11+ - please help us start preparing!

Nena7
Apologies from me. I was too harsh and not constructive. My bad. Sorry. Best wishes and I hope you get the best for yours.

It's not reasonable to blame any one person for tutoring in this day and age. Most everyone agrees that tutoring is bad, just like we can all agree that nuclear weapons are bad - but you need them if everyone else has them.

MN164
Another full county grammar resident here. Not Kent.

I agree with everything whatchoo said.

Who cares about Tutoring (whether that be paid or at home with parents) if you have a comprehensive surrounding. I do not have that choice.
I have grammar or a secondary modern which does not offer single science, mfl, extended maths because the cohort attending cannot achieve these exams sufficiently to get a pass mark. So if my child has a bad day, fails, it's goodbye opportunity regarding subject choice.

That is the choice. Grammar or secondary modern. Or 20k I simply don't have. Or faith.

I'll go with the tutor thanks. I went to grammar. Nobody got tutored 30 years ago. It frustrates me that it is now the norm.

I think the OP has had a rough ride here.. There are many areas of the country with DIRE schools as the only option. The only secondary school catchment we're in is so bad that it never fills a year and has just pulled its 6th form in favour of apprenticeships. Not what i want for my academic children.

Perhaps as a result, the selective schools near us are very tricky to get into so everyone who gets into one of these tutors for a year. To do otherwise would waste their and your time.

Whoever mentioned interviews state schools aren't allowed to interview, you are thinking of independents.

Pls can you link PopIns?

In the Sunday Times yesterday the HT of KCS wrote on how to pass the 11+ particularly Tiffin and name checked Mumsnet.

MN164 you are very rude. And, to use your word, 'boring'.

I tutored my DS for 11+ and I'm fucking glad I did. There is no way he'd have been able to navigate those papers without some preparation. Yes, in an ideal world everyone would ease off a bit but that's not the world we're in. Why take the risk?

I'm questioning it because it doesn't ring true.

This is boring "the only option open to them would be a school without the top 23% where there is not a top group working at the same level" - yes and go ahead be astounded if you like.

I'm tired of your questioning. Over tutoring is an epidemic that does no good. If everyone eased off a bit everyone would be better off.

Excuse me for pressing this. I am trying to understand if you are in a situation where if your child didn't pass the test (am I right in assuming it's the same as for us, one test for all grammar schools? So one chance?) that the only option open to them would be a school without the top 23% where there is not a top group working at the same level.

If that is the case, I am astounded that you took the risk of just 10 hours tutoring. Unless, of course, your child is a genius and consistently aces tests under pressure.

So there are no single sex schools for your childs gender within catchment? The liking/not liking single sex schooling is a choice.

LowryFan

Fair point. The debate has been of no use to the OP (apologies hopefully noted).

Only if you child is of the right gender and you like single sex schools for that gender (uncheck, uncheck).

Blimey Man164 you seem very stressed about what other people's DC are doing! Does it really matter?

OP there is nothing wrong with getting a tutor, I would ask their advice before doing anything extra just to make sure you are coordinated.

So you have the alternative option to send your child to a single sex school?

Oh and the single sex schools select their intake by ..... err .... gender.

What are the "single sex schools?"

No we don't for the same reasons you don't.

The effect of some local girls schools is that the comp is not only missing the "top set" it's also 75% boys.

MN164 - If your child hadn't passed the 11+, do you have a local school you can send them to where there will be a top group who are working at a similar level?

What are these "single sex schools"? They weren't mentioned before. How does their selection work? Is it a different test or is it selected using different criteria? Or are they another alternative if your child doesn't pass the 11+?

I will not pass judgement on tutoring - for a year, a day, whatever. I recognise that situations and individuals are different.

Nena7

This debate is not much help to you. Soz.

As suggested by others here an elsewhere the 11 plus forum is useful and their are lots of sample papers from many schools (private and grammar) on the web. Work up to to doing them in exam conditions at the kitchen table. Start with mini-exams - just a couple of questions. Your tutor really should be giving you all the guidance you need.

There's a difference between the comprehensive admission policy and what cohort actually comes in.

I took it that your and my local comp/academy were "all ability" for admission policy but both lose the "top" sets to the local selective school(s) - not just the grammars but also the faith schools and the single sex schools. I'm still missing why our situations are materially different other than the personal choices we made regarding tutoring.

So to repeat - do you think months on end of tutoring is a good thing for everyone to be doing? I don't and didn't participate. You did participate - but do you think that is a good thing/state of affairs?

BTW - I also hate the fact that many kids will not be at their best on exam day and miss out as a result. Not quite as bad as when illness hits in GCSE or A-level season, but the injustice of it is the same.

Say your child is bright - top tables for everything. Say they have a bad day and don't pass the 11+. Do you have a local school you can send them to where they will be a top group who are working at a similar level?