Jags

[01nicola]

Dear All,

I would be truly grateful for any advice as I am beginning to loose confidence in my choice. My DD is very keen on going to jags. She goes to a great prep school where all her classmates have tutors.

My plan was to tutor her myself as she hasn't been responsive to tutors in the past. Our plan is the following:

1- Work through CGP 10 min tests. She is doing age 10-11 now - scoring 80-100% at the moment.
2- Work through Schofield and Sims - not yet started
3- Atom Learning ISEB papers - will start in the next few weeks
4- Past papers.

Common sense tells me this should be enough but I'm getting spooked.

Many many thanks!

Nicola

How old is your DD? Start off slow on those things and build up gradually. Atom is great for the ISEB (which JAGS use) and is well worth a subscription; we started in Year 5. Home tutoring is entirely possible. I have two DD's at JAGS (both very different - an introvert and extrovert) and both were home tutored for about 2 hours per week at weekends. Its entirely possible - just take it easy and don't stress. JAGS is a wonderful school BTW; academically and pastorally great - my eldest DD hasn't been well and the care and accommodation that the school have made for her has been exemplary. They are both incredibly happy there.

@Norwoodmummy thanks so much! You have really reassured me! I will stick to my plan.
Can I pick your brain on the open morning assessments?

My DD has just got a JAGS offer.

To echo the previous poster:

1. It is best to do a little and often; and
2. Atom is great (albeit not perfect) for regular ISEB practice.

We did a little bit of Maths, English, VR/NVR every day - I'd say a 30minute Atom test most days. Perhaps a little bit longer (eg an hour) at weekends.

It really helped familiarise her with the content of the ISEB. She also attends a state primary school so was not given any Verbal Reasoning or Non-Verbal Reasoning practice at school. (This is not to disparage her school, they just didn't - quite rightly - focus on 11+ skills/subjects.)

My DD also tried to do an additional amount of English prep on top of the above (this was in creative writing - since that was her relative weakness.) But only for about an hour to 1.5 hours per week.

It is far better to start earlier and build gradually.

She was never studying for more than 45 minutes or 50 minutes each day. And that was at the "peak" of the preparation period.

We started doing the above from Easter of Year 5. Atom was introduced over the summer holiday.

Good luck!

@SushiForBreakfast
Congratulations!! You must be absolutely delighted.
Thanks so much for your detailed note. We will certainly be starting ISEB practice soon.

Thank you. I found this useful also. My DD is in year 5 and goes to a state primary. She is an August baby and so a bit behind. We went to see JAGS and she really liked it. I am also moving house there so it would be so reassuring for me if she ends up there but I am feeling so deflated knowing how hard it is to get in. I am looking for a tutor for her because with a full time and demanding job so I don’t think I can tutor her myself. Does anyone have any recommendations for tutoring ? Thanks