How do I prepare my y5 child for 11+/entrance exams under current circumstances.

[winterisstillcoming]

Hi all. So DS's usually excellent state primary is closed. He will be attending 2-3 days a week when I am working as both my husband and I are key NHS workers.

We are planning to enter him for the local independent school and the exam is supposed to be January 2020. He's bright, and all going well he was expected to get through. He is in the top 2 of his very bright class (it's an outstanding primary which regularly tops local league tables) and he has had top up tuition for years. This was in an attempt to avoid last minute hot housing and cramming and to allow him time to be able to do a full range of extracurricular enrichment stuff (football, golf, piano, cubs) and just do normal stuff.

I know all other children in his year will be in the same boat but how do I basically home school him for the exams? I was concentrating on more of the curriculum stuff. Documentaries, topical news, debating etc but I now have to pick up the academic slack.

Any tips of where to start to a) make sure he doesn't regress, and b) he can progress.

Also English skills is the weak point. Any pointers for online comprehension tutoring or the like would be extremely helpful.

I don't want to panic but I need to support him. Also I'm knackered so the days the kids are at home, I won't be able to spend hours with them home schooling, although I'll let the housework go if needs be.
We are willing to spend what it takes but are aware that some things are a waste of time and money, so any recommendations would be great.

I'm in the north. So things aren't too bad. Just unknown. We also are well within catchment for the best state school in the borough so not the end of the world but I am equally concerned that DS as well as most other children are missing out on the bulk of their education full stop. Hopefully it will be a blip and not a permanent affliction.

I've seen the effect of a year of poor teaching on a class's data and how much effort is required to bring them back up to par. I consider myself a poor teacher lol!

Bond produce sample test papers, assessment books and skills practice books with lots of information. I'm going to recommend them to the pupils I have been tutoring. Separate books for English, maths, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. Look at the grammar school websites in your area to see what their tests include. They may also have sample papers.

I would recommend sourcing a list of vocabulary and spending time learning them. In whatever fun way you can manage. Mrs wordsmith is worth looking at. We tried a variety of ways. Makes the biggest difference to the English marks that I can think of.

An update - after trawling through all the different online offerings I have gone for ATOM. we are on the 5 day trial and DS is loving it so far. It's eye watering my expensive as our school isn't signed up to it but it's cheaper than his tutor who has frozen all activity, and covers all the topics. So thank you PP for the recommendation.

As DS has relaxed into lockdown, he's reading a bit more, and I have downloaded the scheme of learning for his school book so we can do more in-depth analysis of text.

Thank you all for your input.

I really rate the CGP books actually - we used both the GL and CEM ones. The 10 minute tests were particularly useful in the summer holidays as we kept things ticking over without doing the three hours a day some of her friends were doing.

She wasn’t tutored other than doing these books at home. Exam technique and speed are the key to success. Three independent offers (one with academic scholarship) and a grammar place. We are commuting distance to London but not “in the thick of it”.

We are quite fortunate. School has sent out the 10 minute workouts for English and maths so he is doing those already. But I've supplemented with a couple more. Just got to put the hours in I guess. I feel a bit more organised, and happy that if we stick to it, I've given him the best chance under the circs

Haven't rtft but my son is enjoying this range of books at the moment. Good for consolidating and identifying areas where you need to do more work.

www.schofieldandsims.co.uk/product/616/understanding-maths-number-patterns-and-algebra

They also do an english range... fiction..non-fiction texts...comprehension.. I've ordered a couple but they haven't arrived yet so I can't comment further. I am hoping they will be as good quality as the maths ones.

Nelson Comprehension books 5&6 will be good prep and you can order the teacher guide too (£30) so you can mark/give some form of informed feedback.

Thanks under, I'll bear those in mind.