Eleven Plus Ranges

If your child passes an eleven plus test offered by one authority – should he or she be given the same privilege in winning an eleven plus place at a grammar school in a different authority?

Two groups of eleven plus children from different authorities may obtain the same pass marks. We would like to think that both groups are as bright as each other. We would also like to think that the children received similar education, coaching and preparation. One group, however, could have had an eleven plus range of ability between 105 and 125. The ability levels of the other group, however, may have ranged between 85 and 135. It seems possible, therefore, that there is a difference between the two groups in variability and dispersion of brightness. (A score of 100 is average.)

The first group appears to be more homogeneous.

The second group more heterogeneous.

A homogeneous group is made up of largely similar elements. A heterogeneous group, however, can be composed of unlike parts.

The first group, in theory, should assimilate eleven plus information and work through eleven plus papers at roughly the same speed. In the second group the children at the top end of the ability scale may be frustrated, at times, by the speed of the slower children.

An eleven plus child, studying mathematics at school and in eleven plus exercises will be able to explain range.

We have not found out, however, about the number of children attempting the tests. Could one sample have had far fewer children? If one group had had three thousand children and the other only one hundred and twenty attempting the test we would need to be very careful about relying on the range. Would an eleven plus child understand this concept?

If a bright and able child passed comfortably in one county but could not `go to grammar’ in another – how would this be explained to the child? 

Eleven Plus Nursery-Thymes

Some children may be given a good start towards the eleven plus by their mothers and fathers reading or singing nursery-rhymes or lullabies. Some parents may even have relied on:

Hush a bye baby, on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock;
When the bow breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.

The rhythm suggests a rocking movement. The words draw a little picture. But how many parents put their children to sleep at the top of a tree? But what happens if the baby is a baby bird? Then this turns from a nonsensical account to a story of real drama. Poor little birdie!

Is this one nonsense?

Eaper Weaper, chimbly sweeper,
Had a wife but couldn't keep her.
Had another, didn't love her,
Up the chimbly he did shove her.

Was Eaper a a bad man who stuffed his wife up a chimney? How sad for the poor wife!  Is the story of Eaper Weaper a sound story to tell to a little child? After all the words and rhyme may stay in the tender mind.

At what age do parents take it upon themselves to try to explain about poor little birds dropping off the top of trees and a man getting rid of an unwanted wife?

And what about politics? There is no doubt that `Georgie Porgie’ was not a very worthwhile man!

Georgie Porgie pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away.

This last account was a sort of code about King James and the Duke of Buckingham! The general public could not mock the King so sang about him instead. Solving codes is considered, by some, to be an important component in ability tests. A rich diet of rhymes and lullabies may have helped! 

Eleven Plus Inflation

A. E. Housman had the right idea in 1896:

"When I was one-and-twenty
I heard a wise man say,
'Give crowns and pounds and guineas
But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
But keep your fancy free.'
But I was one-and-twenty,
No use to talk to me."

He knew all about the value of money.

We need to move forward to Joan Wheeler in 1932 – her `New Home Encyclopaedia’ was by Odhams Press. The book suggests that while a list of disbursements tells the spender how much he or she spends during a period, it does not really explain how the money is spent.

Some words do stand out on the page: “Systematic accounting prevents the mysterious melting away of cash, and the inward questions as the fate of the five pounds which was so recently available.”

It is almost as if an eleven plus question is coming up. “If the rate of inflation between 1932 and 2013 has a factor of about 16, then what is the 1932 £5.00 worth today?” (That bit is easy your eleven plus child will do that in his or her head.)

The second part of the questions will read: “Taking into account fluctuations on the currency market, what is a range of value we can rely on?”

Your properly prepared eleven plus child will announce: “It is likely that the range will be between £80.00 and £90.00.

A BBC News article reported on children who were good at maths.  

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21714640) Good mathematicians will earn more money in later life.

Based on the early parts of the question, if your child can now estimate the possible value of money in 20 years’ time – when they are around 30 years old – then you know you have a tiger in your family!

The Eleven Plus and Motorbike

I was driving back home down an `A’ road this afternoon. A motorbike passed me on my passenger side. I had over taken the motorbike a little earlier – as it was peacefully sitting behind a small red van. The bike, with a pavilion passenger, suddenly accelerated and swept off ahead of my car down the road.

The passenger moved and bent her head. At least I thought it was a lady passenger because of the long hair swirling in the wind. She then twisted a little more and shifted her position on the seat. A quirk of fate slowed the lane the bike was in. I drew up beside the bike. The passenger was a lady and she was on her phone – either texting or dialling a number.

It is sometime difficult to see motorcyclists when they come up on a blind spot. Motorbikes sometimes, as happened today, overtake on the near side.  I have, however, never seen a passenger sitting almost sideways on the rear seat of a motorbike travelling at around sixty miles an hour working on a mobile phone!

Eleven Plus Question

A motorist starts from A at 11 o’clock intending to lunch at B, 100km away at 13.00. After half an hour he is held up by an accident involving a lorry and a motorbike – which delays him for 18 minutes. How fast must he then travel in order to arrive at B at the right time?

There is a cycle track beside the A road. A cyclist leaves B at 11.45 and rides towards A at a steady 20 km an hour.

Areas for your eleven plus child to look at:

What is a suitable scale as the `x’ axis covers time and the `y’ distance.

What is the point of origin?

Take into account the straight line between the origin and the arrival at B – but exclude the delay.

Now note the delay.

Does the car have to travel at around 62.5 km per hour or is there any need to speed?

Start the cyclist at 100 km away at 11.30.

Will the car wave at the cyclist at around 12.42?

Eleven Plus Instincts

How does this work?

Kittens, brought up with rats, may never have seen their mothers kill the rat. These kittens are reasonably likely to get on well with the rats and even play with them.

