11+ Tuition

If you want to give your child the best possible chance of passing the 11+ exam, private tuition is worth considering. Although it is possible to take the different papers without preparation, it is not advisable. Children are more likely to be successful if they are familiar with the types of questions that are asked and have practised answering them beforehand.

The 11+ programme will focus on identifying any gaps in your child’s knowledge and skills in reading, writing and verbal reasoning. Once these gaps have been established in the initial assessment, an individual programme will be created. This will focus on these specific areas of need, whilst developing and improving your child’s overall performance in English.

A programme would include learning about some of the following: codes, vocabulary, compound words, anagrams, hidden words, homophones, synonyms, antonyms, phonics, spelling, sentence formation, connectives, punctuation, paragraphing, writing frames, comprehension, figurative language and parts of speech.

Key Stage 2 English tests (SATs)

Your child will be tested in:

Writing: Pupils have to complete a longer task and a shorter task. There is no choice of task. Pupils are allowed 45 minutes for the longer writing task (including up to 10 minutes’ recommended planning time). Pupils are allowed 20 minutes for the shorter writing task (including up to five minutes to think about their work and to make brief notes). Pupils are expected to complete the writing test in their own handwriting.

Handwriting will be assessed as part of the longer writing task.

Spelling: It is expected to take about 10 minutes to complete a spelling test. There are 20 words in the spelling test.

Reading: Pupils are allowed 45 minutes for the reading test (plus 15 minutes’ reading time). The test will include different texts – past examples include stories, poems, explanations, interviews and accounts.

In order to help your child prepare for SATs, or improve in basic literacy, he/she will have an individual programme based on his/her own particular needs that will enable him/her to develop a range of skills; it is likely to include reading strategies, sentence construction, spelling and grammar. This programme will be designed to focus on the areas identified from an initial assessment

Key Stage 3 English tests (SATs)

Although the statutory Key Stage 3 English tests have been abolished, some schools will still be using the tests to assess students, alongside teacher assessments.
If taking the tests, your child will be tested in three different areas:Reading, Writing and Shakespeare .

Reading:Your child will answer questions from text provided in a booklet. This test may include literary and non-literary, fiction and non-fiction texts. The test lasts for one hour and 15 minutes, including 15 minutes of reading time.
There will be three texts with approximately 15 questions questions, varied in format, worth between 1 and 5 marks.

Writing: The writing paper will last for one hour and 15 minutes, during which your child will complete a shorter (30 minutes) and a longer (45 minutes, including planning time) writing task. The longer writing task will ask for continuous writing, narrative or non-narrative.

Shakespeare: Your child will answer questions about set scenes in a Shakespeare play that they have studied in class. This test lasts for 45 minutes.
The plays set for study for 2009-2011 are The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. There are two sections specified for each play; students are required to study both of the set sections of one of these plays.

In order to help your child prepare for SATs, or improve in basic literacy, he/she will have an individual programme based on his/her own particular needs as identified in an initial assesment; it is likely to include reading strategies, sentence construction, spelling and grammar.