Many young people will have spent the past year, if not longer, preparing for the upcoming 11 Plus exams meaning children, tutors and parents alike are more than au fait with the likes of verbal reasoning practice papers. The summer holidays mark the “home stretch” of revision as well as a much-needed period of relaxation before the exams and the start of a new school year but for some, the sense of exam anxiety will linger.

Nerves, stress and anxiety can play a huge role in exam performance, meaning all the preparation in the world can be futile if children aren’t prepared mentally and emotionally for an exam environment. In this post we aim to help you understand the causes, signs and coping techniques to help ease your child’s nerves and better their chances of success when they sit their 11 Plus.

So What Triggers 11 Plus Exam Anxiety?

Exam or test anxiety is quite a common form of stress that occurs before, during and sometimes after exams. It is commonly triggered by:

• A feeling of unpreparedness in the lead up to exams
• Excess pressure to succeed or fear of disappointing others – either stemming from self-placed pressure or from family and teachers
• A feeling of inadequacy 

It can also be triggered by less obvious factors, like the manifestation of emotions following a big life transition. Whatever the reason, exam anxiety can take its toll mentally, emotionally and physically, which doesn’t put young people in good stead for a high-pressure exam environment. Spotting and managing stress can be crucial to your child’s success.

Tell Tale Signs That Your Child May Be Struggling With Exam Anxiety

You know your child better than anyone so will likely be able to spot if their behaviour is different than normal and establish whether something may be playing on their mind, like 11 plus exam anxiety. But a few tell tale signs to look out for include:

• A short temper or notably more irritable than usual
• Uncharacteristically quiet or withdrawn
• Skin breakouts or rashes
• A shift in appetite – either comfort eating or a sudden disinterest in food
• Nail biting or teeth grinding
• Difficulty sleeping
• Frequent use of negative language like ‘stupid’ or ‘rubbish’ to refer to themselves, eluding to a feeling of inadequacy
• Actively avoiding school

How can Parents Help Manage The Stress and Prepare Children For An Exam Environment?

Building up the knowledge and skills a child needs to confidently sit the 11 Plus takes time but implementing the following techniques can be done quickly and easily to help them manage exam stress, nervousness and anxiety, and put them in good stead for September. 

In The Lead Up to the 11 Plus Exam

Promote healthy study habits

We all want the best for our children so there can be a tendency among parents to overdo it with practice papers and excess revision, which only feeds into the stress and pressure to do well. Simple changes like the below will help promote healthy study and balance, setting your child up for success.

Take regular breaks

Ensure there are regular opportunities for breaks from study to give them time to reset an unwind in between papers.

Encourage exercise

This could be anything from a short walk outdoors to a very active sport like tennis but encouraging exercise can help boost energy levels, clear the mind and alleviate stress. Group activities that provide an opportunity to interact with others are particularly positive during a stressful period. 

Adapt to your child’s learning style

Some children find it easier to study with background music on or in an environment with natural background noise, where others prefer silence. Either way, remember to be flexible to your child’s individual learning style.

Keep practising

You’ll likely have been doing practice papers with your child for a while now but one additional measure to consider is giving your child the opportunity to do practice papers in a timed and silent environment. That way, your child won’t be unfamiliar with exam conditions and subject to additional stress when the 11 Plus comes around.

Positive reinforcement

This is a tip that should carry throughout the exam process. Children experiencing exam anxiety are more likely to manage their stress if they feel supported by parents, tutors and teachers.

Express yourself

Encourage your child to talk openly about how they’re feeling in the lead up to the 11 Plus. Expressing their feelings can help them to rationalise their nerves and gives you the opportunity to tackle matters head on and offer advice to help minimise their anxiety. If they find it difficult to express themselves verbally, encouraging them to write down a couple of lines about their concerns, or draw something that visualises their feelings can help as a first step.

Meditate

There are a lot of useful resources online that explain the best breathing techniques to self-soothe and calm nerves during stressful periods. Practising these with your child in the lead up to exams can be hugely beneficial as they can then implement these techniques and manage stress if nerves kick in in a test environment.