Kittens brought up in a more traditional environment where they have seen their mothers killing rats, almost always develop into rat killers.

Does this mean that kittens killing rats is an acquired response? Are adult cats supposed to feel instinctively that they want to kill rats?

It was felt, at one time, that people reacted instinctively to certain activities like hunting, collecting, rivalry, co-operation, teasing and play. This is not an exhaustive list of supposed instinctive behaviour by any means but it does seem to miss out the key area of desire to do well on eleven plus papers.

An eleven plus child, chosen at random from a group of one thousand, may have a mental age of twelve, the social intelligence of an eight year old, a reading age of fifteen and the weight of a nine year old. How does a child develop a `killer instinct’ when working on eleven plus papers? Is this from learned behaviour from the parents? Would a child develop a `killer instinct’ by working in a class of bright and highly motivated children? If a child did develop a `killer instinct’, what are the chances of him or her retaining that drive during the GCSE and `A’ level years? Does a child need a `killer instinct’ to be able to well on eleven plus papers?

The last thing any one of us would want is a child to be approaching eleven plus work in a frenzy.

Eleven Plus Passes

Let us take the case of three different eleven plus pupils.

The first one M (Mary) is a dream of a grammar school candidate. She is able, articulate, has an easy personality and is attractive to look at. She works hard at her papers and prides herself in not arguing with her parents and teachers. As the examination grows closer, however, M ‘s attitude to work and the eleven plus examination seems to make a little shift. She does not become critical or argumentative but her artistic side seems to want to take over.  She becomes more interested in dance. M is also offered a part in play where singing and dancing is required. So is dressing up and bits of makeup! M keeps saying that she wants to do the eleven plus – but she no longer really enjoys the preparation.

The second eleven plus candidate is rather different. She may make some of the more subject orientated grammar school members of staff feel a little discombobulated. Her primary school teachers will note that she is `verbally highly active’. Her head teacher will offer the words; “J (Jackie) has grown out of our school.” J is not interested in working on eleven plus papers. She wants to do things – but not the things her parents want her to do – she is more interested in `doing her own thing’. J may be able to pass the examination – but will she be happy at the grammar school?

The third candidate K (Katherine) is at good at her eleven plus work. She usually achieves around 70% on eleven plus papers. Her teachers at school usually describe her as `border-line’.  In K’s case this is not a euphemism for a lack of ability but is a true statement – K may pass or may not pass the eleven plus. The one really sound factor K has going for her is her desire to pass the examination. She is happy to do her corrections. She asks for help all the time and is unfailingly cheerful about fulfilling her pre-examination obligations.

All three girls achieve the same final scores in the eleven plus examinations. Which child would benefit the most from a grammar school education?

Eleven Plus Involvement

Some parents will have already started a serious count down to the amount of time left between now and the eleven plus examinations. There are some basic calculations to be done. The number of days in a year is equal to 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46.06 seconds.

Eleven Plus Question

Would you round the 365 days to 370 or 360? The advantage of 360 is that 12 goes into 360 very neatly to make 30 days in a month. Dividing 370 by 12 can look rather messy.

A)     Which number is the most useful in calculating days to the examination – 360 or 370?

B)      Should even plus parents work on the around average number of 30 days in a month in order to say: “Around five months to go!” – or would it be better to calculate the exact number of days?

Some parents may care to take the time to look at the story of Karl Friedrich Gauss. He was a child prodigy and went on to enjoy a successful career. I am indebted to the website http://math.about.com/cs/mathematicians/a/gauss.htm for the stories about his relationship with his parents and how he became involved in his work. This article suggest this account is true:

Famous Quote:

'Ask her to wait a moment - I am almost done.' Apparently said while working, and being informed that his wife was dying.

I hope your eleven plus child does not become this involved in an eleven plus question!

Eleven Plus Oral Assessments

Children preparing for GCSE examinations in languages are faced with an oral assessment. Some children can expect an almost unstructured assessment with a reasonably flexible oral test. Other children will have been prepared for a highly structured examination. In this case the assessment may be broken down into areas of competence. The examiner could provide almost pre-set questions in narrow areas.

If eleven plus children on the fringes of selection were to be offered a supplementary oral assessment then the examiners would need a remarkably clear cut set of objectives. The examiners would need to be highly trained and very professional.

The assessment would need to reliable. There would be little place for examiners who would offer uneven assessments.

Because the oral assessment would be working with ten year old children there could need for period where the examiner tried to relax the child. Some children, however, may take longer to relax than others. Some children may be amenable to `chit-chat’ or a little gossip while others may prefer to get straight on with the `real’ questions.

Few parents would want their child top win a place in a grammar school through `learned’ questions. This would place considerable responsibility on the child – but rightly so. An oral assessment would give children on the waiting list a chance to showcase their ability.

Healthy Eleven Plus Parents

One way for a teacher to keep up to date is to attend Education Shows. Last month the BETT 2013 show was held in London. As usual it had all the predictable big names along with some smaller vendors.

Eleven plus children need elements of direction towards the examination – some more than others. Some eleven plus children need to feel enriched and extended as well focused on the `examination’.

I was fascinated by the enthusiasm of the team at www.twig-world.com who offered 1500 short films to bring curriculum subjects to life. The films cover science, geography and mathematics.

I also enjoyed the stand at www.zu3d.com . They offered an interactive interface with film-making and story-telling potential.  It was easy to see how a bright eleven plus child could become hooked and start wanting to develop his or own films. Steven Spielberg – you need to be on-guard a new generation are on the way!

The other show I attended recently was the London Bike Show. This is not strictly an Education show – but some of the stands were very educational! There was far more to the show than bikes – but this demonstrates how parochial my thinking is. There was a stand www.essexlegacy.org about Hadleigh farm – where the Olympic mountain bike cycling took place. The farm would be a wonderful place to work off a little energy.

