11+tips

[Amythesianwaterfall]

Dear mumsnetters,
A quick question but what would you say your top tips are for prepraring your dc for the 11+?
Our school is preparing an open evening for parents and any suggestions would be very welcome! Thank you:)

It's going to make a difference if said child hasn't been taught some of the content covered.

I would say then, if you think tutoring will get them through the eleven plus then go ahead and teach them; if you don't think it will make a difference then don't.

No it's not unlikely at all.

We've only been going through the maths stuff in the last few days and so far we see our very able son(top group and G&T maths courses) hasn't covered prime numbers,square numbers,square root or any of the quick old fashioned methods of multiplication,addition etc.

We're only 10 pages in so far.

Oh and median,mode.....

None of those concepts are hard to learn if you've got your head switched on.

But I don't think they're supposed to cover all that in a state school by the Sep of year 6. Admittedly ours is in the lowest quintile atm for maths but even so I'm not sure many cover all that in time.

Hi all:

Just reading discussing between zzzzz & Retropear and wanted to say this:

The common wisdom (i.e. Mums gossipping about this between themselves) around here is that our local 11+ exam presumes that your child at start of Y6 has mastered the entirety of the primary national curriculum. In effect your child should be working at the level of a higher ability child starting Y7.

To be fair Retropear I think there is a difference between a school covering the primary curriculum & a school ensuring that children are competent in all areas. Here, the 11+ is highly competitive and it really is about full mastery of the primary content.

HTH

It isn't competitive here but we have the added issue of the school not pushing(not uncommon I'm sure).2 of my dc have just brought home maths targets they can already do.My DS taught himself all his tables in the first week of year 3, he is lightening quick at all mental arithmetic. He is still doing tables,gridding,x by 100 etc in maths and complaining of it being too easy,boring etc.

They have an extension group for literacy but not for maths.

The stuff I've mentioned I wonder if many schools that push would have pushed the more able on it already.If it crops up in year 6 it will be too late hence my going over it now.To leave it to school to do it would be madness,they need to master it now. He is more than capable.

Soooooo tutoring will have an impact on many more able children in schools like ours. Children that are lucky enough to go to private or Outstanding schools which push the more able shouldn't be the only ones in a position to get grammar school places.

A child at a school I taught at was put in for the 11+ despite teachers advising that she would struggle at grammar. She was intensively tutored for the exam for about a year-18 months before, and scraped through. The parents told the teachers they were wrong. She then struggled and struggled at the school and the parents had to move her to the local comprehensive.

But we're not discussing children like that are we.

I'd recommend looking at the elevenplusexams website too.

I think you should direct your parents there (with a warning to take some of the parents on there with a pinch of salt - they are lovely, but some are a bit stressed).

It's an amazingly helpful website, an amazing resource, and free.

Retropear - I know what you're talking about, and I don't think the situation is that uncommon.

I've also heard stories of those who struggled to pass the eleven plus, but then really went ahead academically once at grammar.

Sorry, I thought this was a thread where people who wanted their child to take the 11+ coukd come. I thought there was discussion about whether tutoring was helpful. My point was that, while tutoring might get a borderline child through the 11+ test, a grammar school might not be the best environment for that child.

It makes me laugh all this taboo re tutoring when many children have unfair advantages by being in better primary schools.

It's all very well being smug if you're sitting pretty with children in schools which stretch the more able.

If my dc was in a better school I'm sure I'd have zero need to do anything with him as he is highly motivated and bright.

I think you are doing the right thing retropear.

We had an identical situation last year, and were naive. We just sat back and assumed things would pick up; assumed that things were fine when the teacher said dd1 was sailing along; counselled dd1 to be patient when she complained of being bored. Nothing feels worse than seeing your child's progress has stalled...when they were bored all year!

Playing catch up is no fun, but obviously learning maths is important in and of itself.

I now know, that 5 out of 6 children who are doing the level 6 curriculum at our school in year 6, have tutors. And the sixth one's mum is self tutoring. So, only the kids with an extra push at home are getting to access the full curriculum. At least that's how it looks from my vantage point. Luckily, I've figured out how things work while she is still in year 5. Hope it's not too late!

Missing I don't think it is too late.You've got a whole year until 11+ just keep it calm and steady.

What gets me is you can't win.

Can't afford a private school or even a tutor,kids stuck in a Satisfactory school with zero consistency,info or stretching of the more able.

Soooooo we're going to self tutor and that's wrong.

Clearly we should just sit back and do sweet fa.

Dd has just passed her 11+. I tutored her myself in maths, NVR and VR. It does make a difference. A year is ample time to cover the maths curriculum as one to one teaching is so much quicker than being in a class of 30.

Retropear, I think a lot of people feel like you do. It's very frustrating.

Must dash off for some fun family adventures!

At no point did I say self tutoring was wrong. At no point did I say tutoring was wrong.

I said intensive (12-18 months of 2x per week paid-for tutor) tutoring of a child simply to get them through the 11+ might be ill-advised.

If you feel your child is bright and can cope with grammar school, then yes, teach them the things they need to know. Teach them how to answer the questions.

The child I posted about was in the lowest maths set in primary school, her Literacy levels were below the class average. Yes, she passed the test, but grammar wasn't right for her.

At our school the 11+ is barely acknowledged. Children at the beginning of year 6 are still using chunking and grid methods in maths, and haven't covered mean, median and mode. These examples alone mean there is a need for tutoring. Whether you outsource it or not is a personal decision, but it's a positive disadvantage to do nothing at all.

I maintain that mine are tutored in exam technique, to cover gaps and increase speed in answering questions. Anything more and I'd be considering whether the GS is right for them.