Year six Tests

By Sam Hilston

            Year 6 was a year that everyone was going to enjoy. But one thing that everyone was dreading was the tests. Everyone knew that these tests were going to be the most important we had sat so far, as they would determine which school everyone went to for at least the next five years. Also, the SAT’s papers that we do after the 11+ would be shown to our new school.

            On my first day of year six, not much was different from my last year at school. We had kept the same classes as last year- we only changed every two years. We had a different classroom, but they are all roughly the same in our school. However, one part of my school life that was going to change dramatically was my teacher. Last year, we had a teacher that was calm and relaxed. We learned quite a bit, but we weren’t forced to be nearly perfect at everything. Our new teacher was the opposite. We were constantly being reminded that we need to learn lots in the short time before our 11+. In the first few weeks, I was pushed to the limits; some nights I felt like my head was going to explode with all the extra knowledge. I soon got used to it and started to remember more and more.

            But before the 11+, I had another test to do. There was another school that I wanted to go to, but it had a different test, as it was outside the normal three preferences that were picked. This test is for testing generally how smart you are. Everyone is put into groups depending on intelligence, and then the places are given away randomly to a certain percentage in each group. I wasn’t worried about this test because it didn’t really matter how well I did- it was luck.

            To do this test, I had to go to the school the test was for at the weekend. While I was waiting for everyone to arrive, I was put in a waiting room with other children my age. After a while, my friend came in. “Hi!” I shouted to him.