There was a stand about the Circe family of cycles.  www.circecycles.com. A bike called the Morpheus was shown. The bike could act as a child transporter, it could carry the weekly shop or even a heaped pile of eleven plus books to your child’s lesson. To see pictures of the remarkable bikes and gain a small hit of the potential, a visit to the website could prove fruitful.

One other stand was organised by the Surrey Human Performance Institute at the Surry Sports Park at the University of Surrey. You could indulge yourself with a full cardiopulmonary exercise test, strength and conditioning advice, nutrition assessment, a blood pressure test and a flexibility work-over. Some eleven plus parents may find that over the year they need healthy bodies and minds. These ingredients may well be all part of the paraphernalia or baggage that some eleven plus parents crave. (email shipi@surrey.ac.uk)

Your Child's Eleven Plus Teacher

How do you know if your child’s eleven plus teacher is offering the best possible eleven plus lesson? You know that your teacher, somewhere along the line, has studied some aspects of psychology.  You also know that at one time your teacher must have thought deeply about becoming a teacher. It is also probably reasonably true to surmise that your teacher of eleven plus children must feel incredibly blessed to be given the opportunity of working with bright and motivated children – and supportive parents.

Your teacher will be very aware of the need to take into account individual differences – and readiness to learn a new topic. Sometimes it is important to be able to back off and not put pressure on the child to learn. Mum and Dad must recognise this.

The great majority of eleven plus children will probably not need much motivation to learn. A few well balanced and structured pep talks will often be accepted seriously by the children. Like many things in life - if they are offered too often - then your alert eleven plus child will probably feel a degree of suspicion. (“Not that pep talk again. I have had heard that one often enough!”)

The interests and attitudes of your eleven plus child will probably change over the year. These changes have the potential to alter behaviour. Your child’s teacher will probably be able to pick up on these changes – and may be able to offer suggestions, advice or even just a listening ear.

Eleven plus children need to revise and consolidate new work. This is, however, not advocating soulless repetition. We all hear allegorical stories of children in lessons working through paper after paper and lesson after lesson. Eleven plus children need to be challenged.

No matter how excellent the teacher of your eleven plus child is the will be times when your child may quite simply not feel like doing much work. At the best he or she will go through the motions. It is likely, however, that any rebellion will only last a short time. 

Eleven Plus Progress

A mum this morning explained how she was maintaining a star chart for all her child’s eleven plus successes. The mum said that the horizons and scope of the chart were wide and all embracing. Did she mean that this meant tidying the bed room earned a star as well as success on an eleven plus exercise? I will need to leave you make up your own mind.

I reminded her of the basket-ball coach in America who used a form of a star chart with his high school basketball team. The majority of the team were poor shooters. The coach decided to give all his boys one hundred free shots every day. The coach found after a few weeks that the boys did not improve very much at all.

He then made a huge chart with every member’s name and the number of daily successful throws. He angled the results at improvement rather than correct throws. Almost every one made steady progress!

This is a bit like expecting an eleven plus child to benefit from doing paper after paper. The progress may not reflect the effort! Practice alone did not help the sports people to improve. Progress was made when each player noted and recorded his progress rather than how many correct shots he achieved.

Is there a moral here?

After the Eleven Plus

Thousands of parents Year 6 children will be receiving their offer emails and letters about their allocated senior schools. We wish every family well – and hope their children, whatever the school, achieve the best possible education.

There must have been parents hundreds of years ago who were in a similar situation. “Will my child make the school of our choice?”

Years ago parents will have hoped that their children would be offered a school where Latin was taught. The teaching of Latin often used to start with rhetoric and this was developed into learning the more formal elements of the Latin language. Latin was the language used by scholars to communicate with their European contemporaries. In certain circles the ability to speak the language was stressed.

For years grammar schools used to teach Latin through text books – where declensions and syntax were paramount. Many children may have found learning Latin slow and tedious. I think that I learned from `Latin for Today’ where we read whole sentences – and had to translate them from Latin into English and from English into Latin. We also had to learn vocabulary.

If your child is able to join a senior school where Latin is offered – then some parents may be tempted to advise their children to at least give Latin a go.

Eleven Plus and Knowledge

Do children sometimes know that the eleven plus journey, and what lies ahead, is beyond them? This is not saying that the child does not want to do the work but simply asking if a child knows that a grammar school education is not for them.

I thought of this poem after looking at the body language of a very willing child earlier this month. He tried valiantly with the challenge of eleven plus work – even though much of the work was pitched at a level below that of the eleven plus. “But I really do want to go to grammar.”

The Knowledgeable Child.
Leonard Alfred George Strong, 1896 - 1958

I always see—I don’t know why—
If any person’s going to die.

That’s why nobody talks to me.
There was a man who came to tea,

And when I saw that he would die
I went to him and said ‘Good-bye,

‘I shall not see you any more.’
He died that evening. Then, next door,

They had a little girl: she died
Nearly as quick, and Mummy cried

And cried, and ever since that day
She’s made me promise not to say.

But folks are still afraid of me,
And, where they’ve children, nobody

Will let me next or nigh to them
For fear I’ll say good-bye to them.

A blog about technology may not have entered the mind of Strong – but having looked at his Wikipedia entry with the obvious tremendous grasp of words and ideas he employed, I can’t help thinking that he would have loved the ipad. Tony Vincent in http://learninginhand.com/ makes a compelling case for using technology in education. Would he have written a very different poem if he had been able to watch children using ipads for education and play?

Eleven Plus Winners

Do some eleven plus parents sometimes hope for some form of intervention to help their eleven plus candidate suddenly acquire the necessary work ethic to be able to pass the eleven plus? The Ancient Greeks may also have been faced by a similar mixture of hope and dreams.

