Back to the eleven plus?

Tests of various kinds are always a factor in school....naturally a teacher wants to know just how much her class is learning.
Often those tests are done with little announcement though sometimes you might have warned them in advance.
I was reminded this morning of the year the eleven plus exam was abolished.
Selection at eleven involved a performance which governed life choices for the rest of your life. If you wanted your child to get into a grammar school many parents coached them and not passing meant that the child became a failure at far too early a date.
Secondary modern schools were not the same as grammar schools!
To abolish this exam for everyone was heralded by most people with great joy. Eleven was far too soon to have your academic career mapped out for the rest of your life.
Since then cases have often been made for the return of this exam.
The present insistence on compulsory testing right through the school system of much younger children seems to be the start of bringing the old system back.
I note with interest that some parents are taking action with no prompting from any other party and are keeping their children off school for the day and so are taking the matter into their own hands....
This governments attempts at improving our education system are becoming more draconian every year....it's time they learned to listen to the voices of those involved. The parents, the children and the teachers are those who are being tested.
Some humility on the part of the government might achieve better cooperation instead of the sort of stand off situations we keep witnessing.



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