Anyone up for a Yr5 11+ prep/tutoring support thread? <wibble>

[ChippyMinton]

Not something I thought I'd be doing, but having done the rounds of the local secondaries' open evenings, DH and I have decided to go down the 11+ route with DS.

I'm having a major wobble, as it's a big step into the unknown for us all (PFB an' all that). Old hands, please come and tell me it will be worth it. And if you are embarking on this with your Yr5, sign up for some mutual hand-holding. and provided.

Any takers?

I've a DD at a GS and I'd say its well worth trying the 11+

First you check with the school exactly what form the tests take - (VR/NVR, comprehension, maths - its not usually all of those) and whether multiple choice or written answers for each - an important part of the familiarization is with the format. They may be able to suggest which type of practice books to use.

Then - well, I suppose it depends on you and your DS when you start. Our DD essentially did quite a bit of practice over the summer at the end of yr5 - maybe 3 or 4 tests per week, then we went over anything she got wrong after. IIRC we didn't worry too much about the timing at first.

Good luck!

Two dc at gs. What grimma said, then get practice papers from smiths and do online practice at chukra (which has changed its name) and watch the videos that explain the 21 different vr questions.

If you are worried re ability, get a trusted (recommended) tutor to assess need for tutoring or not.

DD is in Yr 6 and results day is tomorrow. I think I need and handholding. I'm not confident that she'll have passed.

I always said we wouldn't tutor but we got some practice papers. DD was quite good at NRV but not at VR and used to sit there and cry and not let me help her. So we hired a tutor as she'd listen to him rather than throwing stuff. But we only hiired him just before the beginning of the holidays, so he came less than 10 times.

I swing between wishing we'd started earlier to wishing we'd never hired him. DD did ask for the tutor, apparantly everyone else has one and apparantly if she fails it will be my fault for not hiring one sooner. DD was the one who wanted to take the 11+, I kept telling her whenever she was upset that she didn't have to take it. The kids really do feel the pressure and I'm the most unpushy mum going - there's been no pressure from me.

The elevenplus forum is good. There are different sections for the different counties where you'll get specific advice. You need the right practice papers for your county, don't just order random stuff from Amazon.

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/

Hello everyone
Thanks for the tips.
I'm fairly laid back myself, but feel that, as our other options are limited (unlikely to get into preferred state school, can't afford private), I have to give DS the best possible chance with the 11+.

A friend has recommended a tutor. Am I naive to think DS can take this on without interfering with his other out-of-school activities?

No. It's all about learning the techniques, then practising to get the speed up. Perfectly doable with any reasonably sentient child.

I have a year 5 DD who we've just got a tutor for. We don't have grammar schools in our area but the local schools are both very good, so I'm not overly worried myself.
DH is the product of a GS and he'd like DD to sit the exams for a couple of selective schools around the area. The chances of getting in are less than 1/10, but DD is happy to give it a go, and then I feel like we've at least given it a crack.
My personal preference is for the not-so-close local school, DD's is for the closest local as a lot of her friends will go there.
DD does lots of out of school activities; swimming, horseriding, piano, netball and drama, and she's having to spend about an hour a week doing her tutoring work at this point. She knows she will have to work harder as the exams approach, and I've told her if there is any mucking around, we'll stop it right there and then. This has to be lead by her; I'll help but I'm not going to force her to do it.

Well, that would depend on how much time he spends on out-of-school activities!

I'd have thought that at this stage doing a bit at home at the weekend to see how he fares would be a good start. IIRC there are some books which help you determine strengths and weaknesses (sorry not to be precise, DH sorted this stuff out for us).

And of course how much effort he needs to put in depends on his ability and just how selective the GS is and whether you're in catchment or after a residual place.

Preferred gs is in a borough where half the schools are grammars, which isn't too daunting. Might have a crack at the nearest super-selective if we think he's in with a chance, but tbh I'd rather he went somewhere more rounded.

He's not overly busy with activities - cubs, football twice a week/cricket in the summer months, and also goes to watch football with DH.

Chippy I've got 2 DDs in superselective grammars and neither of them gave up their hobbies/after school clubs or play-dates with friends.

I think you have to keep things in perspective. Yes, your DS will need to do some practise papers but you don't have to have a tutor; if you're reasonably intelligent you can do it yourself.

You certainly don't need to do the amount of work the obsessed do on the eleven + forum - plenty of ruined hopes and dreams and lost childhoods on that site, due to parents who want their DC in GS, no matter what cost to the child.

My DD's did one practise paper a week for about 8 months and stopped 2 weeks before the exams. They both enjoyed doing the papers and wanted to do them; neither one ever complained or got upset about it, because it was just one hour a week on a paper, and about half hour of going over mistakes with me.

I know lots of DC who did truly ridiculous amounts of work for the 11+ and lost a whole Summer holiday to practise papers - at least 2 a day, plus going to tutors and they didn't all pass.

If you take a sensible approach, and your DC is happy and on-side, I would say go for it.

Sounds like you got the balance right YummyHoney.

I really don't want this to be a big deal for DS.

Absolutely! I totally agree. I always gave my girls the impression that it would be nice, but it didn't matter that much (whilst secretly hoping they'd manage it

If you can pull it off so that it's not a big deal for your DS, then there's nothing lost and he won't be crushed if he doesn't get into GS.

I wish you loads of luck.

Thank you. I'm slightly nervous because most of the parents at school seem to be going with the flow, to the local schools. Unless there's a lot of game-playing and secret tutoring going on

I tried to to do it myself but really don't have the temperament to teach :( DD and I always ended up yelling at each other so I decided to go with a tutor for everyone's sanity.
I'm not giving up our summer for anyone!

I have a DS in Yr 5 and we've just started down the 11+ journey so some handholding, mutual support and lots of would be great! I'm tutoring DS and so far it's going ok, but were starting gently so not sure how well it will go once I start to increase the time. Good luck to everybody waiting results or taking tests this term!

Southern - some combinations of child/parent just don't work - I was lucky DD would buckle down to it for DH!

The other parents will be fibbing. Just make sure DC knows the techniques and does some practice papers.

ooh hello everyone. Have some

LOL at 'keep it real'. That would be great. SouthernandCross - i fear the same kind of personality clash with me and DS. And DH, whilst supportive, is happy to chauffeur and stump up the readies, but doesn't want to involve himself in the detail. So tutoring it is.

Bigscarymum - I am on the look out for people 'outing' themselves LOL. Of course, the children will chat amongst themselves at school...

DD passed! needed here. However it doesn't mean she gets a place, have to wait till March to find out.

May I join in?

Just got back from Open Day at school of DS dreams. So it's definitely all systems go here. He is Yr 5 but because we want a little action plan in place.

I agree with the poster who said a tutor might be better as there would be war if I tried to tutor him.
For those who hired a tutor (we have a Kip McGrath centre 2 mins from home) at this stage how much time did you spend?

Or do we need to just casually work at it at home for now?

Well done your DD Viva!! Brilliant news

We have successfully tutored both our DC's, got DS's score today [proud mummy emocion]. He needed to be in the top 145 and absolutley aced it!

I used the bond and letts packs, and a little bit on the elevenplusexams website, and tutored from may yr 5, so only 4 months. The forum on the elevenplusexams site is excellent and has a regional section with loads of people who give brilliant advise on question types, scores needed etc.

We're waiting for results on Monday. We put my money where our mouths are and we didn't tutor- ds is in the top 10% of his class and if the system works he should pass. Nerve wracking waiting to find!out the results of ourlittle social experiment!