should I give it a go?

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dunemigrating
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:58 am

should I give it a go?

Post by dunemigrating »

Hi
I'm new to this forum and I'm finding it very helpful so far. However, I'm wondering whether to put my 8 yr old son through all this 11 plus process. Our story is a little different to most in that we emigrated to Australia in 2006 and came back May last year. The education is very different over there and my son was nearly 2 years behind his English classmates on his return to the UK last year. He is now in year 4 and we have recently received his sats results which are 3b in writing, 3a in spelling and 3b in maths. We are over the moon with these results as he has caught up nearly 2 yrs work in 1 year. Some of his class mates are well above this though and it scares me to think they, along with other schoolchildren, will be 'competing' in the 11 plus process. Do you think I should still give it a go - we have another year yet, or do you think it's too much to ask as he is only an 'average'? Thanks for any replies!
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: should I give it a go?

Post by hermanmunster »

Hi and welcome!

can you let us know which area you are in as the 11 plus varies by area. Some are purely VR and NVR which are unrelated to the work done for SATs and hence your DC has as much chance as being successful in a someone who has bee in the school system here all the way through
dunemigrating
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:58 am

Re: should I give it a go?

Post by dunemigrating »

Hi hermanmunster
sorry I forgot to say we would consider the bexley and kent tests which are: maths and vr for Bexley and maths, English, vr and nvr for Kent.
First-timer
Posts: 698
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:47 pm
Location: Essex

Re: should I give it a go?

Post by First-timer »

Hi dunemigrating!

Don't be too fazed by SATs results. What's more important is whether you think he is bright enough to thrive at a GS. If you think GS is the school for him then start thinking about what you need to do to get him into a position where he will cope with the 11+ exam. You have plenty of time to either do it yourself or employ the services of a tutor. Even if you decide that he's not cut out for the test, no learning is ever wasted and you'll know that you at least gave proper consideration to your options.

Good luck!
hermanmunster
Posts: 12817
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: should I give it a go?

Post by hermanmunster »

Hi

What first timer says is right - have a look at the info on the forum and website abouit resources - when it comes to VR/NVR might be worth getting some of the practice books and see how he gets on .
Mrs Jones
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:45 pm

Re: should I give it a go?

Post by Mrs Jones »

Hi Dunemigrating

i totally agree with all replies so far and I would say go for it. We were in a very similar position to yourself in that we immigrated to Bexley from Australia 2 years ago. At that point our DD started in year 5 in September 2008 when she was only half way through year 3 in Australia. At that point we had no idea about the 11+ and when we first looked at the practice papers we immediately thought that there was no way she would be able to cover the ground necessary before the 11+ exam the following September. To cut a very long story short by May 2009 we re-assessed the situation and found that she had progressed so much at school that it was worth giving the 11+ a go. We hired a maths tutor because our main concern was that she had quite a few gaps with her maths because of the move and she needed to build her confidence. This was the best thing we could have done as her confidence improved remarkably and our thinking at that stage was that it didn't matter if she didn't pass the 11+ as she was getting a lot out of the tutoring regardless. We were very excited when we found out in October last year that our DD passed the Bexley 11+ (she didn't sit the Kent test as we didn't think we had the time to get up to speed with the NVR) and she is very excited about starting at Chis and Sid in September.
I guess what I'm trying to say here is not to worry about the fact that your son was a little behind when you returned from Australia as he sounds like he has already caught up and will continue to make up ground. If he has the potential you have plenty of time to prepare him either through the use of a tutor or using the practice papers and associated guides that we found very helpful. A tutor will also give you a good idea as to where your son is at and fill in any gaps if there are any. Also, how did your son compare to his class mates in Australia? This should give you a bit of an idea as to what his potential is.
What I can also vouch for is that every year children with the potential to pass the 11+ do not as they haven't had enough preparation even though they have the ability and many children with less ability do pass because of the amount of preparation they do. Unfortunately Bexley schools are advised not to promote tutoring or too much preparation but I believe that it is very difficult to pass the 11+ unless you have done a certain amount of preparation.
Good luck :D
dunemigrating
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:58 am

Re: should I give it a go?

Post by dunemigrating »

Thanks for all your replies so far. I have found them to be encouraging especially Mrs Jones who obviously knows what goes on in Australia and where the gaps are. I agree it's mostly the maths where the gaps occur - I have found here in the UK, the teaching is more methodical and each thing leads to another.

I wondered if I could pm you, mrs Jones, to see what tutor you had for the Bexley test?
dunemigrating
Mrs Jones
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2010 2:45 pm

Re: should I give it a go?

Post by Mrs Jones »

Totally agree dunemigrating. The maths taught here is much more methodical and focused. The tutor we used was great for getting our DD on track in terms of filling in the gaps and reinforcing things she was learning at school but in hindsight I don't think she was an expert on the 11+. For example she told us that there wouldn't be any algebra questions on the test so our DD didn't learn this and apparently there were quite a few questions (according to DD). She also said that the test wouldn't be nearly as difficult as the practice papers but i think that it was. Having said that, she was great for DD, as she always got stuck straight in and most often went over time with her lessons. She was great on things like fractions as DD had little knowledge here and had just started learning her times tables in Australia! We found the Bond 'How to do 11+ Maths' to be a great guide and used this alongside the practice papers. My husband wasn't working over the summer holidays so he spent quite a bit of time going over this with our daughter and i think this was a big help, combined with the tutor's input and some great teaching at DD's school. If I were you, having the time that you have, I would find an experienced 11+ tutor to alleviate as much stress as possible, who can assess your son, find out where the gaps are and advise you on the best course for him to take from here on.

Happy for you to PM me on anything and to give details on tutor if it sounds like what you are after although i probably couldn't whole heartily recommend her even though she did play a big part in helping DD achieve a positive 11+ result.
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