AT THE weekend hundreds of primary school pupils will have sat the transfer test that will decide the next step in their educational journey. Many will have had their heart set on the school of their choice and all will now rest on an envelope that will land on their hall floor in the new year.
I don't agree with the transfer test, I think it's terribly unfair to put our kids through this process at such a young age and have them feel like their entire future depends on how well they perform on a test one or two Saturdays in November.
I've been down this road four times now with my children. Two went to grammar schools and two to non-grammar and I can tell you the school experience in both has been exceptional and their education second-to-none.
My kids all chose their school themselves after visiting on open days. If they chose the grammar school they did the test, if they chose non-grammar they didn't. There was no working all evening and weekends doing mock papers, no tutors and no pressure. It was a relaxed affair from start to finish, and I know many parents have taken this approach with their kids.
The pressure on our kids is one thing I dislike about the process. The mindset of some is the other. There are those amongst us who think that a non-grammar education is somehow lesser than a grammar one.
I remember years ago when asked about my son's next step I told an acquaintance that my son was going to a non-grammar school. Her response was, and I quote "well, someone has to sweep the streets". I laughed in her face, 50 per cent in horror at the absolutely mad notions some people have, 50 per cent because she obviously had no clue that secondary schools churn out as many fantastic results and top class pupils as their grammar counterparts.
All of our schools here in Northern Ireland are exceptional. Our teachers, grammar and non-grammar are inspirational in their endeavours to lead pupils to be the very best that they can be.
Our children should not be made to feel like failures at 11 if they do not enter grammar school. But sadly, this is a widely held, mind boggling and frankly narrow minded view.
The other reason I dislike the transfer test process is how it often crushes the dreams of 11-year-olds.
The simple white envelope that will fall on many door mats next year will see the end of months of hard work, stress, weekends doing practice papers, evenings spent with a tutor, stressing over marks, celebrating achievements. What will be contained in that envelope will make hearts soar or crush their confidence.
Not all will get the scores they need for the school of their choice and that will hit them hard. They will, at the tender age of 11, have to contemplate leaving their life-long friends behind for a strange school. Perhaps some of their friends got into their chosen school, all the while feeling like they 'failed'.
I know that feeling all too well. I failed my 11-Plus exam back in the day and that feeling of failure, of being 'stupid', of not being quite good enough didn't leave me for years. And it is awakened every so often when people – whether unwittingly or maliciously – refer to grammar education as far superior to secondary school.
There has to be a less brutal way to transfer to secondary education. A first step is to smash this silly mindset that grammar is better and admission to non-grammar is somehow second-best. We are so lucky in Northern Ireland to have the best schools and the best teachers to guide our young people forward to the brightest futures. They will ensure that our children will grow and thrive wherever they are planted.
