, is down to the directors – with input, hopefully, from all the staff.

Passing the eleven plus and going to university gives the opportunity to choose what sort of job or a person wants to do. Some very able children, who could pass the eleven plus, can easily land up as happy and contented adults doing something that they want to do. Grammar school and university needs to be a goal for some – but not all.

“Well Mum. I have listened to what you say. I don’t want to go to university. I don’t want to go to grammar. I want to be just like Dad.”

“You may change your mind later on – and then it could be much harder. Why not try to pass the eleven plus, try grammar school. If you don’t like it you can still change your mind when you are older. Please, just give yourself a chance.”

Spiders and the Eleven Plus

Most of us, at one time or another, will have found a spider in the bath. On seeing a spider we have a variety of choices:

Whip the spider out of the bath and throw it out of the window

Call for `spider patrol’ and watch, in a squeamish manner, as some one much braver tackles the awesome task of coping with a live daddy long legs.

Fill the bath, cover the exit pipe, and hope that the spider floats out.

Throw a towel over the side of the bath and pray that the spider climbs proudly out.

One’s approach to the spider problem is much the same as tackling some eleven plus questions. Do we encourage children to try to solve as many problems as possible without calling for help? Do we explain every topic carefully and make sure that the child knows exactly what to do – or do we allow the child to make mistakes and work out their own solutions?

When that little creature climbs onto the towel – and carefully makes his or her way out of certain death – we must be thankful that survival requires a very small brain. Our eleven plus children are blessed with big brains and lots of ability. They deserve a helping hand but don’t need to be spoon fed. We do not want them to throw the towel in during the actual examination.

Eleven Plus Parents and Children

The parents of eleven plus children have the ability to wield considerable power. “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” Parents have a variety of ways of assessing a teacher’s ability to prepare their child for the eleven plus.

One vital method is their child’s attitude to the lessons and the extra work generated by the eleven plus. Personal recommendation must also play a part as parents discuss the teacher with other parents. The teacher’s past eleven plus record must also be important. Some parents will also rely on their own very personal reaction to the teacher.

Eleven Plus teachers are concerned with far more than being simple purveyors of eleven plus preparation. There is the important matter of the intellectual development of the child. After all the very title `verbal reasoning’ implies that there could be a need to develop and stretch a child’s reasoning ability.

Some children may also need some elements of social training – where help is offered to the child to understand the implications studying largely academic subjects. This could include the need to understand that a candidate can not give up in the middle of an examination. Some children may need to learn how to cope with pressure of time. Other children may need some assistance with breaking day dreaming habits.

The eleven plus teacher is also concerned with helping the child to become organised. Books and papers have to be put away after use. The child needs the right equipment – a sharpened pencil, for example, must help! The child has to arrive at a lesson and leave on time.

Children, however, often have reasonably simple requirements from an eleven plus teacher:

Is the teacher fair, patient and friendly?

Does the teacher have a sense of humour?

Is the teacher willing to answer questions?

Will the teacher provide a safe and secure environment?

An Eleven Plus Homily

Have you ever felt the need to offer a little eleven plus homily? If you feel you need some inspiration you may care to ask your child to read and interpret a short little section of a poem by John Keats. (1818) It should not take long to read – but it may offer fertile ground for your own collected words of eleven plus wisdom.

(Be sure to point out the uncommon and interesting rhythm. This could capture the imagination.)

THE NAUGHTY BOY

There was a naughty boy,
And a naughty boy was he,
He ran away to Scotland
The people for to see-
There he found
That the ground
Was as hard,
That a yard
Was as long,
That a song
Was as merry,
That a cherry
Was as red,
That lead
Was as weighty,
That fourscore
Was as eighty,
That a door
Was as wooden
As in England-
So he stood in his shoes
And he wonder'd,
He wonder'd,
He stood in his
Shoes and he wonder'd.

“Yes Mum, I understand, I may as well do the work now.”

“Oh now I understand, Mum, why you keep saying that the grass is not always greener.”

“All right. All Right. I will start work now. You do not need to go on.”

Eleven Plus Incentives

Some parents, sometimes, may be encouraged to offer their children incentives to do with the eleven plus. The work to be rewarded could range from completing three questions to working through a full paper. Naturally there will be some children who will never need any incentive – and we can all envy these lucky parents and children.

For an incentive to be successful it needs to be something that appeals to an eleven plus candidate’s character. Parents who are aware will immediately distinguish between a bribe and an incentive. A bribe can come back and haunt you. An incentive should rank in the `happy memory bank’.

Parents may prefer an incentive of a meal, a show and a night at an expensive hotel. If only children had the monetary depth to be able to send their parents on an `away weekend’. (“Just to get them out of my hair.”)

If your child loves sensation then you could offer a day with a celebrity.

An active eleven plus child may enjoy an experience on a paint ball site.

The discerning parents may try to find an incentive that meets their child’s needs.

The Fairness of the Eleven Plus

It must be quite easy to add up the scores of the eleven plus test results of all the children and come up with some form of numerical data. You can add, for example, the shoe size of every one in the family and come up with an average shoe size. The problem comes when you look at the extended family – who should you include? Do you leave out Uncle Arthur on grounds that he emigrated to Australia? Should you include Grandfather Wilson who only wears slippers now – and hates wearing shoes?

The eleven plus results only represent the results of the children who took the examination. The results do not take into account children who did not take the examination. The selection results are based on a normal curve – or a bell curve – so if children are missing then the curve is not a true reflection of the whole cohort of children who are eligible to take the examination.

This would not be a serious point if the present selection policy was fair to all children – but, at present, the eleven plus does not pretend to be fair. You pass. You fail. You appeal. There are no second chances.

We have seen technology used in the present Ashes series in Australia. The fifth and final test finishes tonight or tomorrow – depending on how many wickets can be taken in the next few hours.

Cricket has always been based on fairness. Years ago there were the `Gentlemen’ who played the `Players’. A batsman would walk, and be expected to walk, if he was caught or was leg before wicket. The T.V. allows reviews of bowling, batting and fielding decisions and give players the opportunity to call for reviews and have decisions over turned.

There is no opportunity for a review in the eleven plus. There is a pass, a fail and an appeal.

