Sarah Beswick 11+ Tuition and Mock Exams
Sarah Beswick 11+ Tuition - General Information
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No. Preparation is generally required for any test but don't get bullied into getting a tutor unless you really want one. You can do everything yourself and you will enjoy a wonderful and fulfilling year.
For the 2024 exam (commencing November 2023) the rate will be £22.50 an hour, to be paid half-termly before the preceding holiday. Then any spaces can be made available over the holiday.
A cheaper option is to buy the Scholar's Workbooks and the Internet Class bundles. The pass rate for children choosing this option is as high as those who come to class. Finally, anyone can access the free daily Maths sheets and free weekly Internet Classes.
Each child is provided with at least one folder a week, which contains 5 Maths worksheets, 5 English worksheets, 5 Verbal Reasoning worksheets and a 50-minute paper. There are no past papers available and much care is taken to ensure that no papers exit the exam room with the candidates. For a number of years now I have been able to collect actual exam questions from children immediately after the exam. These are included throughout the workbooks.
Passing the 11 Plus requires that a child has a complete and thorough understanding of all year 5 and 6 work by the end of September of Year 6. If this could be achieved in one hour a week, then the schools would only be open for one hour a week.
Preparation is everything: there is no achievement without endeavour.
South Wilts Grammar School has been using GL Assessment for years (GL stands for Granada Learning, formerly National Foundation for Educational Research- NFER). The exam will be 3 papers of Maths, English and Verbal Reasoning.
As of 2023 Bishop Wordsworth School also uses GL Assessment but will have two papers one of Verbal Skills and the other in Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning. Verbal Skills will include anything to do with words; traditional English and word games.
For further details see their websites.
So have I. Primary teachers, parents, pupils, County Hall, tutors and the milkman all have an “everyone knows it is true…” Phone the admissions tutor if you have any questions. I found them to be unfailingly helpful and they really do know what they are talking about.
Bishops 01722 333851 South Wilts 01722 323326
There is a straight linear correlation between the amount of preparation a child does, and their likelihood of passing. Being clever helps, but is in no way a passport to success.
Having a reading age under 12 (Burt reading test). Writing in the homework books (please don’t!). Excuse making– “we haven’t got the time”- there are 24 hours a day, organise it as you please. Starting, stopping and then returning for the last week or two. Doing just a few weeks of preparation.
VERY. I’ve always reckoned that to be within a chance of passing they need to be scoring about 85% or more in each paper by the time they sit the exam.
It is common for children to achieve between twenty and thirty percent on their first exposure to these papers, which is barely more than that which they would get by randomly filling in the multiple choice answers– don’t let this panic you.
No. This is to protect the children and me. I follow Scouting Rules: never be alone with a child.
Yes. Space allowing.
Yes. Very.
Yes, and I will tell you why, and how I think the situation can be improved. I may be a bit brutal but there is a deadline and honesty is the best policy.
Some children can be difficult to kick-start. It can be an avoidance technique, such that the time slot available for doing work is taken up by rows. If a row is needed, set a timer for five minutes, and go for the jugular! Then, everybody gets down to work. It is an unfortunate fact of child rearing that sometimes children just want to lock horns, and it is cruel to either ignore this need, or to overindulge it. Personally I would prefer it if the Maria Von Trapp method of getting out a guitar and singing a merry tune worked all the time, but it doesn’t. Kind methods undoubtedly work best but don’t be afraid of conflict.
I would recommend this book to all parents:
“Don’t Shoot The Dog! The new art of teaching and training”
By Karen Pryor
ISBN: L-86064-238-7
Ringpress Books
No computer games at all.
My house:
37 Silverwood Drive, Laverstock, Salisbury SP1 1SH.
If you are coming from Salisbury to Laverstock, keep going down Church Road (the main Road) until you pass the Church on your left. Immediately after this there is a mini roundabout. Turn right (2nd exit) into Woodland Way. Keep going up hill until you can’t go up any more.
01722 327525. Anytime. If I am busy I won’t answer so please persevere.
Both groups feel that the exam is weighted towards the other. It isn’t.
11+ is a rite of passage. It is the first time the children do something entirely on their own for a number of hours, that will change the course of the next 5 years of their life…… and we can’t help. They sink, or swim, alone. It is small wonder that so many Mums drop off their children at the exam wearing dark glasses and walk away with tears leaking out.
I really love getting inside the children’s heads. Finding out what makes them tick and how to get the best from them. It is a tremendous privilege when a child trusts you enough to do this.
Rather fancifully I think that I glimpse into what it must be like to be a Sergeant Major training recruits to go into battle. Now my 11+ies are not going to die in the exam, but in my heart of hearts they do. They are never the same again. They stop being children and start the long journey to being adults. To share in this is an amazing experience both terribly sad and joyous.
I love tutoring and cannot thank you enough for allowing me to walk with your children through this rite of passage.
