11 + Bournemouth area- which are the best revision papers?

[herecomesthsun]

DS is just turned 8 and I am told children in his year already have a tutor!

Can you advise please re which books- Bond, Eureka etc. to use? I think bpurnemouth is GL rather than CEM.

We are thinking of starting to look at these over the summer with him. He is gifted and talented in Maths apparently and actually likes reasoning games and DH is a mathematician and also likes logic etc. So I am thinking that together with a little encouragement via Lego rewards for DS this might work. if it doesn't work we can come up with another plan...

Has he just finished yr 2? Personally I would wait until year 4 if not 5 before doing any serious 11+ preparation - he'll get bored and lose focus if you start so many years in advance.

It doesn't matter what other kids are doing.

By all means do the odd 10 mins test or crossword puzzle etc. But make it fun, a game. Please, for his sake, don't start on a regime of VR and NVR now. Don't succumb to playground chit chat and panic (easier said than done).

Whatever prep you may start on now, the exam could change by the time he comes to take it - plenty of regions have switched over to CEM in recent years.

Just keep encouraging him, read lots, make sure he enjoys learning. I'm sure you're doing those things already, so you're already more than halfway there.

If you're determined however, the eleven plus forum has lots of information for parents.

He has finished year 3 and is going into Year 4. Apparently some parents have been doing tuition for a year or so already.

He does enjoy games and puzzles so it might be not too unpleasant, but no I don't want to bore him.

A bit scarey but a woman behind me on the bus (Purbeck Breezer) yesterday was confidently outlining her daughter's tutoring schedule and the exams she planned to take.

A bizarre mix. Bournemouth; Greycoats (Westminster), Kent and Chislehurst. They were skipping Newstead Woods because of bullying fears. Greycoats seemed to be the favourite not least because of the chances of rubbing shoulders with Nancy Cameron.

I assume Bournemouth was accessible because of a second home. If the woman were in anyway typical, then the competition is preparing hard. I hope though she is not. I was tempted to point out that our DD was not able to attend our nearest school (Greycoats) because of the number of pupils who prepare hard and then travel some distance. It would be sad if Bournemouth kids miss out on good local schools because others were playing the system.