11+ 2014 What are people doing over the hols?

[SeagullsAndSand]

Just realised we only have 3 weeks until they go back.

Trying to keep things calm although dc is starting to talk about the exam itself.

Have kept things pretty low key(odd VR paper)wondering if we should up it a gear.

Mum can you find what your grammar school exams are for your area? Our grammar school is GL assessment so any parents doing DIY tutoring are able to get GL assessment paper locally/on-line.

MinimalistMommi Mum can you find what your grammar school exams are for your area? Our grammar school is GL assessment so any parents doing DIY tutoring are able to get GL assessment paper locally/on-line Yes, the 11plus web site clearly identifies the material needed.

I'm planning on using a tutor and will be working with them at home too but focusing more on their specific areas of weakness (messy handwriting etc.).

only one or two admitted to having paid tutors

Corrected that for you

DS is off to grammar school in September. He's a bright chap and I think it'll suit him and he really wanted to go. To get there he had to compete against private school educated children and those who had tutors. I wanted him to be as prepared as possible so that he was not disadvantaged against these other children. He worked hard on his practicing with me over the year. It wasn't all plain sailing but he did understand he needed to put the work in to stand a reasonable chance of passing and getting a good score in order to get him to where he wanted to go ie we played the game to compete against the rest. If they were all getting a place why shouldn't he? We upped our game in the summer hols - maybe an hour a day really isn't that much in the grand scheme of things. It paid off. He was over the moon when we got notification of where he was going. I feel so proud of him - it's all down to him and his hard work. I was busy sewing his name tags in all his lovely new schooliform and it was worth it and he thinks it was too.

SeagullsAndSand Up your game as much as your dc is happy with. It's only for a few more weeks. Then you can both reassure yourselves that whatever the result you gave it your best Good luck to your dc xx

LeonardWentToTheOffice - I could have written the same about both my kids, who are little bit older than your ds
good luck to him!

both my kids found enough stimulation and settled in
esp. my ds would have been called geek in less academic school and feels at home with his art and musical interests, isn't ridiculed for them and exceeds in humanities

not all of those who go to grammar schools are math wizards or amazing at sport

SeagullsAndSand - work on your ds exam technique and timing, it pays to know format and make him comfortable with what is expected of him

Leonard what a lovely post! Congratulations to your son and to you for supporting him so well.

*antimatter - feels at home with his art and musical interests, isn't ridiculed for them and exceeds in humanities

not all of those who go to grammar schools are math wizards* That's quite an Interesting comment. On viewing my local schools last year the boys grammar school had an art room that resembled a stock cupboard, very small and uninspiring. The artwork on display was a fair bit below the standard of any of the other local schools. However, their maths suite (which the school is know for) was by far the best. The school doesn't hide the fact that art is not a big focus for them. It was for this very reason a friend of mine has chosen to go private instead.

I got the impression the main reason for this is the school is heavily focused on the league tables and leavers destinations.

Good for your DS leonard.

IME most (v hard to know if it is some, most or almost all, as pointed out upthread, few talk about it) of the private school children are also tutored. The playing field is very uneven.

It also makes it hard to know if the prep school's excellent results are attributable to the school's effort or to the additional tutoring.

Our school advises no further tutoring is needed and it is not recommended. The school will fully prepare your child if appropriate. They provided extra homework this summer targeted at 11+ prep (which is what DS is doing in his daily hour).
Every year there is a surprise one or two, someone so tutored they do better than expected (who may struggle in the schools) and someone naturally bright, but untutored who doesn't make the mark.

*Chewbecca Good for your DS leonard.

IME most (v hard to know if it is some, most or almost all, as pointed out upthread, few talk about it) of the private school children are also tutored. The playing field is very uneven.*

Whilst I have no doubts that some prep. children are also tutored, the three children who left my DCs class this year to join a local prep. are not using tutors (if they are they should change as not one of the children were in the top group for maths). They may try to use one once their DCs have settled in more, subject to their confidence in the success of the prep. school (which is known to have a fairly high success rate in previous years). However, if they've not already signed up for one then they are unlikely to find one with spaces to accommodate them.

I will also add that one of the children who left was replaced by a child who had been pulled out of a local prep. The child had not been using a tutor and the mother had pulled them out of the prep. as they felt it would be more cost affect and gain the same/better end result if they simply used private tutors.

Chewbecca They provided extra homework this summer targeted at 11+ prep (which is what DS is doing in his daily hour). Thank you for this, it is really useful. I am trying to gage what I should realistically be looking to do with my DS next Summer. If the schools themselves are advising an hour a day, I would imagine they have a pretty good idea of what is needed to prepare :-)

They didn't advise an hour a day actually, they advised little and often.

DS did nothing for the first 4 weeks, intentionally.

Then when I looked at the homework provided and divvied it up over the remaining 3 weeks (Mon-Fri), that's pretty much how it worked out. Could've been a bit less, i.e. 4 spelling correction tasks were set, you could choose to do one, but I have scheduled all four for him mwahahahaha

My dd has been working since 6. I allow her a 10 minute break at 8 for breakfast, and then she will continue to work until midday. As I don't believe in hot-housing, she'll have the afternoon off, and we'll finish up with a few 10 minute tests before bedtime.....

Sorry, I've just realised this isn't the 11+ forum - if you read that forum, you'll believe that this is a typical summer holiday in the run-up to the test.