The term `Deus ex machina’ was used to describe the `the god from the machine’; this was a mechanical device in Greek drama that was lowered onto the stage. The god represented the intervention to provide a solution to the dramatic conflict.

We know that today the term is often used to mean an agency that comes to the rescue. Every effort is then made sort the problem out. The good thing for eleven plus parents is that the application of `Deus ex machina’ does not usually require logic or common sense. `If it seems right then it must be right.’

The `Deus ex machina’ can be used by needy eleven plus parents to resolve a situation. Once a parent is being out argued and out witted by their eleven plus candidate then the big guns of the unexpected can be brought to bear. Is this fair? Of course not but the eleven plus is the eleven plus and there can be no holds barred. Winning, to some is all!

Eleven Plus Scratch Learning

Our first Scratch program for Eleven Plus pupils starts on Saturday. Scratch comes from the MIT – long known as one of the world’s top universities. The course will cover getting familiar with the Scratch environment, working on some simple projects and then, we hope, branching out into projects where elements of eleven plus work are developed.

Scratch will help children to program sound and movement.  They will meet logic and sprites. The children will also be able to share their projects over the internet. Surely learning how to debug an application is a vital part of learning?

If you are at all in doubt of the value of learning to program and code take a look at this wonderful video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKIu9yen5nc&feature=youtu.be

Eleven Plus Mirrors

It is always interesting to read and reflect on what others think. The eleven plus examination, or a similarly named entrance test, and the drive to help poorer children into top schools, has been in a state of change for many years. Thousands of teachers over the years have done their best for their pupils. I have worked with over forty three thousand children during my teaching career – but there is always the excitement of a child making progress and parents willing their children forward.

But looking back won’t help many children writing the new style selection tests this year. The `new style’ tests are, once again, as cramming free as possible. Questions of numerical reasoning and comprehension are supposed to give a wider range of children the choice of a grammar school education.

Jeff Utecht, an American advocate of change, made the point that we need to look forward in education.

We cannot drive education forward by looking in our rearviewmirror all the time at what used to work, what used to be good, and what weused to teach. Driving through your rearview mirror is never a good idea. Theroad ahead is full of opportunity, if we focus on what can be rather than whatwas, 2013 will be a fantastic year!

All we can hope is that the new style Eleven Plus tests give a wider selection of pupils a better chance in the eleven plus. Time will tell even if we disregard the mantra of all driving instructors:

“Look, signal, manoeuvre.”

Eleven Plus Choices

In Year 5 there are children who take eleven plus examinations. Some authorities used to allow all children the opportunity of sitting the examination. Today there are some authorities where parents and children are offered a choice – and have to register to enter.

At the beginning of year five some parents may remind their eleven plus children about Pythagoras for a number of reasons. One could be because five times any number ends in five! This could help with many different types of multiplication and division. It could also help a lot when tricky little exercises on down on lowest terms.

Of course five is the hypotenuse of the smallest Pythagorean triangle. 5 = 1² + 2². This may not come up on an eleven plus paper – but may entertain a bright Year 5 child.

Of course some parents may feel that their child needs to do at least five hours of eleven plus work a week. The eleven plus preparation may be timetabled or may take place in an ad hoc environment. The latter may offer more opportunities for negotiation and discussion – and this could be a vital part of eleven plus preparation.

There is a blog in the Rossendale family of schools – wherea teacher reflects on the value and nature of negotiation and choice. Some parents may take heart from the reasons why children are sometimes allowed to make their own choices.

And finally the number five is the amount of times a parent needs to remind a child to settle down to work. After the magic: `I’ve told you five times’, sanctions are perfectly permissible. 

Creative Eleven Plus Testing

The Rorschach Test was developed as a projective test. In projective tests a highly unstructured or ambiguous set of stimuli is presented. The idea is that the person being tested is encouraged to bring his or her own unique meanings and organisation to the situation. He or she does not know what inferences the tester intends to make, and so may reveal some hidden reaches.

There are ten cards, each of which contains an ink blot.

An eleven plus child doing a multiple choice test would be urged to consider the four responses carefully and decide on the answer which best fitted the question. In a Rorschach Test the pupil would be asked to look at the ink blot designs and ask what might be presented.

In the diagram above one response could be two rabbits fighting over a lettuce leaf while someone else may suggest a voodoo dancer spinning between two poles. Could either answer suggest that a child deserves a grammar school place? Do grammar schools need children who can choose one out of four answers or creative children who can think for themselves?

A blog by http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/ commented:

Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 05:30AM

A Blue Skunk Reader, Ric Nudell, in reaction to last week's post that wondered if creativity was assessable, wrote:

Your posts on this subject are interesting and thought-provoking. As a Digital Media teacher I do try to help students develop creativity (or creative approaches to problem solving.) So...I do need to give them feedback on it, i.e. assess.

Category	Indicators in Evidence
Generating Ideas	___ Fluency: generated many ideas ___ Flexibility: looked at problem in a variety of ways ___ Originality: ideas are different than what is already out there ___ Elaboration: adding nuance, making ideas richer ___ Symbolic Thinking: making connections, comparisons, analogies
Digging Deeper into Ideas	___ Analyzing: thinking about what makes the idea(s) work ___ Synthesizing: putting one or more ideas together ___ Reorganizing/Redefining: modifying the original ideas ___ Resolving ambiguity: clarifying, focusing, refining ideas ___ Working with Complexity: building relationships, levels
Courage to Explore Ideas	___ Problem sensitivity: matching solutions to initial problems ___ Curiosity and Risk Taking: out-of-the-box ideas ___ Humor, playfulness, fantasy, feelings: inner emotional content ___ Integration of dichotomies: inclusion of opposing concepts ___ Growth: working with ideas/places that are personally new
Listening to One’s Inner Voice	___ Sense of purpose: reasons for choices ___ Persistence/Hard work: followed vision to completion ___ Rejects stereotypes: concepts move beyond stereotypes

Student: _______(date) Peer: ________ (date) Instructor: _______ (date)

Assessment: Excellent Good Fair Poor

___________________________________________________________

Ric, I am still thinking about this one. It's one of the most thoughtful attempts at measuring creativity I've seen. I really like that it is used, as you write, as "a framework for conversations."