A test result, however, is only valid if it measure what it is supposed to measure. How do we know how valid the eleven plus tests are? We can appeal a test result – but not the reliability and validity of the actual examination.

Eleven Plus Mistakes

What could be the greatest error or mistake a child could make in the actual eleven plus examination?

Running out of time?

Leaving too many questions out?

Too much guessing?

Spending too long on a block of questions?

We have just had Christmas and that brings to mind the story about a couple who took a taxi home after Christmas shopping. After they unpacked their parcels they found that they had one too many packages.

They unwrapped it and found a leather jewel case packed with diamonds, emeralds and rubies. The value, at today’s levels, would be around five million pounds.

The couple took the parcel to the police who found the owner.

The owner was the Great Duchess Zenia and she was carrying part of the Russian Crown Jewels.

What can you say that will help your child to avoid making some uncalled for error?

Most of us will use repetition.

Others will hope that sustained practice will help.

Parents will naturally rely on their child’s common sense to avoid any slip-ups and incomprehensible errors.

Multitasking and the Eleven Plus

This is a little experiment you can try with your eleven plus child. While your child is working through the experiment you will be multitasking. You will be simultaneously be feeding the children, listening to chat, talking on the telephone, worrying about a member of the family that needs to be picked up and thinking about the requirements of the eleven plus paper.

Your will expect your eleven plus child to be able to focus and attend while the older sibling, who passed the eleven plus easily, plays background music in the privacy of the bedroom. Your present candidate may make some form of ineffectual effort at lowering the noise and will then probably relapse into a morose and withdrawn state.

Now parents do not need to worry if multitasking is good or bad for their eleven plus child. After all they will want their child to be able to solve problems, think in an academic manner and remain focused and attentive. Parents need to ensure a form of balance between the ability to multitask and the ability to focus on the job in hand.

The Experiment

Provide a relatively easy eleven plus paper along with the addition of quiet, soothing music.

Offer the same task, with a similar paper, in an environment where the T.V. is on, the radio is playing and the dog barking at a stranger.

Compare the results including the amount of work that has been answered correctly.

Don’t explain the experiment to your child – or even discuss the results until you have been able to repeat the experiment on a number of occasions.

You know that some members of the family will be able to multitask more easily than others. Do not treat the results of the experiment as in the same manner as you would a price comparison site. But what you can hope to achieve is some understanding, for yourself and for your child.


A partial solution could be:

“Turn the T.V. off. Pay to have the dog walked. Withdraw funding to the inconsiderate teen that has passed the eleven plus. Sit down yourself for twenty minutes and read a book quietly and happily. Let the world go by. It is not worth the battle.

Eleven Plus Vocabulary

Some of the big dictionaries have around half a million words. Eleven plus children, working through eleven plus papers, do not need to be able to cope with as many words. In any event it is likely that eleven plus children will be able to speak and understand far more words than they will ever meet on a paper.

Dialogue between mother and candidate, over working through eleven plus papers, is probably remarkably lacking in breadth and depth.

“It is time to start your work now.”

“Oh Mum. Just a few minutes more.”

“You always say that. Now go and start work.”

There may be a need for both sides, in a situation of this nature, to be direct and keep the vocabulary simple. Even if both parties sat down and used a Thesaurus it would be difficult to use a much wider vocabulary.

Eleven plus mathematics papers probably use a rather basic vocabulary.

The challenge comes in some verbal reasoning exercises. Some eleven plus authors seem to deliberately confine themselves to the more familiar words. Others, however, appear to look to extend and challenge the children.

We often tell children to read `good books’. Sadly some of the authors who are often promoted as capable of `good prose’ and `good for you’ writing seem write in a rather archaic manner.

The Authority of the Eleven PLus

The Year 2011 looks as if it has the potential to become a time of great educational change. For years educationalists have tried to make education `child centred’ rather than `teacher centred’ yet the eleven plus seems to continue to trumpet the need for it to be `examination centred’. It does seem very wrong, at times, that children who do not pass the eleven plus can be written off because some old fashioned view of what constitutes ability and intelligence.

We know from our exploration into online teaching and learning that the introduction of technology has the ability to throw doubt on some aspects of traditional eleven plus teaching. For years some parents have been content with the idea of the eleven plus tutor arriving on a bicycle with a basket of books and papers. In all but a few cases the bicycle has probably given way to a comfy saloon and it is either `your place or mine’.

The advent of the internet has allowed children to be able to complete online tests in mathematics, verbal reasoning, English and non verbal reasoning. Some of the online exercises have cunning and satisfying methods of delivering answers and of marking and scoring the tests.

At times it seems as if it is tremendous pity that the eleven plus is aimed at bright and able children. If only the same technology and attitude to striving for success could be offered to the less able.

The very nature of the present eleven plus requires children to learn facts and methods. There is even one verbal reasoning paper which requires children to learn twenty one different types of verbal reasoning question. For better or for worse this must be the most soul destroying examination for children to prepare for.

“If your child learns these twenty one types of verbal reasoning then he or she will have a better chance of passing the eleven plus.”

How sad. How rooted in the educational ethos of fifty years ago! Clearly these must be many kinds of intellect and abstract reasoning that are not covered by the `rule of the twenty one’. If decisions about a child’s future education are based on a narrow system of informed guesses, and a child’s ability to react in a programmed manner to set questions, then a challenge does need to be mounted.

Parents can’t lead the way. Would anyone in authority have the courage to say: “If you don’t like the idea of the examination, and the manner in which it is conducted, then don’t encourage your child to sit the examination?”

We do need an eleven plus examination to sift out bright children who would benefit from an academic education. Does the present form of the examination direct children towards thinking and behaving in conservative patterns? Is there any transfer of training from being able to solve twenty one types of verbal reasoning question to other types of thinking and reasoning? Has there ever been a will to see if there could be an alternative form of the examination? Does any one `in authority’ want to see if there are answers to at least parts of these questions?

Eleven Plus Events

1614 Napier invented logarithms. (Etc has online calculators)

1801 Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed an automatic loom controlled by punch cards.

