Really in a quandary regarding ds and whether to try to prepare him for sitting the test for Wilson's and Sutton.
He is in year 5 at the moment and has never had any tutoring in academic subjects. The spare cash we do have is going on piano and percussion lessons.
He goes to an inner city primary in a poor area, so I'm not sure that being in the extension group for maths at school necessarily means he is working at a particularly high level. The assumption is that the extension groups will be entered for the level 6 SATS.
I think he would thrive in a grammar. He's quite nerdy - taught himself to play chess, has the highest evading age in his year, falls asleep with a medical encyclopaedia stuck to his face every night, very musical (just got a distinction in his grade 3 piano on the back of very inadequate practice), and is small and a bit camp; I think he will sink in a big rough comp like the one his sister goes to (which I'm happy with - for her).
But I'm totally put off even trying on he basis of what I know about the levels of competition for places, and the astonishing amount of tutoring some kids are having. His cousins didn't get in and that's after years of tutoring (and one being top of his class at a local private school where he's been for 3 years). What chance does Ds have given that we can't afford proper tutoring and that we've left it so late? He isn't used to sitting down and working after school ATM - his school sets very little homework (1 piece a week) and I tend not to get involved with what he does get set. I just let him get on with it. If he's going to sit the test I'm going to have to do shed loads of work with him, but I'm not sure that it's worth putting him through this if he's unlikely to get in despite 10 months of hot-housing.
Be interested to know what others here think.
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Secondary education
11+ Sutton - have I left it too late?
21 replies
minifingers · 27/12/2013 10:17
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tiggytape ·
29/12/2013 22:11
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tiggytape ·
30/12/2013 10:56
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tiggytape ·
30/12/2013 11:16
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