2nd attempt at the 11+

[Goodbyekitty]

Having had a 3 yr break from our first attempt at the eleven plus with DS, its the turn of DD next year.

I have noticed the Birmingham/Walsall forum is not as busy as previous years.

DD missed out on half of Y4 tuition due to covid as we didn't want to consider online lessons with the tutor.

I also realise that a child successfully gaining a grammar place does not mean that siblings will also be guaranteed to do the same, as it all depends on the child's ability and willingness to want to do well.

We are lucky that we are within catchment for K E Handworth girls but still DD will have to still score well.

What I am really hoping is that she is able to take a mock with an 11+ provider next year. Her brother had the advantage of taking 2 of these and it was definatley very good for exam practice for time management and examination conditions.

[mooch]

We just had the results for DD1 after 1 years home tutoring.

DD2 has expressed that she wants to sit the test in 2021, so we're going through the process again.

DD1 had 2 11+ mock tests and was due to have a 3rd before lockdown.

I found them useful at the time, but because of the lockdown we set up our own mock tests which we ran 3 times.

Since she had an afternoon test, we set the test for the same time as he actual test and went through the whole process of driving her to the test centre. Then we took her to my parents house which was empty apart from us. We'd previously set up a room with a table and chair to mimic the actual test. The idea was to re-create the feel of the actual test and take her away from the comfortable environment where she had practiced.

What I found most useful which I hadn't anticipated, was getting to watch her tackle the questions. As she went through them I also went through the paper so I could see the ones which she answered quickly (or quicker than me) and the ones she struggled with.

For this reason, I actually think I will set up the mock exams DD2 myself and maybe do 1 with an external test centre near the end when she's fully prepped.

[Goodbyekitty]

Hi Mooch, how did your daughter do in her exams?
Hope she got good results.
Did she take both the Birmingham and Walsall tests?

Your idea of DIY tests sounds good, i will try it with DD nearer the time.

When will your youngest daughter take her exam?

[mooch]

She did both tests and based on previous years, I think she should get the school of her choice.

Our youngest is in year 5, so takes the test in 2021.

We might have started her preparation earlier if we hadn't been focusing on DD1.

Going DIY, it was quite stressful not having a clear idea of how she would do compared to her cohort. The mock exams we paid for were the only real indication. She sat one near the end of year 4, where she I think she just over 50% of cohort and 2nd one in Feb 2020 where she was in top 25%.

We said all along though that learning together would be great preparation for secondary school no matter where she went.

Hopefully DD2 will have the same positive attitude.

[Goodbyekitty]

Fantastic to hear that mooch. Fingers crossed for you she gets her 1st choice school.

It's great you were able to DIY tutor too and now you will be able to gage where your DD2 needs to be.

I'm sure it doesn't get any easier 2nd time round either. Really can't wait for our 11+ journey to be over.