On 11 Plus Exam Day

On the day of the 11 Plus exam, children may need to venture outside of their beloved Coco Pops and have a more balanced breakfast that will sustain them throughout the exam. There’s not much that can be done by way of revision on the journey to school but there are lots of opportunities to give your child positive reminders that will help ease their nerves:

Remind children of their strengths

There’s no use in a child dwelling on the areas they feel less confident but pointing out the areas they excel in may help give them a confidence boost going into the exam.

Give a good luck charm

If possible, give your child a small good luck charm to take into their exam with them. Although there may not be a science behind good luck charms, having a token of good luck can help to increase confidence and self-belief during an exam. It also acts as a reminder that you’re thinking of them which is equally important.

Show your pride

It may sound obvious but remind your child that you’re proud of them regardless of how the test goes. This may sound obvious but as parents we often get caught up in wanting our children to do well that this simple step gets forgotten and the great weight of high expectations can often play a role mentally and affect exam performance. Helping to lift some of that pressure will in turn help alleviate 11 plus exam anxiety.

Use remaining time wisely

Remind children to re-read questions and answers if they have time to spare at the end.

A helpful reminder

Remind children that everyone finishes at different times but finishing slower doesn’t translate to poor performance.

After The 11 Plus Exam Is Done

Once the exam is over, the wait for results begins and that in itself can be just as nerve wracking. If your child is upset after the exam, take the opportunity to talk through the areas they feel they may have gone wrong so you can talk them through how to tackle future exams. This also allows you to identify areas where they might need the support of a tutor in future.

The end of the last exam is also a good time to remind your children and yourselves that dwelling on performance won’t help matters and if things haven’t gone to plan, that doesn’t mean the end of the line. 

The biggest thing you can do to relax your child(ren) after their last exam is to praise them for having done their best (because ultimately that’s the most important thing) and try to mark the end of the exams as a celebration to end this period on a positive note.

Useful resources:

Meditation techniques to self-calm during exams

Suggested breakfasts for exam day

The post Preparing Children For Their 11 Plus And Managing Exam Anxiety appeared first on Hampstead and Frognal Tutors.

With school entrance exams and GCSE and A Level mocks just around the corner, you may be wondering how to help your child with exam revision over the Christmas break. No student wants to be glued to their books during yuletide activities, so here are a few suggestions to make holiday schoolwork a little less Grinch-like.

Little and often is key

For children taking the 11+ or the 13+ in January, it is sensible to set aside a little time every day, or every other day, for revision. With younger children, it is important to keep things ticking over as tricky mathematical methods and difficult spellings are easily forgotten over the Christmas break. Short, regular revision sessions are likely to be more effective —and more fun —thanlong stints sitting at a desk.

Plan some treats

Whether it is a trip to the ice rink or a visit to some Christmas markets, make sure to intersperse revision with some festive outings. A few rewards will provide more motivation to study and —more importantly —give children the chance to enjoy their well earned school holiday.  

Get the whole family involved

Nothing is worse than hearing everyone having fun together in the kitchen as you sit staring at a page of trigonometry. Revision doesn’t have to a solitary affair, however: take the time to quiz your child on arithmetic and spelling, and encourage other members of the family —older siblings, aunts, grandparents —to do the same. A maths problem shared is a maths problem halved.

Try to inject some yuletide cheer

Although an 11+ past paper may be the least festive thing known to man, do your best to make it fun. Hunt down some Christmas maths quizzes, or find a Noel themed English comprehension passage. Schoolwork will never be as enjoyable as eating mince pies, but it doesn’t have to be chore.

Schedule in some private tuition

If you have decided to hire a tutor, it is a good idea to timetable in a couple of lessons during the Christmas break. Whether your child is struggling with a particular topic, or is experiencing pre-exam nerves, a tutor will boost their confidence and help clear up their confusion before school starts again in January.  

Play games

For young students, sometimes a game of Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit is just as worthwhile as agonising over a non-verbal reasoning test. Anything that keeps children’s brains active over the holiday is sure to be a good thing —plus Christmas is a time for families to spend quality time together.