But my main question still persists: Do we really want to evaluate creativity in and of itself - or do we want to evaluate the impact creativity may have on the effectiveness of a product, a solution, or a task?

I'm guessing you will be asked by many for permission to use this tool!

Thanks again for allowing me to share.

Eleven Plus Schedules

Shawn – no relation to me as I am Shaun – argues that that there may be a case to try to remove the constraint of a syllabus and allow pupils to spend more time projects and in-depth investigation.

I remember reading about a similar scheme to abolish class schedules years ago when A.S. Neill was writing about Summerhill. Children could choose if they wanted to work or play. If they did opt to work they could choose what they wanted to do! As a young teacher this was vastly appealing to me. We had to hand in our schedule for the week to our Head Teacher, Mr W.W. Wilson, every Friday before break. I used to take the school, of 600 pupils, for singing for an hour after Friday's assembly – which allowed the rest of the staff time to write their lesson plan for the week. At the Extra Tuition Centre lesson plans are now generated by our computer based program called Action. Progress!

Summerhill is the name of a small school – but it signified a great experiment in education. Neil, who did not pull any punches, talked about a pupil – Moroslava – who did not respond to him.

“Well,” 1 said pleasantly (Neil speaking), “I didn’t help you very much.”

“Do you know why?” she said with a dry smile. “I’ll tell you. The first day I came to your school, I ws making a box. You said I was using too many nails. From that moment, I knew that you were like every other school master in the world – a boss.”

When I look at some eleven plus children working through eleven plus papers I often wonder if the nails I am supplying are sharp enough to help the child break through the eleven plus yoke!

Critical Thinking and the Eleven Plus

Some authorities are trying to change elements of the Eleven Plus. Some critics have maintained that the eleven plus is far too prone to being influenced by careful coaching and preparation. There is no doubt that some children can be taught certain types of questions.

Bexley, for example, are introducing this new style of testing this year.

There is a fascinating article in the New York Times on critical thinking.I wonder how many eleven plus children could answer the question?

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/test-yourself-critical-thinking-feb-8-2013/

After all we do want children who can think as well as pass eleven plus examinations. Don't we?

Going To Sleep in the Eleven Plus

Will the old saying 

`Early to bed, Early to rise,

Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,’

apply to progress in the eleven plus?

 Larry Ferlazzo has gathered a collection of thoughts and ideas on sleep from a variety of web sites. 

He comments on recent articles on sleep.

Could some of our eleven plus children do better on papers and exercises - and in the examination if they had more sleep?

Perhaps some parents may be interested in maintaining a little diary - looking at the relationship between sleep and academic success?

My book by Webb on `Sleep: An Experimental Approach' (1968) looked at sleep in a variety of ways. You can even get a copy of this book on Amazon! I sometimes used to wonder if Wilse B. Webb did not have a wonderful life's work - just watching people sleep!

`Early to bed, Early to rise,

Helps an Eleven Plus child do well.’

The Eleven Plus and the Digital Age

The Eleven Plus seems to be becoming more and more dominated by the internet. In the `olden days’ an authority would set a test. Teachers would help their children to prepare. Each teacher would have his or her own methods of preparing the children. Bit by bit publishers cottoned on to the idea that a book or series of papers would help children to prepare.

The internet came along. Everyone and anyone can become an eleven plus expert. Word of mouth is still very important – but communication can be over great distances as well over the garden fence or in the playground.

There is a fascinating discussion by Justin Reich inEducation Today where he looks at the use of technology in schools. Has this technology taken away the ultimate aim of the eleven plus – how to help deserving children enter grammar schools? He poses the following questions:

For Educators

1)    Do the most exciting technology-rich learning opportunities in your school go to the most-advantaged students?
2) Is your school using technology to gain efficiencies in old practices, or to do things that are truly different?
3) Does your school teach students to be afraid of making bad decisions on the Internet? Or do you teach students how to create a digital footprint to be proud of?
4) Do rubrics for online projects evaluate students' ability to demonstrate their understanding, or do they measure compliance concerning criteria like length, number of posts, number of pages, etc.?
5) To what extent is your school measuring the impact of your technology investments? Could you prove to your stakeholders (parents, school boards, trustees) that the vast sums invested in technology are making a difference in student learning?
6) Does your school have a coherent vision that defines high quality learning? Is your technology plan specifically designed to serve that vision?
7) How does your school prepare students for a world where the vast majority of learning takes place outside of school?

The questions are not about the eleven plus – but do show how others are viewing the impact of how our `digital age eleven plus children’ are being prepared for the future.

Eleven Plus Authorities

The organisation that are the `publishers of the actual 11+ tests’ – GL-Assessment supply tests, according to their webpage, to three million pupils a year. GL-Assessment also publishes 11+ tests and papers. Gl-Assessments used to be NFER – the National Foundation for Educational Research.

Some authorities, and independent schools, now use the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) of Durham University.

http://www.cemcentre.org/

http://www.gl-assessment.co.uk/assessment-solutions/11

The Eleven Plus and the Long Neck of the Giraffe

How do you know if your child is bright enough to benefit from a grammar school education? Over the years many parents have followed the theory that there is a strong relationship between early training and the degree of intelligence or ability.

We can look at Thomas Babington Macaulay who became a poet, a historian and a statesman. He was educated at home by his parents before he was encouraged to go to school. Before he was seven he wrote a compendium of universal history. He started at the Creation and ended up with an account of present day events. When he was eight he wrote poems about historical characters.

