Have a Good NEWS

It's a huge step â€" so how do children feel about going to 'big school'? Janet Murray talks to year 6 pupils in Kent who have faced the 11-plus and are on the brink of change

Going to "big school" is a daunting prospect for all 11-year-olds. But for children in the 36 areas that still have selective education, there is also the 11-plus examination to contend with, and the division between those who will go on to grammar school and those who will not. Here, year 6 children who are just leaving St Saviour's primary in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, and their parents talk about their hopes and fears.

Gabriel

Gabriel, 11, is going to Dane Court grammar school in Broadstairs

Over the summer holidays, my mum made me do 40 practice papers for the 11-plus exam. It was torture, but I'm glad I did it, as otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue what to do. Plus my parents bought me a mobile phone for doing them.

I feel a little pressu
re from my family to pass the 11-plus. My mum and dad both went to grammar schools and my dad went to Dane Court. I didn't want to let them down. I'd got it into my head I wouldn't pass, so I tried to get enthusiastic about my second-choice school, King Ethelbert, just in case.

It took me ages to get to sleep the night before the exam. On the day, I felt ill and had a dizzy head and I was worried I wouldn't be able to concentrate. My mum cried when she found out I'd passed. I got lots of praise and had my bedroom fully redecorated as a reward.

I was nervous about starting in September, but I spent a day at the school recently and met a boy called Tim from Upton school who is going to be in my class. We got along well, so I'm not so worried now. The school does lots of musical theatre, and has a climbing wall, so I'm quite excited really.

What I am a bit worried about is homework. In my induction booklet, it says you get a detention if you don't finish your homework. I get distracted easily, and never seem to finish anything, so I'm going to have to work on that. If I get a detention, my parents will kill me.

Alex Hampton-Saint, Gabriel's father

Things definitely changed since my wife Rachel and I made a 11-plus. "Of course, I don 't remember to do much preparation. I just sat and thought, the test no more until I received a letter saying I' D passed.

These days, because many parents pay for private tuition, it is quite high-pressured. We've been mindful not to put too much pressure on Gabriel, but we did pay for a tutor and got him to do a little bit of work every day in the summer holidays.

Although we've both done well, we feel that, if we'd applied ourselves better at school, we might have been more successful earlier on in our careers. We just want to give Gabriel every opportunity to succeed.

Ellie

Ellie, 11 is going to King Ethelbert high school, in Birchington

When you see the secondary schools on the television program, there is always intimidating, people taking other people with dinner 'money, a teacher was shouting and a lot of chaos. I 'm hoping it won' t to be.

I don't feel too nervous though, because I've been to King Ethelbert lots of times now. In the term before you go up to secondary school, they run a sort of after-school club every week for new pupils, where you can do different activities and get to know the school. I did cooking and badge-making, but you could do lots of things, including sport.

I took the 11-plus, but I didn't get it. Most of our year group took it, but only 11 passed. We didn't really get much help from the school to prepare, but some people had extra tuition outside school.

My parents would have been proud if I had passed, but I didn't feel under any pressure. If I'd passed by just a few marks, I probably wouldn't have gone there anyway, because I find difficult work quite confusing. I'd rather be top of King Ethelbert than bottom of a grammar school.

My parents didn't bribe me to pass the 11-plus, but some parents did. One person was offered £150.

Angela Perry Taylor, the mother Ellie '

We looked at five local schools for Ellie, but we just got a good gut feeling about King Ethelbert. As older parents, in our late forties, we wanted a school that felt like school as we remembered it. King Ethelbert school felt like home.

We weren t 'truly guided, in which children can get 11-plus, so we were open. Ellie gave him leave, but we made it clear in advance that it under no pressure from us.

So far, I'm really impressed with Ellie's new school. We were invited along to after-school taster sessions over a six-week period, which has given Ellie the chance to get used to her new surroundings, teachers and classmates. Parents could join in with the activities, but there were also information sessions on helping your child settle into the new school. That was very reassuring.

Of course you can't help but worry about things like bullying. I know it happens at every school. The important thing is how it is dealt with.

Cameron

Cameron, 11, goes to school King Ethelbert

I 'm feeling nervous, because he' s quite a big step to move to more schools where LA I ', at least seven teachers for different subjects. I 'm worried about moving the school for different classes and I LL' do not forget to put the right books in the bag on the right days.

I've been going to the school every Wednesday evening to take part in activities with other new pupils, which has been very helpful. I got to use the Apple Mac computers in maths and made a fire in science, and put it out, so that was brilliant. I've met my form tutor, Mr Gabriel, too. I liked him because he told jokes. A couple of weeks ago, my teacher, Mr Arnold, took a small group of us for an extra visit, so now I feel much more confident. I'll be sad to leave some of my friends behind, though, as some of them are going to different schools.