Draw up a timetable

If your child has GCSE or A Level mocks in January, encourage them to make a timetable. It is hard for teenagers to know how much progress they are making over the holidays, and a timetable will make them feel like they are making real headway. It is important to be realistic — don’t let them schedule in 14 hours of Chemistry revision on Christmas Eve. But scheduling in a few hours in every day — and marking in some work-free days — is a great way for teenagers to make the most of the Christmas break.  

Set some goals

Whether your child is about to sit the 11+ or an A Level exam, think about some key objectives they should aim to achieve over the holiday. These don’t have to be detailed, but it will help to avoid panic later in the day, and fill your child with a real sense of achievement once Christmas comes to an end.

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Wondering how to help your child excel in their exams? Here are some useful exam tips on how to optimise revision time and how to keep stress to a minimum.

1) Core understanding is crucial

Revision is very important, but if your child struggled with a subject the first time around you are fighting a losing battle. Make sure your child has a firm grasp of the basics before they get going with revision exercises. If they are about to take an 11+ exam, for example, test them regularly on each topic. Repetition is key here, so try and factor in a few questions on percentages, fractions and shapes every day, even if it is just in the car on the way to school.

2) Practice makes perfect

Some exams are very formulaic. 11+ exams, for example, test the same skills every year. It is worth investing in a large wad of practice questions, therefore, and helping your child work through them. That way, they become familiar with the format of the test and know exactly what to expect. Innate ability is not everything, and there are plenty of books on sale to give your child the practice they need.

3) Draw up a revision timetable

Nobody wants to feel like they should be working all the time. It is very useful, therefore, to allocate specific times of the day for revision. Many children are most alert and productive in the morning. If it is school holiday time, therefore, put aside an hour or so before lunch for your child to practise their spelling, creative writing or arithmetic. Research has shown we work best in 30 to 40 minute bursts, so bear this in mind when you are designing a schedule. If your child is older, encourage them to make their own revision timetable and to factor in regular breaks. It will help them to manage their time and keep on top of their work.

This BBC Bitesize page is a fantastic resource for all things related to timetabling:

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zn3497h

4) Make sure there’s time to relax

Yes, hard work always pays off. However, it is essential your child has some downtime where they can just relax and have fun. Whether they like seeing friends, baking or going to the cinema, encourage them to keep doing what they enjoy. Doing something completely different will help clear their head, ward off stress, and make the time they spend working more productive.

5) Sport can be beneficial

There’s lots of evidence that suggests physical activity can improve brain functioning. Fresh air is wonderful thing, and sport helps to reduce stress and improve sleep — the ancient saying ‘healthy body, healthy mind’ isn’t still famous for nothing. Plus, if your teenager is spending time exercising, it means they are spending time away from their phone and computer, which can only be a good thing.

6) Look into revision courses

Revision courses are proven to boost exam performance. Hampstead and Frognal Tutors run two day revision courses throughout the year in GCSE English, Maths and Science, along with 11+ English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. 13+ Revision Courses in Maths, Science and English are also available. Fun and focused, these revision courses impart both knowledge and confidence.

For more information, click here: https://hampsteadandfrognaltutors.org.uk/contact-us/

7) Don’t start revision too early

Feeling burnt out is a real risk for diligent students. If teenagers start revising too early for their GCSEs or A Levels, they are likely to peak too soon and not be at their best when exam season finally arrives.

Things are slightly different for younger students. If your child is due to sit the 11+ in the next year so, you might want to consider starting some gentle revision. For more advice on when to begin preparing, take a look at our 11+ blog post: “Can I Tutor My Own Child?”

8) Stress is contagious

Everyone wants their children to do well in school. However, children and teenagers easily sense when their parents are anxious, and often feel more stressed as a result. Sometimes you need to explain that exam results are not the most important thing in the world, and that you will be proud no matter what. Ironically, the soothing effect of these words often leads to children doing better in assessments as they approach them with less apprehension.

9) Mock exams work wonders

Regardless of how old they are, it is likely that your child will be nervous before an exam. It is sensible, therefore, to organise a mock exam before they sit the real thing. GCSE and A Level mocks teach students how to manage their time, how to keep calm under pressure and how to improve their exam technique. Younger children are often fazed by the formal nature of assessments, and a mock gives them time to adjust to the strange new set-up.

