Post Eleven Plus

How do you know if your child is going to be a high flyer? If your ten year old child works hard will he or she automatically enjoy university and an academic few years of study and work?

A town in America needed a new network manager. Naturally the job had to be advertised and available to everyone who worked on the council.

The staff in the computer section commissioned an `on line’ aptitude cum intelligence test – to try to eliminate chancers and time wasters.

The results started coming in hour by hour and day by day.

The person who achieved the best results was one of the town’s cleaners. Following interviews and further assessment the cleaner was promoted to `Head of Network Services’.

So remind your ten year old children that if you have brains and ability you will be able to make something of yourself even if you do not pass the eleven plus.

I chatted to a girl today who left with good `A’ level grades – but she did not want to go to university. She wanted to be trained so that she could run her own hair dressing salon. She joined busy hair dressers in Gravesend. She is less keen now, however, on being a hair dresser after a few months in the job. She is contemplating applying for a university place for next September.

No one argued with her when she said that she did not want to go to university. No one told her not to be a hairdresser. No one has advised her to return to university. She is simply very bright person who is doing it `her way’.

So one day - when you look at the web site of a town in America – wonder to yourself if the website was created by an ex street cleaner.

One day when you see a young woman with brightly coloured hair advising you on your personal finances – wonder to yourself if she was once a hair dresser’s assistant.

There many opportunities in life for a parent to be able to offer careers guidance. You never know what they will do once they have left school.