Where to start for a late starter?

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

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r22beta
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:02 am

Where to start for a late starter?

Post by r22beta »

Hi,
My Son is halfway thru Year 5, and he wants to sit his 11+, so he can go to Westcliffe High School (ideally). But we don't know where to start the process. He's had some tuition over the last few weeks at a local Kip McGrath centre. But, I'm not sure of the standard of tuition he's receiving? As he s just told me that they just plonk him in front of the pc and leave him to his own devices.

Regards
Dave
no_ball

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by no_ball »

Do you know the format of the exam for that school? Are there past papers available? Does that tutorial school have success rate for that school?
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by yoyo123 »

Welcome to the epe forum.

What area is Westcliffe High in? (teh 11+ varies from LEA to LEA and sometimes school to school)

Have a look on that section of the forum

Also have a look to see what subjects are covered by the exam.

There is a lot of advice about self-tutoring too.
You can do a lot casually at home too, tables and mental maths ( if there is a maths component) vocabulary/word games
etc.
First-timer
Posts: 698
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:47 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by First-timer »

It's the Essex forum that you need. You'll get info about the exam from the CSSE website. http://www.csse.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The exam consists of VR (which is worth 50% of the overall total), English and Maths (25% each). Past papers can be obtained from them too. Don't be put off by the difficulty of the English paper (often likened to GCSE standard). Tuition of some sort will be necessary as VR is not taught in schools and the Maths goes beyond that taught in Y6.

The Westcliff and Southend schools operate partly by catchment while the Colchester and Chelmsford schools award places purely by score. If you are in catchment then you have a bit more wriggle room as your DC will not have to score quite so highly. You still have plenty of time to prepare but you need to get acquainted with what is expected so that you don't waste time on things that aren't examined.

Good luck!
r22beta
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:02 am

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by r22beta »

Hi,
Forgot to mention he's only in year five, but he'll be eleven on the 22nd October this year(2011).

Regards
Dave
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by yoyo123 »

I'll move this post to Essex section
Moonlight
Posts: 313
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:20 pm

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by Moonlight »

r22beta wrote:Hi,
He's had some tuition over the last few weeks at a local Kip McGrath centre. But, I'm not sure of the standard of tuition he's receiving? As he s just told me that they just plonk him in front of the pc and leave him to his own devices.

Regards
Dave
We found that this was the case with my DS as well and felt that he wasn't receiving the necessary tuition needed. I also felt it wasn't ideal him being in the same room with a wide range of ages (some very young) and different levels of tuition (DS was one of only two/three children being tutored for 11+). We did speak with the senior tutor about our concerns and he did make sure, after that, that DS wasn't just put in front of a computer all the time and that he actually went through work with DS instead. We did lose a bit of confidence with this though and went through some Bond books of our own and some past papers from the CSSE. The literacy, in particular, was not that beneficial for us. DS had no practise in the tuition sessions for the type of literacy that he faced on the exam day (a Dickens novel) and didn't do very well in this part of the exam. Fortunately though VR and maths was better and he is now at CRGS and really happy there. I would say to keep an eye on how the tutuoring is going and, if you have any worries, let them know now. Good luck.
moved
Posts: 3826
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by moved »

You're only a couple of months late, so I wouldn't worry. I've had plenty of pupils who began in the summer/September who got through.


Maths and English - not VR
Plenty of papers from the Bond books, ideally the Fifth papers. If these are too hard (score of below 65%) then work through the Fourth papers first.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?g=f&p=6" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

VR
There are 21 types to learn and master - this is not many and is done quite quickly. Some types are simple and some rely on technique. Use the answer sheet for short cuts where you can.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/epapers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Previous maths and English papers

http://www.csse.org.uk/parentalpractice ... an2011.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: Where to start for a late starter?

Post by KB »

I wouldn't recommend the type of tutoring you are using at this stage if you want prep for Essex 11+.
Either gather the material & work with Dc at home or find a tutor with experience of 11+ tutoring - they should bre able to explain the system to you & explain how they go about preparing the children.
Get them to do an assesment of your Dc & report to you where they 'are at' and whether it is reasonable to 'give it a go'.
If you can, then visit a couple of tutors to compare.
Personal recommendation is good but make sure the tutor suits your child's needs.
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