It helps if the mock takes place in an unfamiliar place and is invigilated by someone who does not know the child well. That way, the test feels more real. It is also worth noting that mark schemes can be hard to understand. If have hired a tutor, give them the answer paper to look at, as they will probably be able to mark it more accurately.

10) Consider hiring a tutor

If you have decided to employ a tutor — be it a GCSE Maths tutoror an A Level English tutor— you have probably made a good decision. One-to-one teaching is hugely powerful, particularly in the run up to exams. Whether your child needs help in a specific area, or general academic support, tutors can make a real difference.

For more information, take a look at this article which appeared in The Telegraph last year.

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You need only to glance at the shelves of a bookshop, or to skim the surface of Google, to be inundated with exam resources. As you battle your way through AQA textbooks, KS2 worksheets and ISEB syllabi, you would be forgiven for thinking that it’s not just your child who is being tested. Figuring out the acronyms is an exam in itself.

Educational material is abundant and widely available to parents. This raises the question of whether private tuition is really necessary any more. Is it worth expense? Is it worth the time and effort involved in finding someone who can enthuse your child and help them to succeed?

Private tutors have a wealth of knowledge and experience. They can tell their OCRs from their Edexels. They know 11+ examinations back-to-front, and can navigate through the maze of admissions criteria. Not all schools ask for the same thing. Entrance exams for state selective and grammar schools are often different to the tests designed by the independent sector. What is more, you can not even be sure that Westminster, London will ask the same sort of questions as St Paul’s Girls’ School, London.

Many state schools — and even some private schools — fail to adequately prepare students for what to expect. A private tutor in English, maths or other curriculum subject can give children the guidance they need and save parents the arduous and difficult task of resource-hunting.

Tutors also know where pupils commonly slip up. Take an 11+ Maths exam, for example.  ‘If April 4th was a Thursday, on what day was March 17th?’  ‘What two numbers sum to 30 and have a difference of 6?’ ‘Given that 24 76 x 165 = 408540 find 408540 ÷ 16.5’. These types of question are notorious among tutors, who have seen many a student — and the odd parent — flummoxed by date and number problems.

Private tuition in maths, English, or reasoning for example, is not purely goal-orientated, however. Children should not be turned into exam-taking machines, churning out non-verbal reasoning tests with robotic efficiency. There is only so many shape sequences you can stare at before losing the will to live, let alone to learn.

Instead, tutors can transform a student’s approach to studying. They can restore confidence when anxiety sets in. They can compensate for poor teaching at school. Perhaps most importantly, they can mentor and inspire their pupils, instilling a love of their subject in those that they tutor.

Given the valuable impact of private tuition, you may be wondering when is the best time to hire a tutor. A lot depends on the stage that your child is at.  The 11+ English, Maths and Reasoning examination requires students to have learnt all of the skills included in Key Stage 2. This is important as the exams are scheduled either during the autumn term or in the January of Year 6. As a result, pupils will only have officially completed half of the Year 6 curriculum before they sit the tests.

If you leave 11+ preparation until the start of Year 6 you do not give yourself a lot of time. Panic and stress — on your part or that of your child — is not conducive to thinking. At Hampstead and Frognal Tutors, we recommend that students start to prepare in either Year 4 or Year 5 focusing on English tuition and maths tuition to build solid foundations in number, comprehension and story writing. This does not mean that they should be grappling with verbal reasoning over breakfast or with Venn diagrams before bed from the age of eight. However, regular study sessions can make a huge difference to a child’s ability and confidence.

If the 11+ is looming, however, don’t panic! We recommend that a child who is due to start Year 6 this September should have, on average, three hours of focussed tuition per week. This should compensate for the short time span and equip your child with the skills that they need to achieve their potential.

Preparing for GCSEs and A Levels is slightly different. It is essential for teenagers to build up a rapport with their tutor and to feel supported over the course of their studies. It is often beneficial, therefore, for teenagers to be tutored regularly throughout Year 11, 12 or 13.

Regardless of what year your child is in, however, now is the perfect time to get started. The summer holidays bring free time and long days, along with the inevitable cry of ‘I’m bored!’. The lengthy break can also lead to the phenomena known as the ‘summer slide’. Various studies have concluded that literacy declines over the summer, as children replace books with beaches, computer games and iPhones.

