Planning towards 2012 exams - support/tips thread

Eleven Plus (11+) in Surrey (Sutton, Kingston and Wandsworth)

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Planning towards 2012 exams - support/tips thread

Post by menagerie »

Hi,

My DS has just entered Yr 5 and we are settling down to a routine to prepare for the Surrey super-selectives and maybe one or two indies. Anyone want to join us?

Plan so far: 20-30 mins each week night unless school gives homework.
Mon-Fri:
English grammar and vocab
Maths
VR
NVR
Times tables

Saturday
One paper plus revision - roughly 1 hour.

Sunday Free Day

Is this enough? I don't want to overload but I do want to get into the habit of working and for DC to see themselves making progress. There seems so much to do, I feel daunted that we'll ever get through it all.

Just amended title as it looked as though I was suggesting DC sit 12 exams!
ThreeKids
Posts: 199
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:16 pm

Re: Planning towards 2012 exams - support/tips thread

Post by ThreeKids »

We are also 2012 entry - DS has just gone into year 5.

He will start tutor in January/February. The tutor is very local, very low key. He'll get 3-4 pieces a week of homework. This year (DD has been through the same route this year) that was roughly:-

About 6-10 mental maths problems set by the tutor or 10-20 spellings.
The remaining pieces of homework are Bond papers which have been replaced more recently with a comprehension book (that I remember using at school!) and some nfer papers.

We have done nothing else other than the Sutton Grammar Mock. It remains to be seen whether DD gets in, but DS1 got in comfortably with exactly the same approach.

I know of at least 5 kids in either DS1's year or the year above who did nothing but a couple of papers in each subject a few weeks before the tests. All of them got in, though 1 was a bit of a nail biter as they got in off the waiting list quite late.
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: Planning towards 2012 exams - support/tips thread

Post by menagerie »

Thanks for your reply. That sounds very reassuring. But it's not much extra work. Are they at prep schools or super bright? I like to think of my DS as very bright, but he isn't conventionally consistent in his work. He makes many slips and mistakes, and his school hasn't drilled him in multiplication etc. He can work it all out accurately, but slowly.

I can't help thinking my boys will both need quite a lot of prep to reach the right standard.
ThreeKids
Posts: 199
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:16 pm

Re: Planning towards 2012 exams - support/tips thread

Post by ThreeKids »

menagerie wrote:Thanks for your reply. That sounds very reassuring. But it's not much extra work. Are they at prep schools or super bright? I like to think of my DS as very bright, but he isn't conventionally consistent in his work. He makes many slips and mistakes, and his school hasn't drilled him in multiplication etc. He can work it all out accurately, but slowly.

I can't help thinking my boys will both need quite a lot of prep to reach the right standard.
The Kids I know are all state educated, so the ones that made it in without any tutoring did not have any benefit that may be perceived as being gained from a prep school education. It has to be said that most of them would be deemed 'gifted' but then gifted just means in the top 5%, and the Grammars are basically full to the brim with the top 5%. Having said that they are all, I suspect, fairly comfortably in that top 5%. I'm pretty sure that DS1 is also in that area and likely my other 2 are as well - we'll see!

We have switched to prep school for DD & DS2 recently but not at all because we anticipated that would give them edge, and from my personal experience I don't think it does at all.

I also think that going to a Grammar is not the most important thing in life. It was clear that DS1 would be happiest in that environment, and highly likely that he would be quite unhappy at our local comp, but that's not the same for every child. Many would be just as happy being schooled outside the Grammar schools, many would be miserable in the Grammars.
menagerie
Posts: 577
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 9:37 pm

Re: Planning towards 2012 exams - support/tips thread

Post by menagerie »

Hmm...I'd put my DC in the top 10% not 5% which makes a big difference. But then, the others at the top have all been tutored for years, whereas we've only just started home tutoring, so I hope this will bring them on.
ThreeKids
Posts: 199
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 1:16 pm

Re: Planning towards 2012 exams - support/tips thread

Post by ThreeKids »

Truly - honestly - I don't think that tutoring makes that much of a difference. I think the only thing it can do is speed them through the paper and make sure that they don't mess up purely from lack of exam technique. I don't personally think that you can over ride inate ability as to be honest I have never heard of a child being successfull that's been a surprise. Kids that have failed and I've been surprised - yes - but not the other way round, and round here the kids are not tutored to within an inch of their lives. A lot aren't tutored at all. :oops:
Post Reply
11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now