Very stressed about English please help!

[Mobilecomms]

We have been naively very relaxed re the 11+ as ds is at a Prep and we assumed they would be doing more than enough to prep ds for the 11+.

He has always been in top sets and I was told to aim for the most academic schools at the start of this year. This was despite the fact that over the last few years one thing that has come up repeatedly is the speed at which ds works (very accurate but slow).

It seems they haven't spent much time doing actual exams as now that they have now started doing timed exams at school ds is not anywhere near finishing his exams, particularly English where he really struggles with creative writing.

Ds has always had joint problems and we had been on a waiting list to see a paediatrician for over a year, he saw the doc recently and he says he is dyspraxic, he also saw an Ed Psych who says he has very high cognitive scores but it turns out a very slow reading speed and working memory/processing speed issues. The Ed Psych was astonished the school haven't picked this up as it should have been obvious that there was a big difference between his verbal performance and his writing.

Sorry to ramble on but Ed Psych says ds will need a lot of help with structuring his writing. We have hired a tutor (been a month and we actually hired him before we knew all of this as we were a little concerned re ds's writing speed) but I want to show ds examples of good 11+ writing to help him rein his ideas in and get some structure. It feels like we have a very long way to go and very little time.

The Ed Psych says he should be eligible for extra time but it will be very much down to the schools we apply to if we get it or not, as ds's difficulties haven't been picked up until now. At the moment he seems to have no idea how to plan or structure his writing and I'd love to show him what good 11+ writing looks like, can anyone pls advise where he can see a few good examples?

Thanks in advance.

[Mobilecomms]

Also forgot to mention that his creative ideas and descriptive language are excellent but the big problems are with topic choice which is way too complicated to write in the time - for example, I asked him to write a story entitled 'the Lost Key' and he came up with a dystopian future where all books had been destroyed and everyone was content living under a fascist dictator. The one remaining book was called 'The Key' and this talked about how the world used to be. One man tried to find this book and share it with the masses but the government arrest him, by the time he is caught however some people have already listened to his ideas and this leads to a mass movement that causes the overthrow of the fascist government and the 'unlocking of The Key'.

How on earth is he supposed to write that in 25-35 minutes?

I have no idea how to advise him on how to write less complex plots for a short story. And I'm not honestly sure what makes a good 11+ story.

Sorry for the multiple rambly messages but advice very gratefully received!

[Kingfisher]

The biggest mistake that 11+ students make is to think the story has to be complete and entire. There is no way he would be able to write that so I would ask him to come up with an idea and then find a suitable ending point, leaving it 'open-ended' if necessary. He could, for example, work with this section:
'... a dystopian future where all books had been destroyed and everyone was content living under a fascist dictator. The one remaining book was called 'The Key' and this talked about how the world used to be. One man finds the book and begins to read it, realising he has 'the key' to a better future.'

With the best will in the world, he isn't going to write more than a side of A4, so I would concentrate on getting each paragraph to be about a specific part of his story. Aim for 5 paragraphs - he may end up doing more but that amount will be sufficient for an examiner to assess his ability to write and if he is dyspraxic, that will be plenty.

The vocabulary and fluency are more important than the idea. He should try to incorporate a line or two of dialogue, to demonstrate ability to punctuate properly but no more. He might want to try writing in both the third person and first person as part of his practice. He must paragraph properly and ensure accuracy regarding tenses. He must NEVER pre-prepare a written piece and just 'plop' it in as he will be penalised heavily for that.

That's what I would be doing. Work on one thing at a time - and he must read as much as he can. The best writers are those who read for pleasure, but it can be non-fiction if he prefers that.
You still have lots of time to work on his skills.

[Mobilecomms]

Thankyou kingfisher that is really reassuring. I think I have got myself into a tiz too as it's so hard to know what the examiners are looking for. I will definitely try to get him to have a go at writing the story as you suggested and hopefully I can just get him used to the idea of planning and being ready to come up with something in the time given.

[Daogroupie]

A simple plot finished will score more highly than a complicated one unfinished.

