Where can I get hold of an educational adviser?

[tigermoth]

...apart from mumsnet of course

I am getting conflicting advice about my son's future education for the next few years - too long a story to go into now, might say more later.

But for the moment I need to speak to somone independent who will not try to sell me private tuition but will give me an idea of what my son needs to do if he is to pass the grammar test or even (very, very long shot) try for a scholarship.

His year 5 teacher is very positive about his ability, but I don't know what to do. Up until this year his behaviour has always marred his output and he is only just settling down and producing work that reflects his capabilities.

He's no eager academic but he is working much harder. He wants to go to the same senior schools as his friends who are aiming for the nearby grammar schools. They are in the same ability groups as my son in class. They have private tuition but my son doesn't. But I don't want to get sucked in or put too much pressure on him. Yet I don't want him to miss out. Apparently the school syllabus does not cover all he needs for the grammar school tests. Right now I just need a few more facts. Help!

I've worked as a tutor. Generally I am against tutoring for young children. However I tend to think it has its place as a short term measure to get through an exam. A few sessions of tutoring where he gets to see past papers could make a world of difference (think of it as practice iyswim). Also defintitely worth it if it means any gaps will be filled. Make sure the tutor you get is good though- and has past papers. There are some ropey ones out there.

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thanks for the replies - no time to post much now, I am still information gathering, but very interested to hear news, views and opinions.

Batter - home tutoring for a 5 year old to get them through grammar? wow!!!

You can get an educational advisor to run some tests and see how intellengent your child is. A child in my class had this done and it is intersting reading about which muliple intellegences his strengths are. I am slighlty septic about the findings vs cost of such people. But it his report is intersting reading. It wasn't done by an ed psych which I think are v. expenisive, but by someone who is an ed. consultant who is just a teacher trying to earn some more money and with less stress (I am only jealous). How you go about finding a good one I don't know...I can find some for you around Cambs if this is any help?

Batters- don't worry that could seriously backfire by making the child hate studying. the best use of a private tutor is to help with exam questions and for revision before exams (or alternatively for "remedial" work for want of a better word). THere are better things to spend money on for a 5 year old- buy the educational games, spend the money on books or teach them to play chess etc.

The youngest child I taught was an incredibly bright 9 year old going for a scholarship. She had about 5 sessions and used to time to go through things and ask questions and practice scholarship papers. She got in- I'm sure she would have without the tuition- it just gave her more confidence.

Talk to the head at one of the schools in question, Tigermoth - or contact the council's education office for some advice. I think they will have some ready-made tips to offer, it comes up a lot in some areas of London.
Skip asking your own head teacher - his or her official line will be that of the local authority, which as you say, does not offer any help in getting children through the crucial exams.
Good luck, it's a pain, isn't it.

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thanks for those links, robin. I will try them first before I pay for any test papers. But before I do this, I will contact the schools and LEAs in question and to find out what type of tests they do and other admissions criteria.

I had a word with my son's teacher who said that if I decide on a privat tutor, not to bother till January at the earliest. She is really pleased my son is settling down well in the classroom but feels we shouldn't push our luck I agree with this. I don't want to tip him over the edge.

She also said she could predect who would pass the grammar test and who wouldn't - giving the impression that private tutors don't make a ton of difference in the long run, though they obviously help with honing technique.

She seemed confident that I could teach him most of what to do myself - flattering but not sure if I have the time (if it will take hours and hours) or more importantly, the ability. Dread teaching my son long division, for instance. Torture for him and me. I'd rather he got upset about it with a stranger.

I'm seeing a schoolfriend's mother over the weekend. She's pro private tuition though didn't start it till a few months ago. It was her who first told me how many classmates are having it. Will ask her what she thinks, too. She's more up with the parent consensus. Then I might have to convince my dh that (some) private tuition is a good idea. We've had a brief talk but he feels we shouldn't bother since we will be moving to Devon in the next few years, away from a grammar school system. I don't think we should burn our bridges - we don't know when we'll be moving down.

Tigermoth, good luck with this. Haven't any personal knowledge of this to pass on but don't children learn long division at school anymore as a matter of course then? My dh and I did a thing (for fun?) recently where some old 11 plus papers from the 50's/60's were published in the newspaper and you had to do them in a certain time. No calculators were allowed obviously, but we remembered most of what we'd been taught 30 odd years ago and got very high marks! So I bet you could tutor your ds yourself!

Tigermoth, I may have my counties mixed up, but I'm pretty sure there are grammars in some parts of Devon! My uncle is a HM at one in Torquay and i'm sure it's not private...I live in a grammar school area and they are more likely to accept pupils out of normal time (11+) if the kids come from a similar system. Might be worth making sure that the area you want is grammar school free? Mind you, my UK geography is hazy, Uncle definitely lives in Devon, but maybe torquay is dorset????

