Planning ahead for private secondary

[BeccaBean]

DD is currently finishing Year 2 in a good state primary in West London where she is doing very well. We'd like her to sit for places at some good West London private secondaries (haven't decided which yet but might include Godolphin & Latymer or Latymer Upper) and will need to get a tutor. We'd like to keep the prep as low pressure as possible so don't want to start tutoring late. Please can anyone help with some guidance on how we find a tutor (and when) and when tutoring should start? She's bright and very well read. I can't tutor herself myself as I work full time and think she'll respond better to a tutor in any case. Thanks for any advice.

Hello. I would start with Atom Learning year 4 and get a tutor start of year 5 the earliest. My dd started end of May year 5 with a tutor and Atom learning and did fine (got into all the schools she applied to and starting at G&L in Sept). But we only started late bc we did not realise she would do the 11+ until last minute. She felt no pressure though and was pretty relaxed with it all. She did not cram like crazy. Main thing now is to provide many books for your dd to read. If she has a love for reading that will help with vocabulary and comprehension. And math times tables are good to know well....but we found our dc just learned these things naturally at school. We never had to drill them. Some people start with tutoring year 4. Some get tutors even when not prepping for 11+. I would say do what you think is best for your dc and what they need.

Thanks @SamPoodle123 ; that's very helpful. She loves reading and devours books so glad to hear that's a good start. Can I ask how your found the tutor (and when)? Did you use an online tutor or in person? I will definitely take a look at Atom.

@BeccaBean I just used the first tutor someone told me about and did not look into it. It was online zoom group session once a week. We started end of May year 5 (only bc that is when we decided to do 11+). If I knew earlier, I would have started perhaps Jan year 5. But it all worked out.

Thanks @SamPoodle123. And congrats to your daughter for getting a place at G&L.

if you are still looking, I would certainly recomend I Tutor Club. They only have qualified Teachers who lave years of experience teaching in primary or secondary schools. My son has had a lot of success with them https://itutorclub.com/