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Original poster

2023 Eleven Plus support thread

854 replies

elevenduck · 19/10/2022 16:30

I thought it might be useful for parents of 2023 children taking the 11+ test next school year to have a space to talk everything 11+ - tips on managing stress, approaches to the different papers, ways of relaxing etc.

Let's try and keep it positive and supportive!

OP posts:
Original poster
elevenduck · 10/02/2023 19:49

How's everyone holding up? Lots of preparation or no preparation yet?

DD is doing fine with the exception of Spatial Reasoning, which is a whole paper where we live. I tried to help her with it and was genuinely baffled myself so had to get DH to help. It just be genetic. I cannot spin imaginary shapes in my head or find shapes within other shapes!

Any tips gratefully received to help DD (except Lego and jigsaws which she hates!).

OP posts:
Coraline353 · 24/10/2022 11:09

Hi. I was about to start my own thread but found this one.

My DS is year 5 and we're looking at Bexley grammar schools. We're not tutoring as we're fairly relaxed about him going but I would like.him.to have options. Specifically Bexley Grammar which is quite near us.

I've only just started considering what we need to do for prep and was looking at a website to get some practice papers. For a full set of all the practice papers it's working out around £450!! @Testpreo if you have any good links for Bexley resources it would be great to have them.

I also don't know how we'll fit it in between football, scouts, swimming... And DS is somewhat resistant to homework in general. He's very bright and top of his class/greater depth in everything but hates homework. Not sure how to motivate him for these. He hates getting anything wrong so it'll be a tough year ahead!

Original poster
elevenduck · 22/10/2022 13:36

That sounds really hard. We're in Bucks rather than Kent, but same thing of the schools that aren't grammars really suffering from having the majority of aspirational children pulled out of them.

The area of Bucks we are in is not affluent, so the local grammars in our town are full of very well-to-do children from the affluent surrounding villages rather than the town we actually live in. Where 30% of children who take the exam go to grammars, in our district it's nearer 10%, which is really hard.

I know Bucks has a system in place for sickness on the day - you're advised not to take the exam and to take it on an alternative date? Maybe worth looking at what the Kent rules are, just to reassure yourself?

OP posts:
Testpreo · 21/10/2022 16:59

Hello I will join. Have a year 5 boy who will apply for Kent and bexley and possibly St Olaves... but I have only started prep yesterday.

His school is not very high performing and he has a poor teacher (after having brilliant teachers). He used to be so keen on learning but a poor teacher has impacted him quite badly.

His older brother did well, and we started prep 10 months out from the exam but did not have any expectations that he would pass 11 plus.

I am finding the workload for a secondary school grammar child and 11 plus prep plus everything I need to do on a day to day hard to juggle. 11 plus prep is always left until last and often not done.

Trying to remain positive.

I also know people who do absolutely crazy amounts of tutoring.

I also have bizarre anxiety about the test day and worry that my child would get sick on the day of the test.

Also not helped by my understanding the Bexley test may now be GL type test.

I used to be quite calm and shield this from my children but the non grammar options near me are schools I can't entertain. This is because I know pupils at the who have left due to violence and other really terrible events.

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