September 2018 anyone?

[Goodbyekitty]

My DS took 2 of these Shirley bases mocks last year. They were very well organised and if anything will give your child a good idea to what the real exam might be like.
My son said the mock exams were quite similar to the real exams he sat last year.
Just found out 721 sitters took the Shirley mocks this month which is 100 more than last year May, so it seems they are quite highly regarded for 11+ exam practice.

[guest201]

Both of mine also did the Shirley mocks, they are not cheap but certainly worth it for the experience of being in a room with a lot of people you don't know in exam conditions. My daughter didn't do as well as she was expecting in the mock and this gave her the "kick up the rear" she needed, she focussed on her weak areas and got a comfortable pass. What I am trying to say is that even if they don't do as well as you they expect in the mock don't worry, there is still plenty of time to turn it around. My DS did the online course from the Easter before the exam, they would send him a timed exercise to do every day which took about 15 mins, he found this very useful to improve speed

[Raych]

Could I have some advice please, what is a reasonable length of time for prepping in the evening we get home 5.30/6.pm ish , sometimes I also feel like my DD is doing so well then other times I feel like giving up!!! Please tell me I’m not the only one going MAD

[kenyancowgirl]

Short and often is better than long and ineffective. Practise times tables in the car on the way to school; spend 20 minutes doing non verbal; play Boggle or Scrabble. And try and read every day, together or to your child, making note of unfamiliar words and putting them in context the next day.

They have long days at school and may have homework to complete - don’t make the 11+ too much of a focus otherwise you risk them feeling a failure if they do not get a place.

[crazycrofter]

Could I have some advice please, what is a reasonable length of time for prepping in the evening we get home 5.30/6.pm ish , sometimes I also feel like my DD is doing so well then other times I feel like giving up!!! Please tell me I’m not the only one going MAD

I don’t think there’s a set time or amount you need to do. One key thing to know is what school(s) you’re aiming for as cut offs are different, but in general for a score of around 220 you probably need to be aiming for 65-70% overall. I think we started doing timed tests around now, but we left the full mixed papers til the summer holidays.

Get her to do regular timed tests in the different areas and then go through the ones she got wrong. You can then focus on areas of weakness. Make sure you’re reading together as well as that’s invaluable for vocabulary. Also start to focus on exam technique and make sure she’s had some practice with a separate answer sheet (assuming it’s that format this year).

But in terms of time - probably keep it to short bursts rather than long sessions.

[Raych]

Thanks you

[Goodbyekitty]

Hi Raych, if this is your 1st time it will be really hard to gage how much 11+ prep you need to do with your child.

I was afraid of pushing my DS too hard but then was afraid he wouldn't be doing enough to pass the test.

I have be advised on this great website to know your child's capabilities and that every child is different.

In Y5 during week days he would do the few pages of tuiton group homework. Weekends were for school homework and a few 10 minutes Bond or CPG tests.
Half term we did more 11+ book work and mock papers were left until the summer holidays.

[Raych]

Goodbyekitty thanks that’s how I feel are we doing enough are we doing to much , plus she gets so much homework from school it’s craxy, I’m abit shocked as she is in top set for maths at school and is sometimes given the year6 work but , when we’re tutoring at home her angles and percentages are spot on

[Goodbyekitty]

Goodbyekitty thanks that’s how I feel are we doing enough are we doing to much , plus she gets so much homework from school it’s craxy, I’m abit shocked as she is in top set for maths at school and is sometimes given the year6 work but , when we’re tutoring at home her angles and percentages are spot on

Also it really depends on what schools you are aiming for. Camphill and Fiveways you will be looking at competing with mainly the top cohort so will need high scores whereas we are in Sutton so scores needed for Aston or Bishop Vesey were not as high.
To give you a comparison my son was consistently scoring between 60-70% in Bond books and his Birmingham score was 223.
He is much better at maths and scored 358 in Walsall test.

Good luck.

[Raych]

camp hill would be first choice with five ways second but not sure if that’s realistic, although I would be happy with any grammar