1822 Charles Babbage completed his first model for the difference engine

1936 Alan Turing published the mathematical theory of computing

1951 Launch of Ferranti Mark 1 – the first commercially produced computer

1958 The first minichip

1977 Etc (The Extra Tuition Centre in Zimbabwe) put all pupil’s accounts onto punched cards buying time on a micro computer

1981 IBM launched the IBM PC

1990 Microsoft released Windows 3

1993 Intel launched the Pentium chip

1997 Etc developed ACTION – linking standardised test results to National Curriculum

2009 etcACTION delivers online lessons using Microsoft’s Live Meeting using video and white boards

Good luck to all Eleven Plus children and their parents in 2011.

Eleven Plus Questions and Answers

Parents are often in a position in power – especially when their eleven plus child wants the same thing.

“Oh Mum, Dad, please may I have …. “

It may, at times, be a little more difficult to obtain answers to questions you pose. You can, for example, ask a series of formal questions.

“Do you really want to do the eleven plus or should we stop work now?”

“Why did you not complete the paper before going out? You said you would.”

Parents can also ask some rather more informal questions.

“What is your attitude to completing this paper?”

“Do you think that it is desirable that we work together towards the examination?”

Some parents will be able to respond to most answers in a straightforward and rational manner, other parents will find the similar answers to be highly complex and emotional.

Who said it was easy?

Information about Online Eleven Plus Lessons

Have you ever wondered what happens in your child’s eleven plus lesson? Would you like to see your child’s response to working with a tutor?

You book the online lesson with the Extra Tuition Centre. Each lesson lasts for an hour. In the lesson you cover the subjects you wish your child to follow. This could be:

Mathematics and verbal reasoning,

Mathematics, along with verbal and non verbal reasoning,

Mathematics, English and verbal reasoning

The combinations of subjects are endless – according to the requirements of the school you are aiming at. There are a multitude of eleven plus solutions.

As well as their own bespoke materials, the Extra Tuition Centre uses the Bond 10 – 11 Nonverbal Reasoning book in some online lessons. All parents have to do is purchase a copy of the book from the Extra Tuition Centre’s own store or from any major bookshop.

Online lessons link the tutor, the child and the parents. As their child sits in the lesson parents can hear what the teacher is saying – and also hear their child’s responses. Parents can also see the teacher’s work – and that of their child on the screen.

The Eleven Plus and the Power of Music

Many years ago someone came along with yet another theory on education. This one was called eurhythmics. This is a system of physical and mental training, akin on the one hand to physical drill, on the other hand to dancing. Rhythmic movements and bodily control are practiced to music.

It was developed by M. Jacques-Dalcroze, a Swiss, and was introduced by him into England in around 1912. For one reason or another, the method was mainly adopted by girls’ schools. I am not sure how many boys’ schools used eurhythmics as a method of teaching!

One element of the eurhythmics method was to try to improve bodily grace and harmony.

It is very easy to see the relevance of his teaching to today’s eleven plus candidates. Working through an eleven plus paper requires many elements of music. We have, for example the overture, which can be likened to walking into the examination room, with all the resultant nerves, and the anxiety of staring at the unopened paper.

To initiate proceedings a conductor will raise his or her baton to guide the orchestra – just as the invigilator will intone: “You may open your papers.”

There is a rhythm to answering an eleven plus paper in an examination – the candidate has to keep solving questions with the speed and accuracy of a metronome.

As the paper comes to an end – and the time ticks away – the heartbeat rises to a crescendo.

Eurhythmics, however, is much more than music – there is the dance element which must play a large part. What better way of relieving stress in the examination than to have a five minute half time break where boys and girls can dance unselfconsciously, relieve tension and prepare themselves mentally for the rigors of the second half of the paper. Parents and children could even try this at home!

Online Eleven Plus Lessons

Etc’s on line tutoring was developed out of an actual demand from parents. Every week calls and messages come in from parents wanting extra tuition for their children. Our traditional method of teaching found itself unable to supply the demand.

Some years ago we asked two psychologists to look at the outcomes of traditional standardised tests. We wanted the tests to tell us where children were up to – and their possible potential. The psychologists then linked up with our teachers to select exercises from the National Curriculum that would help children to do better at school in their work. As a result of this investment our computer program called ACTION took the results of standardised tests and wrote a prescription or an ACTION PLAN.

Technology has gifted us the means to be able to offer individual and group lessons over the internet. We are able to deliver lessons to children any where in the country.

We use our involvement in Investors in People to help our teachers and their assistants to understand and use our well tried and carefully developed lessons. The results of the lessons are measurable.

Innovation in the Eleven Plus

Do parents need ultra conservative eleven plus teachers or ones who a perpetually enthusiastic about new methods and ways of teaching eleven plus topics? Is there a middle road? In any eleven plus group of teachers there will be those who have seen it all before and may try to resist any dilution of the eleven plus syllabus. There will also be those who would welcome change and a break from tradition.

Way back in the mists of educational history (around 1962) the authority of teachers used to be firmly established in the classroom. Teachers taught classes in rows. There was often a formal divide between teachers and their pupils.

Of course there were teachers who asked for quiet – meaning `keep the noise down’.

There were also teachers who pleaded for their classes to get on with their work – meaning `look as if you are working’.

Changes, however, came to schools and to teaching and learning with a widespread introduction of group work. Relationships between some teachers and their pupils had to become less formal.

Eleven plus teaching, however, is traditionally offered on a one to one basis. Recently, however, I was invited to visit a group in a town where around twenty children were taught by one teacher. The eleven plus children sat in rows. The teacher went through a paper question by question – allowing each child to answer in turn. There was no attempt at all for individual differences or ability levels. The group, however, were quiet, extremely well behaved, and spoke only on invitation. The teacher was teaching in the manner she had been taught, many years before.

We have introducing on line teaching where a teacher teaches in a roundly traditional manner – but the introduction of on line white boards, speech, communication, chat rooms and interaction between pupils using and wearing headphones and microphones adds an innovative and exciting dimension to the eleven plus.

Eleven Plus Opportunities

For years we have teaching thousands of children on an individualised basis. Over this past year we have added group teaching into our developing online environment. A well disciplined and carefully structured class must counter to some extent anxiety from parents that their child will be able to obtain a good lesson.

