Thank you for all your advice, it is the Colchester Grammar School that is nearest to us i will send for the last two years papers and verbal reasoning practice paper, are there any specific books you would suggest our son reading, he does like to read so if there are a few it would not be a problem he reads quite quickly, i will also follow your link, thanks very much you have been a great help.

Thank you for your help I will look into and follow all the advise I have been given everybody has been so helpful on this site I can't wait to get started. Thank you again.

Here is my reading list. * indicates more accessible. My Essex papers are also for sale on the site with a free sample if you're interested.

TitleAuthorDate Published
Alice’s Adventures in WonderlandLewis Carroll1865
Tom SawyerMark Twain1876
Black BeautyAnna Sewell1877
Treasure IslandRL Stevenson1883
Jungle BookRudyard Kipling1894
*The Call of the WildJack London1903
The Railway ChildrenE Nesbit1906
Anne of Green GablesLucy Maud Montgomery1908
*Peter PanJM Barrie1911
The Secret GardenFrances Hodgson Burnett1911
*Dr DolittleHugh Lofting1920
*Ballet ShoesNoel Streatfield1936
The Family from One-End StreetEve Garnett1937
*The HobbitTolkein1937
*VariousEnid Blyton1940–1960s
The Black StallionWalter Farley1941
*Animal FarmGeorge Orwell1945
Little White HorseElizabeth Goodge1946
Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis1950
*101 DalmatiansDodie Smith1956
Tom’s Midnight GardenPhilippa Pearce1958
*VariousRoald Dahl1960s
*Children of Green KnoweLucy Boston1961
*Phantom TollboothNorton Juster1961
*Stig of the DumpClive King1963
The Wolves of Willoughby ChaseJoan Aiken1963
*EildorAlan Garner1965
SmithLeon Garfield1967
*Iron ManTed Hughes1968
The Wizard of EarthseaUrsula Le Guin1968
Charlotte SometimesPenelope Farmer1969
When Hitler Stole the Pink RabbitJudith Kerr1971
The DiddakoiRumer Godden1972
Watership DownRichard Adams1972
Carrie’s WarNina Bawden1973
*Peppermint PigNina Bawden1975
The Indian in the CupboardLynn Reid Banks1980
*Goodnight Mister TomMichelle Magorian1981
*Iron WomanTed Hughes1993
His Dark MaterialsPhilip Pullman1995
SabrielGarth Nix1995
*Harry Potter seriesJ.K. Rowling1997
SkelligDavid Almond1998
*The CrowstarverDick King-Smith1998
*The Kin seriesPeter Dickinson1998
*HolesLouis Sachar2000
*PoltergooseMichael Lawrence2000
*StormbreakerAnthony Horowitz2000
The Seeing StoneKevin Crossley-Holland2000
The Wind on Fire seriesWilliam Nicholson2000
*Witch ChildCelia Rees2000
Journey to the River SeaEva Ibbotson2001
The Fire WithinChris d’Lacey2001
Edge Chronicles seriesPaul Stewart & Chris Riddell2001
Tales of the OtoriLian Hearn2002
*Artemis Fowl seriesEoin Colfer2002
*How to Train your Dragon SeriesCressida Cowell2003
InkheartCornelia Funke2003
*Varjak PawSF Said2003
*Wee Free Men seriesTerry Pratchet2003
Chronicles of Ancient DarknessMichelle Paver2004
*I CorianderSally Gardner2005
SilverfinCharlie Higson2005

There is sound advice in this thread! This is what I wrote in the 3rd edition of my "Parents Guide to the 11+" (available from this website). This was aimed toward those who have only a few weeks to prepare for the 11+. We had six months (including holidays). The ideal (I suppose) is 1 year:

Having to Prepare With Little Time Left

“Don’t panic, don’t panic” were the words of the legendary Corporal Jones in the immortal TV series: “Dad’s Army”, which he would always append after announcing frantically to those around him some item of alarming news. Parents, typically those of Year 6 children who have been suddenly faced with the daunting prospect of what to do in order to negotiate the 11+ so their children can go the school of their choice, may well be tempted to panic. While this is clearly not the answer, they do need to take urgent action. What follows are things worth considering (or tips) for parents in that position:

1.While you have left it very late to effectively prepare, you are at least in a position to do something of significance to help your child.

2.You need to do the educational equivalent of taking up “battle stations” and this means from now on preparing for the 11+ has to be one of your top priorities until that particular “crisis” is (soon) over …

3.But only do so if that is in the best interests of your child, i.e. he or she shows the necessary acumen and wants to and has potential to succeed.

