Hi all.
My son has just turned 9. We are two yearseparate away from the 11plus test and will be applying for the Sutton grammar school. I am self tutoring him although his okay in maths he finds English (creative writing, handwriting and some comprehension) a little difficult.
I have been told that he has enough time to prepare and I believe this too but I just want some advise on what I should focus on for example what is the best way to help him learn how to write a long and short story, help on handwriting and comprehension.
He is a very bright child and as we live in a very bad area I do not wish for him to end up in a secondary school close to home which has been classed as one of the worst in the borough.

Thank you for your time

Hi
I'm quite new to this forum and am no expert as my son is about to take the 11+ next week. He sounds quite similar to your son - good maths, not so great English skills.

My son's handwriting was appalling, barely legible. We decided this really needed looking at first - no point being great at creative writing if nobody can read it. He has (borderline) Asperger's and it was thought that he may also have dyspraxia. But we decided to try out a handwriting system called Magic Link. Honestly, the difference after a few lessons was amazing. It basically simplifies joined up handwriting, makes it a bit more logical!

It is a little pricey plus you need to be at hand to make sure things are done properly. But actually being able to read what he's written, he's been able to see where spelling mistakes are and pay attention to punctuation, so it's also improved other English skills.

I talked to the teachers at his school to make sure they were ok for my son to follow a different handwriting system and they had no problem.

I can't really comment on other prep. We started pretty late and like I said, have no idea how it's going to go!

Thank you for your advise. Will take them on board.

Good luck with the tests next week. X

The Head at the Wilson's open day a couple of years ago said that reading is the best thing your son can be doing to prepare for entrance tests. He said he should read anything he enjoys - whether it's newspapers, novels, or non-fiction. He did say avoid things like Diary of a Wimpy Kid (but my son didn't want to give up reading that stuff too). With 2 years to go, your son has plenty of time build up his vocab, and improve his comprehension and writing skills through reading. All I can say is my son is a keen reader and was not fazed by the English papers on the SET test. Like you, we did DIY tutoring. During the summer before the test I helped him with the theory for english, such as recognising and being able to write in different styles for different purposes, and basic grammar & punctuation. We used the 'Practice & Pass' series of books, and the '1,000-word brain boost' in those last few months. Good luck!

I think CSB is spot on with the advice.
Read lots of books to extend the vocabulary, essential for SET English.

Do focus on Maths as well, the primary school will teach them what is needed for the SETs.
By the end of Yr 5, he/she should be able to do some Y6 stuff, like basic algebra, solve simple equations etc.