Tips for late starter

Eleven Plus (11+) in South West Hertfordshire

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lastminutemum
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:35 pm

Tips for late starter

Post by lastminutemum »

Hi, first post here. I am in the position for various reasons of being very unprepared for this 11+ journey. My DD is Year 6. We have done very little prep for the reasoning tests and not looked at English or Maths yet. The marks are not outstanding. My DD wants to try and I believe as her parent I should support her decision.
We started VR and NVR around July. NVR is a real problem, VR less so. Does anyone have any tips that we could use, taking into consideration that we only have 2-6 weeks to go.
Thanks.
hermanmunster
Posts: 12818
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by hermanmunster »

Hi LMM!

Have you had a look at this yet....

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/prepar ... e-starters" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
lastminutemum
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:35 pm

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by lastminutemum »

Thanks I will take a look. I forgot to say that I am in Finchley area, so options are HBS and possibly DAO and Latymer, although not counting on any of them. Impressed with the facilities and DAO.
Chilled
Posts: 118
Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:13 pm

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by Chilled »

As the schools you mention have very different exams it might be wise to decide which school is top of your list and focus most on the requirements for that exam. Have you also checked the deadlines for the supplementary information forms? The deadline for DAO and HBS is 21st October 2011, Latymer might have been earlier.

I think there is some good advice on the format of the DAO English exam somewhere on this site, probably from DAOGroupie. I can tell you that the writing element is usually a continuation of a passage.

Good luck
lemondrop
Posts: 954
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:23 pm
Location: North London

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by lemondrop »

the Latymer supplementary form closing date was 26th September. If you didn't get it in to them by then it's too late to apply.
lemondrop
Posts: 954
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:23 pm
Location: North London

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by lemondrop »

Oh and I forgot to say, don't panic, I'm sure if there's a will there's a way, no matter how late you've left it :)
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by Daogroupie »

1. Sign up for some mock exams so you can find out where you sit in relation to your cohort this year.
2. Decide which school you want to focus on, as Chilled said the formats are different.
3. Make sure your dd really wants to do this. Is there some reason she wants to go to these schools?
4. Make an appointment with your class teacher and see if you can get some help and advice there. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Try and find out your dd's weak points so you can plug them.
5. Do not listen to anyone who says bright children get in with no preparation. This may have been true years ago but is certainly not true now. We know several really bright children who had parents who were told this who are now at the local comp.
6. Clear your half term so you can do a crash course.
7. Go on ebay and amazon and do key word searches and buy everything you can that might help. You can always sell it back afterwards probably for the same price or more.
8. Do key word searches on here of HBS, DAO and Lattymer and read all the info that has been posted here over the years to help you make your decision on which school you like best.
9. Take heart by doing a search of posts by sallyherts who was also a bit of a last minute merchant having only found out just before that friends were applying. DS sailed through and is now thriving.
10. Pm me if there is something you want to ask more privately.
DG
lastminutemum
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2011 10:35 pm

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by lastminutemum »

Thank you DG, you are such a supportive poster. My DD does really want to do this, she wants to go to a good school and I think would like an all girls school. We were both were impressed with all the facilities at DAO especially the theatre like hall. She couldn't believe it. I just wish things were different for her. Still, no point dwelling..., I will read through your points. NVR is a problem for her, so I took heart when I learnt there is no NVR at DAO.
lemondrop
Posts: 954
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:23 pm
Location: North London

Re: Tips for late starter

Post by lemondrop »

Hi LMM,

As you are in Finchley you can put 6 schools on your form, therefore you can comfortably put DAO, HBS and Latymer down and still have 3 slots for local backup schools.

We can only go for HBS and Latymer as we're in the wrong postcode for DAO :( and are not religious. DD prefers HBS as she wants all girls but really liked Latymer when we looked round. If NVR is a weak point then Latymer will be harder for her as it's NVR only for the first round but there's no harm giving it a go, if nothing else it will be good experience for your DD in an exam situation which, if she hasn't done any mocks, will be very helpful, especially as the Latymer exam is before all the others.
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