This I wish I had known about starting a thread on things you wish you had known about the 11+ process

[Goposie]

Just don’t!

Goposie 😂

🤣 it started well!

That'll learn ya OP.😂

🤣🤣... It is a shame though. Page 1 is still really helpful!!

It’s a shame... I was hoping for a mix of tips eg. Stockpile annual leave, find tutor early etc and some insights like... it is very easy to get sucked in etc.

This is not at TAAT. I have had to flee my own thread!

this has made me smile. We are in the process and I have learnt that some tutors are shit, that I am not a patient teacher, that even with a motivated child it is hard to be motivated, that you have to be super careful about the balance between encouraging and pressurising (e.g. staying away from the latter), oh and that revision courses can be absolutely loved. And that learning to put work into something isn't a bag thing as long as not achieving a goal isn't a disaster (we haven't got to the exams yet so still learning). And that almost all 11+ threads end with an unresolvable disagreement about whether any form of 11+ should exist.

Mine probably got lost in the row. Book tutors early. Round here people were putting their DC names down in Y2 for tutoring in Y5! Half way through Y4 is not a good time to start!

Totally agree re the point on teaching ourselves. I have learnt that I am terrible in English, do not understand poems, cannot do advanced 11plus maths and I thought I was the most patient person in the house!

Er Whiterose.... We've started in year 5. Im not sure I agree with the pressure of years of tutoring!!
Most from our school that got in didn't have years of tutoring. Although I know in more affluent areas some do!

My top tip is to realise that you have to be organised far earlier (years earlier!) than one might think really necessary - pre-registration, pre-testing, open days etc etc etc all happen really early on

I didn't know much about the process before going through it and that really helped keep things relaxed. It can become quite stressful otherwise. We looked at other good state schools but realised for the eldest the grammar school was a good fit so tried 11plus. For our second child it wasnt going to be right.

View schools really early, then decide if they look like a good fit for your child, if yes do a bit of tuition, we did once a week for a year before the test in a group situation for 1.5 hrs plus 30 mins or so homework. Reading lots of books is important to increase vocab, books from different periods in history etc. The 11 plus forum can be useful too.

Think whiterose was saying half way y4 was too late to start thinking about a tutor because they are all booked, rather than too late to start tutoring . We didn't find that, but then trying to find who were the good tutors was impossible. And we my experience was that the recommended ones weren't as good as the one I found in the internet. I was sure that if they were advertising on the internet they couldn't be as good because it would all be word of mouth

If you are the sort of family that goes on Mumsnet asking about how to prepare for the 11+, your children will almost undoubtedly do well anywhere- but a private or grammar school will probably provide cultural capital that in other schools you may have to provide yourself. Research this in advance.

Don’t listen to the extreme grammarphiles either on here or in real life-you will scare yourself. See previous comment about supported children doing well anywhere.

Do not let your child set their heart on any particular school- things can go wrong on the day. And even if they do go right on the day you can’t really know what a school’s like til you’re in it.

It might feel like the most important thing in the world right now, but it isn’t!

My tip is don't bother with the 11+ and watch your DC flourish in a comp ☺

I read the first couple of pages yesterday. I assume the usual anti-grammar crowd turned up and crapped all over it. Same way they turn up on every independent school thread. Some people are incapable of sticking to the actual topic of the OP and have to turn it to their specific agenda. It has ever been thus around here.

Bert - what do you mean by cultural capital?

Cultural capital- all the non academic extras that private schools-and to a lesser extent grammar schools- have the time and money to provide. Outside speakers, music, trips-all that sort of stuff.

Interesting

My advice, don't listen to the anti's on here. I was rather reticent to tell people which school my dd goes to due to the rhetoric on here. I haven't met anybody in real life who give you the crap that they spout on here.

I moved from an area where the eldest dd's school was rated 9th in the county. I worked at number 10.
Grammar was never on my radar until I looked into schools in the new area. A hasty assessment by a tutor at the start of yr5 summer holiday told me she was more than capable. A couple of sessions in the next 5 weeks and she passed, an out of catchment pass too. 650 children sat for 150 places, all grammar schools in the area had their entrance exam on the same day, though I think that has now changed.
She is doing well in the school and I have absolutely no regrets that she is not in one of the many schools requiring improvement.
I would think becuase of the area the pupils travel from, there will be a fair few PP children.
Good luck with it all!

We have fabulous local school that takes the dc to Oxford, has lecturers speak to them etc. Does loads of cultural stuff.

The grammar in the next county has outstanding drama dept, outstanding creative departments.
There are many other grammars within a 15 mile radius, some of them the top 5 on the UK.
Personally I found them too academically dry.

The afore mentioned comp doing trips to Oxford, is also heading towards being an academically dry school.
My dd likes both but fell in love with the creatively strong grammar.

My dd has a right to try for a school she wants to. Without judgement.

Op everyone should get dc properly tested to see where weak areas are.
We were in the dark over dd maths even though she was top sets at school and never complaints from teachers. Always said she was great at maths.

Sadly, I am now working in one of the many that Requires Improvement.
There are great teachers, not so great teachers just as in my previous school.
The difference in behaviour/attitude is phenomenal and quite depressing.
The bright kids here are swamped by the can't be added kids. The parent's of the can't be added kids show the same attitude.
Rather tellingly, many of the teacher's dc's either attend grammar or sat the 11+.

I think if you’re asking for advice on the 11 plus it’s important to specify what you mean by 11 plus. My DD sat the Kent test 11 plus in September, it’s held on one school day, done in school, regersted for through the local authority. Once taken and a pass mark achieved there are no further tests or interviews, if you’re applying for a super selective the actual mark is taken into account, selective it’s generally down to distance from the school, and that’s it.

The 11 plus for selective independents, especially the London ones, is a whole different kettle of fish, with second rounds and interviews and children often taking exams for several schools. Going from what I’ve read tutoring is much more intense, my DD did an hour a week during term time for y5, I don’t think this would be considered sufficient for Indy 11 plus.

Bluths-absolutely. And if you are getting a tutor make sure they are tutoring the right stuff. May seem obvious, but.....

Actually my top tip would be use the 11 plus forum not mumsnet. They have sub forums for specific areas and for independent schools, and it’s not going to get derailed by bunfights over the rights or wrongs of selective schools.