Entrance exams Good Luck

I hope they don't use CCTV footage of the boys as part of the selection process. DS2 came out with both shoe laces undone and managed to lose his pencil case somewhere between the exam room and the sports hall at the end of the day. Thankfully his lucky monster was in his pocket.

And southern fried chicken :o

I hear that ribs are still on the menu!

LOL - DS1 had snow for the W exam (and damn those purple capes look fabulous against snow!!), DS2 has gales.

I personally think 4 hours per day for an 11 year old is absolutely ludicrous and almost certainly counter-productive, and am not at all embarrassed to say so.

(I came top in the entrance exam for arguably the top grammar school in the country with no tutoring; I tutored my dd in yr 6 maths for her entrance exam last year, which she passed, but we're talking about 3 hours per week for about 3 months, not 4 hours a day!)

If your child is so dim they 'need' 4 hours then they're not going to pass anyway; if their primary school is so poor they 'need' 4 hours a day then far better to have been doing an hour or two a week over years to ensure they made continual progress, and giving them good books to read/games to play etc, than trying to 'cram' at age 11 - you can't 'cram' for an IQ test in the way you can for a GCSE exam - it's a ridiculous idea.

Poor kids. :( Even if they pass, is it really worth it?!!

Good luck to all the Croydon boys today! At least it isn't snowing!

As I think this thread illustrates, this indy school entrance ordeal is really stressful for parents, probably as trying to be calm and supportive and not worried-looking in front of DCs. But also it's so hard to know how much work to do; fear of not covering something obvious vs not wanting to over tire them. It is good to share on MN though, and see everyone else has the same uncertainties, and battles with DC.

DD had her first test this morning. She has been very good going over some maths, NVR and VR over the last few days; I didn't have to beg too much thank goodness as I do get exasperated easily . Anyway she came out looking fairly satisfied that she had done her best which was a plus after our experience 2 yrs ago with DS who emerged white as a sheet from his exams. I know the worst bit though is the uncertain wait to see if they get an interview..... Roll on Feb!

Best of luck to everyone.

He is HE and he's having his hols after the exams.

Bloody hell forehead, they wouldn't get away with it for the real things! But two-four hours work every day in the holidays for ten year olds, they should be playing and being kids, not working.

I think I'dratherbe's ds is HE, in which case the curriculum can be adapted to include 11+ techniques and practice. ime 4 hours is very intense preparation at this stage but it may or may not be unusual(most I know play things very close to their chests!), or necessary in some cases. However would agree with a previous poster who commented that if such work is required just to get in then it sets a pattern for what may be required later on.

forehead, upatdawn said her DSs weren't doing four hours a day for mocks.

forehead what stage are you at with your own DC, out of interest?

Happygardening, that's always been my approach. I think it works at every level: be yourself, don't be scripted.

Idrather.... Don't take any notice of the naysayers. The fact is that in order for your state schooled dc to get into grammar school or independents they have to be tutored. I personally don't think that 4 hours is excessive, after all it's only for a short while.
A poster mntioned that their dc was not doing 4 hours a day for their GCSES Well they should be studying for at LEAST four hours a day imho

Idratherbemuckingout we did not coach my DS for his St Paul's interview (900 applicants for 75 places) we just rocked up (on time which is out of character). The questions were exceedingly difficult nothing like he'd ever experienced before and he came out sure he wouldn't get it. They also interviewed us a pointless process I thought and the interviewer also stated that as we were not from a prep school "known to them" (it was boarding) we wouldn't get it. None of us were that bothered we probably didn't really want it any way. Within 10 days they wrote offering him a place stating in the letter how impressed they were with his ability to clearly argue a point.
In the waiting room (apparently it was fine for them to be late) were other boys looking absolutely terrified, being repeatedly briefed by their parents clutching bits of paper with answers on we looked like we turned up at the wrong school in comparison.

Too true. I wouldn't be coaching at all if other people weren't, but as I read somewhere else, I am determined my intelligent child does not have his place usurped by a well coached less able child. If none of us coached we could all just relax as in the past and whatever will be will be.

