11+ Technology

We went to a swimming gala today. The six districts were drawn from a radius of about fifteen miles. In this particular league there are eight teams competing in six galas. Because there are only six lanes two teams drop out of each gala. The age range spread from U9 and U10 boys and girls to Open swimmers.

I was struck by considerable difference in sizes of the swimmers. At around the U10 stage most of the boys and girls appeared to be around the same size. By the time the age groups had climbed to U14 the difference in height was marked.

All the boys and girls seemed to have the hall mark of swimmers – broad shoulders and narrow hips.

All the coaches seemed to smile and exhort their swimmers to do well. Some of the coaches made some of the U10 swimmers rehearse their strokes on dry land. The children all nodded obediently as they listened carefully to their teachers.

The great thing about competitive swimming is that the results are immediate. Dive into the water. Swim like mad. Hear and see the results. Climb out of the water. Get dry.

There were remarkably few false starts because there was hardly any delay between `Ready’ and the bang of the gun.

There were only tiny pauses between the events. It all went off very smoothly.

So that is what you would like for your eleven plus child. Lots of hard work. Lots of exercise for the brain. Lots of revision. A good challenging test. Immediate results.

If we can use technology to pay parking charges by mobile phone, and vote on line surely we can lessen the delay between the test and the results?