We have been fascinated by the social interaction between the children from so many different backgrounds within the online lessons. Interaction between children is spontaneous – and allows for the personal preferences of the children. Some, for example, choose to switch their microphones off at times so that the teacher will not call on them – but the same children are happy to write or type their answers or replies on the screen.

Of course there are opportunities for children to have one to one lessons with on line teachers.

The advantage of general online lessons is that the lessons are in the familiar surroundings of the child’s home. A further advantage is that the children are using modern technology over the internet. For an elite number of children this is a far cry from a teacher arriving with a basket of books.

More Eleven Plus Haste, less Eleven Plus Speed

Thank you for taking the time to read these thoughts today. This is a simply a plea to any eleven plus boys and girls who have been given eleven plus papers or exercises - just say no thanks, perhaps later on?

There is possibly a rather slight connection between the eleven plus and poetry. The eleven plus is taken by many – but comparatively few pass. Many children and adults will read novels – but few will read poetry. Poetry can be considered as a waste of time by some, or as a luxury by others.

If only there was a place for poetry in some parts of the eleven plus examination. This may encourage some children to think clearly, and to become, possibly, a little more involved in literature.

I sometimes think of Marcus when watching some children work through some types of eleven plus question.

A Record!

Marcus, the world’s worst runner, ran so slow
He finished seventh in a race for six. How so?
Among the crowd a friend came out to greet him;
Running along with Marcus, lo – he beat him!

(Translated by Michael Lewis.)

Eleven Plus Questions

The Eleven Plus examination is a serious business for some parents and children. The attitude of the children to the examination may sometimes mirror that of the parents – but on other occasions parents may wonder; “It that really my child?” or “Where did that come from?”

Do more eleven plus boys revere achievement more highly than girls?

Do eleven plus girls value qualities of personal relationships than boys?

It could be interesting to ask eleven plus children to put into order the following list of ten attributes they would like their parents to aspire to:

Respect
Love
Being a good cook
Understanding
Not given to nagging
Tolerance
Good manners
The ability to pass the eleven plus
Willingness to help at home
A sense of humour.

Out of this list may come a realisation, from some parents, that there could be a need to re-evaluate their attitude, at times, towards their children. It would be very hard for some parents to understand, for example, why some very able eleven plus children set their sights too low – and work below the level of their capability. A wide number of eleven plus children may want their parents to accept their deficiencies as well as their obvious strengths.

What would children prefer?

Parents who demonstrate respect for strengths and weaknesses

Parents who want their children to demonstrate ambition to pass

Eleven Plus Consequences

This is a little offering to any eleven plus children railing against the iniquity of having to work over the Christmas break. The great majority of eleven plus children will have the intellect of twelve and thirteen year olds – but the emotional stability of ten year olds. Their arguments, therefore, sometimes may appear to fail to have a fulsome resonance.

D.H. Lawrence (1885 to 1930) had a way with words – he sometimes wrote on rather earthy – and worthy – subjects. He did, once, write a few lines about `Work’.

There is no point in work
Unless it absorbs you
Like an absorbing game.

If it doesn’t absorb you
If it’s never any fun,
Don’t do it.

Perhaps some kind parents may be inclined to read these words to their aspiring candidate but beware the consequences. They could come back to bite you!

Eleven Plus Predictions

Eleven plus teachers and tutors are often asked to predict how well they think a child will do in the eleven plus. There are many factors that affect eleven plus success – brains, ability, endurance, good teaching, forbearance, parental input and dedication are just some of the influences.

Back in 1956 a Californian paint manufacturer, Jack Swimmer, wrote down his predictions of the votes that would be cast for Eisenhower.

Los Angles 1 218 462
California 2 875 637
Whole Country 33 974 241

He also wrote a cheque for $5000 and deposited both documents with a charity commissioner clerk. The paper work was put into a wooden box and left in the sheriff’s safe.

After the election newspaper men were called to the sheriff’s office – and the paper was taken out. Swimmer’s perditions were accurate – down to the last digit. He gave the money to charity.

It would be an interesting fund if eleven plus teachers were expected to lay out some of their own money to back up any predictions. Any teacher who said: “It will be all right on the day!” will need to add an extra $1000. Parents could ask the eleven plus teachers to write down the predicted scores. Any major deviation could cost money!

Eleven Plus Aptitude

Eleven plus parents, and their children, need to recall the grand work done by Johnson O’Connor of the Human Engineering Laboratory in Hoboken New Jersey.

He devised a Wiggly Block Test with which he measured ability to visualise in three dimensions. There were nine pieces of wood with wavy sides. When properly fitted together they formed a solid rectangular block.

O’Connor reported that of 4000 men taking his test, 82% of the engineers scored better than the midpoint of the whole group. In other words men who were able to complete the Wiggly Block Test showed ability that was important to mechanical and engineering work.

Now is the time for enterprise. It looks as if remarkably few sets of Wiggly Blocks will be available this Christmas. Even if the blocks could be bought online, delivery is likely to be difficult because of the snow.

Many mothers and fathers will have used the pencil on a string test to determine the sex of their baby eleven plus candidate. Perhaps parents could also wave wiggly blocks over the head of the unborn child to see if he or she is going to become an engineer. In years to come prospective university engineering candidates could state on their UCCA forms that their sex had been determined by a pencil, and their mechanical aptitude by wiggly blocks. This would obviate the need for an aspiring engineering candidate to pass as many A* A Levels as is currently required.

The Eleven Plus and `It'

It was fortunate that we could catch the Eurostar train.

This can be expressed as:

That we could catch Eurostar train was fortunate.

`That we could catch the Eurostar train’ is a noun clause.

`That we could catch the Eurostar train’ is a noun clause in apposition to it.

This type of analysis of a sentence used to be considered as good old fashioned teaching. At the moment there is no place for an exercise like this in the eleven plus. The teaching of formal grammar – and the testing of grammar in formal examinations - seems to have disappeared. Some parents must hope that once their children are in grammar schools they will be taught at least the parts of speech.

Learning the implication of taking the word `it’ out of a sentence will be intensely satisfying to some. Others will consider this exercise as a complete waste of time. A sentence can be considered as a group of words that make sense. Is it more sensible to say?

It was fortunate that we could catch the Eurostar train.

Or should we say?

That we could catch Eurostar train was fortunate.

Does it really matter?

