11 Plus Exams Forum

My DS is due to take the 11+ for Lancaster in September. Had a quick look at this forum last year, but today had a good read of lots of topics and posts!
So do I cry that we are so unprepared compared to most on here - or laugh at myself for even beginning to worry!
Nobody talks on the Lancashire forum prob as we don't have many grammars.
There's lots of talk of scores, raw and standardised on these boards - but Lancaster do not give out the scores of those who pass. So they all start equal instead of comparing marks.
As posted on the Lancaster forum I therefore have no idea really what kind of % we should be looking for on the GL practise papers. It's open day in a couple of weeks, so will hopefully get more idea then.

Crucial thing Lancmum is to be living in the right place! Much harder if outside catchment..

Just do what prep feels right. No one knows your child like you do. I would certainly let your DC have some practice in what kinds of questions come up, otherwise you are sending them in 'blind' and since the questions are often nothing to do with their curriculum school work this seems a bit mean.
But once you've done that, its entirely up to you and your DC whether you do a little or a lot of prep. No right answers, and reading this forum can sometimes make you feel like you should have hours of timetabled prep lined up, but there's plenty of us who tried at least to keep it low key, whilst preparing them for what they would experience to minimise stress.

Definitely laugh

Do what you feel you and your DC will enjoy and (in the immortal words of Douglas Adams) Don't Panic.

We are outside catchment, so I know it all depends on how many inside pass etc. for that reason I'm not going to push too hard, as DS could get 100% and not get in. Don't want him to feel a failure when he might have no chance. Quite happy for him to go to our local school but his teacher has said he learns in the right way for a grammar school and he should try. No idea what that means but she prob knows better than me and his current levels suggest it's an option.