How did you tell your DC about the 11+?

[fatbananas]

I've been wondering for a while when and how I should bring up the subject of the 11+ exam with DS.

He sort-of knows about it because brothers and sisters of his friends have taken it recently, so he knows it's a 'test' to get into some secondary schools. But I was pondering how to bring it up in a non-threatening/ incentivising/ motivating kind-of way!! We only have the so-called super-selectives where we are, which are punishingly difficult to get into.

Can anyone tell me how they managed this conversation with their DC and at what age?

Many thanks!

[mystery]

Mmm - I suppose I've told my just ended year 3 child about it for the last year or so - every now and then I tell her there is this exam called the 11plus which if you pass it means that you have a wider choice of schools than if you don't. I'm not sure if she has listened to me or not. If she did, she didn't sound in the least interested or is plotting to leave home before then.

How old is DS?

[Okanagan]

I think we first mentioned it just after Y2 maths SATs when he'd just done a paper so he had some idea what we were talking about. When he said that he'd enjoyed doing it, it seemed a good time to mention that he'd get a chance to do more tests in future!

[fatbananas]

My DS has also just finished year 3. There's clearly been some playground chat about it because he came home saying he didn't want to go to x school because you had to work sooooo hard to get in and he didn't want to go to x school because some boys carry knives . I couldn't argue with him on either score.

Giving him a potentially wider range of schools to choose from is a good way of putting it.

I think we first mentioned it just after Y2 maths SATs when he'd just done a paper so he had some idea what we were talking about. When he said that he'd enjoyed doing it, it seemed a good time to mention that he'd get a chance to do more tests in future!

Ha! Brilliant timing! My DS has never mentioned that he's sat any tests!

[Reading Mum]

DD has known about the GS for a while but wasn't interested and didn't even want to go to the open day so I said I'd go on my own (start of yr 5). By the time I collected her that day from school there had obviously been playground chatter as she wanted to go with me. She loved it and agreed to try.

[menagerie]

We started by visiting the schools. They got enthusiastic about certain schools. Then we explained these schools have entrance exams, for which you need to work hard to prepare. They wanted to, so we went ahead and started to prepare. Then with six months to go, we got a tutor, so there wouldn't be any last minute emotional blackmail from either side!

We also started out with NVR books in Yr 3 - very casually - one book throughout the year - and just called them 'fun puzzle books,' (which the early Bond books are). They mainly had them when they were off school feeling ill and used to ask to do them to pass the time.