Tutoring for secondary entrance exams

[CarmelitaMiggs]

DD is y4 at a state primary. We are starting to think (bcs everyone else seems to be doing it) about preparing her for entrance exams for indep secondaries.

There are two 'famous' tutors round us (ie both are said to be good at coaching candidates for these exams). One tutor sounds loathsome and the other one is booked up (though he might be able to squeeze us in at 7.30am on a schoolday -- ugh).

My instinct is that at this stage any decent tutor (ie someone sourced from a reputable company) should be able to help DD with the format of these tests.

Am I wrong?

Do I realy need to accept the pre-dawn slot?

I suppose the question is whether your child is a morning child or whether she will be too tired to take advantage of the sessions. I have one child who would be better at that time and one who is likely to be asleep!

She's not a morning person particularly (I'm certainly not )

I guess I'm really wondering whether these 'famous' tutors are all that

Wouldn't any decent tutor be able to get DD up to speed?

We have just been through the whole experience. Dd has taken two 11+ exams earlier this year.

Would you consider a centre? We used one on a Saturday morning and did a 3 day revision course in the summer.

We tried a tutor but we found that after a whole day at school DD had enough and the sessions were not very productive. In the centre we got a detailed progress report highlighting problem areas and we had online access to DD's lesson plan as well as online mini-tests we could do to indentify problem areas.

When we had the tutor DD would often say ''I don't know'' expecting the teacher to help her rather than having a go, which is something she learnt in the centre and gave her confidence to get on with it. After all the tutor will not be sitting next to the child in the exam room.

Perhaps a centre is not for everyone but may still worth considering.

Good Luck!

Thanks for that. Good luck for your dd.

I'm reluctant to lose the weekends (or part of them -- we go away quite a lot)... but that's useful advice.

any more thoughts? Has anyone else come up against the 'famous' tutor issue?

Have been wondering if it's a marketing strategy put about by tutors and in-thrall parents to make the rest of us feel antsy

I am a tutor who has sometimes tutored for independent school exams. (Although I tutor for a lot of other reasons too).

I would not assume that anyone sourced through a reputable company will necessarily be the best (though if you have a company recommended by people you know it will probably be OK). They will do some vetting for you (some will be better than others) but agencies also take a cut of the fees you pay for every lesson and so, as a tutor, I only use them if I really need to.

Actually now I seem to get all my students through word of mouth, free advertising on internet, yellow pages and Thomsons Local or cheap advertising in local post offices. IMO good, well-established tutors tend not to use agencies very much because they just don't need to! Also I have heard of some companies taking a very hard-sell approach and charging an exorbitant amount (£46 per hour of tutoring?!!)I'd advise never using any company that sends a "consultant" out to assess your child who will not actually be the person teaching your child!

You are right though I think that the "famous" tutors are unlikely to be the only ones who can help your dc.

What I would do:

Contact any local tutors (yellow pages, internet, local library lists) explain what you need and ask them if they do the appropriate tutoring, what their charges are, have they got vacancies etc. If you get a positive vibe from talking on phone ( yes I think you should go with gut feelings to a significant extent), ask if you could meet up with them to discuss their approach etc and also if they have any references/testimonials from other parents that you can see. See what you feel about them and how they might work with DD. Ask about their terms and conditions.
If you find one that you think will suit then go ahead. You aren't stuck with them forever! Meanwhile you could ask to be put on "famous" tutor's waiting list so that you could transfer to them if a better timed space becomes available and you aren't convinced about other tutor's performance!

I don't know what type of secondary entry tests you are looking for but if it is the eleven plus you could try to google eleven plus exams forum. This is a very good forum where you can general stuff but they also have boards for specific areas in the country. We found this very good.

It's Egham not Eggham

Also there is a space where you can pay for advertising on MN.