It is thought that the majority of men and women who went on to do well in life were offered considerable support and help from their parents.  Some parents of the very bright took considerable pains to ensure that their children had learned their lessons.

The eleven plus, in its early days, was designed to try to find bright children from poor areas. It does seem as if some parents today feel that winning a place in a grammar school is an essential part of the development of their children. Present criticism of the eleven plus often seems to include the words: “A manufactured eleven plus pass.”

We went to London Zoo a few weeks ago. There were lots and lots of children from all over the world. We overheard one little one ask: “How did that giraffe get its long neck?” The mother answered: “From its mother.”

When I was a child we thought that giraffes developed their long necks when they were foraging for food. The really tasty leaves, for giraffes, were at the top of the acacia trees. Acacia trees are sometimes called `thorn trees’ – so a long neck was useful when gathering food. There was local folk lore that crushed seeds from the acacia tree were useful in helping with rabies!

Eleven Plus Comprehension Questions

Can you ask an eleven plus child a question if you are not completely sure that you know the `correct’ answer? If the question appears on an established eleven plus paper or in a school text book, and seems to be reasonably genuine, then it may, sometimes, take courage to question the answer.

Suppose you ask: `What is the opposite of white?’ Then your bright, alive and an alert eleven plus child should know the answer. If it looks as if there may be more than one reasonable answer - then there may be a case for concern.

In some of our centres we are offering children wider and different comprehension passages to work through. This is because some children will meet questions in the eleven plus examination where they have to read short passages and supply the answers. Text book type answers are required in the examination. These are answers where there is a right and a wrong. We are meeting, however, bright children who appear to prefer to adapt or embellish the answer. These are children who are used to thinking and reasoning. Perhaps they are even children who have been taught at school and at home to think and to question?

In some questions children may be asked to explain the meaning. The questions will probably start with the words: “Explain the meaning” or “What does the writer mean by?” Parts of the eleven plus have for a long time been dependent on vocabulary. Some children may not need a wide vocabulary to be able to come up with a plausible answer!

Sometimes it may be possible to emerge with a plausible answer even if the phrase or question is not clear. If the question asks the reader to refer to something in the passage then finding the answer may be reasonably straight forward. If, however, the questions asks for an explanation of a relationship between two passages or events then different parts of the passage may  have to be understood and appreciated.

Conditioning the Eleven Plus Brain

A very pleasant mother remarked to me that she was trying to condition her son to do a little more work on the eleven plus. When I was a child our family used to visit the home of a headmaster. This is the man who threw his child into the swimming pool to encourage the mite to start swimming. The family had antimacassars because the headmaster (father) used brilliantine on his hair.  Brilliantine was used as a hair conditioner – but also by men in an attempt to make them look `brill’.

Early work on conditioning was done with animals when an animal was placed in a box. When the animal pressed a lever food was offered. This idea was developed to allowing the food to be produced at certain times of the day. (A bit like when parents say no T.V. or computer games before school.)

In other experiments animals were only rewarded, having been conditioned, to be fed on the tenth press of the lever. Sometimes a rather diabolical experimenter would only allow a pellet to be expressed every ten minutes. Of course some experiments allowed food to be offered whether the lever was pressed or not.

The mother and I were talking outside an aerobic room where thirty young women were intent on conditioning their bodies through a series of contortions. Poor bodies! What an instructor! Did the word `condition’ enter the mind of our eleven plus mother because she could see the writhing of bodies?

It was suggested, very gently, that it was not necessary for a child to do eleven plus work every day. The conversation also covered the point that rewards could be given at any time – and not just for eleven plus work. There was also a mention that excess hair conditioner would not necessarily help with stimulation of the eleven plus brain. We also touched on the point that it was no good throwing a child into the deep end of eleven plus work. Gentle coaxing could play dividends!   

The Year of the Snake and the Eleven Plus

The Chinese have a wonderful celebration at the Chinese New Year with fireworks to celebrate renewal and to ward off evil spirits. The celebration is a traditional part of China’s family day.

The parade in London today was noisy and full of action. In spite of the rain crowds lined the streets to watch the action. China Town itself was heaving with Chinese and other visitors. We watched it right beside Trafalgar Square.

There were stalls selling little gifts. I did not notice any books or papers. Even when we entered a few super markets we could not find any eleven plus books. Perhaps the books and papers were hidden during the celebration!

We all need a break from the eleven plus at times and the Year of the Snake offers a wonderful opportunity. The Year of the Snake revolves around steady progress and attention to detail. The Eleven Plus demands steady progress and attention to detail. This could be a very lucky year for many eleven plus children!

Thinking Inside The Eleven Plus Box

There are new forms of eleven plus testing being developed. In the past tests of intelligence suggested a normal distribution of intelligence in the general population. This suggested a few high scores, a few low scores and most of the scores clustered around the average or `mean’.

The argument at the basis of the normal curve of intelligence is that because factors like height and weight follow a normal curve of distribution then so should ability follow a similar curve. Does a normal distribution of shoe size also count. Could it be that tests of ability are designed to produce a normal curve of distribution? Could even the new eleven plus tests be manipulated in such a way that a normal curve of distribution is reached to the satisfaction of the test builders?

Some of the new style eleven plus tests look at aspects of verbal and non-verbal ability, comprehension and numerical reasoning. If the provenance, however, of the new eleven plus tests was tested against the old style tests then is it likely that the veracity of new tests is also flawed?

Wiseman of Manchester University back in 1962 maintained, however, that a selector did not need to be concerned with any hypothetical ability. He maintained that as long as the eleven plus test selected children who were able to benefit from a grammar school education then the test was worth using.

If the eleven plus tests are trying to test the potential of children only at the top end of the ability scales – then do test authors need to consider the ability of children at the lower end?

