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When do you start preparing for school entrance exams? Structured preparation for one year before the exams is a good idea. Carefully paced preparation over a 12 month period should be sufficient, without running the risk of your child becoming bored or 'over prepared'.
Opinions vary on whether children should be intensively coached to maximise their performance in entrance exams. Some favour the view that the selection process should be based on 'natural ability', and others believe that every available resource should be applied to ensure an offer from a first choice school. The majority of parents' opinions fall somewhere between the two extremes, feeling that at least some degree of preparation is both appropriate and beneficial for their children, in the period leading up to entrance exams. At the end of the day, everyone should make an informed decision about what is right for their child, and their particular circumstances.
Children who are already in the independent school sector will more than likely receive suitable preparation at school.
Find out the format of the exams for the particular school you are applying to
Obtain specimen papers or past papers from the school, if they are available
Otherwise, obtain suitable practice papers and/or workbooks for your child to work through
Ensure your child is familiar with the vocabulary used in the specimen papers, past papers and practice papers
Make sure that your child practices with a wide variety of question types
Make sure your child understands the difference between short questions where only an answer is needed, and long questions where makes are awarded for method and workings, not just a final answer
Discuss timing with your child. If a paper is one hour in length and there is a maximum of 100 marks available, that means about 36 seconds per mark as a rough guide
Encourage your child to take extra care with spelling and punctuation
Word games, puzzles and logic problems can be a fun way to practice logical thinking and broaden vocabulary
Mental arithmetic skills are extremely useful. Children should know tables up to 12 reliably, and be able to add and subtract at least 3 digit numbers quickly and accurately.
Whatever style of preparation you opt for, the key to making the exams and the selection process less stressful is for both you and your child to know what to expect. Get as much information from the school as you can, in plenty of time. Many independent schools now require applicants to register and pay an administration fee at least one year before planned entry. The school will normally provide quite a detailed description of how an assessment day or exam day is structured. Claudine M Smith is a Maths tutor with over 12 years experience of tutoring children for common entrance and independent school entrance exams, as well as KS2 SAT, GCSE, IGCSE and A Levels. For more information and advice about preparing for entrance exams and Maths tuition you can visit http://witneymathstutors.co.uk
Opinions vary on whether children should be intensively coached to maximise their performance in entrance exams. Some favour the view that the selection process should be based on 'natural ability', and others believe that every available resource should be applied to ensure an offer from a first choice school. The majority of parents' opinions fall somewhere between the two extremes, feeling that at least some degree of preparation is both appropriate and beneficial for their children, in the period leading up to entrance exams. At the end of the day, everyone should make an informed decision about what is right for their child, and their particular circumstances.
Children who are already in the independent school sector will more than likely receive suitable preparation at school.
Find out the format of the exams for the particular school you are applying to
Obtain specimen papers or past papers from the school, if they are available
Otherwise, obtain suitable practice papers and/or workbooks for your child to work through
Ensure your child is familiar with the vocabulary used in the specimen papers, past papers and practice papers
Make sure that your child practices with a wide variety of question types
Make sure your child understands the difference between short questions where only an answer is needed, and long questions where makes are awarded for method and workings, not just a final answer
Discuss timing with your child. If a paper is one hour in length and there is a maximum of 100 marks available, that means about 36 seconds per mark as a rough guide
Encourage your child to take extra care with spelling and punctuation
Word games, puzzles and logic problems can be a fun way to practice logical thinking and broaden vocabulary
Mental arithmetic skills are extremely useful. Children should know tables up to 12 reliably, and be able to add and subtract at least 3 digit numbers quickly and accurately.
Whatever style of preparation you opt for, the key to making the exams and the selection process less stressful is for both you and your child to know what to expect. Get as much information from the school as you can, in plenty of time. Many independent schools now require applicants to register and pay an administration fee at least one year before planned entry. The school will normally provide quite a detailed description of how an assessment day or exam day is structured. Claudine M Smith is a Maths tutor with over 12 years experience of tutoring children for common entrance and independent school entrance exams, as well as KS2 SAT, GCSE, IGCSE and A Levels. For more information and advice about preparing for entrance exams and Maths tuition you can visit http://witneymathstutors.co.uk
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