Can a child with dyslexia realistically prepare for the 11 plus?

[MumQs]

Hello Mums ,

my daugther is in Year 3 8 year old and has been diagnosed as Dyslexic. Now she will going to year 4 where the 11 plus prep will start .
she is in state school right now .

wanted to know how do we go about this ,? Is this doable with her ? She is really smart kid but struggles with reading and spelling .
or di we shift her to private school where she will be given more attention and hence more scope for 11 plus .

kindly advice if anybody has attempted 11 plus with dyslexia

many thanks

Why would you put her through that?
It’s a massive struggle already for kids who don’t have their own learning struggles. She will hate it and it will burn her out.

Put her in a school where she can thrive just as she is, not where she has to prove her worth to go there.

You need to know how the dyslexia affects her. The hardest thing is the speed she will need - what's her processing speed like?
Secondly how does she feel about her dyslexia? Is the prep required likely to make her anxious? How will she feel if she doesn't get in?
Thirdly What's the school like for SEN? Is she going to get left behind once she's there? What's the culture and attitude?
Our local grammars offer no extra time in the 11+ and no in school provision for dyslexia - you need to be able to keep up on your own merit.
My child is twice exceptional - dyslexia and ADHD with a very high IQ. By the time she's 16 she'll be flying, in the meantime it's going to be a hard slog with lots of tutors. She's comes across as not clever at all. It's only a single sentence every now and then where you suddenly have insight into exactly how clever she is. You need to do all the organisation for them alot of the time. Think Tiger mom.
Our local grammars have no catchment and are super selective. Only 40% of local primary kids go to the local and only 60% of the entire county grammars are within 20 miles of their school.
Also think about time to / from and extra curriculars.

I'm not familiar with the 11 plus, what accomodations are allowed for dyslexia? SATs are absolute crap in that a dyslexic child can't have the reading comprehension text read to them. DD is dyslexic, her comprehension skills are insanely good if she has text read to her, but SATs are a reading test so she has no chance. As you may be able to tell it boils my piss.

I'd look into specialist dyslexia provision across state and private, even if she gets into a good grammar if their dyslexia support is pants she'll struggle. Our area has a high school with a specialist dyslexia unit where students have scribes in literature heavy subjects, specialist dyslexia tutoring instead of doing a modern language etc. Pupils need an EHC to access it here so imagine it's the same everywhere else

My son really struggles with handwriting but is a confident reader and very quick at picking up new ideas eg understanding new maths concepts. The 11+ in our area is entirely multiple choice so we are going to aim for it.
A lot of the 11+ is about picking the information out of the question under a lot of time pressure so I would think someone who finds reading tricky would find that very challenging.
Some 11+ tests have eg creative writing so that would be tricky with writing issues.
So I suppose I would suggest researching what's needed in the 11+ in your area (or for your particular schools if it's more about particular private schools).

I do have some misgivings about how he will get on from the writing point of view if he does get into grammar but he is easily bored and needs to be challenged so a faster pace of work would suit him at secondary.

It really depends on how bad her dyslexia is, which schools you are applying for etc.

My DS has dyslexia and some neurdiversity. At the time he sat the 11+ he would take ages to write a barely legible poorly spelt paragraph. However, he was super bright and the 11+ was all MCQs so we thought we would give it a go.

I thought any tutor would consider me mad for suggesting 11+ so home tutored with CGP books. It was hard work getting him up to speed and he was in the bottom quartile when we did mock exams. We almost didn't put him in for it but he really wanted to give it a go as he had fallen in love with his chosen school.

Anyway, he ended up doing really well in the exam and got into the school he wanted. He has loved going to school with other academic kids with similar interests. Lots of them have spld/nd and the school are really good at accommodating this. He has sailed through the past 7 years, lots of 9s at GCSEs (not English!) and predicted 3x A stars for A-level. After intense tutoring from me at the 11+ stage, he has needed no parental/ tutor input going forwards.

So, moral of the story is that it can be done! (Ignore the grammar school haters!). I think working with him 1:1 was v important with 11+ prep as I was able to focus on his weaknesses. I don't think the generic group tutoring would have worked. If your dc is happy with their current school, I would suggest investing the money in a good 1:1 tutor and doing lots of work yourself in between. Private schools often run a year ahead of state schools so moving her might kill off her confidence if you are not careful.

My son is dyslexic. So much so he qualifies for 50% extra time and still can’t finish his written papers (his English paper he didn’t even attempt some of the questions worth over 25% of the marks and still got a grade 7). He’s taking his GCSE’s next year. He flew through the 11 plus with no accommodations as he wasn’t diagnosed then and as he is very bright. The creative writing bit can be practiced. There are lots of them with dyslexia in his very academic school.

The way I looked at it was, they all have to follow the national curriculum. Going to a non-grammar won't mean they don't have to do essays. So they may as well go to the school that suits them best.

My daughter is dyslexic and is thriving at a grammar school. She was diagnosed after starting there but they have been very supportive. She has been awarded extra time for her GCSEs.
I think it will depend on the child if it is the right choice - my daughter did have some y5 group tutoring for the 11+ but does find some things easier than others. She’s very good at the spatial awareness type questions, which may made up for lower marks in the spelling/grammar sections. She has always been very hard working and largely self sufficient in terms of putting the effort in to study/complete homework etc. which has made a difference too.

@Gloschick that is a good point. I suppose it's more about the volume and frequency of homework/tests etc at the grammar. I think at secondary they usually just do it all on a laptop if they struggle with writing.

That's really interesting. My daughter is the same, and we are planning on trying the 11+ with her. At present (18m to go) she can't write a legible sentence but is scoring 90%+ in mock tests already as it's all MCQ.

My daughter has dyslexia and is going into year 5 this year, we have been prepping for 11+ using the Pip app? Pip 11+ i think it is in the app store. The printed mock tests she doesnt really care for but the app has been really good, no pressure and she actually asks if she can do it,, she does the mock tests on the app too so I would say ignore the negative responses and just upgrade the resources she uses. Will be much less stressful for you both and why shouldn't she get to go to an independent or grammar school? My brother who is an engineer now is also dyslexic and went to a grammar school and obviously college and uni.

Have you tried her on the Pip 11+ app?