No its devon.

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hi, just a quick message to say I will return to this asap. Too busy to post, alas! I still have lots of questions. Thanks for the advice re devon etc

back again! Things have moved on. Dh is now fine about our son having a private tutor (in moderation) as long as ds is happy about having one. I have also told him I'd heard that in some areas of Devon the grammar system exists (thanks mumsnet) so that was one reason to do the test. At some point in the future we hope to move to South Devon. Kingsbridge and Ivybridge both have good comprehensive community colleges, I believe. Don't know about grammar schools in that area. I just think that if my son passes a grammar test, it might give him more options.

I am going speak to the local grammar schools after half term so I get info on admissions and tests from the horses mouth. The private tutor can wait till Jan at the earliest. If I feel confused still I will consider paying to see an independent educational adviser and get my son assessed.

Cam, yes, it's true. Long division is not covered by the beginning of year 6 ( when the grammar school tests happen) so someone will have to teach him this. Surprising isn't it? My dh was explaining pie and algebra to him yesterday and my ds picked it up well. However I do know children are taught numeracy at school in certain ways( very strange ways as far as I am concerned) and I don't want to confuse my son by teaching him in a different way, even if he learns how to do the long division. So I feel he'll need maths tutoring at some point even if it's just for a few sessions.

Even if my ds passes the test, he won't necessarily to to a grammar school - some of the ones locally in London are very far flung and the journey time rules them out. If I like the look of a nearer comprehensive I'll be happy for him to go there. I'd certainly be happy for him to go to the comprehensives in Kingsbridge or Ivybridge. I just want to broaden his choice.

Will come back to this when I have more questions - I can see this being an ongoing issue. Thanks for the advice so far.

Hi tigermoth. Have you looked into getting a tutor yet?
I defo have the feeling I have left it a bit late for my ds. He started with his tutor, for english in september and his exam is january.
She comes every other week for two hrs and I have defo noticed an improvment already, so has his class teacher.
I have since discovered that a few children have been getting tutored for well over a year, some two yrs.

Its a bit different here though. we are not applying for local grammar, as there isn't one.
He is sitting the exam for local private school. He already attends the feeder prep for this school but still has to pass the exam.
This Iam not worried about, as most children pass the test, but we have applied on advice from his teacher for a scholarship.
There are only 6 of these up for grabs, and at least 150 children sit the exam.
Ds is totally not worked up about this at all, as I've kept it v low key, but I seem to be getting more stressed by the day.

Hi charlize, it came as a surprise to me too that so many of my son's classmates had private tutors - about half of the class of 24 by my son's estimate. A few for the last 2 years. Some have had them if they are weak in a subject area - simply to catch up.

I suppose if we get pushed for time he can have extra tuition in the holidays immediately before the tests. With no school work, there will be more time for one to one sessions.

Anyway, my son is beginning to feel a bit left out I think, so that's extra pressure on me And this is not even a private school - it's a voluntary aided church school. Many pupils aim for the 4 nearby grammar schools in the neighbouring borough. We're near the borough borders.

I am not yet getting too stressed about it since he is in year 5 and has another year to go before the grammar selection tests or any private school tests IF we go for these. Talk to me in 6 months time and I may be much more on edge.

I just hope his teacher's laid back assessment of his need for tutoring is correct. It's difficult because I believe teachers in the state school system, including those from voluntary aided schools, cannot be seen to strongly advocate private tuition or entry to private or grammar schools. Our borough is a non 11+ borough so that makes things more sensitive as well.

We went to an open morning at a private school just for interest this weekend. The idea being that my son can see what extra tutoring and passing these tests can bring, if he wants the extra work. Puts it into context for him - he's seen a couple of state secondary schools. He was very impressed with the facilities - but I explained how hard he'd need to work to get in with a scholarship and what a gamble it was anyway. I don't think we'll go the private education route at this school at least, if only because those hard won scholarships only pay half the very expensive fees.

Yes tigermoth. They only pay half the fees here as well.
If we had a grammar I would consider going down that route, but ds has already made lots of friends in prep and so I really want him to attend the private school where most of his friends are going.
He will be going scholarship or not but it would be nice to get and like yourself I was surprised how many pupils had private tutors so felt under pressure to get one for ds also.
Iam v glad I did as his confidence in english has soared.

What puzzles me though, is if some children have had tutors for the past 2 yrs simply to catch up then surely they should of by now??
Perhaps the parents have better foresight than us in preparing them for 11 plus.
I honestly didn't think about it till this sept, (start of yr 6).
Though I will defo start my younger son on tuition year 5 if he shows the same potential.