News & EVENTS
- Newsletter
Newsletter to parents, carers and friends of pupils attending ATC from our Principal, Sylvia Watts-Cherry. - Half term course 2010 'entrance exam'
A course for those currently in Year 6 who are sitting entrance exams after the half-term.
Newsletter
Dear parents and friends
Our popular summer school commences on 2nd August 2010. Again, groups of young children will spend two weeks of their summer holidays practising and improving their skills in Mathematics, English, Reasoning and Science.
For the Year 5 children, they are practising for the secondary school entrance exams which start from November. For them, September will be the start of a busy term starting with the rounds of Open Days and applications for secondary school transfer. For parents, this is a highly stressful time when there is so much information, some quite confusing or contradictory and they feel the strain of trying to get things right for their children. Other parents will pile on the pressure by talking about the many schools their son or daughter will sit for.
This year, the high financial strain will again add to the anxiety as more people seek to apply to the already oversubscribed grammar and top state schools instead of private schools.
The pressure will continue after the half-term break as the entrance exams begin in earnest. We wish good luck to the many children we are teaching for the entrance exams this year.
Selection Exams
Many schools and all Independent (private) schools will use tests or exams for selecting pupils. The exams vary for each school but in general, there are four different tests and it is important that parents contact the schools directly to satisfy themselves of the exam structure. The most common exam types are:
- Verbal Reasoning test
- Non-Verbal Reasoning test
- Mathematics test
- English test
The Difference between Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning involves the child thinking about words and text and solving problems, sequences etc. It requires the pupil to have a good grasp of English grammar and a wide vocabulary. In many selection tests, Verbal Reasoning tests do include some number puzzles as well, such as number sequences or missing numbers in a sum.
Non-Verbal Reasoning involves thinking about shapes, pictures and patterns and their relationship in puzzles. It makes more demands on the child's mathematical capabilities and less on the understanding of written language.
Mathematics and English Tests
These are used by some state schools and all independent schools. The topics covered are in line with the National Curriculum requirements but levels expected are about one year higher than that for the chronological age especially with problem solving.
Preparing For The Exams
Schools will often say that children do not require extra coaching to get a place at a school but as we know, ‘Practice makes perfect’ and most school head teachers would agree that children benefit from a familiarisation of the tests they are going to sit.
The choices for preparation are: parent/friend teaching, one-to-one tuition with a tutor or small group. We firmly believe in the small groups as children enjoy the camaraderie and gentle competition but where a child is very behind or has special education needs, we do advocate one-to-one tuition.
Throughout the area, there are many different forms of school selection tests and so our 11+ Courses cover all aspects of the key elements to prepare your child for these very important exams. In Year 5, we teach the basic techniques of Reasoning, Maths and English and carry on to Year 6 when past papers are used to improve exam techniques. The 2-week intensive Summer Course and October Half-Term courses consolidate learning to ensure that your child is fully prepared. In addition, we cover study skills which are essential for success at secondary school.
This preparation for the eleven plus tests will improve your child's understanding of what is required but parental support and encouragement is crucial to your child's self-confidence and their attitude to preparing for the 11+ tests.
Helping Your Child Prepare For 11+
- Encourage your child in his or her schoolwork.
- Encourage reading at home - not just reading books from school, but also a variety of different texts, such as newspapers, magazines, comics, etc.
- Check that children complete their homework on time and to a good standard.
- Does your child know all their times tables? 5-minutes spent on this each day will improve their tables knowledge.
- Practise learning 4 new words each week. Make a family game of this and challenge each other to recall the spellings and meanings. Then challenge the child to use the new words in a story that week.
- Be structured with work; set aside time to do extra study. 15 minutes extra a day is better than 2-hours in one go. Children get used to the routine and this prepares them for the increased workload at secondary school.
- Get a set of the home study books (we can advise the correct books for your child).
- Be supportive, not challenging; understand when your child is trying and struggling, don’t necessarily be quick to label him or her as lazy.
- Try not to let your personal disappointments cloud your understanding and expectations of your child.
Sylvia Watts-Cherry
Principal
Half term course 2010 'entrance exam'
A course for those currently in Year 6 who are sitting entrance exams after the half-term. Covering exams techniques and speed practise, the course will focus primarily on Reasoning with Maths and English on alternate days. DATES: Monday 25th October 2010 - Friday 29th October 2010.
If you wish to enrol your child, please contact our office.