My11Plus

We develop educational software, Mathematics for 11+ and English for 11+, which are aimed at assisting students preparing to take the Common Entrance exams. We also try to assist parents where we can, through the provision of relevant content...

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The 11+ Challenge: The Show

  THE SHOW

The 11+ Challenge is a 30 minute television show which tests the English and Mathematics skills of children preparing for their 11+ examinations. In each exciting episode, two primary school teams compete against each other to answer a series of questions in order to advance to the next round.

The students take a number of challenges in three segments:

- Face-Off Challenge: Two students, one from each team, face off to answer a multiple choice question.  The first student to buzz in gets 10 seconds to answer the question.  If their answer is correct they will earn 1 point for their team.  The next pair of students down the line face off to answer the next question and we cycle through the teams until all the questions on the board are answered.

- Individual Challenge: Each student will face the moderator to answer a question and earn 2 points for their team. The student has 30 seconds to answer the question. If the answer is incorrect, the student on the opposing team will have an opportunity to answer and gain 1 point for their team.

- Team Challenge: The teams are presented with two multi-part questions, one Mathematics question and one English question, which they will work as a team. The teams have 3 minutes to answer the question for each subject. Each team may score up to 5 points for the correct answer(s) for each subject.

- Viewer Challenge: The viewing audience has a chance to take part in the fun.  Anyone can send in the answer to one of the questions online or using our mobile app to win a prize for themselves or for their school. Viewer’s may support any of the primary schools in Barbados with their answer.  The school which submits the most correct answers each week will win that week’s prize.

This year’s show promises to be a thrill ride and we want you to join us for the fun.  If you are preparing for the 11+ or know someone who is, tune into CBC TV 8 on Sundays at 5:30 PM or CaribVision on Sundays at 7:30 PM for the fun from March 6th – April 24th. Take the Viewer Challenge each week to win prizes for yourself or for your school.   

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The 11+ Challenge: Process

THE PROCESS

All the primary schools on the island are issued an invitation to participate in the Aries 11+ Challenge competition.  The competition starts with initial assessments of the primary schools who accepted the invitation.  Each school selects a team of 6 students who take a written assessment at their school in Mathematics and English.

The top 16 schools are selected based on the results of these assessments and are invited down to The St. Michael School for Round 1.  For some schools, this is the first time they will be taking this challenge and they have to work out their strategy quickly.  The 16 schools compete in pairs to determine the winner of each challenge via knock out.  The victorious 8 schools go forward to the Quarter Finals. 

The 8 schools moving on to the Quarter Finals compete in 4 shows which are filmed in the studio.  The competition heats up in this round as the students have now figured out their winning strategy and go all out to take down their competition.  Four schools emerge victorious after this round and head to the Semi-Finals.

The 4 semi-finalists have survived some tough competitors and it is anybody’s game at this point.  This is the most intense day of filming and particularly sad as we say goodbye to students that we have come to know and love.  We get to know the pranksters, the quiet and shy ones, the bossy boots, the tough cookies and we love all of them.  

The 2 schools moving on from the semi-finals now compete in the finals, but we add a twist.  The set is closed.  No scores are shown.  At the end of this round, no one knows which school won, only the judges.  The winning team will be presented with a trophy and various prizes from our sponsors at a special assembly at their school.  The runner up also receives many prizes from our sponsors in a special presentation at their school.

This year’s show promises to be a thrill ride and we want you to join us for the fun.  If you are preparing for the 11+ or know someone who is, tune into CBC TV 8 on Sundays at 5:30 PM or CaribVision on Sundays at 7:30 PM for the fun from March 6th – April 24th.   Take the Viewer Challenge each week to win prizes for yourself or for your school.

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BSSEE Town Hall Meeting Takeaways - School Zones

Having looked at the Choice of School Form (C.O.S.F.) and examined the allocation criteria, there has been a lot mentioned with regard to the geographical zones in which schools are located.  Today, we will seek to clarify this by giving you a map (below), which indicates the borders for each zone followed by a list of all the schools located in the zones.

