Daughter in year 5, need understanding tutor in S/Coldfield

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liesauk
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:17 pm
Location: birmingham

Daughter in year 5, need understanding tutor in S/Coldfield

Post by liesauk »

Hey hello all!
I am looking for an honest tutor that can give me some time to spend with my daughter (current year 5) to see if she is capable of taking the 11+. If so I would look to start tutoring her right away, but not intensively I do NOT want her pressured.

I also have a daughter in year 4 who is lvl 5 at the moment so there is the potential to tutor her next year too.

ALSO lol, i have another daughter in year 2... so the prospects for money are good lol

thanks

liesa
scepticpeg
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:55 am
Location: Halesowen

Post by scepticpeg »

If your daughter in Year 4 is Level 5 already there is precious little need for her to be tutored.

If your child in Year 5 is struggling to reach Level 5 a tutor may get her to scrape in to a Grammar School but all through her secondary career she will then be struggling to keep up unless of course you retain a tutor.

Basic rule: if they need tutoring they ain't good enough
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

I disagree.

GOOD tutoring, whether done by a parent or profeesional tutor is just like coaching a natural runner or swimmer. Teaching them techniques and getting them familiar with the course.

My daughter was level 5 in year 4 but she faltered on her first attempt at 11+ practice papers. We looked to see where she made mistakes and taught her how to approach that type of question. Once she was confident she sailed through the test.

I have taught children who are naturally bright but just need a bit of constructive help to apply their intelligence to its best advantage.

liesauk, the best way to find a tutor is by word of mouth, or maybe someone in your area could pm you?
melinda
Posts: 226
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:40 pm
Location: surrey

Post by melinda »

I totally agree Yoyo123 - good tutoring adds something that primary school often just don't have the time to do - technique in 11+ exams - as half the time kids have not had experince of parts of the tests eg NVR.
ALSO, my case as an example, the school does not start teaching the maths required for 11+ until the second half of the year 6,which means it's all a bit late for tests in september.
scepticpeg
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:55 am
Location: Halesowen

Post by scepticpeg »

Surely there is a difference between practice tests and being tutored?

We are doing the former but not the latter. The comparison with coaching in other arenas such as sport etc is an interesting one but flawed imo.

The point being that the identification of talented footballers say begins at an early age and is the responsibility of professional football clubs, amateur clubs or schools...in other words people with some degree of knowledge.

The clamour to get into grammar schools is driven by the parents, not the schools. Thus we have no way of knowing who is genuinely talented until they actually start at the school. The schools (read football clubs) do not see the kids until they turn up for the entrance exam. Coaching technque is not the same as identifying and nurturing talent. It is completely different.

Personally i would advocate some kind of outreach scheme to id talented kids at Year3/4 to be sponsored/monitored by the Grammar schools and thus regulate the tutoring/coaching so everyone arrives in the entrance exam with the same chances. I would also encourage applications to such as scheme from kids in disadvantaged areas. Social mobility in this country hasn't changed since 1970.
ss1
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:15 pm

Post by ss1 »

Good in theory but not in practice, if you choose not to get your DS/DD tutored you are putting them at a disadvantage especially in terms of exam technique given the time pressure of teh exams.

Just because your child is naturally gifted it doesn't mean they will automatically pass the 11+.

Also there are differing levels of primary education depending on your childs school why should your child be disadvantaged by going to a lower performing school. Lets face it in reality nearly all children who want to get to grammar school are tutored for 11+ exams nowadays ....its the way of the world !!
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

Hi scepticpeg

I agree with yoyo123 and melinda, children need some tutoring to prepare for 11+ exams, particularly the KE Foundation Grammar Exams.

But as yoyo said this doesn't have to be by a professional tutor; parents can do this just as well usuing the material available in shops and on this site.

If you read through some the threads in the Birmingham section of this site (and the Appeals section) you will see lots of examples of parents who took the advice at face value written on the KE Foundation literature when they recommend parents not to prepare or tutor children for the 11+ exams and were shocked when their bright child failed to get a place. Dont't believe it, children need some preparation - but this doesn't necessarily mean paying for a tutor.

Regards
HodgeHillDad
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Nov 05, 2007 12:28 pm

Post by HodgeHillDad »

I agree totally with KenR, Melinda & yoyo
I would suggest all parents do at least some home tutoring to familiarise with VR / NVR types and also to get used to answering questions under pressure of time.
Also, as Melinda rightly pointed out, much of the maths element of 11+ is not normally taught at primary school until the spring of year 6
For example, my son's class was taught algebra very briefly in April (6 months AFTER the 11+!)
If trying for KE Foundation, additional home-tutoring is recommended

liesauk - Is your DD currently working at level 4A or 5C in maths?
My opinion is that this would be a good indication of likely success at 11+ based on experience of my own son being 5C at end of year 5, 5A at start of year 6 (after learning all yr 6 maths over the summer) and comfortably getting into Bishop Vesey's with home-tutoring

As KenR also rightly stated, preparation doesn't necessarily mean paying for a tutor
liesauk
Posts: 43
Joined: Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:17 pm
Location: birmingham

Post by liesauk »

hi guys

thanks all for the fantastic advice.
No.1 daughter is achieving 4a in maths and we have been looking at books. I have decided to get her a tutor for 2 months only. Just to fine tune the bits I may not be very good at. I think that this way it helps her speed up, understand what the papers will be like and to ask a professional advice.
She is quite laid back about it all, enjoys doing the books and her sister (year 4, level 5) is looking forward to learning this all!

I would like to know for Sutton Coldfield Girls School which type of questions will be asked. is it NVR or that other one lol

thanks again

liesa
x
ss1
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:15 pm

Post by ss1 »

The Sutton Coldfield Grammar test consists of NVR (Multiple Choice Questions) and Verbal Reasoning and Mathematics (A Mixture of Standard and Multiple choice questions)
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