Tuition is not the sole way to beat the summer slump. Reading is also a great way to keep things ticking over. For younger children, initiatives like the Summer Reading Challenge (https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk) showcase the joy of books and are ideal for improving literacy. For teenagers, summer is a good time to read around different subjects in preparation for the coming academic year. A good tutor would be able to draw up reading lists designed to point students in new, exciting directions.

The next time you are grappling with the differences between KS2 and KS3, whilst decoding the meanings of STEP and IB, pause for a moment. As you scan the bookshelves and plunge into the depths of Google, consider whether your energy could be better spent elsewhere. The time may have come to hire a tutor.

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The world of 11+ entrance exams can seem an intimidating one. When should children start preparing for the assessments? Do they need tutors, or can parents provide enough support by themselves? Do students sit standardised tests, or does each school assess pupils in a different way?

This blog post seeks to answer some of your questions and to show that entrance exams need not be as intimidating as they seem.

When should I start preparing my child?

Hampstead and Frognal Tutors recommends that children start to prepare for 11+ examinations in either Year 4 or Year 5. This gives ample time to familiarise them with the different assessments they will face and for children to develop the skills they need to succeed.

Much depends, however, on how quickly your child picks up new things. You don’t want them to be bored rigid with verbal reasoning before their ninth birthday. It is helpful to identify their strengths and weaknesses early on, therefore, and to home in on possible problem areas. Numerical reasoning, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, comprehension and creative writing are frequently tested at 11+ level.

It is a good idea to step up your child’s revision as the exam gets closer. If you do decide to hire a tutor, it is often beneficial to increase the amount of one-to-one tuition your child receives in the weeks coming up to an exam.

Do I need to hire a tutor?

Parents can make a valuable contribution to their child’s learning. If you have the time and knowledge to tutor your child, you may not need to bring in professional help. There are many parents who manage successfully without a tutor, particularly if both parents are not working full-time. However, if you are often at work, it can be difficult to find the time and energy to commence extra schooling.

There are many other reasons why private tuition is useful. If English is not your first language, helping your child with verbal reasoning, comprehension and creative writing can be daunting. An 11+ English tutor can help in ways that you feel you can’t. Similarly, if you are not a confident mathematician, you might find it difficult to prepare your child for numerical reasoning tests.

You may also like use a specialist tutor who, in the past, has prepared students for the same schools that you have applied to. These tutors will be familiar with the content of the various 11+ exams and know how to prepare students for the different assessments.

Online tuition can also be a fantastic and convenient resource. If you live abroad — or simply live outside of London — an online tutor can boost your child’s confidence and improve their exam performance.

What sort of tests should I prepare my child for?

There is no standardised 11+ exam that all school children sit. Instead, different schools assess children in different ways. Here is a selection of the admissions procedures adopted by London independent schools and English grammar schools:

The 11+ London Consortium (formerly known as the North London Girls’ Consortium).

This is a group of twelve independent girls’ schools in North London who collectively manage their admissions procedure. Parents typically apply for places at the same schools. The consortium seeks to make the process less arduous and more consistent across the board.

Assessment process:

• • A 70 minute cognitive ability test which is mainly multiple choice. This test incorporates mathematics, verbal and non-verbal questions.
  • A common reference form providing detailed commentary on a candidate’s academic performance.
  • An interview assessing ‘skill, aptitude and intellectual acuity’. The interviews are unique to each senior school.

• Girls sit the exam in the January of Year 6.

The schools which form the consortium are: Channing School, Francis Holland School (NW1), Francis Holland School (SW1), Godolphin and Latymer School, More House School, Northwood College, Notting Hill and Ealing School, Queen’s College London, Queen’s Gate School, South Hampstead High School, St. Helen’s School London, St. James Senior Girls’ School.

City of London School for Girls

City of London School for girls is no longer a member of the 11+ London Consortium. The school admissions process now puts greater emphasis on a child’s writing ability.

