Is it possible for soon to be yr 6 DD to go up a level in 3 months

[Serendipity30]

Hi just need some advice, my DD is going into year 6 this month, I am preparing her for secondary school entry. She is currently a upper level 4 but she needs to be a confident level 5. Is it possible for her to go up a grade in 3 months with lots of intensive home support in time for the entrance exams in December, or am I being unrealistic???

[ReallyTired]

Its certainly possible to raise your child's national curriculum levels by two sub levels in a term in one subject if your child is prepared to sweat blood and you have a good tutor. I assume that she is a 4a and I 5b is deemed to be a secure level 5. I suppose a lot of depends on your reasons for wanting your child to make rapid progess.

I sent my son to a tutor for two term and he progressed from 3B in English to 4a. I wasn't trying to get my son into the top set or a superselective school. I simply wanted him to have the literacy skills to cope with mainstream comprehensive.

I feel you need to ask yourself if a superselective school is the right kind of school for your child? Will she keep up with the brighter children? How will she feel being bottom of the class? Is hot housing your child for her benefit or your ego?

[Serendipity30]

My goodness you are rude.

[clary]

I would say realistic rather than rude.

Honestly, if you are looking at a superselective, it's not fun being the weakest in the class.

Or are there other reasons why yr DD is not achieving higher grades just now?

[Hakluyt]

What sort of exam is it? Is it based on the national curriculum , or is it the standard VR/NVR type thing? If the latter you wod be better off focussing on them rather than SATS levels.

[ReallyTired]

Is there one subject that your dd is weak in or is she 4a across the board? Ds was good at maths and reading, but very weak with writing. He did manage to improve his writing with tutoring, but it was blood sweat and tears. Asking a child to work hard at more than one part of the curriculum is unrealistic. Children need time to rest and play.

4a at the start of year 6 is good. With sustained work she may well achieve 5a the end of year 6. She would be in the second set of a good comprehensive.

Is there any reason why your child has under achieved? Ds attended an OFSTED inadequate primary. He has not been hurt by a bit of hot housing.

[Serendipity30]

Hi all, I am applying for a combination of state and private schools, however the state schools are highly academic and selective. Its not what was said but how it was said, came across as very harsh. Im asking for advice not to be slated.

[MirandaWest]

I don't think the poster who replied to you was being harsh in any way. She was pointing out that if you need to intensively tutor your DD to have a chance to get into that school, that it may not be the right school for her.

[HolidayPackingIsHardWork]

My daughter went from 4c to 5c in that amount of time. She and I worked through a workbook. We spent 30 minutes after school, 3 days a week. We started now and were finished by Xmas. It was hardly sweating blood.

I knew she was plenty bright enough, but being allowed to coast. It wasn't hard, and I didn't need to be a qualified teacher or anything like that. Basically, I am saying that if your DD has it in her, and is mature enough to spend 1.5 to 2 hours a week on it. I think it is easily do-able.

Here is the book we used, there are many brands available, some may be even better:
www.amazon.co.uk/Achieve-Maths-Practice-Questions-Level/dp/1783394137/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1409584172&sr=8-3&keywords=achieve%20level%204%20maths&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

However, if private entrance tests are your goal, it might be better to look for a tutor who prepares children for those specific tests. These entrance tests seem to be very different from year 6 sats for instance.

[Serendipity30]

My DD did well until she entered Year 4, however what I found difficult was that once she entered Year 4, they no longer did any home work as the school changed their policy, however the had a good teacher then. And since Year 4 parents are no longer told what level their children have achieved at the end of the Year. However a school teacher friend of mine told me that DD is 4a at the moment in English and Maths. She does well in both subjects but prefers English. Level 5 was a dud year as she had a teacher who was not very good or approachable. I think she is capable of achieving Level 5 but im not sure if it is feasible in such a short space of time.

[Serendipity30]

Thank you HolidayPackingIsHardWork that is really encouraging, at the moment, I do some extra work with DD at home, and I will have a look at those books. I do feel that DD coasted alot this year and did not achieve what she could have and she feels the same. She asked me to help her with her maths at home as she had lost confidence in this, she previously attended extension maths at school but they stopped doing this.

[Hakluyt]

What sort of tests are you working towards?

[Serendipity30]

Thanks tiggytape Overall my DD is likly to take the local authority test and one other test for the private school we are interested in. They both seem to be english, maths and the other verbal reasoning as well. DD has been practising some of these. I am cautious about pushing too hard, but I would not push at all if I didnt think she was able to do this. My concern is the time restraint,

[Hakluyt]

You need to know exactly what she needs to do and get practice papers and work on them rather than on NC levels. You don't have much time- you need to focus on essentials.

[Serendipity30]

How often would you say she should do the practice papers?

[HolidayPackingIsHardWork]

RoseBud360, you might find the +11 Forum a useful place to have a "nose around."

www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/index.php

Your strategy all depends on where you live and which schools you are aiming for. Their forum has chat boards based on each county/area, and I think this might be helpful.

[Hakluyt]

Oh, but be very careful there- some of the people are seriously scary! And the OP only has a couple of months.

[HolidayPackingIsHardWork]

Yes, it is a little intense, but if you lurk in there (as I do ) you can glean a lot of information about your area/schools quickly. But yes, don't jump in head first!

[faitaccompli]

If you are not practicing the correct papers for the schools in which you are interested, you honestly are unlikely to succeed. You really do need to visit the 11+ forum - which I actually found to be a life saver in terms of getting my son into a selective school at very short notice.

On that forum you will get honest and accurate advice about which papers you should be purchasing so that your child can practice the areas which will come up on the day.