Eleven plus children need the able to speak and write sentences that make sense. Some very bright children may, however, enjoy the challenge of learning grammar along with being tested by a multitude of multiple choice questions.

Eleven Plus Countdown

There are only a few days left to Christmas. As we count off the days we owe a lot to the Northern men and women who offered so much to our language.

Tuesday is Tys dag, the day of Tyr. (Tyr was the God of War!)

Wednesday is Wodnes daeg, the day of Woden or Odin. (Odin was the Supreme God.)

Thursday is Dures daeg, the day of Thor. (Thor was the God of Thunder.)

Friday is Frige daeg – Frigg’s day. (Frige was the Mother of the Gods and the wife of Odin.)

In years to come how will some people look back on the Eleven Plus?

History, in the hands of some, may record the examination as an exercise designed to filter bright children into academic schools.

Eleven Plus Snow

There has been heavy, widespread snow today. It is possible that some eleven plus children, and their families, may have had to stay in doors. At one time or another there may have been a little tension between the children. There is a phrase: “stir crazy” that comes to mind.

You could read your children part of a little poem by W. H. Davies 1891 – 1940 who lived for six years as a tramp in the United States.

To Sparrows Fighting

Stop, feathered bullies!
Peace angry birds;
You common Sparrows that,
For a few words,
Roll fighting in wet mud,
To shed each other’s blood.

You could ask your children to substitute appropriate words relevant to today’s conditions. May the best wordsmith win!

Eleven Plus Calories

We are told that an adult male needs about three thousand calories a day. A boy aged from thirteen to sixteen needs about two hundred more. During the later teens the daily need rises to about three thousand eight hundred.

The average amount an average female needs is around two thousand five hundred, after which girls need about two thousand eight hundred from thirteen to sixteen – after which the amount, apparently, declines rather slowly.

How many calories does an eleven plus child need?

Surely it would be invaluable if some enterprising mum or dad, who attends one of the major slimming concerns, developed a scheme to monitor the calories of their eleven plus child.

We see some children attending our three days courses who bring `wholesome’ looking food. Other children bring chocolate, biscuits and crisps. This may be rather slim evidence on which to base a premise. It may need a controlled study to investigate the dietary needs of growing, academic eleven plus children.

An Eleven Plus Preference

Do you remember the section in Portrait of an Artist where Stephen Dedalus, half blind after his glasses had been broken, faced Father Dolan the prefect of the studies?

“Lazy idle little loafer! Broke my glasses! An old schoolboy trick! Out with your hand this moment!”

Stephen closed his eyes and held out in the air his trembling hand with the palm upwards.

The last we we want our eleven plus children to associate studying with is the fear of punishment, cruelty, pain and hate. We would much prefer eleven plus children to be full of wonder, excitement, ambition and diligence.

Eleven Plus Attitudes

If your child achieved a high mark on a reputable eleven plus paper you may, possibly, want to celebrate. You may want to congratulate your child using effusive terms.

“Oh, my dear! Well done. I am so proud of you. You have done much better that I ever expected. Keep it up, dear!”

There would, of course, be some parents who would say, “Well next time don’t make so many mistakes. Think before you answer. I want to see 100%. Nothing less will satisfy me.”

Other parents would offer a quick hug, send the children to bed, phone a few friends and settle down to serious celebration. The thought of a little wine may lubricate the thought patterns!

A Magnum holds two bottle of wine.

The Jereboam holds about four bottles.

The Methuselah holds eight bottles.

The Nebuchadnezzar is about 15 litres or around twenty bottles.

You would need to choose your friends accordingly. With two further couples you, and your friends, would make a serious dent into any or all of the wine on offer.

If the evening was successful you would then need to choose which approach to offer to your child. Should you suggest that because your child did so well you would be prepared to offer a further reward if he or she could emulate or better the previous result. Would it be better, however, to warn your child that there would be trouble if the previous result was not improved?

You and your friends could then debate which approach would motivate an eleven plus child?

Eleven Plus Fear

A bit of research that comes to mind when watching some eleven plus children learning is the work done, some years ago, on paratrooper trainees. Most of us will have seen pictures of trainees jumping from a 34 foot tower – where the trainee falls about eight feet before the harness engages.

The trainees were asked, on a ten point scale, to rate the amount of fear they felt before jumping from the tower. The average group rating was six before the first jump, and then gradually declined over the next six jumps. The average fear rating was three by the seventh jump.

Would a similar pattern follow in the world of the eleven plus? Give a group of eleven plus parents a paper for their children to work through. Ask the parents to rate their fear about how well their child will do on the paper.

It is likely that the fear will reduce as the eleven plus children work through the papers. The fear may never quite go away – but it will reduce.

Eleven Plus Spelling

Your bright, astute and worldly eleven plus child possibly started off making random scribbles or letter like marks. Sometimes this `work’ may have looked like letters or parts of words. Then gradually a connection was made between the sounds of a word and the letters that represent the word. And so spelling developed.

Very few eleven plus exercises require good spelling but many verbal reasoning exercises require a child to be able to analyse a word – leading to the need for a good vocabulary, sound syllabication skills and strong powers of comprehension.

Some bright children go on to invent their own spelling of words. This can happen even with their own names – especially with some rather tricky sounding surnames. As the children grow more proficient with their spelling more and more children will be able to spell in a phonologically plausible manner. Some children may become very proficient at applying phonic skills to their spelling – but then have difficulty with the order of letters within a word. The dreaded CVC words often cause problems – these are the regularly spelled words made up of a consonant, a vowel and a consonant.

An eleven plus child writing a b for a d is not necessarily dyslexic but may have elements of limited short term visual memory. This could lead to a need for a full investigation – but in some cases there is no need for concern as the problem could, possibly, be residual.

Some eleven plus children may occasionally write letters in the wrong order. This could be to do with difficulty with sequencing, or to do with problems with holding the order of letters within the head.

Spelling is also to do with consonant digraphs (pairs of letters), vowel digraphs, prefixes, suffixes and irregular words.

Then there are the spelling rules. Hope becomes hoped. Hop becomes hopped. Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelt differently. Apostrophes can also cause confusion.

Naturally some eleven plus children will work their way through the examination without making many spelling mistakes and nearly always being able to analyse a word. They are the lucky ones.

