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Some big changes have been happening in the 11 plus over the last few months...
A simple question for a blog post, but one which so many journalists answer wrongly, perhaps because they rely on old data - this use of out of date data could be the subject of another blog post in the future. In 2015 when we started compiling our database of grammar schools in England careful research was needed to assemble the definitive list of state grammars in England ....
It was only just over a year ago that I was writing a blog post on changes to the Torbay 11 plus and here I am again writing about some more proposed 11 plus changes which are much less drastic this time and also, perhaps less beneficial. Just over two years ago the Torbay grammar schools introduced the "tutor-proof" CEM test to take the place of the two verbal reasoning papers which they used previously. However they retained the 1 hour maths paper and 1 hour English paper, this meant that there was quite a lot of duplication as the CEM test includes maths, English grammar and comprehension in addition to verbal and non-verbal reasoning.....
One of the clearest memories I have from my grammar school, Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester, Medway ("The Maths School" or "The Math" for short) is of my maths teacher, Mr Fry, telling us that "Maths is Fun!" I never really believed him at the time, but I am coming round to that way of thinking now. Another of Jim Fry's catchphrases was "Maths is pattern" and the more your child understands this the easier (and more fun!) they will find maths. One of my favourite...
By now, parents of Year 6 children who took the 11 plus should have received their results. The results vary in the date that you will have received them, in the format and in the level of detail, but legally they have to give some information about how your child has performed in the test. This is because of a parliamentary ruling which stated that parents should be informed of the results of entry tests before they selected their school preferences on or before October 31st. This ruling came into effect in 2011 and resulted in the Torbay 11 plus being moved from November to September in 2011. Eleven plus dates in all other areas of the country were moved to ensure that children took the 11 plus before the October in which they were in Year 6. Some schools moved their 11 plus dates to the July of Year 5, but have since moved them to September.