Canterbury High School head teacher Phil Karnavas attacks 11-plus system
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by political editor Paul
Francis
Pupils who sit the 11-plus are placed under such pressure that
the system verges on being cruel and could be described as child
abuse, according to the head teacher of one of Kent’s leading
secondary schools.
Phil Karnavas, the principal of Canterbury High School, one of
the county’s best performing non-selective schools, made a
forthright denunciation of the system in an article for The
Observer.
He said a test was not needed and that the 11-plus was a major
reason why results in national tests in Kent were below the
national average.
He said: "Putting children through this examination is verging
on the cruel. I am surprised that no-one has taken selective
authorities to tribunal for child abuse given the unnecessary
strain and stress that it causes."
He said there was "sufficient evidence" Year Six schooling was
"seriously and detrimentally affected by the Kent test” and
becoming worse because the test was now sat in September, much
earlier than it used to be.
Pupils who did not take the test were made to feel like "second
class citizens".
He added: "Once the test is taken, the rest of Year Six is a bit
of a waste of time…it could be argued the rest of the year is
basically twiddling your thumbs."
Parents who believed grammar schools were better were putting an
incredible strain on children and the process was ridiculously
expensive for those who sought out private tutors.
His comments come after another Kent head also criticised the
selective system. Vanessa Everett, head of Mascalls School, said
absence rates in primary schools were high because parents were
increasingly taking children out of school for holidays once they
had sat the exam in early September.
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Monday, October 12 2009
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