Tutoring for 11 plus myself - Henrietta Barnet

[purplepowers]

Hi - my DD is 10 and we can't really afford a tutor so are attempting to tutor ourselves at home doing past papers. We want to apply for Henrietta Barnet plus Watford Grammar. Any advice appreciated.

Can anyone suggest the best papers to practice on? I understand they do a Verbal reasoning and English and Maths papers. DD is in the top 5% in her class and she is insistent that she wishes to sit the exams. We have practiced on free papers available online, but should we also purchase any too. Where can I get past HB papers?

This link gives some suggested papers.

I found the Bond website really good for verbal reasoning practice.

Bond is useless for HB. It's CEM format and much more advanced than Bond. Go on 11+ forum (google it) and you'll get accurate advice.

HB do not release past papers; there is no set format as there is with the DAO English paper which is the same every year. You could be asked to write a transactional piece, a story, a sequence of diary entries, a newspaper report..... in other words, be prepared for anything and everything.

I coached my dd through it myself - as a teacher I knew what was required. PM me if you want more info.

This will help you: www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schools/regions/hertfordshire-barnet-enfield-11-plus
You've a very broad scope to cover with HB.
Beware: the Familiarisation Paper linked (on HB site and on elevenplusexams) is a bit of a front, in my opinion. It's easy and set to ease anxiety vs demonstrate true examples with appropriate test level questions.
Top tips:
Look at CEM material for Verbal Reasoning.
Book some mock exams.
Do not rely on Bond materials
Ask someone (tutor) to help you with comprehension and composition since these are harder to tutor yourself unless you're a trained, experienced teacher of KS2.

I can only give advice on the S W Herts consortium test, as I successfully prepared two of my children for that. This is the one your daughter would need to sit for Watford Grammar.

Online registration for the test has already opened.

The Maths is 50 questions in 50 minutes. Because the paper is quite easy, the mean score is very high, so your daughter needs to be getting 47/50 or above if she lives in the priority area, and 49/50 or above if she lives in the rest of the admissions area.

The VR paper is changing this year, and for the first time will be CEM. Example pages are available to view on the South West Herts Consortium website.

I am a bit puzzled. I realised Henrietta Barnet was selective but I thought Watford Grammar was a comprehensive. ( it certainly was when my friend's DD went)

Scroll down to second table on this page for details on Watford: www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schools/regions/hertfordshire-11-plus

HB admission criteria & examination details: www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/schools/regions/hertfordshire-barnet-enfield-11-plus

Watford Grammar schools are two thirds non selective. My friend had a DC at Watford Grammar for boys and a DC at Watford Grammar for girls and they were both comprehensive.

There are various ways of getting into Watford Girls. Apart from specific exceptions (looked after children etc), girls who got places to start in September 2015 met one of these criteria:

• live within 300m of the school
• have a sister already at the school
• have a brother at the boys' school and live within 6km of the girls' school
• be one of the 45 girls who score highest in the S W Herts consortium academic test (about 2500 children sit it)
• score more than 47/60 in the music test and then be one of the 18 girls who score highest in the call-back audition.

I wouldn't call it comprehensive.

If you would like your daughter to sit the academic or music aptitude tests for entry to Watford Girls, then you will need to register here:

www.swhertsschools.org.uk/

By the time the places have been allocated to siblings, academic high-scorers, music high-scorers and cross-siblings (those with brothers at the boys' school) plus children of staff (which I forgot to mention in my list above) there are only 18 places left for those girls living closest to the school, hence the approximate 300m cut-off.

Please help me on advice which material I shall buy for Henrietta Barnet exams.
Thanks

You can use CGP Practice Test papers for CEM - they are HBS material.

Hello, My daughter is preparing for Henrietta Barnet School. She is very good in studies in her school. I booked 3 mock tests with 'eleven plus exams' she is taking on average 75-78% marks. Over the mock experience, she has improved her exam skill in numerical reasoning, but still struggling in verbal reasoning part. Secondly, some times she performs well in one area e.g. vocabulary but next time will lose marks in that area. Any last advice for last 15 days please?

Thanks