Hi,

I'm moving to Lincs from Oxon, a non-11+ school system. What do I need to know for my (soon to be) Y6 daughter? We're not moving until Jan and I have no idea when / how to enter her for an 11+ when we live in a different county to the one she'll be attending secondary school in. Advice please!

Also - is it way too late to start preparing her for 11+ anyway? It sounds like 11+ preparation starts a couple of years at least before the tests. She's a level 5 in all core subjects, but having just done some of the tests online myself, the reasoning tests seem quite unique.

Any advice welcome.

I am not familiar with Lincolnshire but this link may help you.

grammarschools.lincs.sch.uk/home/

hi its never to late to start working with your daughter..my daughter started from scratch 6 weeks before the exam and passed

im so proud of her

I agree with Awan. If the child who is now at Level 5 works hard for a few weeks, she might well pass. It all depends on if she is prepared to do the work. That is a more important factor than natural intelligence. You have to decide if 6 hours a day for a few weeks is too much to ask or not. Give the child plenty of short breaks and physical activities also. Competing with one or more children of similar ability can help enormously, as children enjoy the competition whilst practising.

Also, ring up the local authority and ask them for a form which you might have to return well before January. Also, ring each grammar school and ask them to place your child on their list of children taking the exam. They will send you a form or perhaps tell you to download it from their website. At least, that is how it works in Manchester (Trafford).

This link from Louise Staples has a lot of useful information, but I disagree with the comment on the linked website: 'too much preparation puts children under pressure and may be counter-productive'.

I have no idea how preparation can be counter-productive as my experience indicates that the more preparation the child does, the more likely they are to pass.

It is like saying that too much driving practice before your driving test may be counter-productive, which is clearly not the case.

I have found that children who have done more practice are happier, more relaxed, more confident at school, and more likely to pass. But there must be breaks, of course, and physical exercise.

I agree with Louise.

In some cases you can overdo it. Parents (and tutors) can heap an incredible amount of pressure on a 10 year old without realising it.

I like to keep things interesting - some kids can learn to hate these tests particularly if they've been at it for years! Some posters on this site have reported it.

I agree it is essential to be prepared but doing too much is a hazard.

and I disagree that working hard is more important than natural talent. Obviously they are both required (and not necessarily equally) to succeed in school and in life but ultimately this 11+ lark is to decide which school is correct for a child at a particular time in their development.

These children need to be happy at school - and putting in twice as much work as the naturally able children will not always be the answer.

I think it is fair to say that when it comes to 'how much do we need to prepare?' it is always child-dependant and the reaching the right balance for all these factors is key