11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi all,

this post may not be relevant but this is such a great forum that I thought I may get some help here.

My DS is late august born and is on EAL in school. He started year 3 now but to be honest I am really not happy with his year2 results. School said he has progressed a lot but I still don't see any difference in his writing even after a year. He is still very careless and messy.

with 11+ in my mind I do not know if he will be even near to try the test if I wont do anything now.

I need to ask if anyone knows of a tutor who can do 1-1 or in a small group tution to him.Someone anyone know who is very good with SEN children (though school says he is not SEN).

This also arises another question in my mind if any SEN children pass the 11+ and how.

Thanks a lot.

I will really appreciate any help as I am really frustrated now on what to do.school says they are helping him but in the class of 30 and once a week in a group, I do not see much difference in his progress.

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EAL (English as an Additional Language) is not classed as a SEN (Special Educational Need) by schools. The rational is there is nothing 'special' about the child's inherent learning needs just that they have been exposed to another language before learning English.
It can be expected that a high ability child with EAL could progress rapidly but a slow start may not be unexpected since there is so much to learn initially before they can really fly. Writing is the last area to show improvement for most children so it is not unusual that you notice this is his weakest subject.
Bilingual children certainly pass the 11+

Bilingual children certainly pass the 11+

Most definitely. In London, it is mostly the bilingual children who get into grammars, which proves that ability and hard work pays.

I hope for him that he will pick up soon but the thing is for the whole last year they have kept him at very low targets and even in numeracy , till 20 while the rest of the class has gone up to 100 or 1000.
My main concern is they are taking him very slowly and being youngest in class, not very keen to push him very much.

He is fine with all other things but coming down to numeracy and literacy, he thinks he knows nothing.

So compared to such children who are very able and already quite ahead of him , I felt may be a little help at home will make things a bit easier. Or at least I will know if I shall go to 11+ route with him or not.

If you can do DIY, then I am sure many parents can help you with making a good plan.

I would treat school as a social, sports and creative outlet, and take over his academic management myself, with the addition of a paid tutor if affordable/needed for areas you don't feel able to teach well yourself.

If I had expected nothing for my August DD from school from year 3 to 6 academically, I would have got it about right.

this is what i am looking for. Doing work with him at home and with an experienced tutor as well.
I dont want to leave it till year 5 or 6.

Personally I would not push him too much at this early stage. You don't want to switch him off from learning. In my experience some children are late developers and only exhibit their true abilities when they are a bit older, and when they are good and ready. With my children it related directly to their maturity level - which of course can depend a lot on their birth month. With both of my two we did not start any tutoring until the beginning of year 5 in preparation for grammar school entrance. Having said that I always encouraged them to read copiously, to practise times tables and maths games, and to play word games, board games and card games of all kinds. But I just saw this as part of normal life, not as tutoring!