Some eleven plus parents will help their children to maintain lists of words that are likely to be met on verbal reasoning papers.

Eleven Plus Luck

Do examinations ever get easier?

My 1957 Edition of Diagnosis and Remedial Teaching in Arithmetic by Schonell (Chapter 3) describes the effect of research into curricula and methods and `enlightened’ class room practice.

1930
First Year Addition and subtraction to 10
1952
First year A preparatory year – no formal requirements

1930
Second Year Addition and Subtraction to 99
1952
Addition and Subtraction to 10

1930
Third Year Addition and subtraction to 999, Multiplication and Division to numbers 6
1952
Addition and Subtraction to 99. No Multiplication and Division

These changes to the syllabus occurred around the time the eleven plus was being developed. It was felt then, for example, that long division by two figures required a mental age of 12.

It was also felt that lightening the syllabus did not mean a decline in standards. (Not much change today!)

One important element of the changes was the insistence that `telling’ rules and letting child apply them blindly should be superseded by more use of deductive methods. “Children should see relationships and discover rules for themselves.” (Page 41).

There would need to be big changes in the materials and the curriculum of today’s eleven plus to allow time for seeing relationships and discovering rules. The books with page after page of similar but different verbal reasoning questions would have to give way to materials that encouraged reasoning – and discouraged the effect of drill and repetitive practice. There may not be much appetite for this by all and there may be a reluctance to embrace change.

Think of bright eyed and bush tailed children entering a competitive examination eager to pit their wits and demonstrate aptitude and ability!

Lucky children.

Lucky tutors.

Lucky parents.

Lucky grammar schools!

Predicting Eleven Plus Success

Is there any truth in some of the sayings or `wise tales’ of yester year?

Premise One
The oldest child acts the role of the responsible one. This is the child who takes life seriously and tends to boss others around.

Premise Two
The second child takes on a role of being sociable and well liked.

Premise Three
The other members of the family take on a variety of roles – often it hard to predict.

If any of these predictions are true, and only any can be true, then would it be easier to forecast who will pass the eleven plus?

Some children are remarkably adept at maintaining two sets of rules. One set for home – and another when they are away from home. An example of this often occurs with language where a child will naturally use a set of formal grammar that has no place in the child’s vocabulary while away from the home.

Parents sometimes find that their child will work happily through an eleven plus paper – if the paper is set by the teacher. “Oh yes, Mrs Brown. Of course I will complete the paper. Thank you.”

“Oh, Dad. I hate papers. I don’t want to do one. So there.”

If the original premise is correct, is it easier to encourage a first born to complete a paper than any other sibling in the family?

Would a second born complete a paper just to make you happy – in a selfless and engaging manner?

Would the third born react in an unpredictable manner if asked to complete a paper?

Eleven Plus Failure

Children react to failure in many different ways – but then the word failure can mean many different things.

Eleven Plus failure can mean the end of a dream, but failure to finish a practice paper can, sometimes, be brushed away. Failing to put dirty washing away is something very different. (Even worse?)

Children will sometimes react to failure with anger.

On other occasions the child will demonstrate denial.

Sometimes the words: “I don’t care!” will be forced out between clenched teeth.

At one time or another many of us will have read the book about Pollyanna. She was a character who always looked on the bright side of things. If something went wrong she would always try to find something to be glad about. There was little room for grumpiness in her life.

Somewhere in between are the children (and adults) who try to use comedy to diffuse the sense of failure. Of course this will work sometimes – but fall flat on others.

Many of us, children included, do our best to forget about failure as soon as possible.

Of course we all hear about other people who try to pass the responsibility for failure onto some one else.

“It was not me, Gov. It was the system.”

“I don’t even like cookies. I hate them, anyway.”

“I can’t stand the grammar school. I did not want to go there, anyway.”

One of the easiest ways of escaping from failure is to try to attain the goal through fantasy. Lots of children, and adults, indulge in make believe. Make believe is a very normal side of a child’s development.

Eleven plus children will experience different types of failure along the way. The children, and their parents, will react to the failure in different ways. It is likely, however, that the most common response from a parent will be along the lines:

“Just do your best.”

“I am sure you did your best.”

“I know you, I am sure you will do your best.”

Eleven Plus Tantrums and Hysteria

It is unlikely to happen in any well ordered and stable eleven plus home – but faint symptoms may, very occasionally, become evident under duress. This is the plain and simple tantrum or hysterical outburst. A tantrum is easy to look at with interest as it is no more than a childish outburst of anger or frustration. Signs of hysteria are, however, possible a little more complex. Hysteria is sometimes thought to be psychological conflict being converted into a physical symptom.

If your two year old lies down in the middle of a supermarket and yells for a particularly delicious sweet then you have a range of options.

1. Give In
2. Swear to yourself that you will never ever take the little one shopping again.
3. Take the trolley and run, leaving your child to be comforted by someone else.
4. Resort to …..

If your nine year old lies down in the middle of a large bookshop and yells for more eleven plus papers then you also have a range of options.

1. Give in and allow your child to buy the papers.
2. Think seriously about your child’s attitude to the examination
3. Ask yourself – am I doing the right thing?
4. Say, sharply, “Stop being hysterical. Get off the floor and behave yourself.”


There may even be some parents who would love, at times, to lie down in the middle of a busy supermarket and bang their heels against the floor and wail loudly. Their children could then offer:

1. Oh dear. Mum is at it again.
2. No, you don’t need to worry, when she does this at home we just offer her a banana.
3. Oh come on mum. If you can’t do those verbal reasoning questions, it does not matter. Samuel’s mother can. Just ask her.
4. Mum. The eleven plus is some months away. Grow up. There may be no need for tears. I may pass.

One Thousand Five Hundred Eleven Plus Posts

A traditional way of changing the content of the eleven plus would be to set up a working party. The chair person would write the equivalent of a White Paper – outlining the present position, future needs and a list of recommendations.

When it came to look at the future of the eleven plus the paper would possibly need to contain at least:

Aims
Materials Needed
Evaluation
Teacher Education
Presentation to the public.

The aims and objectives of any proposed eleven plus changes would need to include the assumption that any changes in the eleven plus would occur through evolution rather than revolution.

