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Eleven Plus and Inheritance

In my second year of teaching as a primary school teacher my headmaster said to me: “You listen to music. You take the choir.” He then walked away. Two days later I was the choir master to 675 children in the music session after assembly.

Behind every good man is a better woman. Mrs Marion Conacher in this case. She took me under her wing. We dispensed with a baton – as we agreed that this was beyond me. In time choir and the school’s singing improved. I was never sure if progress happened in spite of me or because!

Professor Carl Seashore, at the University of Iowa, separated music in pitch, time, consonance, rhythm and tonal memory. The components were then tested against competent musicians, aspiring but mediocre musicians and a random sample of the general public.

It was found that training in music did not make much difference in the test results. The professor concluded that inheritance is an important factor in the musical abilities shown in the most competent musicians.

The results also showed that aptitude in specific musical element was not correlated. Just because someone was good at pitch did not mean that they would also be good at rhythm. It is possible to have good pitch and poor tonal memory – or superior rhythm accompanying poor pitch.

Just because your child is able to do analogies does not mean that he or she will be able to find hidden words. It all makes sense doesn’t it?

(In my case just because I liked music did not mean that I would be a good conductor for four years!)

If this rather tenuous premise about lack of correlation in different types of music is correct then some families may need to be wary the genes they pass onto their children. Imagine if it was the mother’s fault that their child could not do analogies 0- but the father’s fault for hidden words. Poor eleven plus child!

A Tomato, a Zombie and the Eleven Plus

The wonderful thing about the eleven plus is the ability to offer surprises, laughter, fun and enjoyment. A rather serious mini minority may take issue with a statement of this nature and feel that it reveals a bigoted and narrow approach to a deadly solemn examination.

It all revolves around a tomato. Why is a tomato a fruit when it is eaten but most often it is a vegetable? Is a tomato an exception to the rule or is the rule there to be broken?

These are not the actual words of the discussion – and readers will need to read within the lines. We call vegetables a vegetable if it is used for food – be it a leaf, a root or a flower. A tomato is a vegeratable.

The ovary of a fruit is used for food. A tomato is a fruit.

We eat a vegetable during a meal and a fruit, most often, at the end of a meal.

If you eat a tomato during a meal it is a vegetable – be it raw or cooked. A tomato after, or before, a meal is a fruit.

To clear the kidneys a tomato is used with cauliflower, carrots and ice.

To help the skin a tomato is mixed with red peppers, cabbage and parsley.

To make the Eleven Plus Zombie

3 Ice cubes cracked
1 measure dark rum
1 measure white rum
1 measure apricot brandy
2 measures pineapple juice
1 tablespoon lime juice

The Zombie is then decorated with slices of tomato, cocktail cherries and brown sugar.

Of course the question may arise: “When does an eleven plus parent feel like a zombie?”

The answer? “When trying to explain when a tomato is a fruit and when it is a vegetable.”

“When should an eleven plus parent have an Eleven Plus Zombie or two?”

“Before, during and after.”

The Magic of the Eleven Plus

Some of us will remember the romantic legend of Charles Atlas. The story goes that he was a rather skinny young man on the beach when he had sand kicked in his face by brawnier brutes. He developed a system using weights and pulleys to build his muscles. Subsequent advertisements showed him having sand kicked his face – but working hard on his body and growing to where at least two beautiful girls followed his every word and movement.

There must be an eleven plus equivalent. What about a child, not all that good at school, sometimes ridiculed by his or her classmates, thought to be a `dimmie’ - and not the most popular person in the classroom or playground?

Along comes the equivalent of a fairy godmother who galvanises the child into feeling good. The child begins to flower and develop. Work becomes more than a panacea – it becomes almost an obsession. The new attitude is recognised and rewarded by the teacher. The child is urged into the top groups. New friends are enjoyed.

The eleven plus becomes possible. Both parents are overwhelmed with gratitude. They can not stop singing the praises. Their child’s education and intellectual integrity have been saved. Grammar and university awaits.

Many of us would wish we knew that magic ingredient!