However, the playing field is not that level. If it ever was then.
I remember doing the 11+ aeons ago, with NO preparation and not even an inkling that it was anything important. I enjoyed it, I'd never done VR and NVR before (which is the only bit I remember) and sailed it no problems, as did most of my class mates as we were at the primary school that served AWRE Aldermaston, so there must have been more bright kids than normal in our school.
My other DC's had very little coaching. DD (now totally grown up) had no coaching and got into her indie a whole year early. DS1 had a small amount of paid for coaching which he hated, and also got in. DS2 was at prep school so I left it to them (fool that I was) and he didn't get in despite being the brightest of the three older ones.
Hence the coaching now. I think DS3 is much like DS1, but not really sure, or he could be like DS2. Who knows? Time will tell. I think.

Sounds more reasonable realhousewife. I don't think coaching crossed the parental radar back then kerrygrey, we all took the 11+ one schoolday and that was that. Most of us passed the basic test and some got direct grant places too. That approach must be better all round but the culture of coaching has ramped everything up, probably unnecessarily.

We're doing about 2 hours a day here, in the highly unscientific view - suggested to me by a wise school gate acquaintance -that the amount of daily revision to prep for an 11+ exam will equal the maximum amount of daily homework required at the secondary school (outside of exam periods) in order to get decent grades. If it would take my DD 4 hours of daily 11+ revision to get into a school like St Paul's or whatever, it would likely take her about that much time every day to "stay" there and that's not for us.

I think back then (and mine is long time back) parents thought it was the school's business and to interfere would be impolite in some way. The Head said you had a chance and should go for it and s/he must know best. I don't know any of my classmates who were coached in any way. Parents' job was to make sure you had an early night before and a good breakfast on the day of the exam.
Having said that, out of a class of 40 only 4 of us made grammar school.

It was just a fairly idle comment that four hours a day during the Christmas holidays seems terrifying. I was much more interested in the oppressive ethos which seems to pervade the SE on the entrance test front than in criticising any one person: each to their own.

If my mother had made me do it for the 11+ though, I'd have rebelled completely (fortunately she did no preparation at all, even though we were within the M25, or would have been had it existed :)).

Why did no mother do this back then? The stakes were surely as high?

As you have absolutely no idea for how many days we have done 4 hours a day, I think you and Yellowstone are quite unqualified to comment.

fwiw dd's prep school goes through to 13+, therefore there is little incentive for them specifically to prepare kids for 11+ entrance to other schools. dd has had about 4 extra half hour sessions in English and Maths (looking at past papers) and 2 sessions on VR/NVR - far less than when her brother took 13+/CE. The rest is left to us/her (or to tutors in some cases!). Don't assume that entrants from private schools automatically have a big advantage. I'd agree with Yellowstone that perhaps you are overdoing it.

Why is what I said judgemental? I don't follow your reasoning here.
Did I say anywhere that you were doing something wrong? I just said how I did it myself. Of course my child is stubborn and defiant - I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm like that myself. Who said anybody's child on here was badly parented? Not me.

I'm sure your child/children are very well parented.
Why should saying I have seen spoilt dogs and horses be interpreted as "smug shit"?
There is nothing worse than a horse that has been treated like a spoilt pet.

I am very puzzled by your attitude.

Why is four hours a day excessive? How long is the school day where you are? Obviously less than four hours.

How old is your oldest though Idratherbemuckingout? :) I don't think it's ever wise to be smug because you never ever know what's coming. Won't four hours a day put him off learning though? It really does seem hugely excessive - though fair enough that you feel you want to be able to say that you've done your best.

I think I may have stubborn defiant ones because I am myself....

After reading this thread I am so glad we don't live in the SE - up where we are if you want to get into one of the two private schools all you have to do is turn up on the day! Oh and FWIW your DCs seem to be doing more work for these entrance tests than my DS's are doing for their mock GCSEs!

What is offensive? Your judgmental smugness about how your child does what you tell him because you would never allow a child of yours to be "spoilt". Superior smug shit. My child is stubborn and defiant because of his character, not because of how he is parented.