Zone 1 – Parishes of St. Lucy, St. Peter, St. James and parts of St. Thomas (west of Highway of 2A) and parts of St. Michael

Alexandra

Alma Parris

Coleridge & Parry

Darryl Jordan Secondary (formerly St. Lucy Secondary)

Ellerslie

Frederick Smith Secondary (formerly St. James Secondary)

Queen’s College

Springer Memorial (girls only)

St. Leonard’s Boys (boys only)

Zone 2 – Parishes of St. Andrew, St. Joseph, St. George, St. Thomas (east of Highway 2A) and parts of St. Michael.

Alleyne

Combermere

Grantley Adams

Harrison College

Parkinson Memorial

Springer Memorial (girls only)

St. George Secondary

St. Leonard’s Boys’ (boys only)

The Lester Vaughan School

Zone 3 – The parishes of St. John, St. Philip and Christ Church

Christ Church Foundation

Deighton Griffith

Graydon Sealy Secondary (formerly Garrison)

The Lodge School

Princess Margaret

Springer Memorial (girls only)

St. Leonard’s Boys’ (boys only)

The St. Michael School

 Please note that Springer Memorial Secondary and St. Leonard’s Boys Secondary are listed in all three zones.   

 The views expressed here are solely those of Aries Technologies Inc. and are aimed to provide assistance to parents with children preparing to sit the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examinations. Each article is our own interpretation of information gathered from various sources and is in no way meant to be the official word of any school, government agency or third party entity.

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BSSEE Town Hall Meeting Takeaways - Allocation Criteria (Mailing Address, Zone, Choices, Scores, Spaces Available)

Having looked at the Choice of School Form (C.O.S.F.) in our last post, we now want to take a look at the criteria that needs to be met in order for a child to be allocated to a secondary school.  There are five main factors that determine if a child is allocated to a secondary school and which school they will be allocated to; mailing address, zone, school choices, scores and number of spaces available.

1. Mailing Address

This address must be the one on file for the child at the school at which he/she is currently attending and will determine the schools that can be selected on the C.O.S.F.

2. Zone

As was previously explained, the Barbados school system is separated into 3 geographical zones.  The address that is used when filling out the C.O.S.F. form will determine the zone in which a child is located.  There is a criteria that the first 30% of students allocated to any school must come from within the zone in which that school is located.  This means that when selecting an out of zone school as your choice, your child will be competing with the entire island for the remaining 70% of spaces available.

3. School Choices

Parents need to pay special attention to the order in which schools are selected.  Although the 1st and 2nd choices are open choices, the 1st choice also indicates the school you would most like your child to attend, while the 9th choice represents your least preferred school. Your child will be assigned to the highest placed choice for which they meet the criteria.

4. Scores

Each school has a range of scores of the students who are allocated there each year and based on these scores, there is usually a cut off mark for the students who are allocated to that school.  In order for a child to be allocated to a school selected on the C.O.S.F., they will have to fall within the range of scores for students allocated to that school. Each school has an in-zone range and an out of zone range which may be different.  The range of scores is determined by the number of students who wish to attend that school and the marks they achieve in the exam.

5. Spaces Available

Each school advises the Ministry of the number of students they can accept each year.  

Allocation Process

Students are allocated to secondary schools via a computer program.  The allocation process begins with the students who have selected each school as their first choice.  The students are allocated to the spaces available in the school in order of their examination scores.  This process is performed for all the schools.

The program then moves on to students who have selected each school as their second choice. If there is space available at that school after the first pass of the allocation, then students are allocated to the available spaces in order of their examination scores. The process is then repeated for third choice selections down to the 9th choice selections for students who have not been allocated to a school.  

This process means that based on space availability, the lower down you put your desired schools, the less chance there will be of your child actually getting allocated to that school.  Two students with the same marks could select the same school, but one has the school as their first choice and the other has the school as their second choice. The student with the school as their first choice gets allocated to the school, but the student who listed the school as a second choice does not get in because the allocation was exhausted from the first pass and the computer does not get to the students who listed the school as a second choice.

