Good luck to this year’s 11 Plus children!
It’s the Calderdale schools 11 plus exam this weekend. Gook luck to all the Satchel children taking the test, you’ve all worked really hard and we know you’ll do well. Here are a few of the children in Huddersfield class celebrating their final class before the test.
- Published in 11 Plus
BLOG: Back to school with Satchel
Even though the sun is currently shining and the summer days are long, in the back of their mind, every parent knows that the dreaded ‘back to school’ is lurking on the horizon.
You may not yet have bought the new school-approved shoes, uniform, pens, pencil cases, protractors and all the other school paraphernalia yet, but now might be a good time to consider your child’s education as the enter the new school term.
Did you know that your child’s levels, particularly in maths, tend to drop considerably during the summer holidays? That’s why their new teacher will typically spend several weeks reviewing the previous year’s topics at the start of term. Has your child been finding a subject at school challenging in the past year? Are they achieving their expected levels in maths and English?
Improve maths and English
Whatever your current situation, at Satchel Learning we can help. Whether your child has been struggling at school or is currently at their top of the class, we provide tailor-made programmes to help your child improve their maths and English. We can also prepare them for 11 plus exams, SATs, school exams and GCSEs.
Your journey in Satchel starts with a free assessment. This is designed to identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses, and help your tutor understand your goals.
Once you decide to go ahead, your child will attend a Satchel class once a week either in person or on Zoom, and also complete individually-designed Satchel materials to work on their maths and English. Satchel courses follow the national curriculum and are designed for children of all ages and abilities.
Spelling and vocabulary
In maths, children study materials from…
- Number module – with a focus on mental arithmetic and calculation skills.
- Reasoning module – word questions and booklets helping children understand maths at a deeper level.
- Shape module – from identifying simple 2D shape all the way through to trigonometry.
- Measure module – including time, money and units of measurement.
In English, children spend the majority of their time on the Reading and Comprehension modules, developing their reading skills and learning to answer questions from a passage. They also work on the Writing module (from short pieces of writing through the GCSE standard questions), Spelling and Vocabulary modules, as well as the Grammar module.
If you would like to find out more information about how Satchel Learning can support your child’s learning, please get in touch.
Read more: BLOG: The importance of corrections and the 11 plus
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BLOG: The importance of corrections and the 11 plus
At the time of writing, the 11 plus examination is less than two months away for my Year 5 children.
As they approach the test, their typical workload moves away from Satchel booklets (which are normally used to introduce them to new topics and improve their mastery of them) and towards more test-based work.
My experience is that this can be crucial time in the 11 plus process. Children improve enormously between year 5 and 6 as they prepare for entrance exams in Satchel, and it’s vital to keep these improvements going in the run up to the tests.
Corrections are an integral part of the Satchel Learning method for all children. I always stress that it’s fine to make mistakes in their booklets. If they never make mistakes, they are clearly completing work which is too easy for them.
Errors
But children must then work on their errors. Were the mistakes caused simply by concentration (children are often asked to complete a high number of questions in a Satchel booklet to help them develop fluency), or by a misunderstanding of the topic?
If the latter, it is vital that any misunderstanding is addressed before they move onto more demanding booklets.
In the build-up to the 11 plus, corrections take on additional importance. In a practice maths paper, they will be asked to work on multiple topics under challenging time conditions. Are children able to correct their errors as soon as they look at them? If so, that would indicate an issue with concentration or speed of working. In that case they may benefit from more time-based practice.
Satchel booklets
If, however, they are confused by the topic itself, they may benefit from additional help in class and / or more Satchel booklets.
It is not easy to gain a place at a grammar school. The number of children taking the test continues to increase and the spread of marks is extremely small. One or two marks can be the difference between gaining a place and missing out. It is vital that all children learn from the errors and continue to improve all the way through the process.
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