The materials that the eleven plus children work off would have to reflect the needs of the present grammar schools. Making changes to the eleven plus would be a waste of time unless the grammar schools explained what they wanted as outcomes to the test. Specialist mathematics and science orientated grammar schools, for example, may prefer to select boys and girls who demonstrated more than precocious verbal talent..

The reality of making any changes to the eleven plus must take into account that there needs to be considerable interaction and discussion between schools, parents and examiners. Changes to materials, for example, would involve continual evaluation so that materials were suitable and effective.

It may be true to argue that it would be highly desirable that the eleven plus curriculum remained in a state of flux. This can not happen in today’s eleven plus system not true as some items are remarkably similar to questions asked fifty years ago.

What would parents want if they were consulted? Would most parents be happy to continue with the present system – or would they like to be presented with alternatives? Would parents feel that they are qualified to vote on what they would like in the eleven plus?

Some parents may feel that it is not desirable to press for changes because this could set off a pattern of depth charges that could rock the whole fabric of the eleven plus. “Better the devil you know!” and “Not in my backyard!” Other parents may, however, relish the idea of taking on a system founded many years ago where some bright children, for one reason or another, lost out on the chance of an eleven plus place.

The Eleven Plus Family

Elements of the eleven plus are to do with `functional autonomy’. If your child works through a paper in an autonomic manner you hope you know that he or she is working with due thought. Elements of functional autonomy, however, are to do with resisting change to habits. Quite plainly if the eleven plus child is left to work though paper after paper then he or she may enter the actual examination and work through the paper without much thought or ambition.

As adults we often resist attempts to change our behaviour. An example is expecting an eleven plus child to complete question after question in the hope that this extra practice will build habits to be exhibited in the examination.

Some parents may possibly expect their child to approach every paper enthusiastically and diligently – and not want to take on board that their child may `really and truly’ not be in the mood.

There will be some parents who feel that a one to one session with a tutor is the only way to work towards the eleven plus. Other parents will prefer to work on their own with their child. Yet other parents believe that their child will work best if he or she is with other children working towards similar goals. Some will combine these elements and add their own insight into their child.

There is a lot to be said for the elements of social facilitation – or esprit de corps – which has carried a wide number of people through a broad variety of events. We know, for example, that teams that bond together are often able to go on to reach great heights.

Most parents will be able to recall eleven plus sessions where the family came together to solve an eleven plus problem. It may have been a tricky verbal reasoning question, or a non verbal reasoning where it looked as if the answer book was wrong – or even a problem in mathematics that no one could solve. These special moments add to the great eleven plus recipe. There can be little place for autonomy in a true eleven plus family!

Eleven Plus Regionalisation

When we catch unexpected glimpses of performers on shows like the X Factor it is always interesting to observe why they lose their accents when they sing. We do know, however, that when we are singing we use our voice tract in a different way from when we speak.

It is always extraordinary how a perfectly ordinary girl from a good background, having worked in a supermarket for two years, and has never been further than Blackpool from her home, is able to sing with a mid American accent. Not only is the accent true, and the words word perfect, and she has the ability to hold the top note for two quavers, but she can also smile, dance and keep eye contact with the camera.

When singing the mouth and the pharynx are held open and wider for improved resonance and amplification. The nasal squeak of some confirmed country and western singers is possibly harder to achieve. How can someone who has never been to Nashville sing convincingly? Part of the explanation is when singing in a karaoke style a singer has to follow predetermined rises and fall in the music. Most of us will remember our music teacher praying for` assonance and more assonance’

Some dialects allow for a rise at the end of sentence. Some accents are remarkably positioned a long way from received English. On the BBC regionalisation has long been a buzz word.

Some eleven plus parents must wonder, sometimes, how the paper they bought is going to help in the specialised eleven plus examination their child will sit. The proliferation of papers and online tests and exercises offer lots of choice, but little real information, about the paper’s efficacy and reliability.

Is there a need for eleven plus papers to be regionalised? In some ways yes but the papers are trying to excite and stimulate parts of the brain. An exercise on similar meanings is almost the same in any region or county. All a parent can hope is that just as the mouth and the pharynx must combine to produce melody and tune so parents hope that eleven plus papers will produce correct answers in the examination.

Appoggiatura and the Eleven Plus

All the eleven plus parents, and their eleven plus children, who have studied music, are fully aware of the importance of `appoggiaturas’. This means a leaning towards and refers to a note which resolved to a weaker beat. As a general rule it moves to the next note above or below when it resolves.

All those mother and fathers who have been paying due attention, and those eleven plus children who have listened with great attention will be able to equate this to rounding. (Remember five and upwards – round up. Four and below and you need to round down.)

The general rule for the length of an appoggiatura is that it takes half the value of the following note if it is duple and two thirds if it is a triple. I know that words like `duple’ will trip off the tongue of every eleven plus parent – but they will not be used all that often on the X Factor.

An appoggiatura needs to be played with conviction – because you don’t want it to distort the underlying melody.

By now you will be wondering the significance of the appoggiatura to the eleven plus. Very often it can be discerned in the voice of a child crying: “Oh Mum! Do I really have to do this now?” Where would you put the stress? Does it go on the word `Mum” or on the word “really”? Where could the notes slide together to give greater impact?

Seriously though, some eleven plus questions appear to be so abstruse and unconvincing that it must be like learning a bunch of esoteric terms for some children.

I like to return to my 1963 copy of `Essential of Verbal Reasoning’ by O.B. Gregory. Exercise 92 on page 51 gives:

If CSZEL means MITRE, what does ZESELCL mean?

We are told that the ability to deconstruct codes is a sign of ability. We know too that once an eleven plus child has been taught the `method’ that it then becomes easier to cope with decoding.

If decoding, however, is in many practice papers then it seems likely that a wide number of eleven plus children will have met and conquered how to cope with different types ao nefarious codes. All the poor examiner can do is to try to make the codes more demanding and place the child under more pressure of time.

As your child enters the playground, on that walk towards the examination, whisper very loudly so that every one can hear. “Remember appoggiatura.” The other children will come running over towards you.

The playground mothers and fathers will lean towards you.

Your best friend will say: “What on earth is appoggiatura?”

