How to find a y5 tutor for 11+ Caterham/SCroydon area

[clevererer]

Just that really. First child so no existing contacts. Have been advised to try for the Sutton grammars and get laughed at when I ask whether we need a tutor or not. Does anyone have any contacts for September (y5) or over the summer? Is there a secret list somewhere?

I don't think that you necessarily need a tutor. But you do need to ensure that your child is well-prepared, so you need to go through the "syllabus" as it were, identify and fill and gaps, and then develop exam technique ensuring that your child can do timed papers with consistent results. Depending on your time, ability and energy, and the personalities involved hiring a tutor can make sense, but it is neither necessary nor a guaranteed path to success. But yes, pretty much everyone seems to go down that path these days.

I would suggest finding those parents of year 6 children at your school who have passed for selective schools (year 6 play or sports day are good times to ask), and asking them for the details of the tutor that they used (not whether they have used one - just ask assuming that they did). You can hopefully build up a list of 3 or 4 possible contacts who may already be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of teaching at your school. Just avoid year 6 parents who also have a child in your class!

I wouldn't delegate everything to a tutor, but keep an eye on where the problem areas. Try someone for a couple of weeks and see how it is working.

thankyou Ladymuck. I am up for doing it with him tbh, am academically able enough . But I work FT and have younger children so not sure how realistic this is. Also there is the "yeah, yeah switch off cos its mum talking factor to consider". we have started doing some bond papers which he is enjoying but I am aware more will be needed. How do you find out the " syllabus" if you are doing it yourself? can I get hold off past papers for the grammars (and the Indies) or is this info all protected by the in the know tutors? Unfortunately the school is a hotbed of competition at the moment and most of the other parents have y6 children as well so I will have to glean any info myself I think.

his weakness will be creative writing I think (completely disinterested at the moment) so that is a gap that will need to be addressed. not sure where to start with that tbh. are there tutors that specialise in particular areas like that?

I think Caterham sent the previous year's paper when we registered. Other indies might do similar.

Your child's school might have various sample papers you could copy.

good idea thanks, I'll ask the school

schools I meant

If you are very brave, you can have a look on the www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum forums. People are generally helpful IME.

I had a brief look this afternoon and started hyperventilating a bit so I thought I'd ease myself in with MN first

thanks for all your input, I am a former PM so am starting a requirements gathering analysis and can't have too much info.

I'd make sure that any tutor you look at is up to date with the various changes - a lot has changed. For English in general vocab is key, and if you have time I would be rigorously checking weekly spellings and that he knows synonyms and antonyms. For creative writing I think that it would be better taught in small groups rather than one to one - again vocab and ideas for interesting sentences is key, and I think working in a group can help spark ideas.

You may get some good tips on the local Croydon site: Mumsnet Local Croydon