Admissions process:

• • There are no verbal or non-verbal reasoning papers.There is one Maths paper (1 hour and 15 minutes long) and one English paper (1 hour and 20 minutes long). In the English paper there are three sections — one reading and two writing.

• Girls sit the entrance exam in Year 6, at the beginning of January.

ISEB Common Pre-Test Schools

The ISEB Common Pre-Test is a standardised, age-adaptive test designed to measure a student’s ability and attainment. It is an online assessment consisting of multiple-choice questions in English, Mathematics, verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning. It takes 2 and a half hours to complete, however the sections can be completed separately. The tests can be taken either at home or at school.

A number of independent schools use this test to assess students before inviting them to take school-specific entrance exams at the age of thirteen.

Schools that use the ISEB Common Pre-Test include: Harrow, Eton College, Westminster School, Radley College, St Paul’s School, Brighton College, Bedford School.

The tests are normally taken in Year 6 or Year 7.

State Grammar Schools

There is no standardised, nation-wide test for entry into state grammar schools. Tests are set locally, either by individual schools or by consortiums of schools. If you have set your heart on a particular grammar school, therefore, it is advisable to check exactly what the exam covers.

For Henrietta Barnett School in Hampstead, for instance, there are two rounds of assessment. The first round involves verbal and numerical reasoning, whilst the second round involves an English and Mathematics test.

School admissions procedures are something of a maze. However, with the right information and support, it isn’t difficult to find the right path. Good luck!

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Exam season is upon us, and parents everywhere are seeing their children struggle with revision.

Revision is really hard to do. It has the pressure of a looming deadline, the requirement to try and remember what seems like an insurmountable stack of information, and the fear having to write it all out in an exam in precisely timed chunks. For younger children it is especially difficult – avoiding distraction, and even understanding why this torture has to be undergone produces the possibility for a constant battleground with parents.

How to revise is a very individual process, based on learning style and various other factors. Some children work well with flash cards, others with reciting the text, and others by putting up paper on every available wall. Although these techniques can be perfected (especially with the help of a tutor), trying to write an all encompassing ‘guide’ in a blog would be at best, useless, and at worst misleading.

However, there are some broad elements of revision that can be adjusted to optimise your child’s revision and learning capacity. I’m confident that parents are already doing many of the points below. However, if the quality of these points can be improved then it could make all the difference.

5 revision tips to help your child succeed in exam season.

1. Revision Space

A child needs a set space, which is free from distractions in which to revise. The continuity will help concentration. If possible, it should be somewhere that is calm, and doesn’t have any distractions nearby (such as computers, or siblings!) Kitchen tables and open spaces are fine as long as there is calm in the room whilst the child is working.

2. Revision Timetable

Put together a revision timetable in advance with your child. Again, continuity is the key – copying the timings of school day is a not a bad approach. Make sure that there is a copy of the timetable somewhere public (kitchen etc) that can be ticked off – giving a sense of achievement. This is very important to stop the overwhelming feeling! The timetable must be rigidly stuck to – no last minute excuses from children (or parents!) This is why drawing it up together is important.

3. Sleep

This is possibly the most important aspect of good revision. Research from Harvard has found that consolidated sleep for a whole night is optimal for memory. In addition, lack of sleep hugely affects attention and concentration. A slightly sleepy 13 year old has been shown to have cognitive function of a child two years younger. One of the key things to avoid is the use of backlit electronic devices before bed. Research has recently shown that using devices an hour before bed suppresses melatonin by 22%. Melatonin controls the body clock – so affecting it can really hurt sleep patterns. Avoiding it may just help improve your child’s sleep.

4. Food

Food is fuel. Ensuring your child is taking on the right type of food is very important. Sugar has been shown to hugely affect memory and concentration, so try to avoid non-natural sugars. A classic example is on cereal in the morning. A good mixed diet will help your child. But remember – something fun once in a while, such as chips can be a good reward.

5. Take breaks & Exercise!

Taking formal time out from revision is crucial. Regular breaks help relieve monotony by having a scenic and mental change, which allows your child to return to the revision task with renewed vigour. They also allow the brain time to process the information. Try doing some ‘brain gym’ exercises in between revision topics. Getting out of the house and doing some exercise during the day can be really beneficial. The activity can range from the easy to the energetic – from taking a walk, to playing tennis, or going for a swim. It’ll allow you to have some time with your child that isn’t as ‘revision schedule enforcer’, and give them some space to take their mind off the revision and exams each day. It’s also a great stress reliever (for both of you!)