You will reply that it is well known eleven plus advice meaning that when a question looks a little hard then it is time to slide onto the next question – or even review, very quickly, the previous question.

The Eleven Plus and the Never Ever Land

It looks as if a lot more children will have to return to school on Monday as the snow is receding. Parents, therefore, have the next few hours to prepare their `onwards and upwards’ speeches. The examinations are only a few months away and parents will be anxious that their children do not waste a moment.

Eleven Plus speeches need practice and preparation. An eleven plus speech is different from daily exhortations and nagging. The eleven plus speech has to contain words that will resonate through your child. You can hope that the words will remain in your child’s heart for ever – and that he or she will deliver the self same words, in time, to your future grandchildren.

Work on timing. The speech can not be offered at a most inappropriate time. In is no good delivering the `Pre Christmas Eleven Plus Speech’ just as you child is going outside to play in the melting snow.

Think about your delivery. Are you trying to inspire your child? Are your words of wisdom being entertaining, persuasive or informative? You can’t have it all ways – unless you are a descendant of Winston Churchill.

Make sure your speech has a beginning, middle and an end. It is of little use to offer a rousing beginning only to meander through the middle and end without a punch line.

Try not to dwell on past glories. It is unlikely that your child will be impressed by your past academic successes. At ten years old a child likes deeds not words.

Never ever start with the words: “Now this is just a brief chat.” Your child, being an eleven plus student, will see through your subterfuge. He or she knows that the `brief chat’ will simply go on and on.

Never ever apologise when you are making `The Eleven Plus Speech’. You have nothing to be sorry for. You have fed the child, educated the child and offered every eleven plus help. It is your child who should be apologising to you!

The final `never ever’ must be the comparison with an older sibling. Never Ever!!!!

The Eleven Plus, Yoga, and Belly Dancing

Would some parents think it a close run thing if they had to choose between belly dancing and yoga to reduce stress? By now much of the country will have been affected by the snow – and the proximity of their children. After all there are only so many snowmen or toboggan runs that can be entertained. Eleven plus children living on farms will have had the advantage of being able to take food to the sheep.

The advantage of yoga is that it can help to combat the strains of everyday living – while combining mental and physical fitness. After all if any parents have managed to encourage their children to do two papers a day over the last few days may need some form of formal relaxation. Do you remember the phrase `a purveyor of nostrums’? That is when parents began to question their sanity. Where they look at the intelligence and diligence of their children and wonder if they have been deluding themselves for years. The word `yoga’ means a union of the body and spirit. Yoga could help some with the strains of worry, tension and strain.

Belly dancing, however, seems to combine health giving exercise along with dance exercise. Belly dancing can be considered as an art form – with communication between the dancers and the audience.

In both yoga and belly dancing participants will need to learn movements. In both belly dancing and yoga parents will be able to let their imaginations run riot. Both activities will be good for the body and the soul. After all the fitter the eleven plus parent is, the fitter the parent will be able to cope with their snow bound child.

Suggestion One
Ten eleven plus questions.

Five minutes digging the snow.
Five minutes meditation
Five minutes belly dancing.

Suggestion Two
Give up any thought of eleven plus work.

Ten minutes phoning and texting friends
Ten minutes preparing snacks and drinks
Ten minutes persuading the kids to go to bed.

Then:

A prolonged lotus position followed by the dance of the houris.

(Just a suggestion.)

Eleven Plus Record Breakers

The snow is with us. Lessons have been curtailed. The innovative Etc team brings fresh life into the Eleven Plus arena. We are trying a world record attempt on Saturday.

All our Year 5 children have been invited to take part in free eleven plus lessons. This record attempt is by invitation only.

We have sent the following message:

Beat the snow and join our online world record attempt.

Please join us, if you are a current pupil, for our record attempt to host the biggest ever FREE 11 plus online lesson.

You will hear the teacher giving the different mathematics, verbal and nonverbal reasoning lessons. You will be able to write and type on your computer screen and if you have a microphone you will be able to talk to the teacher and your 11 plus classmates.

To see what’s on offer this Saturday and to book onto the free 11 plus lessons simply log onto your Online lesson area.

This exciting Saturday event is brought to you by the Etc team, always striving to make your 11 plus journey as exciting and ground breaking as possible.

Your child’s success is our first prize!

An Eleven Plus Nut

You may care to ask your eleven plus child to explain how a pendulum clock works. He or she will appreciate that a works of a pendulum must be materially differently from those in a digital watch. Ask your child to pay particular attention in his or her answer to the role of nut in adjusting the swing of the pendulum.

Pendulum clocks need to be level in both directions – that is vertically and horizontally. Traditionally one side of the clock can be raised by the insertion of a small wedge. What the clock owner is trying to achieve is a level base – forwards and back – as well as from side to side. An uneven swing of the pendulum will affect the ability of the clock to keep good time.

The sound of the pendulum ticking gives a good guide to proper levelling. The ticks should be even in strength and duration. I am not sure how many `wind up’ watches or clocks are still used today. Many clocks would now be powered by electricity. I suppose that most watches have batteries. My watch does not have a battery – but winds itself through movement.

The pendulum is often regulated by a nut at the bottom of the shaft. Turning the nut in one direction or the other affects the length of the swing. With shorter swings the clock goes faster.

Eleven plus examinations approach families remorselessly. At the start of the journey the date seems to set far ahead. The hours tick by. At one end of the swing of the pendulum parents can feel elation, joy and a sense of purpose. At the other end some parents may question: “Why me? What have I done to deserve this?”

Fashions in education seem to come around in large swings. At one time the eleven plus was thought, by some, to be the intellectual and academic saviour of the country. Some years later a great swing against grammar schools took place which curtailed dramatically the number of grammar schools.

The questions you need to pose must cover at least:

What are the highs and lows of an eleven plus pendulum?

Does the eleven plus pendulum move quicker at the top of the swing or at the bottom?

What can your child do to help you maintain a measured and calm approach to the examinations – to avoid pendulum like mood swings of excited anticipation and quiet desperation?

Are short choppy little mood swings preferable to long slow build ups?

All we can be sure of is that progress towards the examination will not be even. Some parents may wish, sometimes, that all they had to do is to adjust a little nut to achieve equanimity and peace of mind.