The Eleven Plus and Hard Work

On my way into the Pavilion Leisure Centre in Bromley on Saturday (yesterday) I saw this group of students enjoying a yoga class and thought, “That looks hard! It must feel fantastic!” I went on to think that the rewards of all that disciple and endeavour must be sublime.



If it was easy to pass the Eleven Plus examinations we would not need to reward the children with a grammar school education. It follows that as the examination is hard to pass we need to reward the grammar school children with the best possible education.

If the Eleven Plus examination was considered to be unimportant – and hard to pass - then it is likely that the examination would be dropped altogether.

We know that some children can pass Eleven Plus examinations with inherent ability – and without doing extra papers. Other children, with ability, need the additional benefit of extra training and help. This is our room at Hurst Road in Sidcup set up for last week's Eleven Plus course.



It seems likely that bright children, after grammar school and university, will be able to provide themselves with a livelihood. We also hope that they will also earn a high enough income to be able to have some elements of power and prestige.

A number of us will also hope that our children will look after us in `old age’. It is thus essential that our Eleven Plus children become powerful and prestigious – and earn enough money to be able keep us in our dotage.