4.In one sense, you will need to shut yourself and your family off from the world, or at least from the distractions around you and the hype that goes with the 11+ etc. that could so easily be a negative influence.

5.While it may be difficult to maintain normal life, you need to do what you can to ensure that your child has a regular and disciplined routine, good rest and diet and plenty of exercise, fun, love and “ordinariness”.

6.Speak to the school. Let them know your concerns and intentions. Find out what they can do to help and what resources they can offer you - and, if this is not particularly on their radar (quite likely given your situation), don’t let them fob you off or deter you from your plans.

7.All the ideological stuff mentioned in the book is important but much of it and also learning not to do with the exam can be temporarily put to one side while you concentrate on your main goal - 11+ success.

8.Find out as much as you can about the 11+ exam, guided by this book.

9.If you can find someone who has recently been through the “ordeal”, learn from them, but time is short and you will very soon need to come up with an action plan that suits your child and your circumstances.

10.Gather past papers or as close as possible to what your child will soon be facing. Refer to this book for how and where to get hold of these.

11.Gather helpful resources such as discussed in this book but remember that because time is short there is much you won’t be able to use and besides past papers and Internet based resources e.g. Chuckra, I can’t think much beyond a good dictionary and reading books and, just maybe, primers for the different content areas covered by the exam.

12.As soon as you can, get your child to try each paper under, as near as you can contrive it, exam conditions, in order to ascertain where your child is regarding his or her ability and chances for passing the exam.

13.Be realistic when looking at the results. In some cases the child may be so far from getting a pass score that it may be prudent to ask whether or not to continue. If it is near to the pass mark then it is “game on”.

14.Identify strengths and weaknesses and those questions that ought to be bankers regarding getting them right. Note how many unanswered questions remain - timing is an area where improvement can be made.

15.Of all the areas where most improvement can be made, it is likely to be Verbal Reasoning. Using the advice and resources referred to in this book, practice all the VR types and techniques and note the progress.

16.Make sure those questions your child should get right he or she does get right and does not miss out because of carelessness etc. We found in all papers certain questions were eminently “get rightable” and we nagged away at our son so that he would get these consistently right.

17.Go through techniques for answering the types of questions that will crop up in the exam and focus on getting right those ones where most improvement can be made and where there will be most gain in terms of marks awarded. There is a balance call to be made and all the time you must be working toward improvement in your child’s score. Try to get to the point where all questions are attempted in the time allowed.

18.You may consider employing tutors (discussed elsewhere in this book) but, given your situation, this needs to complement and reinforce what you are about to do and they need to buy into your approach. This may not be the time to contract out the main task of exam preparation.

19.While it goes against the grain to say this, doing past papers under exam-like conditions and going over the answers ought to be the major activity in the limited time that you have left to prepare your child.

20.Maintain a proper perspective - the emergency will soon be over and life will go on, whatever the exam outcome - there are more important things in life than passing exams, even ones as important as the 11+.

YES BUT YOUR SON US TOO YOUNG TO DO ELEVEN PLUS.HE CAN START WHEN HE IS IN YEAR 6

Aarons mum

I had a couple of more thoughts ...

If you are starting your 11+ preparations around now you will be in almost the same position I was in two years ago, when we started. With your son's SATs projections it is definitely worth going for it. I assume he he is willing - that is important too. If you do read my guide, (an abridged version is on the website - see link in my signature), it will say much of what you need to consider and do, so I won't repeat here.

By all means speak with your son's primary school but don't be disappointed if they are not helpful. As I said in my book, if a parent is not sure what to do, more often than not the school has not been as helpful as it might or, as was the case for us, 11+ wasn't much on their radar. You need to take responsibility and gratefuly accept any help anyone can give - he is you child and that is all that matters - you just continue to be a good mum and help Aaron lead a normal, happy life.

Btw you mention NVR and you are in Essex. Don't bother with NVR - it does not apply for Essex. Read Louise Staples post and wisdom on the subject of what to do if you are in Essex - it will be quite illuminating. Best wishes in your preparations.

PS Louise if you are out there - I hadn't realised the big difference in pass mark between Colchester / Chelmsford and Southend schools. I would seem that my son who passed comfortably in Southend might have only scraped in if he were applying to Colchester. It might also explains why a number of children from Colchester go to Southend grammar schools. I suppose those living in Southend are quite fortunate!