2012 admissions, Tutoring and Devonport or Plymouth High?
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Re: 2012 admissions, Tutoring and Devonport or Plymouth High
Hi Eric, Amelia had group tuition until September and when we attended the Devonport open evening and she decided she wanted to try for Devonport Amelia felt she needed additional help with maths, so from end of September until exams she had 1 to 1 tuition, her verbal reasoning was strong and the tutor mainly worked on maths, but still tried to finely tune her verbal reasoning. Amelia also independantly tried to find as many free online resources as possible and considering her maths ability was borderline in September, she is now really excelling and informed me the other day that her Teacher is doing some year 8 maths with her.
Good luck and if your daughter really wants to get to grammar school and is motivated and hardworking, I see no reason that she should not get her goal!!
Good luck and if your daughter really wants to get to grammar school and is motivated and hardworking, I see no reason that she should not get her goal!!
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StressedEric
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:06 pm
Re: 2012 admissions, Tutoring and Devonport or Plymouth High
Hi sarahc
Group tuition followed by 1-to-1 sounds a good strategy to help really focus and enhance the tuition. As you say your daughter was borderline in September, it's fantastic that she is now really excelling and is working on year 8 maths! She must be very attuned to her needs and responsible for her to be able to recognise that she needed the additional help too.
Were there times when she need motivation from you at anytime or was she self-motivated and keen to work hard for the entirety? I only ask that now and again I need to find the stimulus for my daughter again and remind her of what the bigger picture is. She'll happily do it once we've had that talk but being a busy soul, "I'll do it after I've been to / done xxxxx" often crops up.
Group tuition followed by 1-to-1 sounds a good strategy to help really focus and enhance the tuition. As you say your daughter was borderline in September, it's fantastic that she is now really excelling and is working on year 8 maths! She must be very attuned to her needs and responsible for her to be able to recognise that she needed the additional help too.
Were there times when she need motivation from you at anytime or was she self-motivated and keen to work hard for the entirety? I only ask that now and again I need to find the stimulus for my daughter again and remind her of what the bigger picture is. She'll happily do it once we've had that talk but being a busy soul, "I'll do it after I've been to / done xxxxx" often crops up.
Re: 2012 admissions, Tutoring and Devonport or Plymouth High
Hi Eric, Amelia was very focused throughout the process and worked consistently hard. When she started, I emphasised that she would need to be commited and that the tuition was expensive and we would need to put a great deal of time and energy into it and if at any time she showed signs of slacking that we would pull the plug on the 11 plus. This did the trick and after the mock Amelia went into overdrive to ensure she could get the best chance of getting in. I always said that it was her 11 plus and to take ownership of it - so she managed to mainly manage her 11 plus and school homework commitments on her own and we gave her the support and encouragement as back up.
Re: 2012 admissions, Tutoring and Devonport or Plymouth High
yes i will add...although your child may seem to young to make the decision she needs to ultimately want this in order to succeed. She must have a strong notion of what this opportunity means in the grand scheme etc.
My daughter always did well and showed promised and we often planted the seeds etc....to buy lovely things you need good job, you need quals for good job etc...I always said you can achieve your dreams and qualifications at any school although at some it may be more difficult (dispruptive class) but also said at grammar you wont be the brightest and will be continually pushed it will be constant pressure but it is likely you will have more opportunity...at her young age over the last 2-3 years she has taken this on board, when it came to tutoring it was HER choice, SHE wanted it.
SHE wanted to do the 11+ ,yes I pushed her but she always had an informed choice...and when she had a little moan about 'not another test' I just asked her, what does she want to be, where does she want to be, what does she want to achieve. I said at anytime if your not happy you can stop it is not a problem, it is your choice.
She always got on with it after that. Ive said to her now was it all worth it?...she cried when she opened her results, Ive never seen her so happy and proud of herself!....she also said to me 'thank you mummy for taking me tutoring and helping me with the tests'....and I was able to say...it wasnt me! it was all your hard work. I asked if she was happy and glad she did it...she said it was really hard work but worth it and that she was so happy!
I think you want the best for your child, therefore you seek out the best education and how to get it for them...obviously within your means and give your child the opportunity. We dont have lots of money and struggled to pay for tutoring, but we wanted to give her the best opportunity of getting in considering there is so much competition with tutored children, we didnt want the not as capable child beating her to a place because she had been tutored to pass and our daughter did not have the same opportunity.
I truelly believe as do the school that my daughter would get in without tutoring but we didnt want to take the risk.
1. make sure this is what you daughter wants, she will work hard for it then.
2. make sure she has the raw academic ability, you dont want her to be tutored to pass and then struggle with work once she passes.
regards
bc
My daughter always did well and showed promised and we often planted the seeds etc....to buy lovely things you need good job, you need quals for good job etc...I always said you can achieve your dreams and qualifications at any school although at some it may be more difficult (dispruptive class) but also said at grammar you wont be the brightest and will be continually pushed it will be constant pressure but it is likely you will have more opportunity...at her young age over the last 2-3 years she has taken this on board, when it came to tutoring it was HER choice, SHE wanted it.
SHE wanted to do the 11+ ,yes I pushed her but she always had an informed choice...and when she had a little moan about 'not another test' I just asked her, what does she want to be, where does she want to be, what does she want to achieve. I said at anytime if your not happy you can stop it is not a problem, it is your choice.
She always got on with it after that. Ive said to her now was it all worth it?...she cried when she opened her results, Ive never seen her so happy and proud of herself!....she also said to me 'thank you mummy for taking me tutoring and helping me with the tests'....and I was able to say...it wasnt me! it was all your hard work. I asked if she was happy and glad she did it...she said it was really hard work but worth it and that she was so happy!
I think you want the best for your child, therefore you seek out the best education and how to get it for them...obviously within your means and give your child the opportunity. We dont have lots of money and struggled to pay for tutoring, but we wanted to give her the best opportunity of getting in considering there is so much competition with tutored children, we didnt want the not as capable child beating her to a place because she had been tutored to pass and our daughter did not have the same opportunity.
I truelly believe as do the school that my daughter would get in without tutoring but we didnt want to take the risk.
1. make sure this is what you daughter wants, she will work hard for it then.
2. make sure she has the raw academic ability, you dont want her to be tutored to pass and then struggle with work once she passes.
regards
bc
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StressedEric
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:06 pm
Re: 2012 admissions, Tutoring and Devonport or Plymouth High
I can't thank you enough. Your experiences have been invaluable in helping us to deal with the situation. I want to push my child to the best of her ability but not for the sake of her not having an enjoyable childhood. She understands that this is an opportunity for her and with motivational talks now and again from us when required, she is keen to get on with the work. Thankfully she comes from a family background that instills the belief that you can achieve anything - if you work hard enough for it.....