Additionally, since 30% of students must be allocated from within the school’s zone, it is possible for students to be allocated to a school within their zone with a lower score than students from outside the zone.

At the end of the allocation process, there are some students who may not be allocated because all the spaces at their school choices have been filled. These students will be manually allocated to a school by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.

The views expressed here are solely those of Aries Technologies Inc. and are aimed to provide assistance to parents with children preparing to sit the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examinations.  Each article is our own interpretation of information gathered from various sources and is in no way meant to be the official word of any school, government agency or third party entity.

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BSSEE Town Hall Meeting Takeaways - The Choice of School Form (C.O.S.F.)

We mentioned in our first post that there are four main forms that parents need to be aware of if they have children doing the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Exam.  So far we have looked at three of those forms and today we take a look at the most important one – The Choice of School Form (C.O.S.F.).

On the form shown above, you will notice that it is separated into two sections; section A and Section B. We will explain what is expected in each section and the correct way to fill them in.

Section A

The principal fills in the information for Section A.  The address of the child who will be writing the exam is filled in by the school, so parents need to ensure that the school records reflect the correct information. Two things here are very important and these are:

The address is the one where the child is currently residing.

The address is the same on file at the school that the child is currently attending.

Section B

In section B, parents should fill in the schools they would like their child to attend in their order or preference.  It is recommended that this be done in consultation with the child and the class teacher so that the choices entered will allow the best opportunity for positive results for your child.  You should take into consideration, the child’s ability as well as the historic marks required for allocation to each school when entering your choices.

You will notice that this section is divided into ‘open choices’ and ‘choices from zones’.  The Barbados school system is divided into 3 geographical zones, the schools that can be selected are somewhat limited based on the zone in which the child resides.  The 1st and 2nd school choices can be selected from ANY of the 22 secondary schools on the island (‘open choices’), while the 3rd to 9th choices can only be selected from schools within your zone (‘zone choices’).  

Uniform Grant

Each student writing the exam is entitled to a uniform grant, which is mailed to the address used on this form.  If the wrong address is used, the cheque may be returned to the Ministry as undeliverable and you will not receive this grant.

Bursary Option

Also of some importance is the ‘Bursary’ box included on the form.  Checking the bursary box indicates that a parent is willing and able to pay the necessary fees for their child to attend a private school should they not be allocated to a secondary school.  Please note that the bursary amount issued from the Ministry is $125 per term, which is used to supplement the cost of private school tuition.  If the bursary box is not checked and a child is not allocated to a secondary school through the automated process, a manual allocation will be done, so that every child who writes the exam will be allocated to a secondary school once the bursary box is not checked.  

 The views expressed here are solely those of Aries Technologies Inc. and are aimed to provide assistance to parents with children preparing to sit the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examinations. Each article is our own interpretation of information gathered from various sources and is in no way meant to be the official word of any school, government agency or third party entity.

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BSSEE Town Hall Meeting Takeaways - The “Special Request” Form

So far we have looked at 2 forms that parents may request if their child is doing the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Exam (BSSEE).  The form we will look at today is often overlooked, but extremely important for parents of children who may need ANY kind of assistance on exam day and this is the ‘Special Request’ form.

Basically, any request that you deem necessary to enable your child to write the exam safely and comfortably should be made through this form.  The aim of this form is to provide the examination center with the necessary information in advance so they may accommodate your request if it is approved.

Here are a few examples of what requests can be made through the ‘Special Request’ form:

A student who is on medication that needs to be administered during the exam.

A dyslexic child who may need additional time to complete the exam. However, it is important to note that no more than 15 additional minutes will be given to complete each paper.

A child who is visually impaired and may need larger print for their paper or a child who is blind and may need a paper prepared in braille.

A child with uncontrolled diabetes who may need to eat every 30 minutes.

A child who finds it difficult to focus and may need to sit the exam in a separate room.

A child who may need frequent bathroom breaks and should be placed near the exit.

