Eleven Plus Future

At some stage, and it must have already happened, your Eleven Plus child is going to be asked about the job he or she would like to do.

We know that Jamie Oliver took a City and Guilds course at Westminster Catering College before starting on his restaurant career. He did well in the restaurant trade – and went on to achieve success with his program `The Naked Chef’. He has recently been in the news because of his campaign for better school meals.

You may care to discuss various entry levels with your Eleven Plus child. You could then go on to discuss the qualification that would develop.

Entry Level – Little prior experience, lack of confidence

Level One – Routine Tasks and basic knowledge
GCSE D – G grades

Level Two – Some knowledge or experience
GCSE A – C grades

Level Three – More complex work, supervisory skills
A Levels

Level 4 – A specialist
HND – Foundation Degree

Level 5 – Management Experience
Honours Degree

Level 6 – Senior managers
Masters Degree

Level 7 – The sky is the limit

You could discuss the different levels with your child. Some of you may find that he or she wants to start at the top! You could make the point that no two jobs are the same.

There is a site called http://www.connexions-direct.com/ that has information for children over the age of thirteen – but may be useful for information and discussion points.

Try to arrange for your child to be able to talk to someone who actually does the job every day.

Remind your child that if he or she does make a wrong choice – there is no need to panic. Lots of people have started off on one career and then moved into something else.

Above all – try to help your child to think forward. (Good Eleven Plus Results could equal a good grammar school place and then entry to university – and this could lead to a good job – with lots of security and lots of money!)