Tutoring DC for Eleven Plus test.

[Asvan]

Hi everyone

My daughter is currently in year 5 and will be starting high school in September 2020. She is very bright and wants me to put her in for the Eleven Plus test as she wants to go to a very popular grammar school, which is local to us. The test will be in September this year and I wasn't thinking of doing much extra work for it as I didn't really want her getting too stressed out.

Anyway, she came home today and told me that two of her friends that are also going for the test have started going to private tutoring.

I can't really afford to send my DC, but I'm now thinking that it may be a good idea if we did some preparation at home. Could anyone recommend any books or resources that I could use to tutor her? I'm on a budget so can't afford anything too pricey.

The school that she wants to go to currently do the CEM tests, which are set by Durham University.

Thanks in advance.

KHAN Academy - free, online, tailored to your child and bloody amazing! Don’t know why it’s free! But it is American so a few words are different.
If you want a cheap 11+ focus try online BOFA - esp for 11+ and the common pre-tests - but I prefer Khan.

The amount of tuition kids are being given has greatly increased over the last few years and even over the last three years. My elder child goes to grammar school, he was a big reader and always good at maths; he passed CEM three years ago. Younger child took GL last year and although more academically able, did not pass. In that short space of time, tuition centres have sprung up everywhere, eleven plus is big business, more and more parents are putting their kids through ludicrous amounts of tuition. It is not true that if your child needs tuition to pass the test that they will need tuition to keep up in the school. That is true for those excessively tutored children who shouldn't really be at the schools. But if your child has always been near the top at junior school, a moderate amount of prep is not only reasonable but required, just to level them up with the helicoptered DC.

I think lots of people agrees in "moderate" prep and not "excessive" but exactly where that line is drawn is the devate really.

Is a year of weekly tutoring excessive?
Two terms of weekly tests?
A summer of revision

Etc....

OP just find out what test it is and get some books online. There are two different tests. The test in our area only covers up to year 5 work. Ultimately if they are clever enough they'll get in, if not it isn't the right school. Tbh if everyone there is as intense as some I've come across including on this thread then I don't fancy it anyway.

Who knows what dd will get my biggest consideration is avoiding stress around it tbh.

I used to work in a grammar school. My advice is do not get a tutor for the exams. Get practice papers and mainly focus on verbal reasoning as this is one they will of not been taught in junior school. If you think your child is honestly bright enough this will be enough.

The year 7 students that have been intensely tutored and then it all stops as soon as they have a place is very very obvious in the first 6 weeks when they start. It can be a very miserable place when you are used to being near the top of your class in junior school to always being at the bottom of the class as you are just not quite up to the standard of the year group. It is very sad as a pastoral worker to see the year 7s very, very upset every day but the parents are determined for the child to go to a grammar school.

Think about your child's personality and how they learn. Grammar schools move at a much faster rate of learning to what they may be used to and this can also cause self esteem issues.

Final words on the 11+ is do not put pressure on your child to pass. I used to invigilate for the 11+ exam and every single year we had more than a handful of students absolutely beside themself from the pressure of it all. They feel the guilt that the parents have spent all this money on tutors and that they must pass. The majority of these students didn't pass as it all got too much for them.

Hi, I have lots of 11 plus books and test papers previously used by my boys. I am happy to pass it on. Please let me k know if you would like to have the resources. Cheers