Help! I don't know where to start.....

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

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Finjimcam

Help! I don't know where to start.....

Post by Finjimcam »

My friend has asked me to help tutor her 9 year old in preparation for the 11+ exam (he has just started in year 5). I have no personal experience of the exam and no idea where to start. Can anyone offer any advice?

I am especially interested in things they need to know for the test that they don't cover in schools and also if anyone can recommend a text book/syllabus that we could follow.

Any advice would be gratefully received - I would feel terrible if I taught the wrong things!
Silver29
Posts: 151
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2007 2:12 pm

Post by Silver29 »

Hi I have been tutoring my daughter since around Christmas - she is taking this year's exam. I have gleaned many useful tips for books and study techniques from this site. There is a wealth of information on here.

I have used the Bonds books and lots of free trial tests downloaded through this site for verbal reasoning practise, (I have also purchased one of the CD downloads). In the past few weeks I have given her NFER practise papers in all three subjects.

I haven't tutored her in English as she has always been very strong at reading comprehensions and she is an avid reader of different genres of books. She has found the practise papers difficult but is scoring between 80 and 90%.

As for Maths, again she is quite able and I tend to extend what she is learning at school by taking the subject to a more difficult level. I find the Scholfield and Sims books to be an excellent revision aid.

I hope this information helps. Good luck.
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

have a search round this site!
It's really good. On the home page you will find lots of topics on teh left hand side.

Look at 11+regions and 11+ advice particualrly. There are lists of waht is covered in maths, advice on which topics are covered in the verbal reasoning according to which region you are in.

I am using the IPS books, NFER practice papers and the tutors CD. for vr and maths.

Also doing work on vocabulary and compound words and a weekly mental maths timed test (no more than 5 secs or 10 secs to answer) The pupil I am tutoring at the moment is weaker in english so I have also included some fiction and non fiction writing.

There are ;ots of revision tips to download too.

Play around the site and you will find loads!
Finjimcam

Post by Finjimcam »

Thanks very much for your advice. I am really surprised at how high the level of the exams are. I know a lot of adults who wouldn't be able to do them. This child is a very good reader so I'm sure is capable but it seems to me that even the cleverest children would be stuck without a bit of practice. The maths also seems surprisingly complicated - the way the questions are phrased must make it difficult for some children who are capable of doing the actual sums.

I have downloaded practice papers and will try to get to a bookshop this weekend to have a look for a good text book. I am sure that if we do a bit every week then we will be well prepared without too much stress, hopefully!

Good luck to you and your children!
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