An Eleven Plus question

[paranoidmother]

Was listening to a conversation our headmaster was having with all the parents of new children joining our school. He said that the only children who will pass the 11+ are ones who have had at least a year of out of school 1 to 1 tutoring.

Knowing absolutely nothing about the 11+ (apart from taking the 12+ about 20 years ago and I can't remember much about it)
What is involved in the exam (again it might change in the next 5 years before dd takes it)?
What sort of things do the tutors tutor?

Luckily for me the best school in the area doesn't need a pass of the 11+ to get into, so it's not going to matter one way or the other but was interested in what was involved. Oh and I will be helping DD when the time comes as much as I can but i'm not going to be devistated if she doesn't pass.

Feel free to contact me directly and I will see what I can do. I am a tutor with over 10 years successful experience. I run www.11plustestpapers.co.uk and am always happy to help parents with a few samples of our work as one of our founding beliefs is that every child should be given the chance to prove their potential.

Rodge
www.elct.co.uk

Has anyone heard of Bond 11 plus Online? I've heard about the interactive tests and instant feedback for the 11 plus exams. The website sounds impressive but want to know what others think? Are there any other interactive tests I can try?

Lottysmum if you feel that tutored children shouldn't be allowed to sit for the test as they have an unfair advantage, what about children who have been at an excellent prep with small class sizes since they were four years old? Since four they've been effectively groomed for the test. I'd say they had rather more 'advantage' in terms of likely success than a child that's had a bit of tutoring. Many at these preps will also have had tutoring of course.

Schools like this one: baldworm.blogspot.com/
Falcons Girls School, I believe. I look at this blog with the tips for english and passing the 11 plus with quiet awe. How I wish this sort of standard of teaching and instruction had been available to me and was available for my son.

I've known many children who might be termed 'average' academically who have passed the 11 plus and come from schools like these. They often have confidence and a good work ethic that will take them far. Do they all flounder at Grammar school as many believe? No, they generally do well. There's streaming at Grammar school after all.

My son is one of 30 in a state primary, unfortunately we don't have a 'fair' system but saying tutored children have an unfair advantage is just the tip of the iceberg.

Gosh!

Just makes me glad that we don't have grammar schools in our LA or any others nearby.

It must impact on primary education and parents anxieties from the age of 4.

Cortina- good link. I wish my son could go to a school like that too. Sigh... He would love to learn about horror stories, it's his favourite genre and topic at the moment.

It seems fantastic and I just love the English teacher featured in that blog, his obvious enthusiasm & good humour must be incredibly inspiring for his pupils. How fortunate they are.

Cortina - what a great link! I love this kind of thing and find it really inspiring.

Paranoidmother - you might want to check out the free practice papers you can download on the Bond 11 plus website :)

www.bond11plus.co.uk