Ensuring that these points are being adhered to can really help your child’s revision. However, how to apply them is down to you!

How to apply this information now:

1. Share and comment on this post. By sharing you can gain other insights by parents on how they improve their child’s revision session Hearing other people’s experience can really help your confidence and give you tried and tested techniques.
2. Contact Hampstead & Frognal Tutors. We are happy to talk through any information about your child’s academic development, without any pressure. We believe in helping children grow, and want to help you achieve that with your child.

By Jonathan Coates @coates_jonathan

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ICT (including computing, or computer science) would appear to be a perfect choice for those looking to provide themselves with a skill that holds some currency on the job market. More and more jobs require more than a basic grounding in computer programmes, and technology start-ups and businesses form a vibrant part of the economy. Furthermore, IT has come to form the backbone of many more established industries, including, notably, finance.

Despite this, only 10% of students sitting their GCSEs in 2013 chose ICT as a subject. While this number is a huge increase (of 38%) from 2012, this explosion is from a frightfully low base. What explains the low uptake?

The answer may lie in the fact that technology moves incredibly quickly, making it hard for the exam boards that develop curricula to keep up. Even those designed in conjunction with tech giants (such as AQA’s collaboration with Microsoft) run the risk of giving students a thorough grounding in technologies that may be too narrow, or may soon be obsolete.
Ronan, an IT professional with 12 years’ experience working in the industry, points out that a crucial problem is that there are simply too many different technologies, coding languages, and frameworks in use. Moving from one IT job to another, even within a company, may require entirely different sets of skills, a breadth that is hard to condense into an exam-based curriculum. This is not just a challenge faced by schools, universities are just as prone to creating computer science degrees that are effectively worthless.

Exam boards have set about addressing this problem by focusing on the fundamentals, such as how computers interpret and use data, but, at GCSE level, many courses still feature too much of the ‘how to use Powerpoint’ material, leaving students bored senseless. Newer course materials feature some introductions to coding, and problem-solving using advanced technologies, but this doesn’t solve the obsolescence problem.

To further compound this issue, there is a distinct scarcity of highly-qualified computer science teachers at GCSE and A-Level. This is largely due to the fact that those with the relevant knowledge are working in the field, rather than teaching. Of those who have entered the teaching profession, many graduated with their degrees in computer science too long ago, making the information and technologies that they studied out-of-date.

What we are left with is a seemingly impossible task: to create a curriculum that provides a strong foundation in the key technologies, whilst simultaneously providing the skills for an ever-changing field; a curriculum that anticipates a changing jobs landscape without being too in hock to trends; a programme that helps students develop skills to a reasonable degree of proficiency, whilst acknowledging that focusing on one or two sets of skills or technologies ignores the sheer volume of other systems in operation.

The answer to this dilemma may very well be to treat ICT qualifications almost like a vocational course. IT resources and materials are available in large quantities online, and are often free to use. The relative abundance of ‘self-help’ materials encourages students who are passionate about computer science to strike out on their own and develop skills they find interesting or relevant. Additionally, job placements are very often the best way to develop IT skills.

Ronan confirms that entering the workforce with any amount of real-world experience is more valuable than any qualification or degree. ‘You may start out doing menial tasks, like migrating data or fixing minor bugs, but eventually you move on to bigger or more complicated tasks, and grow your skill set from there.’

Working with companies to create internship-type placements for GCSE or A-Level students could be a promising way to create an environment in which fundamentals (however those are defined) are learned in the classroom, and the ‘nitty-gritty’ of coding, systems, and frameworks is learned in real-world situations, thus also encouraging students to learn crucial job-market skills and teaching them to adapt to new challenges, think on their feet, and study independently.

Exam boards are right to review skills such as creating documents and spreadsheets and using databases, but their focus needs to be beyond this; on programming for mobile technologies, web-based technologies and programming, and coding languages and frameworks. Only with an emphasis in these areas will British students emerge with a qualification that would ever mean something to an employer. Many examiners are moving decidedly in the right direction, but encouraging practical skill development in the workplace would better serve students.

