DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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2021EnTrY
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:19 pm

DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by 2021EnTrY »

Good Evening All ,

Joined the forum few days ago and this is my first post.

I provide pick and drop to my sonin Yr 4 (a local primary school in HP15) and since the last week I have seen anxious/tensed faces of the parents of YR 5 students. Hopefully most of them will be celebrabrating and enjoying.

My DS is going to sit 11+ in year 2021 and will be extremely thankful if someone can guide me in the right direction

1) For 11Plus exam in year 2021 the format will be CEM, GL or ????

2) Shall I enroll my child in any Yr 4 11 Plus course ( please recommend only by PM)
OR
Start DIY at home (is that case any good books to use?)

3) Please can someone also confirm when the techers / headteachers write the report for childern that can used for the selection reviews

Thanks in advance
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by scary mum »

Welcome to the forum :)
I have seen anxious/tensed faces of the parents of YR 5 students. Hopefully most of them will be celebrabrating and enjoying
They will be year 6 students, the 11 plus is taken at the beginning of year 6. Most will not be celebrating - the pass rate is approximately 30%, although that can vart=y at individual schools. Hopefull most will be happy with the outcome either way.
1) For 11Plus exam in year 2021 the format will be CEM, GL or ????
I haven't heard anything to suggest otherwise, but it wouldn't be announced yet anyway.
2) Shall I enroll my child in any Yr 4 11 Plus course ( please recommend only by PM)
OR
Start DIY at home (is that case any good books to use?)
In my opinion year 4 is too early. You have 2 full years before the 11 plus and risk the child becoming fed up and/or anxious. If you want to do something, continue to read with them, discuss the books and the vocabulary, and practice times tables. Most people start any proper tuition at the start of year 5.
3) Please can someone also confirm when the techers / headteachers write the report for childern that can used for the selection reviews
I would imagine this is done at the beginning of year 6, certainly before the results are published.
scary mum
2021EnTrY
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 5:19 pm

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by 2021EnTrY »

Thanks ScaryMum,

Sorry my bad, as I meant Year 6, thanks for correcting.

Not many people have posted their children results, but again best of luck to them.

My DS is not very good in comrehension and when doing work at home most of the time he says
"I am stuck and need help".

Any good book or any special technique on improving his comprehension skills.

There are many reputable tution centres offering Year 4 courses claiming to help the students building the foundation skills for Year 5)

Thanks once again for your reply.
names of tuition centres removed by moderator
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by scary mum »

There are many reputable tution centres offering Year 4 courses claiming to help the students building the foundation skills for Year 5)
Well, they would, wouldn't they? :D :roll:
scary mum
mm23292
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:57 am

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by mm23292 »

Given that a lot of the children I know who have just received disappointing results in my daughter’s year, had been attending classes at various well know tuition centres since year 4, I am glad we stuck to our principles and avoided all this nonsense. Bizarrely enough, they are now blaming it on burn-out and pressure... :roll:
WillowFae
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:16 pm

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by WillowFae »

One of the best pieces of advice we had from our children’s primary school was to read. They gave us a list of books that included things like Enid Blyton, Frances Hodgson Burnett, etc. In other words, not the latest David Walliams book, or other contemporary books. The vocabulary used in books back then is more similar to the vocab they will encounter in the 11+
sparklies
Posts: 170
Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:38 am

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by sparklies »

I completely agree! My son is in Y4, and his two bigger sisters have qualified. Biggest sister read prolifically from a young age, second sister (just sat the test) still read, but not nearly as much, and at a lower level (yes, Wimpy Kid type stuff!). It was only the last six months that she really tackled anything more when we realised the issue during our prep, and it's too late really by then to make a lot of difference.

Both girls are very bright, but there is a huge gap in vocabulary between the two which makes VR more tricky. DD2 also struggled more with comprehension, unless it was more of a "modern" text. We did enough ten minute tests, past papers etc to see the clear difference in practice, and in the end, the scores for "Verbal Skills" were significantly different too. High enough, if they'd scored lower overall, to make the difference between scraping qualification and being unlikely to succeed at selection review.

DS in Y4 is now doing a lot more reading :)
Pucca
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:39 pm

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by Pucca »

2021EnTrY wrote:
1) For 11Plus exam in year 2021 the format will be CEM, GL or ????

From my research I think TBGS change their examer every 5 years, so in 2021 they might still use GL as TBGS only changed back to GL in 2018, but I am not sure, as GL had made two errors in 2018 & 2019.


2) Shall I enroll my child in any Yr 4 11 Plus course ( please recommend only by PM)
OR
Start DIY at home (is that case any good books to use?)
I would suggest to DIY at home. We DIY for our child in y5, from scrach, my child passed this year, but I got to say the whole process is very intense, and I wished we had started to prepare earlier, as we had helped his study since y1 anyway, but we were not focus on 11+ subjects until y5. So I will suggest in y4, you can start to go through the subjects in 11+, don't need to be so intense of course, but just let your child has some general idea about 11+ in y4. We used CGP books, and they have good range of books for different age children. There is another post about the books/ resources to use if you check the top post in this forum.
mm23292
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:57 am

Re: DIY 11+ Prepartaion for DS Yr 4 (2021)

Post by mm23292 »

I don’t think anyone’s ‘tutoring’ experience can be used as a generic approach, and would say that the best thing any parent can do, is simply be aware of your child’s limitations. Take an honest stock of their strengths, and their weaknesses, and be realistic. This is not about you, the parent, and what school you want them to attend. It is about what is best for them. I know too many parents who have tried to shoehorn their kids into grammar, because they think it is the holy grail of education, without ever considering whether they are suited or not. Tuition and preparation, does help a lot of borderline children pass, but a lot of them don’t do well when they get there.
As for the reading advice, I agree it might help some children in terms of extending vocabulary, but with one child who was an avid reader and had above average reasoning skills, and another child who barely ever read a book, yet had exceptional reasoning skills, it was the book-phobic David Walliam’s fan who did by far the best...
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