This is sponsored content with Enjoy Education.
If you’re a parent of a child sitting the 11+ or Pre-test next academic year, you’re not alone in wondering how you can find the right balance this Summer between preparation and relaxation.
At Enjoy Education, we’ve worked with hundreds of families preparing for school entrance exams. Take a look at Kate Shand’s advice for using the Summer to best prepare for the 11+:
Arrange the right support
Every child is different and will need a different approach to covering new content or staying on top of their learning. Making sure you’re focusing on the right areas means you can avoid wasting time, so your child has more opportunity to enjoy the Summer months.
For some children, focused learning with a tutor on a specific area for an hour a day, e.g. non-verbal reasoning, will be the best solution, while for others, regular practice papers will be what they need to be prepared ahead of the Autumn term.
If you’re not quite sure what your child needs, we highly recommend sitting an Academic Assessment ahead of the Summer. Led by an experienced teacher, our Assessments are a great way to understand your child’s academic strengths and areas for improvement, so you can build an informed and effective 11+ strategy for Summer and beyond.
Encourage wide reading
Schools love to meet interesting, passionate students who can bring something to the school above and beyond pure academics.
The best way to prepare for interview is to help your child keep learning and building knowledge and interests over the holidays. Keep them reading widely, or if they’re not a big reader, learning can happen via podcasts or short form writing in children’s news sources such as The Week Junior.
Reading is also the most effective way to build vocabulary naturally, which is an important part of the English assessments in both the 11+ and Pre-test.
Get stuck into passion projects
Another great way to prepare for interview is to take on passion projects. This could be building on something your child is already interested in or trying something completely new. From sewing a dress to building a rocket or presenting a research project to the family on the environment, these projects are fantastic to demonstrate your child’s unique interests and skills at interview.
Students can take these on with a parent, in a group of friends or with a specialist tutor. At Enjoy, we have an incredibly talented range of tutors who are on hand to help students make their passion projects a reality this Summer – get in touch for support creating a bespoke passion project for your family!
Keep learning going on holiday
If you’re travelling over most of the Summer, that doesn’t mean your child can’t keep learning while enjoying their holiday. This can either be led by parents, e.g. sitting down to go through exercises for an hour each morning, or by tutors you are working with.
We’re working with lots of families this Summer to bring learning to life with residential tutors joining them at home or on their travels around the world, both online and in person. Travelling tutors can be a good way to keep the focus on preparing for exams, while also using travels to inspire learning and cultural understanding in the places you’re visiting.
For parents staying in London, we work with some fantastic specialists who can bring the wonderful museums and galleries at our fingertips to life with guided tours and learning opportunities.
Find the right balance
The most important thing to remember is to keep the right balance. You don’t want to undo the progress they’ve made by having too much time off, but you also don’t want children to overdo it before exams even begin.
Our advice: discover what your child needs to focus on and how they can best reach their goals, and build this into regular, manageable chunks of learning throughout the Summer. While it’s important to have one or two full weeks off, regular practice and engagement with tricky areas for an hour or two each morning will give your child the ability to hit the new term running.
Most importantly, make sure they do have plenty of down time and fun to balance out preparation. The 11+ and Pre-test is a marathon, not a sprint; slow and steady wins the race!
If you’re not sure where to start, we’re here to support you. Our team works closely with 11+ and Pre-test families each year to build bespoke timetables and help them plan their Summer for maximum impact.
We’re here to help you make the most of your Summer. Get in touch with our specialist entrance exams team for advice and resources, either by email or by phone +44 (0)20 7352 8800.
This is sponsored content with Enjoy Education.
