Parents can sometimes be so focused on wanting their child to go to Grammar school, as they feel that Secondary schools are going to fail their child: due to the growing levels of poor behaviour in classrooms; lowering numbers of teaching staff; reduced support staff; and schools now using unqualified teachers and ex-students: that they forget that their child will not succeed if they cannot grasp the basics first. 

Basics - All children need to have a firm understanding of:

Timestables 1- 12, addition, multiplication, subtraction, division, long mulitplication, fractions, basic equations, shapes, area, volume, reflection of shapes, probability, decimals, percentages and more. Reading level of at least age 14 and a competent ability to spell. If they cannot do these and in a set time frame, they will not be successful at the 11+. 

It is therefore key that by the time they get to the end of Year 4, that they are very capable at the above topics. If they are not you must take action now, in order to prevent them from struggling and being left behind. 

Remember only good teachers are able to differentiate. When your child is with 30+ other children and they are all at different levels of understanding, no teacher can accommodate all their needs. 

Don't make the mistake of thinking that your child's teacher should be enough.

Your child is going to need your continued support. 

Reading: Your child, by the time he/she leaves Primary school must be at least 4 years above their own age, if they are going to be set in a good set at KS3. Only students who have a reading age of 14 years and above will be considered for top sets. 

Children that have low reading ages are not able to access exam questions and understand key concepts as quickly, their attainment drops, their behaviour becomes poor, as they feel frustrated and it leads to many other issues that need not arise. So if your child cannot read, doesn't read well, is slow at reading or simply doesn't read enough: this is something that must be rectified immediately. 

The KS2 tests: English reading, English Comprehension, English spelling, English punctuation. Math: Mental math, and three Math papers. All these papers are completed over one week at the beginning of May in Year 6. 

Health:

I'm sorry however, I'm going to state the obvious now:

All children should be eating a healthy diet. This has been scientifically proven to improve childrens ability to focus, maintain concentration and reduce the amount of hyperactivity that they have. 

Children that are constantly eating sweets, drinking energy drinks will not be able to focus, will be hyperactive followed by periods of tiredness and mood swings. They are unable to sit still or concentrate for long periods of time and this then often results in children being misdiagnosed by schools with ADHD and other SEND needs when actually what they really need is an appropriate diet. 

Multi vitamins are very important, so if your child does not eat enough fruit and vegetables please ensure that they take a multi vitamin once per day. This keeps the body and therfore the mind healthy. 

​Plenty of water throughout every day too, so that their cells are functioning properly, carrying out all the important processes for a healthy life.

"Everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish on how well it can climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it's stupid"

Albert Einstein