There was a theory that was floated at odd times that it may be easier on the emotions of eleven plus parents and children if a rectangular system of selection was adopted. All those children who fitted into the box could pass. If you were not in the box you could not pass! This, in theory, should cut down on the number of children in the borderline zone.

Was this the origin of the phrase: `thinking outside the box’? Do eleven plus parents, however, interpret this as: `thinking inside the box’?

Did Tennyson Write About the Eleven Plus?

When you were at school you may have studied a little Tennyson. His epic `In Memorium’ may have been looking ahead to the eleven plus!

There rolls the deep where grew the tree.
O earth, what changes hast thou seen!
There where the long street roars, hath been
The stillness of the central sea.

During the eleven plus years parents and children will experience highs and lows. There will be times when a wave of action seems to be taking place – and at other times the eleven plus examination will seem to be far away.

Some authorities are changing from the GL (Grenada Learning) eleven plus led examination to examinations serviced by Durham University. For years the advertising slogan of the `Official’ eleven plus papers may have directed parents to buy their papers.

The Official 11+ Practice Papers offer the most authentic practice available for the 11+ - learn more about our Variety Packs.

Asthe publishers of the actual 11+ tests that the majority of children will sit,GL Assessment's Official 11+ PracticePapers are the most authentic revision titles available, informed bylong-standing specialist expertise in the 11+ and in wider educational assessment.

If Tennyson had had an eleven plus child we could imagine him writing about the relative peace in the home before `Eleven Plus Fever’ struck. He could even have written about how families have to change to accommodate the impact of a child writing competitive entrance examinations. Where he talks about the sound of the street overtaking the peace and beauty of the sea he may have penned an extra ode to the hustle and bustle of the eleven plus year.

Would Tennyson have been able to use emotive words like `the most authentic practice’? It is difficult to know because Verse Three ends:

But in my spirit will I dwell,
And dream my dream, and hold it true;
For tho' my lips may breathe adieu,
I cannot think the thing farewell.

The Eleven Plus examination will pass – but the consequences of passing or failing may dwell for ever!

Cabbage and the Eleven Plus

We possible think about the sentiments of Jacob Moleschott at least once a week. Some of us may heed his words once a day! It is, however, very important to know that Jacob Moleschott was a philosopher and a physiologist and he lost his job after some of his suggestions.

“Man is what he eats.”

Of course you know that your eleven plus child needs the three fuels of air, food and water. There is no room in this list for the fuel of: `excessive eleven plus study’. Do you remember the research that found that a maid dusting a professor’s room expended more energy in five minutes than her employer did in an hour of concentrated study? Memo: Some snacks in the middle of eleven plus work are wholesome – many snacks signal boredom and a desire to escape from work!

There are also the warnings of an eminent doctor Sir BruceBruce-Porter who maintained: “Those who are so busy that they are unable to make time to eat properly always have the time to die, and this they invariably do prematurely.”

And so we come to cabbage. Cabbage is supposed to be able to detoxify the stomach. Eating cabbage is also supposed to help the workings of the upper colon and of digestion in general. Before starting on an eleven plus exercise some parents may care to consider the value of the “Eleven Plus System Smoother”.

175 g of carrot

250 g of apple

125 g of cabbage

Juice the ingredients and serve.

As your child works though an exercise reflect on: “An eleven plus child is what he or she eats.” Continue with: “Make time to eat the right sorts of food.” End with an exhortation to your child to tidy the eleven plus arena, put the eleven plus books away, carry the smoother glass into the kitchen and place it in the sink. Remind your child to turn to you with a smile and say: “Thank you for helping me with my eleven plus work.”

Eleven Plus Numbers

Could there ever be a case for allowing eleven plus children the time to play with numbers? To some parents and children the eleven plus has the potential to become a serious endeavour and quest. The eleven plus HAS to be passed. We can count ourselves lucky that not all children, with enough ability to pass the examination, want or need to pass.

A considerable part of the eleven plus is dealing with numbers. Some areas are even looking into a `new’ style of test where children are tested on Numerical Reasoning. Understanding and manipulating numbers plays a large part in being able to cope with certain types of numerical reasoning questions. Children sometimes have to organise numbers into groups or sets. If the question is asking, for example, about the number of buttons on a shirt – then the candidate may possibly draw on his or her knowledge of shirts and organise the buttons and shirts into groups or sets.

The eleven plus child may find it hard, however, to organise all the shirts he or she has ever owned. Should there be a set of all the two year old shirts, or all the school shirts or even the shirts only worn on holidays? Somewhere along the line, we hope, the eager candidate’s thoughts may return from an idyllic holiday on the beach and return to the question in hand.

If a far- away look enters the eye – and the attention seems to wander – then your son or daughter may be wondering where this year’s summer holiday will take place.

We then need to think: Should we include only white school shirts worn in Year 5 or all the shirts work in Year 5? Each attribute defines a set. Would it complicate the issue if we said all the shirts worn in the year and especially the white school shirts?

We now come to the question.

A child’s wardrobe contained 5 white shirts, 4 red shirts and 6 blue shirts. What is the chance of picking the following?

A white shirt from the full wardrobe

A red shirt from the full wardrobe

A blue shirt - once one red and one white shirt had been removed?

During the process of solving the question your child may ask you when the family are going on holiday again!

Culture Free Eleven Plus Questions

Aspects of Non Verbal Reasoning are supposed to be reasonably culture free. Matrices, for example, are questions children meet in non verbal reasoning exercises aimed at testing ability. Many studies were done on the `Ravens Matrices' to investigate how different societies interpreted the items in the tests.

Can mathematics be culture free? Five pus five will equal ten in any language. The sum of the angles on a straight line will always equal one hundred and eighty degree. But who said that the sum of the angles in a triangle must add up to one hundred and eighty degrees? Cultures must, to a degree, have their own mathematics language.