A child who may need to get up frequently, or who may make uncontrollable outbursts during the exam may request special accommodation.

These are only a few examples of what a parent can request using the ‘Special Request’ form, but should give you an idea of the scope of requests that can be accommodated.  It is also important to note that due to the nature of some requests, accommodating them may prove to be a distraction to other children sitting the exam and so, your child may be made to sit the exam in a separate room. For requests that are made due to a medical condition, a medical certificate or psychological evaluation may need to accompany the form.

The main thing to remember here is that if you consider it important, put it on the ‘Special Request’ form.  There is no guarantee that the request will be granted, but the aim is to provide your child with every opportunity to succeed.

  The views expressed here are solely those of Aries Technologies Inc. and are aimed to provide assistance to parents with children preparing to sit the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examinations. Each article is our own interpretation of information gathered from various sources and is in no way meant to be the official word of any school, government agency or third party entity.

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BSSEE Town Hall Meeting Takeaways - The “Deferrals” Form

In our previous post we explained that under most circumstances, a child who is in Class 4 and will be 11 years old during the current school year (September 1, 2015 – August 31, 2016) would be required to write the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Exam (BSSEE).  We explained how students who are younger than 11 may be allowed to write the exam early. Today we are going to examine the opposite end of the spectrum and take a look at the circumstances under which a student may be allowed to write the examination later.

Parents or guardians of a student who is in Class 4 and will be 11 by August 31, 2016 may be allowed, under certain conditions, to request a deferral to write the examination the following year.  Parents who would like their child to defer will have to submit this request via what is known as the “Deferral” form.  

As with the early writers, the option to have a child defer from writing the exam is a request and for the request to be granted, certain criteria must be met:

The student should have been scoring 20% or less in both Mathematics and English in Class 2 and Class 3.  

Special consideration may be given to a student who had missed a significant portion of the Class 4 syllabus due to illness or other mitigating circumstances.

Once one or more of these criteria are met, parents can request a “Deferrals” form from the school. It is important to note that parents will not be given a “Choice of School” form at the same time.  The request to have your child defer writing the exam will need to be examined for approval by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.  If the request is granted, then no further action is required.  If the request is denied, then a “Choice of School” form will have to be collected from the school and filled in as this means your child will be required to write the exam.    

 The views expressed here are solely those of Aries Technologies Inc. and are aimed to provide assistance to parents with children preparing to sit the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examinations. Each article is our own interpretation of information gathered from various sources and is in no way meant to be the official word of any school, government agency or third party entity.

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BSSEE Town Hall Meeting Takeaways - The “Early Writers” Form

Every primary school student who is in Class 4 and will be 11 years old during the current school year (which runs from September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016) is required to write the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Exam (BSSEE), popularly known as the 11+ Exam.

Parents will soon be receiving the information booklet and necessary forms for their child to write the exam. There are 4 main forms that every parent will need to be aware of and these are:

Form A - Early Writers

Form B - Deferrals

Form C - Special Requests

C.O.S.F. (Choice of School Form)

We will seek to explain the first of these forms in what coincidentally is our first blog post.  

A student who is in Class 4 and will be younger than 11 by August 31, 2016 may be allowed to write the examination under certain conditions.  Parents who would like their child to write the exam early will have to submit what is known as the “Early Writers” form.  

For students to qualify to write the exam early, there are certain criteria that must be met:

The student will have to be in class 4 and have completed the class 4 syllabus.

The student would have to have been scoring 85% or above in both Mathematics and English in Class 2 and Class 3.  

Once both criteria are met, parents can request an “Early Writers” form from the school.  It is important to note that parents will not be given a “Choice of School” form at the same time.  The request to have your child write the exam as an early sitter will need to be examined for approval by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.  If approval is given, then the “Choice of School” form can be obtained from the school.  

 The views expressed here are solely those of Aries Technologies Inc. and are aimed to provide assistance to parents with children preparing to sit the Barbados Secondary School Entrance Examinations. Each article is our own interpretation of information gathered from various sources and is in no way meant to be the official word of any school, government agency or third party entity.