Hello all,
My DD is in Y3 in a decent prep school. She loves the school. She is bright, but not in the top sets: middle set for English and bottom set for Math. She gets some extra support at school to catch up, which surprised us when this was raised (Y2), but it became painfully obvious to us that she was behind, not (I think) for any fault of hers (no special needs/no concerns), but because we did not do any extra work to help her get/stay ahead. In Y2 the class had children who wrote the 7+ and moved, and this would have obviously pushed up the general standard of the class over Y1 and Y2 and I suspect DD was nowhere near their standard.
DD is now at the end of Y3. School have no concerns, and seem confident she will do well (although she hasn’t moved up sets in either Math or English and still gets extra support for math).
Am I being naïve to trust the school (who are lovely) to get the best out of her? Is it true that prep schools tend to focus on the kids doing well and leave those like my DD in the mid-bottom set without trying to make them move up (so they prep her for the less academic schools at 11+ without pushing her, so they can focus on the kids with potential to bring better results)?
DD works every day on school work (daily homework) and we go over regularly. She enjoys reading. So its not that she is not working. Both my partner and I work full time and I travel. The very thought of doing/not doing extra exam prep on top of our already stressful days fills me with dread and guilt in equal measure. Its one thing doing it in Year 5 ahead of the exams, but to start already, or to think that we are already too late for not having pushed her in Reception-Y2, is making me nervous.
I guess I am looking to hear from parents who simply stuck to the prep school's routine, especially with children who were not in the top sets, to get a perspective on how I should approach the looming 11+.
Also any private school teachers – are you expecting me as a parent to do extra 11+ prep at home? In your experience, do schools let the weaker set children be and not push them? What can I do to give my DD a chance at moving up sets / convince you to give her a chance?
Thank you
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Parents/teachers of children in lower sets in prep schools - your views on extra work/turoring gratefully received.
17 replies
RainDanceMaggie · 18/05/2017 17:59
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