The Eleven Plus Exam!

[kris99 11]

20 hours ago, trastrick said:

I managed to fail it twice!

 

Single mom, free boots and school lunch, but I was the top boy in class! So ma went down to see what happened. She was told that it it would be difficult for her to support me  in grammar school and it would be better for all, if I took a job at 15 and  helped support her and my kid brother. That was it! (did become Head Boy of the school though, Heeley bank)

 

Fast forward 50 years or so, and after retiring from a career in Project Management in Canada, I'm teaching on contract in a U.K. grammar school.  I.T., and covering all the other subjects in the PM.  I'm also the Science Link Governor for another grammar school, one of the best 20 (OFSTED) in the U.K., and on the Finance and Staffing Committees. interviewing a very distinguished academic Professor up from London applying to be Head of the Science Department. Asking him about his educational philosophy, ethos and goals!

 

Did Educational Research on the effectiveness of Teaching Assistants, which required me to sit at the back, observe and rate teacher performance.  Also  ESL teaching in Europe, too.

 

It's a long journey, but I never thought I'd be teaching, or walking up and down school corridors, like Mr Goulding, telling the kids to ''quiet down", or "pick that up"!  Lol.

 

They never did know that I failed the 11 plus, twice!

 

Then back to Canada!

 

This happened to me, widowed mum, I was top of class, was put straight into junior 4 from junior 2. I was only 10 at the time I took the exam

The only 2 girls in my class to pass, were probably middle of the class in terms of test results.  They were very good friends and spent all their time together.  One of their fathers worked at the "Education" as we called it. Not only did they pass but went to the same grammar school.  

We as 11year olds were quite cynical about this.

I obtained Degree of Nursing in my forties but do wonder what might have happened if I had passed the 11plus.

 

 

 

[trastrick 866]

5 hours ago, kris99 said:

This happened to me, widowed mum, I was top of class, was put straight into junior 4 from junior 2. I was only 10 at the time I took the exam

The only 2 girls in my class to pass, were probably middle of the class in terms of test results.  They were very good friends and spent all their time together.  One of their fathers worked at the "Education" as we called it. Not only did they pass but went to the same grammar school.  

We as 11year olds were quite cynical about this.

I obtained Degree of Nursing in my forties but do wonder what might have happened if I had passed the 11plus.

 

 

 

I'm guessing you turned out ok!

 

I'm not making excuses, because my eventual outcome could not have been better. I still appreciate my elementary school teachers who taught us to think, but not what to think.

 

But your post reminded me of a couple more factors and may throw some light on the system, at least at our schools.

 

I had lived in 5 different places, including both sets of grandparents, an uncle, short term lodgings and been to 3 different schools before I was 10. The school knew our family well, and our personal dire circumstances.

 

We were actually screened earlier by virtue of the Junior School split between A and B classes. Nobody from my B class passed, but a number from the A Class did who came from stable "good families".

 

At the beginning of each year they would actually ask the kids to hold up their hands, if they had no father (not mother) This was for the coupons for second hand clothes, boots, free dinners an after school tea, and in yearly invitation to the Rotary Camp for fatherless children. Talk about peer insecurity!

 

But after that, with the so called cream of the crop gone to grammar school, we got our own house, I thrived, and excelled at all the subjects, and went to top of A.  No more insecurities.

 

But I do wish there had been a 13 plus  

Edited September 12, 2019 by trastrick

[kris99 11]

I went on to secondary school, no comprehensives then, and as previous poster mentioned felt as though I was swimming against the tide.  42 in the class and one teacher teaching almost all the subjects with the exception of PE and  RE.  The RE teacher simply wrote  on the blackboard and we copied it. Can't remember any discussion.

I did envy the grammar school kids having a different teacher for different subjects.

I did remain top of the class.

There was a 13 plus at the time.  The only person put forwards to take it was the "teachers pet" and the only chid to wear the optional school uniform. She passed and joined  City Grammar but had to go into a form with kids a couple of years younger.

Fortunately there were night classes and in the 70's/80's day classes aimed at adults. Lucky enough to take advantage of these.