11 Plus Exams Forum

I'm Berkshire borders but DD2 is sitting the Bucks Transfer Test in September.
Who else is preparing/DIYing their DC, and wich school are you hoping to aim for?

We're out of cachement but in expected distance for BGS...

Post if you want to say hi and we can encourage each other!

Hi Aethel

As you already know, I'm in Berks but will also apply to Bucks too. DS really liked RGS & JH. We are out of catchment for Bucks but he should be able to get in for JH. Not sure whether he can get into RGS as we 8miles away.

We are also DIY'ers and but not really putting the time into it as his extra curricular activities seem to have taken over.

Hi,

We are! We live in catchment for both AHS and SHF. My DD has a tutor who lives round the corner.

Blue_Marigold

DS is going to take Berks and Bucks exams. We are aiming for RBS. He has a tutor in local area, who teaches to a group of 5s.

Just a friendly reminder to those further afield to check that you are likely to get into the Bucks schools, it would be a shame to put your children through the test only to find that they were never going to get a place anyway. Good luck to all (the 11 plus is done way behind us).

I'm in!

Fasten your seat belts-it's sure to be a bumpy ride!

It's nice that we are all able to support each other along this twisty road. Hopefully there will only be minor bumps along the way.

My son is hoping to qualify and join his big brother at Dr. Challoners (aka DCGS).

Best Wishes

2 little boys x (they're big boys now really so I should change my name on here but they will always be my babies )

We are. Hoping to get into CGS.

We are moving to the Herts/Bucks border in August in order to be close enough (I hope).

DS did a mock today, I daren't look at the results yet. He's so tired after being away at PGL the week before. I'm feeling guilty about putting him through it but as we are moving and he will be starting a new school 2 weeks before the test I am trying to give him some idea about what he is going to have to do...

How is everyone doing?

We are having "fun" In the Chinese sense. dD2 did a mock, it was very tough in terms of time and her score was not good. I know it's still a few months to go, but part of me is really questioning if we should be doing this... it doesn't help that she's young for the year and so we are doing at 9 3/4 what I was doing with her sister at 10 3/4. Bl**dy system

The one consolation is that our local non selective is very local and she will be at the top of the tree there if she doesn't get the qualifying score. But she really does want to try.

Hi Aethel,
I'm like you - wondering whether we should even be doing this. My son did a mock on Sunday...the scores were OK, but not great to be honest. I spoke to his head teacher last week - she has great confidence in him. The problem for us is that at school he performs really well, so everyone thinks it's a given he will pass, but at home when we do the CGP books or other mini tests he doesn't score that well at all...usually 55-65%...so not terrible but not an easy win. One mock he did they said his strength was on the cloze/English side and he scored ZERO for maths...they wouldn't let him join their tutoring group because his maths was so poor. Three weeks later he did another mock with them got 83% maths?! I decided they were not the best company so used a different company for the mock this weekend. He got 41-57% on the papers averaged 53%. So don't really know what to focus on and wish he was either great or useless so that I could make a decision on whether to even bother!

Good Morning

We are doing "ok" at the moment ie once my son gets going (or should I say if!) then he usually does well.

I think he is suffering from end-of-termitis at the moment-although it is not actually the end of term for another four weeks

I feel VERY anxious when I hear what other parents are doing with their children but (as I have rightly been told on here before) I'm trying to ignore what everyone else is doing and just concentrate on my son.

If I'm in the company of other parents from my son's school I literally try to change the subject from 11+ prep or get out of the conversation (in a polite way of course) as it is soul destroying just how much time some people are spending on this exam. It makes me feel like throwing in the towel now to be honest because how can my son spending 2-3 hours a week (max) on 11+ prep compare with children spending 10-15 hours a week?

2 little boys x