Can questions in the eleven plus be rated as culture fee? If we take a question that parents would probably have met when they were at school – could we say that this question, and the method of solution, is culture free?

A bike is travelling 1.78 metres in a second.

How many kilometres an hour is this?

Some eleven plus children will look at this question with raised eyebrows. Some will reach immediately for pencil and paper. Others will whisper: “What?”

Some parents will be able to use the skills they learnt at school and university to help their child to answer the problem.

“Well dear, how many seconds are there in a minute?”

“Sixty.”

“And how many seconds in an hour?”

“Sixty.”

“How many seconds altogether?”

“That is easy. Sixty times sixty is three thousand six hundred.”

“Well now multiply the 3600 by 1.78.”

“What do you need to divide by to bring the metres to kilometres?”

“Wait a moment, I see, 1.78 times 3600 divided by 1000.”

(A little pause.)

“He or she was not riding very fast! That is only 6.4 kilometres an hour!”

Taxing the Eleven Plus

Some teachers may remember the words of a high school teacher who said: “I formerly taught the higher grades, but I had an attack of nervous prostration some time ago, and the doctor recommended rest. So now I teach in the primary, because teaching primary children does not tax the mind.”

Tell this to the parent of an eleven plus child! Does the eleven plus tax the mind? It taxes the mind and the emotions! By the way the teacher talking about moving from the secondary field to the primary was in America, in New York, in a newspaper article around 1892!

It is also interesting to note that an article by Rice in 1982 on: `The Futility of the Spelling Grind’ appeared to prove evidence that from tests on 33000 children there was little correlation between the amount of time devoted to spelling homework and competence in spelling.’

The eleven plus is supposed to predict future success in academic subjects – and is supposed to pick out the best and brightest. What happens if one day parents revolt?

Our children should not have to slog through eleven plus papers

Parents should not `have to’ purchase papers from the `experts’

There is a crying need for a well-researched study into the eleven plus

Children who are good at spelling at not the only ones who can pass eleven plus verbal reasoning papers!

The eleven plus should not tax the minds of well-meaning parents!

Eleven Plus Food

At the turn of the century, around the time of the Boer war, there were allegations that that between 40 and 60% of men enlisting in the army were unfit for military service. England, being England, appointed a committee called: `The Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration’.  Their report in 1904 was responsible for the establishment of the School Medical Service.

The Committee ruled:

There should be a systematic inspection of children

Underfed children should be looked after by the local authority

The Education (Provision of Meals) Act of 1906 allowed authorities to provide free school meals to children.

When two and a half million men were recruited for the First World War the number of unfit men had dropped to around 30%.

It is likely that the majority of parents of today’s eleven plus children will be very aware of the need for good food and sound nutrition. This is not to say that the children should not be treated. What about a Squidgy Chocolate Log from, Delia Smith’s 1978 Complete Cooking Course as shown on the BBC? This cake does not have any flour so it won’t put too much weight on the hips of the family.

5 oz caster sugar (150g)

6 large eggs

2 oz cocoa powder (50g)

The filling is made of:

8 oz plain chocolate (225g)

2 large eggs

8 fl oz double cream (225g)

Icing sugar

This serves around 8 people – but it is unlikely that there will be any left. A truly cruel eleven plus parent could ask for the total grams but more enlightened parents will simply share the spoils!

Where to Purchase Eleven Plus Myelin

Could it be fair put a label on a child if he or she has not passed the eleven plus? Is the child then a `loser’ or a failure’? We must all hope not! The eleven plus examination tests skills that some children are good at. Other children may be better at other things.

Some children may struggle with parts of the eleven plus because they have some form of a learning problem. Some children mature significantly later than others. When a child is presented with a problem that is outside of the known `comfort zone’ then some children may have the potential to become over active or even aggressive.  Interested parents may sometimes ask the older members of the family about relatives to try to establish if there is a family pattern of `late developers’.

There is a process called `myelination’ where the myelin accumulates around nerve cells. Myelin allows thought processes to be passed quickly along nerve cells. I have absolutely no idea of how to speed up the growth and development of myelin – but what an eleven plus tool for parents and teachers to have access to. Think of the advertisements:

Buy Your MYELIN

Booster from the

`Real Myelin’

Booster Specialists.

There could be one picture of an eleven plus child holding up a cup. Parents would be gazing proudly at their offspring.

The second picture would be of a nerve with a coating of `Real Myelin’.

Finally the eleven plus advertisement would say:

This wonderful product was liked by

87% of 150 Eleven Plus Parents.

Parents would be able to deals in the playground selling `Real Myelin’ in sealed cans. The future of the eleven plus is here now!

Eleven Plus Smells

A man, possibly the father of an eleven plus child, was out for a walk one day. He was in deepest China. He suddenly came across a tiger. He grabbed a vine and swung himself over the nearby cliff. He looked up in terror – the tiger was peering over the edge – saliva dribbling from its jaws.

Hurriedly the man looked down and, to his horror, there were two more tigers looking up – just waiting for him.

Just above his reach two little mice started biting away at the vine. The mice did not respond to his yells and kept on munching away.

He saw a wild flower on a little ledge – just below the mice – and reached up with one hand. He plucked the flower, sniffed it, and remarked: “How sweet the smell!”

But, could this be the real story?

A man, certainly the father of an eleven plus child, was out for a walk one day. His son asked him to help with an eleven plus question. “Dad, you said last night that the eleven plus is a chore. What did you mean by that?”

“Well son, your mother and I have to make a considerable effort to help you towards your eleven plus goal. We don’t mind buying papers and services for you and we don’t mind the time we spend with you. We rather enjoy the time together actually.”

“What is it that you do not like?”

“The arguments.”

“Which ones?”

“The ones about how much work you should do, and when you should do the work.”

“I am sorry. I promise that I will try harder.”

The sweet smell of eleven plus success!