Best way to prep for grammar school entry in Year 3

mark1234567890

Evening all,

Our son is starting Reception class in Sept (if the pandemic is over by then) and we're already thinking about secondary school. We would love for him to go to a grammar school and found that there is a grammar school where we live that offers entry in Year 3. I have talked to some of the pupils from the school and they all said that the Year 3 entrance exam is much easier than the Year 7 entrance exam. However, the school website does not publish past papers for Year 3 entry.

Does anyone know how we can help our son to prepare for such an entrance exam in Year 3? Has anyone on here been through the process and been successful?

Thanks,

Mark

Spendless

I don't live in a Grammar school area but from  what I've read in the past, my understanding is many parents use private tutoring to prepare their child/ren for Grammar school entrance exams. I suspect that the tutors in your area will be aware of the yr3 entry Grammar school and some are likely to have tutored pupils in the past. I'd try contacting some. 

JamoLew

I would suggest that you don't prep at all.
Our son went to a grammar school and it was easy to spot the prepp'd students at parents evenings.
If the child can't get in on their own merits, they will struggle once in

flea72

Grammar schools that take from Y3 tend to be private, fee paying.  They are not the same as (state funded) grammar schools aimed at children of higher ability

silvercar

I'm sure it is easier in year 3, smaller number of parents wanting to pay an extra 4 years school fees! 

Fireflyaway

I live in an area where we have grammar schools but entrance is at year 7. I've never heard of a grammar school that starts at year 3. Is this a state run grammar school? It sounds quite unusual. 
I used to work in school admissions and the pressure some people out on their kids to get into a grammar school was unbelievable. Parents would also lie about where they lived, use fake addresses and parents of no faith would even attend church for a period of time to try to get into certain schools. Sorry I'm rambling! 
In my childs year group at a state primary, only 4 children qualified for grammar school. They had all been tutored for considerable periods of time. One 3 times a week since reception! 
I agree with the other posters. If your son achieves the required marks by his own ability that's great but if it's tutoring that gets him there, there is a chance he is going to find grammar school tough. I didn't qualify for grammar school but was one of the more able kids in all my classes ( with the exception of maths!) and came out with ok grades. I know I'd would rather be doing well in an upper school than feeling inadequate in a grammar school. You need to be happy and have self confidence to learn well. I'm not saying however that extra support is wrong full stop. In years 4-6 my son was falling behind in maths. We sent him along to a local maths class once a week after school. Now in year 9 he is far more confident in his ability and is on track to sit higher maths. Don't under estimate the importance of non academic skills. Reslience, common sense, emotional intelligence are going to serve him well too. No point being a straight A ( grade 9 ha ha!) student if you lack confidence, are lazy and lack life skills. Academic education only gets you so far. 

peachyprice

You don't need to prepare for Prep School,  they'll take your money regardless of your child's ability.

Fireflyaway

peachyprice said:

You don't need to prepare for Prep School,  they'll take your money regardless of your child's ability.

I thought OP was meaning they want their son to attend a state maintained grammar school? Or are you suggesting they send him to a fee paying prep school to prepare him to get into a state grammar? I do know of people who have done that. 

Madmel

I can't believe this.  Your child is in Reception and you are already stressing about grammar schools?  Poor child!

I teach in a state grammar school that both my DCs attended so I do know something about it.  I can spot a tutored child easily.  They are often inflexible in their thinking and reasoning because they have been drilled in how to answer particular types of questions.  It doesn't do them any favours, and as a previous poster has said, they quickly develop feelings of inadequacy because once they have passed the exam, the tutoring stops.  My DCs were not tutored.  We worked through some off-the-shelf books from WH Smiths before the exams to get them used to the types of questions, probably for about 9 months once a week until the exam.

If you really want to help your DC, read with them every day.  When they read to you, ask them questions about the text.  Are they simply reading the letters in a formulaic manner or do they understand what they are reading?  What do they think might happen next?  Ask them about something that was described 2 pages ago.  Can they remember the details?  Do age-appropriate number work with them.  It's a long time ago now but when my DC were young we used to play number games, first using number bonds up to 5, then 10, then using times tables.  I'm not saying it was down to this, but both have top grade A levels in Maths & Further Maths so it can't have done them any harm.  Take your DC out to places.  Look at the plants.  If you & they don't know the name of it, look it up.  How many petals does the flower have?  What colour is it?  How tall is it?  Basically spark their curiosity about the world around them and foster a love of learning.  There is plenty of time for cramming later.

pollypenny

Poor child!  Let him enjoy his childhood and support the school he is at now. 

fred246

It's a fascinating subject but really sad. The big problem with grammar schools are the people who don't get in who are scarred for the rest of their lives. Grammar schools should be scrapped. There is no need to socially divide people in this way. People are obsessed about which school their child goes to. I remember calculating that a child is at school for less than 10% of the time. School can't have that much influence. Colleagues of mine were paying thousands of pounds. I asked them why. What was their thinking. Better exam results. Well it is a selective school. They take the top 50%. It would be bad if their exam results aren't better. No more analysis than that and they spent enormous sums. I remember one colleague who worked every weekend to send his children to private school. So he never saw his own children. Just thought paying for a school was everything.