any tips for CSSE preparation?

[bnp24]

DS is in year 4. I've got the bond books, is there anything else that anyone can recommend especially for creative writing? We will be targeting Southend grammar. Also how much prep did you actually do in year 4?

[StopIWantToGetOff]

The key to any creative writing is reading; it helps not just for the comprehension element but sparks imagination, improves vocab as well as literary devices. Every child is different but if I had my time (and sanity) again, I'd have started laser focussing in Sept at the start of Yr 5 - a year ahead of the exam but many others may have different opinions (or do what some do which is tell you their DC has had no tuition at all when really they've been tutored from birth! ). Based on my experience with two children, one a girl and the other a boy, my son was less able to cope with the relentless week-in, week-out nature of 11+ work.
The CSSE site and Freedom of Information section has a wealth of information, including past papers for you to download, together with the answers (although not for the creative writing). I'm not sure if you can access this but it's a sample mark scheme for the CSSE paper which helps guide learning.
https://csse.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ ... Scheme.pdf

Don't forget that as of 2022, the creative writing element is now worth 20 marks out of the total 60 for English so it's worth polishing that as much as possible. We went in thinking it was still out of 15