To be fuming that DS got a level 3b in his Y5 SATS reading...

[pippiLS]

…and that his form teacher thinks that this is somehow my fault!!

Some background info: DS had all L3s at KS1, is hoping to get into one of the best Grammar schools in the country (maybe we need to rethink this) and is reading (with me), A Brief History of Time at the moment (just to give you an idea of his reading level). He loves science and is very well informed about material far beyond the curriculum at this level yet he has also performed poorly on his Science SATs paper. Oh, and one last thing, he got 100% in one of his maths papers.

Have arranged meeting with Head and form teachers but not sure what on earth to say. He joined this school in Y5, so just this year (it's a middle school). His final report from his previous school in Y4 was all 4as.

I've read the first few pages - and here's my thoughts: I (in common with a lot of very bright friends I've discussed this with as an adult) really struggled with reading comprehension at that age - not because I didn't comprehend the text, but because the required task (effectively "paraphrase each sentence in your own words") was so infantile I couldn't believe that was really what was being asked of me, so went through all sorts of mental contortions trying to come up with a more intellectually challenging interpretation of what was being asked. Result: I'd come up with some sort of character study, or analysis of why the argument in the text didn't make logical sense, or why it missed out key pieces of information and therefore didn't establish the conclusion it was claiming to establish, or ... whatever. And I'd bomb, because I hadn't supplied the "words of one syllable" paraphrase the teacher was actually after.

Is there any chance this is what could be going on with your DS?

Dear me, am I the only one who thinks the OP sounds slightly unhinged and obsessional here?

Totally agree with you.

If he needs that much extra work to have a chance of passing, then maybe it's not the school for him? He'll struggle and lose confidence.

"I hear what you are saying about giving him a break but honestly, he is happy to do it." - on the basis of this, OP, I'd say you don't come across as "unhinged and obsessional" (did they mean to be so rude?), just as a mother who's trying to support her son in doing the best he can.

Do you know why he doesn't perform as well in formal tests as in other circumstances? Is he very nervous?

Comprehension and the ability to read are very different as I'm sure you know. A brief history of time is heavy going for a 7 year old!

Levels are going anyway in September so I wouldn't rest on it too much.

I attended lectures by Stephen Hawking while at uni. They weren't great. Didn't make me want to read his books. However, he was subsequently in TNG and nowadays I kick myself for not being more invested in his lectures.

The competition is fierce for the Grammar School that DS is interested in. It's the only one near enough for us to try for too so only one bite at the cherry.

He's certainly 'grammar school material' and if the process involved an interview he would ace it. However, having been to look around the GS on open evening and seen the number of boys in Prep school uniforms that are no doubt being prepared for the exam during school time, it really is necessary to do some preparation.

We might aim to do an hour an evening but because I'm easy going it's probably more like 20 mins a few nights a week unless he is doing a paper (rare).

The test is supposed to cover the whole of KS2 but as it comes at the start of year 6 you have no choice but to cover some material yourself (or with a tutor) to give DC a fighting chance.

OP - is it a boys only school? Does the 11+ include VR?

Again, speaking from experience of having only one bite at the super selective cherry and applying to a school with a massive, massive 'constituency' area - the level of tuition you seem to be aiming at really is overkill. The law of diminishing returns applies, it really does. Have you been working at this pitch with your DS for long? Might that not have something to do with his poor report/performance from/at school?

Have you any idea why he under performs so much in formal tests?

HerShip, we've just started in earnest. You obviously haven't read the 11+ forums if you think what we are doing is overkill. It is a boys only school and they have introduced creative writing for the first time this year and dropped the VR paper in favour of fewer VR Qs in the English paper.

We might aim to do an hour an evening but because I'm easy going it's probably more like 20 mins a few nights a week

OP, you don't sound very "easy-going" to me!

All this obsessing over levels, talking about "a fighting chance", comparing him to prep school children, makes you sound like it's your school place, not his.

And why, at his age, is he reading Harry Potter with you? Why not let him read by himself?

Are you sure about the creative writing? Is it a state grammar? How on earth are they going to mark that??????

OP - as I have pointed out, I have two DDs who have passed the 11+ and got places at one of the very top SSs in the country. So I'm not, actually, talking from a position of ignorance. :)

There is a lot of rubbish spouted on the 11+ forums, you know.

2 X 10 mins creative writing tasks. Perhaps they'll only mark the ones that 'qualify' on the rest of the paper(s).

I've heard that if you don't have to provide feedback you can mark a lot of scripts easily using a comparative method that allows you to rank order them.

My DDs had read all the Harry Potter books - by themselves not 'with me' (although DD1 did read HP7 at the same time as me (and my sister) all of us sitting silently in the same room devouring it on the day it came out) - by the time they were 8 and 9 (DD1 had to wait for HP7 to come out). The books you describe your DS as reading aren't actually indicative of 'normal' high achieving reading for his age, you know...

Hakluyt the DDs' SS has had a creative writing element to its test for many years (since before DD1 did it). I don't know how they mark it, but I do know it's the key differentiator - the kids who are superb at maths but poor at English often don't get in, the kids who are superb at English and good (but not superb necessarily) at maths generally do.

HerShip, how did your DDs do in their SATS? Were they not tutored for the 11+ then?

HerShip he has read The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings etc and has His Dark Materials lined up but it's fair to say he prefers animating and coding to reading.

He wasn't interested in reading HP (unlike his DSis who sounds like your girls) until I started reading it to his younger sibling. He asked if I would read it to him and I quite enjoy doing so.

Don't worry, he probably just needs to get used to the tests, and how to answer the questions (mainly: the answer is in the text, find it).

My DS found reading comprehension difficult as he would read the questions first and think: "how on earth am I supposed to know this?!", then I had to say: "read the text, read it. the answer is there." He had to learn to not answer from his own knowledge, but to sift through the text.

He started out with low grades but slowly built up to better grades, same with his non verbal reasoning papers.

Mind you, this was in a prep school, where indeed they do a mock test every week from Sept-Jan in Y6.

FWIW, I ended up sending him to the local comp, as I found the hothousing a bit too intense and did not want to go that route for secondary. But my son is not your son, and we all just try to choose what is best.

Anyway, my point is, you CAN learn to do these tests. Practice makes perfect.

(think he went from 37% in his first papers to scores in the 80s and 90s, in a matter of months)

Thats for the reassurance BravePotato. Was it the right decision for your son to go to the local Comp? DS just does not want to go to ours - he doesn't like what he has heard about it from neighbourhood friends amongst others.

Pippi - DD1 got L5 across the board (no level 6 papers in those days). DD2 got L6 across the board. No they weren't tutored although they went to some practice sessions in exam conditions to acclimatise because speed could have been a problem for them due to their SEN issues.

It sounds like you need to get him reading more.

I don't know about him feeling under pressure but I feel under pressure to help him to get into the GS.

You are so lucky to have got your 2 DDs in HercShip.

" DS just does not want to go to ours - he doesn't like what he has heard about it from neighbourhood friends amongst others."

I would work on this at the same time as working on everything else. The chances of getting into the super selective grammars are very slim- you need to get him happy to go to the other available schools. And neighbourhood friends are not the best sources of information about schools- particularly ones they don't go to!