Actual preparation.... practice tests four days a week (approx. 50 minutes each). My two older children only had to do tests three days a week, but the format of the 11+ has changed, so dd2 has to do a little more. Practice is necessary because nice as it would be to believe that if your child is doing well at school they'll be okay on the day, it's just not the case.

jeee the 11+ forum - if you read that forum, you'll believe that this is a typical summer holiday in the run-up to the test. what Region are you in? I've been reading posts in two Regions and haven't seen a single post on preparation being undertaken for the 11 +. In fact there have been relatively few posts at all. All posts made in the Summer break so far have been with regards to starting yr 7 in September and what children should be getting in their practice tests. There have been some posts regarding test format and what is permitted in the breaks etc. but that has been it really.

jeee practice tests four days a week (approx. 50 minutes each). This is along the lines of what I was thinking (but 3 times a week unless the format is changed). I spoke to one mum who made a good point regarding spending an hour on it. They pointed out that there will be two exams of approx. 1 hour. It is best to get your DC to consistently focus for that period of time prior to the exam as they won't have time for day dreaming etc. I though this was a good point as I don't think there are many lessons at school where they need to be working for a solid hour.

I have seen the odd description such as Jeee describes on the Forum hence my starting a thread on MN.

Twas kind of hoping for some more realistic advice but on here you get the reverse.Ie any extra study is tantamount to child abuse oh and ensures non worthy children get grammar school places.

Tis kind of tedious.Some of the posts though have been v useful though so thanks.You don't get the chance to have this discussion in RL.

Good point re the hour thing.From what my friends with privately educated kids have said working for longer periods of time is more prevalent in the private sector.

My dd sits in less than three weeks and yes we have used a tutor but we have also really supported her at home and have some of the books and we do a bit every other day she won't do any next week as we are away. If she doesn't pass then we know we have given it our all.

Both my kids worked in the Summer. More so my ds as his exams were mid Sept. Both are in superselective grammars.

My logic was as follows:
If you are preparing your child for in 3 areas you have to make them practice each of them until they finish them in time provided achieving desired %.

In our case Ds's English was tested by his tutor. Maths and VR were also covered in her classes but we did tests at home. Until he covered everything he did practice exercises. Once his tutor was done she was suggesting books with full tests and he took them back to her. So we supervised and helped with understanding what went wrong when he got the wrong answer whilst she looked at the bigger picture.

I definitely remember that by this time of the Summer holiday he was doing them within time limits.

I know my kids and if they were over tutored they wouldn't have survived without any tutoring in years since they started their schools.
They predictions for Gsces are as all other peers in their schools I guess all A*/A's.
We'll see on Thursday what my dd got.
My ds was already producing A* level work in y9. That is him and quality of his English department.
Both have extremely high work ethic. Schools insist on them being conscientious students and work their socks off. They are fair in assesment of what can be achieved.

I am glad we went the way we did and them being in grammar schools. They still do lots of extra curriculum stuff on music and watch tv/facebook like teenagers.

Tests were 45-60 min long. Not possible to split if we are teaching them timing for exams.

Imho those criticising you guys (me indirectly as I inflicted the same on my kids before) either forgot how it was to prepare their kids or never had their kids sitting this format of exams.

SeagullsAndSand I have seen the odd description such as Jeee describes on the Forum hence my starting a thread on MN. I'm surprised that I haven't seen posts like that given that children in my area also sit for super selectives like QE Barnet etc. I wonder if it is because the level of competition is such that it is best to play your cards close to your chest. After all if you say you DC is doing 2 hours a day, the more pushy parents may then move to 3 hours per day etc. The Regions I follow only seem to have the one-up-man-ship once the result are released.

I think people make judgements based on their own circumstances. People talk about preparing for the 11 plus but they don't consider the huge variances in the different 11 plus exams. My DC will do maths and NVR. I think that if a child is needing 1 hour a day every day for this then realistically they are not genuinely grammar material (as was the comment of one of the teachers at the Grammar). However, if my DC was doing Maths, English, VR and NVR (or sitting for a super selective) then I would expect to do at least one hour a day.

antimatter - I know my kids and if they were over tutored they wouldn't have survived without any tutoring in years since they started their schools. This is my main concern with regards to getting the balance right for my DC. I know that getting him in there is only one side of the equation. I want to be sure that he will perform at the expected level once there as I simply can't afford to fund private tutors throughout his entire school life.

MumTryingHerBest - yes, the same can be said of on of boys super selective in my town

thats' why we sent my ds to the other one
his Arts teacher is amazing, she didn't scare him off even with bits of curriculum he found uninspiring

English, History, RS department - areas where he exceeds ale all been graded outstanding, doesn't matter that he is in second bottom maths set - top 2 will sit gcse a year earlier and carry on with further maths gcse (most likely all 60 of them will get A* in both - they would not be put forward if in any doubt)

I was quite confident DS would pass-his levels suggested he would. My help was to ensure he had an error for margin. His friend turned two pages of the maths paper over and only noticed right at the very end-he had no fine to do any of the questions. They spent the next three weeks in agony thinking he'd failed. He hadn't. Only just though.

That's why I'm doing bits at home-to ensure they pass comfortably-I have no concerns they'll cope, I just want to allow for such cock ups on the day!

MumTryingHerBest - you know your child best and can see them perhaps coasting if environment allows

for grammar school they have to like learning and put hours in
they get up to 5 pieces of homework a day
they have to be happy sitting down and doing homework most nights
they better be well organised as no one babysits them
they get detention on unhanded homework straight away, no messing around

pace they are at is quite fast because school knows they need a lot of revision time for mocks
yet my dd had homework till very last week of her y11, tyhat was on top of preparation for her exams
as she was sitting them she began to see why they were doing so much extra work - all pieces of the jigsaw were fitting in and she was saying that she is glad her teachers were making them work so hard

so IMHO grammar school is for hard working students, obviously all of them have to have certain abilities but every one puts in a lot of hours