Boys need to be steered firmly away from violence and death. I had a student who no matter what the title was turned it into cops and robbers every single time.

Habs actually used to write on the exam paper. "Do not write improbable stories"

Just like Louisa Alcott the best chance of success lies in writing about something they know about as it will be more realistic and interesting. She simply wrote about her life growing up with her sisters changing a few details. The result was the classic that is Little Women.

In my opinion a strong finish is critical. No cliff hangers or dreams.

The wider their range of reading the more likely they are to be able to create a story.

They can weave little threads of stories they already know into a story of their own.

Shakespeare did not write his own plots but he made another person's story his own so that his version is the one we remember.

They must not copy other stories but tiny details from a range of other stories can make something quite unique.

The more he does it the easier he will find it.

How often does he write stories at school? DG

[Mobilecomms]

Thanks daogroupie for that very useful information. He's into 'epic' type storylines which he takes absolutely hours to write. Very much into fantasy/adventure and quite left field most of the time. I asked him to write a story with the title 'Lost' and he came up with a plot of a cat whose owner had died in an earthquake, the cat was panicking because he was 'lost' and surrounded by rubble and then Death came and took the cat to it's owner. It seemed a bit out there to me!

I think I need to give him more structure and your advice re trying to write from real life is really helpful. I struggle a bit with structure myself so it's hard to know how best to advise him. I saw a couple of examples of writing on the pages on this site which are useful but it would be great to see a couple more so he can see what he needs to be aiming for, do you have any idea if it's possible to get hold of examples of good 11+ writing?

I don't think they do much story writing at school - I need to check but I think it's maybe a story every fortnight. For the last half term they haven't had an English teacher as their previous one left and they weren't able to find a replacement so they had various supply teachers in who by all accounts had them watching a lot of 'educational' tv They have a new teacher now but I haven't met her yet but am hoping she can give ds a bit more direction as he doesn't seem to have an idea of what he needs to be aiming for at present!

[Daogroupie]

No violence and death.

There are so many real life Losts. Lost, the piece of paper with the exam details on, Lost the directions to his friends house. Lost the key to the padlock on his bike. Lost, the money to buy the shopping. Lost , the homework for tomorrow. Stop the epic stuff right now. No earthquakes, no deaths, just real life stories that happen to people.

Give him a title and do a story every day until he can do it with no Epics

[grgygirl]

My ds was a slow writer and thinker at first too. It was the most arduous and time consuming part of the 11 plus for us and took daily dedication, blood, sweat and tears (mine!).
From the start I really plugged the simple plot as DAO has said. Far better to draw on a simple real life dilemma or one from a story he has read than to get bogged down with epic plots. Time is of the essence and you are aiming for 4 - 5 paragraphs of 5-6 sentences in roughly 30-45 minutes depending on the exam.
Structure; beginning, middle and end where a simple dilemma is resolved.
Ambitious vocabulary, no 'naked' nouns , 'ly' openers, feelings (show not tell ie; my heart was beating like a drum), imaginative colours, alliteratin, use of metaphors etc, etc

We found the Creative Writing Magic Money cards useful when ds started (available on Amazon). You do need daily practise which was painful but for us it was the only way that ds could get up to speed. He is now an exceptional writer - not the very fastest still but giving him the structure meant he didn't have to 'think' too much in the end.

[Mobilecomms]

Thanks both this is all very useful info indeed. I've decided to get him to start by just writing plans and then taking it from there as it's so hard to get him to focus for long enough during the school week. I'm going to get him to start writing up stories up at the weekend and then take it from there. Thanks again, very useful info indeed.

[Mathsmum14]

Boys often find it difficult to start a story. It's a useful idea to write a title and ask him to write just the opening paragraph with as many techniques in that as possible: exciting beginning, simile, speech etc etc. You write your own beginning to the same story and you both compare them. Then for each opening, discuss how you would continue and end the story.

Do one a day or maybe two on alternate days. This helps the writers block at the beginning and allows you to influence the type of stories written.

Keeping all stories safe and reading them through every night in the two weeks before the exam can often meaan they remember a story they have already written and can change to fit the title! An excellent result for boys!