Travel to Glos grammars from Tewkesbury - worth considering?

[Octsmum]

Hi

Tewkesbury isn't that far from Gloucester - so yes I think doable. On the Crypt website there is details of Julian Smith Minibuses i think doing a service from Tewkesbury - so you may want to check that out to give you a better idea of times & cost.

Yes - doing 11+ at home is possible and many do. I think you need to have a plan of what to cover & don't forget to work on speed as well as technique. I found CGP books better than Bond. There are lots of useful info on this site - not just under CEM 11+ but also under other regions (like Birmingham). Mock test practice is invaluable. Think of it as a long haul & don't try & do everything at once or peak too early! Slow & steady.

We used a tutor - but just for an hour a week & started after Xmas (we got her through recommendation). Some tutors sort their pupils at the end of year 4 - so other parents i know struggled when they started looking about this time last year. I asked lots of questions of the tutor - don't just hand over your cash - her experience / what if / what would she cover / what did we need to do etc. She was brilliant and has become a friend. Before I get lots of PM messages - she's retiring though!

Hope this helps.

[Iona]

As has been stated above Eagle Line provide a bus service to Crypt, Ribston and also St Peters. It takes 35/40 mins and that's with making a few stops on the way. Its a good way for students to mix with other schools and to make different groups of friends. My DD has no worries about using public transport as she's so used to catching the bus.

[Watermelon8]

It's perfectly possible to do the 'tutoring' yourself. I have with all 3 of mine. You know your child & where they are within their cohort. If they are at or near the top then you have nothing to lose. My advice would be use a variety of resources (I know of a few who've not got the results they wanted because they steadfastly followed 1 tutor & only did her mocks!) CGP is excellent. I liked the 10min vr, comprehension & cloze bks but the key with vr is to read loads & build up the vocab before you start doing tests. It's v hard & demoralising to complete vr tests when you don't know the words! Whizz match cards (from amazon) are good plus quizlet & freerice (online games). Bond books are good for starting off NVR & Maths to fill in any gaps then CGP or first past the post are great. Doing 1 or 2 mocks in the summer hols before the test is also v useful.
Good luck! & having 1 child at Crypt (plus another we've just chosen Crypt for for next September) it's a fab school. Very supportive, lots of opportunities, very proud of their history but keen to develop the 'whole child' whatever their strengths & abilities. We couldn't be happier with it

[surfer]

Thank you so much everyone for all the info about travel and also about preparing for the tests. My son is keen to try for th me grammars and so we are going to keep on with the prep at home and see how things go.

We had parents’ evening tonight and his teacher gave us his NFER scores for tests done at the start of Y5, and seemed to indicate that he scored highly, particularly in maths and the SPAG test. I’m off to google what the scores mean now!

Thanks again everyone!