I made a 11-plus, but I Wasn 't upset when I did not shy away ", because I think it is a great King Ethelbert School, and I am happy there. I' ve got two younger brothers, so I 'm the first to go to secondary school, which makes me feel very proud.

A boy I know in year 11 told me there is a ghost at the school, in the toilets, but I don't think I believe him. I don't really believe in ghosts.

Barry Millen, the father of Cameron '

Cameron has always struggled with social skills, and we 've recently discovered that he may have features of autism, so we re "entirely for fear of his name. He likes routine and can be quite disturbing, if it doesn 't know what comes next. The whole concept of moving classes every hour will be a big change for him.

His primary school has taken steps to support him, but of course we're worried how he will cope with the changes. We're trying to take out the surprise element, making sure we have answers ready for everything. We are also trying to get him to mingle more with other children, as he tends to keep himself to himself. It's really important that he socialises, as we don't want him to become isolated.

So what will surely be a few sleepless nights for us, but we hope that after the first week, he will regulate.

Tayla

Tayla, 11, is going to Dane Court grammar school

In the week leading up to the 11-plus exam, I was quite stressed and had a funny feeling in my tummy all the time. We had to take three or four exams over a whole week. I had a tutor who came to my house every Saturday and did practice papers with me for about a year. I don't think I'd have passed without that, because the tests weren't like anything we did in class. They were more like intelligence tests, finding the link between different shapes, things like that.

One of my biggest fears in order to start all over again, comes from the top schools being at the bottom. There are more than 300 children here, so it's a great elementary school, but there are more than 1500 students Dane Court, so I'm afraid I might get lost.

When I went for a visit a few weeks ago, we met our form teachers and found out who was going to be in our class. My teacher seemed really friendly and I found out I was with Millie, one of my friends from this school, which I'm really pleased about.

As we were walking round the school, the older pupils kept looking at us, saying we looked really sweet, so I'm not too worried about being picked on. Children in the older years come and look after the year 7s in the first few weeks, so if you're worried about something, and don't want to see a teacher, you can go and see one of the sixth-formers.

Nicola Gaspa, Tayla's mother

I think I was more stressed about the 11-plus than Tayla was. She seemed so young to be taking such a big, important exam. She is ever so bright, so I would have been really disappointed if she hadn't passed. Although there are some good schools in the area, I don't think any of them could have brought out her full potential. She is a quiet, studious sort, so I guess I'd also have worried that another school might have been too rough.

Tayla is really excited about starting at Dane Court, but nervous, too. She's never travelled on a bus on her own before, so I'll be taking her out to practise during the school holidays. I'm also going to let her go to a shopping centre on her own with her friends for a few hours. She's growing up and I need to start letting her go.

Lewis

Lewis, 11, is going to King Ethelbert school

I didn't take the 11-plus because I thought it would be too hard for me, but some of my friends are going to grammar school. Luckily quite a few are going to King Ethelbert, including one of my closest friends, Josh, who I've known since I was in year 1, but I don't think we'll be in the same class.

My biggest worry is bullying, because you hear lots of stories, like if you talk back to one of the older kids, you might get punched. But I've got an older sister who went to the school and she says it's fine.

It's about half an hour's walk to my new school, so my mum is going to get me a bus pass, but I'm a bit scared, because I've never been on a bus on my own. I might get off at the wrong stop or the older kids might say bad things or swear.

School is cool, because they 've just made a few new buildings and head, Mrs. Gray, who seems very nice and fun. I went to an open evening for new students, and she said that getting a "outstanding" from the inspectors, so I think it should be a good school.

Jo Baker, Lewis's mother

I've got four children, so I've got some experience in sending children up to secondary school, but it's still a worry. I used to be a believer in throwing children in at the deep end, but having attended the taster sessions with Lewis at King Ethelbert, I can see how breaking them in gently really works. Now, rather than being worried about starting secondary school, Lewis is really excited.

Lewis more "hands-on" view, and sometimes struggle with academic work, so that A is not t 'to put it in the 11-plus. Although he could do well, we thought that he would be crushed if he did not avoid '.

We looked round a few schools, but we chose King Ethelbert because Lewis was comfortable there. His older sister has just left the school, so everything was quite familiar to him. When my daughter, who is now 16, started, it was just about satisfactory, but under the new headteacher, Mrs Greig, the school is almost unrecognisable. I can't think of a bad word to say about it.