Please just try your best.

When Longfellow shot his arrow in the sky he was not sure where the arrow was going to fall.

`I shot an arrow into the air –
It fell to earth, I know not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.'

When you have children you never really know where the arrow will fall. I recently heard a grandparent saying to the much loved grandchild: `The honour of the family lies in your hands. You have to pass the eleven plus. The whole family relies on you.’

Who knows what pressure is being put on that child. The burden of family expectations is a very heavy one for a ten year old.

We hope the parting words before the 11 Plus examination were: `Just do your best. That is all we pray for.’

If the honour of the family was not satisfied would the child have been comforted or received a verbal arrow?