To think it's ok to holiday the summer before 11+?

I can’t believe you’re even questioning taking him away.

This much pressure could lead to considerable burn out and mental health issues in the future.

For goodness sake.

As has been said, if your child needs such intensive extra coaching, it’s very probable that he is not the best fit for grammar school. If you’re doing this now, it means that you’ll likely have to carry on with extra prep the whole time he’s at school.

Not everyone thrives at grammar school and for some, even if they’re able, it’s miserable. The pressure is relentless and that does no good for their self esteem.

It will be a miserable 5 or 7 years if he is so pressurised during that time.

My daughter sat the 11 plus last September and we went away for a week and she passed. Try and get your son to do some of the work in the morning as others have suggested. He does need a break as well. On holiday we did some days and some days she did nothing but play with friends (we went in a large group). Even during the rest of the summer holidays she did an hour and a half every morning and the rest of the day was hers and there was no revision on the weekends. I was worried about burnout too.

Let the poor boy have a holiday.

Your DH is working him too hard. Does he have really high expectations?

My DD had a few weeks off in the summer before the 11+. My thought was that if she was good enough for a grammar then she would pass no matter what. She didn’t get a high enough score but only by a few marks and you know what she got really high GCSE’s and on track for 4 A* at A level so she didn’t need a grammar.

What will be will be.

Too much pressure on kids these days

You need to advocate for your Son

Definitely go on holiday and don’t get him to do 11+ work that week. If he can’t do well enough with a week off then a grammar isn’t the right place for him. The summer before 11+, DD did one practice paper a week, other than the two weeks holiday. She got into the grammar of her choice. She was one of only two in her y7 class who hadn’t had a professional tutor, and many of them then had to have tutoring throughout secondary to keep up. Is that what you want for your DS?

Ofc everyone is right and poor lad should go on holiday

but be prepared, if he fails you ll be blamed

DH needs to be realistic seems he has no bloody clue !

It's 1st July, the 11+ is 2nd week in Sept - your son hasn't finished the prep books and hasn't started the practice tests ?!!!

Gosh ! when is it envisaged he will finish the books ?
never mind the practice tests - are they being saved for the weekend before.

You really need to think hard if this school is for your son, if he has been preparing since the Autumn

How will he cope with the lessons every day for the next 5 / 7 years ?!!!
is he going to be having a tutor daily/weekly to keep up.

Is DH coming on this trip with you and ds ? surely he can pack some of the prep books ( or maybe they will actually be completed by then ! ) and can do an hour a day ( maybe before Dinner ?) with him on practice tests.

Another who thinks that if he can't have a week off in the summer then maybe it's not the right school for him.
Will he have to work every holiday up to GCSEs as well?
I probably wouldn't do a 6 week road trip, but one week in one place, where he could even do a bit of practice every day anyway (or do lots of reading) would not even register with me as being a problem.

A holiday to your parents shouldn’t impact the study schedule. We went to India to see family during DSD’s 11+ prep and she still studied 2 hours daily. Because it’s family. We just made time for it at 7am every morning so the rest of our day was free.

Take the holiday! He needs a rest and his relaxed and refreshed body and mind will be in a better position to learn and retain information than cramming every day all summer long. So much pressure at age 10/11.

Yes I agree with pp. if your son needs that's much revision to pass - he may find the work at the school too challenging anyway. A bit of revision is helpful but don't make him slog for the whole 6 weeks. As an aside my daughter didn't pass her 11plus and even if she had I wouldn't have sent her to a grammar school as deaf she went to a mainstream secondary with a hearing impairment unit she still passed all her GCSES and is doing A-Levels now. Let him enjoy his holiday - a happy summer with lots of memories is what childhood should be about.

Do you think that one week off will make the difference? He needs rest and relaxation as well. Let him have the week off.

It's your husbands dream for your son to go to the Grammar School, hence he is putting to much pressure on your son.
I have seen children pressured with tutoring and they did not get a selected place anyway. They did feel failures.
I don't disagree with Grammar Schools I had one who went, and one who did not. Its parents like your husband who give parents of Grammer School children a bad name, as people are saying that children don't get into Grammar school without tutoring.

Go on holiday and don't take the books. Let the poor kid relax.

Bonkers.

Like most of the UK we don't have the 11 plus thank goodness..... And I wouldn't have moved to a grammar school area because of this.

He gets one go at summer holidays as a 10 year old and you want to spend it cramming for an exam..... Which he may not pass anyway!
Go on holiday and consider moving to an area with truly comprehensive schools ( only slightly joking) and letting him enjoy his childhood without all this pressure

Definitely go on the holiday, and def tell your DH to massively take the pressure off. Poor child, he's doing his best, I feel like he'll be so upset if he doesn't pass the exam. School doesn't matter, my DH went to a rubbish school, didn't finish A levels and has a very well paid professional job. DS childhood and family is so much more important.

Protect your child. This is absolute madness. Your child is who your child is and what he’s is capable of is what he is capable of. This amount of Coaching for 11plus is madness. The pressure here is incredibly damaging. Please don’t allow your dh to do this to your child.

Having been through the joy of the 11+ twice yes take him on holiday !

It’s one week though maybe go at the start of the break rather than the end if possible

I would ignore the "if he needs that much support he won't get on there anyway" comments.

The 11+ is a different beast than it used to be. It's not linked to the curriculum so pupils need to be a year ahead in content. There are also a lot of exam skills needed to learn that most primary schools don't cover - which questions to choose first, what to do if you are running out of time, tips and tricks for certain types of question etc.

Pretty much everyone has tutoring too which pushes up the required test result. You don't just need to pass it to get into most grammars, you need to get well beyond the pass mark.

But holiday is v important so he doesn't burn out and flunk it due to stress.

If he can't have a week off, then as people have said, he will struggle to cope once there.
And then you set an example for mid year exams, GCSEs, A-levels etc. at this rate you'll never go away again.

I’m always a bit baffled that people on here stop going on holiday when their kids are doing their GCSE’s because they shouldn’t be studying, I can’t believe this is even a consideration for the 11+ 😱

My kids are all in these types of schools but I would never ever dream of denying them a week’s break. This is crazy! Also you need to tell him how bonkers this is. Your child will likely perform better for having a decent rest and fun with the family. What’s he going to expect when they have public exams? It’s just not a healthy attitude.

Both of ours studied a bit each day while on holiday. It would be very unfair to deny them a holiday imo

Not in a grammar area and thank goodness for that if this is what people do.

Let your son be a kid.

Absolutely take him on holiday, sounds like he's working bloody hard, if needed surely he can do a little work here and there while on holiday?