11 plus????Help please from anyone who has succesfully been though this process.

[keevamum]

Where we live there are some very good grammar schools. However, the competition for places are phenomenal with a lot of children going from the private sector aswell. My DD has always been one of the brightest children at both of her schools which I hasten to add also has lots of ex private school children there. But how can I tell is she bright enough?? She is in Year 5 at the moment so she won't be due to sit it until next year but we bought some copies of previous 11 plus papers which I got her to do under exam like conditions and she did well I think, scoring 82% overall. Now bear in mind this was her first experience and she is only in year 5. Should I consider going down the route of tutoring for her to try to get her to improve on these marks and work her socks off? Or do you think her scores prove she is not quite capable? Should she be getting higher marks even at this stage? If you have a son or daugther at grammar school, what were their scores?

Well we got the letter today and he passed. So we are half-way through the process; just need to wait until the 1st of March to find out if we got in.

Well done!
We know on 2nd March[by post]eek

Yes I think we hear the same day or thereabouts- national date for all school offers?

Think it is.If you apply online I think you find out on the 1st.We didn't so a whole extra day to wait

Does everyone get tutors and stuff?!!
My Dd (August born too-30th) didn't even know she was doing it until the morning it was,went in with no worrys(didn't have time to worry) and did great.got about 93% on the test.she got in the grammar school but we didn't take the offer.
She sounds very bright so I would just do a little bit of practice here and there and let her have a go
Good luck!

My daughter got standardization score 104.70 at wood ford county high school ,on the email it is mentioned that who are above 104 they are strongly suggested to put the school on preference ,is there any hope for her .please help me

Good advice from many. I started introducing the 10 minute Bond books (age appropriate) in year 5 and very slowly worked our way through all the different types of questions that year. We started with 1 or 2 a week, no pressure. Then a month before all the exams started we did 2 practice papers for each type. VR, NVR, English, Math, Creative Writing under timed pressure. If they are doing well in school and you are paying attention to the work they are doing, it does coincide with what will be expected of them on these tests. I didn't get a tutor, as I think if they are able and willing then great, if not, selective isn't the place for them. Many schools receive great results, weather they are selective or not and you don't want your child to struggle when they start Secondary. Figure out what schools you want to apply for in your area that suit your child, then sort out what is required for each school. That is the hard part. They're all looking for different things, so in preperation it is good to be ready for anything and for the child to have agility. Keep it low key, and don't get roped into playground talk. Everyone wants to believe that their choices are the best and some parents can be really over the top, which feeds into their kids. Then the kids start it. That can stress the child more. I can't believe some of the things parents say. I found this forum a relief. I kept telling my kids whatever happened it didn't matter. They'd be fine and they would end up somewhere. Just do their best and try to enjoy the challenge. The work I did with them was really just to make sure they understood the testing process and to familiarise them with the format and type of questions. Our school didn't do any prep for the kids which is a shame for those whose parents aren't able for whatever reason. 11 is not the indicator of success or not in life. My DC1 did very well and is in a super selective. My DC 2 has just gone through the process of the grammars and selective state and faired well enough in all of them to list them on his CAF. But even then, there is no guarantee as I've told my children. So many kids apply. Nothing ventured, Nothing gained. Good Luck! It is a horrible process really and I wish it were different. But the supply and demand for good schools in our area isn't great so that's the situation we were in.