anyone with kids in p6? exam help plz!!

happymummy24-7

hi everyone,
our daughter is currently in p6 and we are just starting with the test papers in school (which i think is brill considering i know some schools are choosing not to do this!) and i am hoping for some advice from other parents in the same boat and hopefully those of you who have already gone through the process and waiting for your placement letters!
My daughter is in the top groups for english and maths although struggles with her math and is known to make some really silly mistakes with her english by not reading the question properly! Alot of other kids already have tutors and im wondering if we should do this too,would it give her confidence or cause extra stress? also my hubby was made redundant 3 weeks ago and im not working so money is squeezed tight at the moment! however if i thought it would help considerably i would walk over hot coals to raise the extra cash lol.
she wants to goto Regent house which i feel worried about-if she needs extra help to pass this exam how will she cope in a school like that,but on the other hand the amount of pushing and standards of work in the school will perhaps drive her to work to her full-i completly support her in whatever she chooses by the way but at 10 i think mum and dad still have abit of a say into whats best
Im just looking for someone to give me the magic answers really,if i get extra papers and we do one a day extra say,will she steadily improve,if i get her a tutor will she excell,also my own maths is shocking so i struggle to help her and feel i let her down by not knowing how to explain things to her!
as an example by the way they did their first test the other day and she got 47% in her maths and 76% english however one of the smartest kids in the class got 52% in maths so i was hoping they are all just learning the way of the papers and will all improve!
please help
laura x

leftieM

I'm not in your situation yet as my children are still young but I have seen my friends pay for tuition in order to get their kids into grammars. They've all managed it. Maybe it's just my perception, but it seems that more kids get tutored than don't!

I tutor A-level pupils and, from the tutor's perspective, the advantages of one-to-one coaching are that the child's confidence is boosted and you can see exactly where they are struggling and you can spend the time to sort it out. I'll certainly pay for it when it's my children's turn.

When you get a tutor, the most important thing is that they have a good relationship with your child - your child needs to feel able to ask them questions and tell them if they don't understand anything. Also watch out for anyone who doesn't get your child doing a lot of work - most of the tutorial should be about practising questions and discussing the answers.

Good luck. It'll be worth it in the end.

happymummy24-7

thanks for the speedy response
what are your views on children who get tutored and then get into a grammar-do they then need tutoring to keep them up to standard or do they get taught at the level they can cope with and have the teachers do the tutoring!?
Would you have a rough estimate of how much a tutor will cost and how many days or hours a week we would be needing?
I have to admit im having panic attacks over the AQE's ect im so worried mostly because i dont understand it and just wish we still had 11+ at least then the schools are all singing of the same sheet!
I also have 2 other daughters who im guessing will probably goto the same school as the eldest so its their future at stake aswell!
thanks again.

Ex-Spendaholic

Hi

Having just come out the other side of this ie a child in P7 I don't envy your position.

Personally I do not agree with tutoring. I believe if a child is bright they will pass whatever exams they need in order to get into a grammar school. However, having found ourselves in the position where the primary school washed their hands off the tests and didn't do the preparation for the tests I had a touch decision to make. I was fully aware of other schools who were doing 3 tests per week from the February of P6 and running after school clubs. In my mind these children were therefore already at an advantage over the kids in our school who at the end of the day would be competing for the same grammar school places. :eek:

My child has excelled the whole way through primary school and always got good marks. I took the decision to get a tutor as I felt I had to do my best for him as the primary school were not. We went to the tutor and she assessed him. She immediately told me he did not need tutoring and was in the top 10%. I begged her to take him for my own peace of mind.

He went once a week and I did a few papers a week with him. Again my maths isn't the greatest. My tutor charged £25 per hour and this seems to be the going rate.

I will say though that if the school had done the work then I wouldn't have even considered a tutor.

Good luck what ever you decided.

AQE and the PTTC are meeting on Monday night to decide whether they are going to join forces and have the one test this year rather than the 2, so keep watching the press.

Choco

Personally I dont believe in paying for tutoring for 11+ or these new exams. When my kids were that age I set a time each week made them do a test paper, marked it and then went over their errors. They all pasted their 11+ and got into Grammar school. 2 now at Uni and 1 going all been well 2011. However, I have to admit I paid for tutoring when 1 was doing his "A" levels (his teacher was hopeless) and it was well worth it.

leftieM

happymummy24-7 wrote: »

thanks for the speedy response
what are your views on children who get tutored and then get into a grammar-do they then need tutoring to keep them up to standard or do they get taught at the level they can cope with and have the teachers do the tutoring!?
Would you have a rough estimate of how much a tutor will cost and how many days or hours a week we would be needing?

The grammar kids are all mixed ability in some way or another. You have kids with C's who are in the top 5% of their year, you have kids with A's that are unmotivated and just fall behind. Kids develop at different rates, there may be a death or divorce that unsettles them or their confidence my be raised by being in the grammar system and they start to blossom. Lack of hard work and motivation is much more of an issue than lack of ability.

You'd certainly be wasting your money tutoring a child at KS3 in my opinion. It might be worth it at GCSE but save your dollars for when they start AS level and they fall off a cliff academically speaking!

If your child is borderline A then I reckon an hour every 2-3 weeks would be enough, and keep it up over the summer. Let the tutor guide you on that one.

happymummy24-7

thanks so much for the help,it helps so much

Can anyone tell me where to get copys of the test papers so we can do extra at home?
Also i recall a little book my mum bought me that explained how to do things eg what prime numbers are and percentages ect it was only little but it helped me out! What would be a good wee book that i could buy her perhaps off amazon-i did search but wasnt sure what one would best suit her,there are so many but i want the best one that will explain how things are done!!!
thanks all :beer:

Ex-Spendaholic

You can buy sets of papers in Easons. I can't remember exactly but I think they were £5.50 for 6 (or something like that). Your school will probably sell packs too.

No matter which papers you buy double check the answers. I fell foul to just marking using the answer sheet until my child argued with me one night that a particular question I had marked wrong was actually right. OH and I did the question and found that the answer sheet was wrong. There were several occurences of this so beware.

Willyk

FYI From the online Belly Telly (Click on Education Section)

Northern Ireland’s grammar schools have failed to reach agreement on running a single entrance test exam for P7 pupils later this year, it can be revealed today.

Pupils currently in P6 will again face choosing between two exam systems this autumn - or sitting both - if they want to compete for entry to the grammar schools.

happymummy24-7

i suspected this would be the outcome willyk,we have a meeting with our school next monday when they will be revealing this info lol. can i just ask-im abit confused with the 2 exams,is one the paper basically with the maths and english mixed that they write the answer to (this is what my school have been doing) and the other a muliple choice ( i could be completley wrong on that so sorry,i really dont know!) if so i will have to find out about the second test as our school hasnt mentioned this one!!
on a good note i got a tutor! our next door neighbour is a maths wizz,did her gcse math in 1st year and is curently sitting her gcse's and doing her math a level!!! so we will be having some 'friendly approchable' help for daughter-an hour a week just- and hopefully this will build her confidence so im feeling a little less scared lol.
i would like to ask our school as many questions as i can-but dont want to look silly,lol-so what sort of things should i be asking- i dont even know what is a good mark anymore lol they are marking the tests in % so i cant work out what would be the old A and B marks now as its in numbers!!

BOBS

happymummy - I am in same position as you - DD1 in p6 and starting to do practice papers in school. Always said i wasnt going to panic when it came to transfer exam but I am finding it a bit hard not to.