The Eleven Plus and Houseman

As some eleven plus children feel a little `put upon’, at times, over the amount and the extent of work that is expected in preparation for the eleven plus, it may be as well to recall the words A.E. Houseman.

And how am I to face the odds
Of man’s bedevilment, and God’s?
I a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.

We want our eleven plus children to be properly brought up. We demand that they say please and thank you. We expect them to be polite to their elders and respect the opinions of others.

We don’t want them to be overwhelmed by eleven plus work and become moody and unsatisfied. We hate the idea that instead of doing eleven plus work at the proper time they may want to disappear off to engage in unsavoury activities that are not for the common good. We do not want an eleven plus child to feel miserable and `put upon’.

Very few eleven plus children will go to the trouble of rebelling against work. In the great majority of cases our children will respond to love and affection. There is certainly no reason for eleven plus work to bring up feelings of despair and fear. Having said that it is conceivable that some children will rail against the iniquity of extra work outside of school.

“Why me?”

“Because children who go to grammar school will potentially earn more money than children who go to a comprehensive.”

“But Auntie Jemma never went to grammar school or university and she earns more then any one else in the family.”

“But Auntie Jemma is very bright, and she had to get her qualifications after school and while she was working.”

“Well I don’t like doing eleven plus work. It is hard and makes my brain hurt.”

“There is something that we have talked about before – it is called tough love. As your mother I am telling you to do your work and stop prevaricating.”

“Yes mum. Thank you mum. I am off now.”

(Whispers quietly as the much loved child leaves the room to work, “Thank you. Thank you and thank you once again.”)

An Eleven Plus Breakthrough

Parents of eleven plus children are both eager and willing to have their children tested. This makes them into a select and rare breed of humanity. After all the idea of a child being tested in order to gain entry into a selective school will surely be regarded, in time, as being archaic, dated, unnecessary and outmoded. (Unless you are the parents of a bright child and there is a local grammar school in your area.)


The assessment of past attainment – and that of future potential are essential ingredients in eleven plus testing. Assessment is essential in order to maintain a form of selection for secondary school. The eleven plus examination is deeply ingrained in some areas. Parents of eleven plus children cannot avoid subjecting their child to an assessment of some form or another. All parents can hope for is that the better the preparation the less painful the examination.

The eleven plus examination still does not command wide agreement. Sometimes the examination is castigated for social reasons. Many of us will have heard stories of very bright children being rejected by a grammar school – adding to concerns about the efficacy and the efficiency of the eleven plus examination.

One day there may be a breakthrough and the present form of the eleven plus may be frowned upon. Assessment began with children being tested on a one to one basis, then came the group tests like the eleven plus. Who knows what lies ahead!

Eleven Plus Parents

One of the arguments against the eleven plus is that undue familiarity with a test can produce artificially high results. If children work on the same sort of papers week after week and have to record and compare their results, then they may gain too much familiarity with the papers. This can lead to test fatigue as well as artificially high results.

Of course parents will react in different ways when they are trying to bump up marks on selection papers. Parents will probably stick to the papers and methods they are comfortable with. By the time their child is ten, few parents will have any illusions about how well their child will do in the eleven plus examinations

Parents will know that praise and reward will work at times.

A number of parents will react with horror at the idea that their child may need a stiff talking to.

Eleven plus children should not be made to endure their work when it is accompanied by a genuine fear of punishment.

Criticism is possibly occasionally used to try to correct mistakes. A parent may feel that their criticism is fair and justified – whereas their child may feel that the criticism is unwarranted and untimely.

Some children react confidently when they are put under pressure of time – but others look as if they hate the sound of the clock ticking the seconds away.

Some children will enjoy multiple choice questions. Others may prefer a true / false situation.

Some children may hate the restriction of test papers but flower when they have the opportunity to present a case or write an imaginative essay.

The eleven plus examination has to be all things to all people. It has to be fair – but demanding.

The eleven plus child has to rise above praise, reward, fear, criticism and perceived restrictions. The eleven plus child has to work to time limits and be confident and precise. It is quite a lot for some ten year old children to try to aspire to.