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The decidedly unexciting answer is: probably not much.

Nicky Morgan, first elected to Parliament as Member for Loughborough in 2010, has moved to the education brief from a stint as a Treasury Minister. She will also hold the Women and Equality portfolio—something which is already raising eyebrows considering her votes against same-sex marriage and her points of view on abortion access. Apart from serving, for a time, as a school governor, little seems to qualify Mrs. Morgan for her role at the helm of the Department for Education, and her voting record suggests that she agrees with the vast majority of her predecessor’s reforms.

Many may laud the raising of a woman to such a high position, as opposed to the ‘pale, male, and stale’, but Mrs. Morgan’s privately educated background would appear not to be a vast departure from the Tory stereotype. Michael Gove’s personal story, and his personal experiences of education, may have been more of an asset to him in his Education role than Mrs. Morgan’s may prove.

More importantly, perhaps, is the timing of Mrs. Morgan’s appointment. With this reshuffle coming as close as it does to the next general election, it is unlikely that she is expected to implement anything real or new, and, assuming that she wanted to, there would be very little time in which to do it. For the time being, she is likely to remain a place-holder of sorts, and to be one of the many recently promoted female MPs intended to make the Conservative cabinet more representative of the party as a whole.

Though many of Mr. Gove’s reforms were controversial, and he singularly failed to get teachers and other academic professionals on-side, the broad sweep of his reforms was generally in the right direction. Moves to increase accountability, create a more rigorous curriculum, and free schools, teachers, and parents to create dynamic and independent learning environments have followed the patterns set elsewhere in the world that have achieved strong results for students.

That is not to say, of course, that every reform, or reform proposal, was on target. Nor did his abrasive approach win many friends. However, his time as Education Secretary forced schools, teachers, parents, and society at large, to think seriously about what is most important about education and different ways to achieve it.
If we are to take anything from Mr. Gove’s replacement, it is that the Government seems willing to acknowledge that the furious pace of his reforms needs a cooling-down period, and reforms need time to settle in. While teething problems with policies are worked through, it may be helpful to have a face in the Department for Education without such a strongly established agenda.

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According to Dr. Ray, tutoring has become de rigueur for many middle class families when preparing for selective school exams. The problem arises after those students have entered their schools of choice, when intensively tutored pupils may struggle to keep up with their more academically talented peers. Students who have been too intensively prepared, but lack passion for their subjects or broader curiosity and work-ethic, may struggle to keep up with other students as school work becomes more demanding.

This raises an interesting question about the role of tutoring in academic achievement.

Every parent wants their child to do well, and for many, the best options are state-run grammar schools or private educational institutions. Entrance exams are notoriously competitive, leading parents to employ tutors to give their children an edge. But Dr. Ray’s comments highlight something very important: that tutoring should be about more than just a test.

Tutoring specifically for the 11+ or 13+ can have myriad benefits. Tutors can boost a child’s confidence, help them feel comfortable with questions or material that they may not have seen otherwise, and help them work on their study skills and time management. However, there is a danger in focusing tuition too exclusively on one exam. Teaching students only the skills necessary to pass an exam may neglect the wider basis required to form a strong foundation for GCSE and A-level success.

A truly effective tutor will work with children not just to prepare them for one exam or qualification, but will help them to develop their skills more generally. This means not just focusing on drilling through past papers and practice exercises, but broadening the scope of work to make sure that students understand, and can apply, a broad range of concepts and skills. A great tutor will recognise that, in order to succeed, a student needs help developing study and reasoning skills, not just knowledge of specific questions.

This means encouraging children to engage with literature, rather than just tackle comprehension questions, or to apply mathematical concepts and practices to everyday life.

There are, of course, limitations to how much of this broader goal tuition can accomplish on a weekly basis. This means that the most successful tutor will form strong working partnerships with parents to ensure that a student’s development extends beyond the hour or two a week that the tutor is there.

Schools are getting better at identifying which students have been intensively prepared and which are truly keen and able students. A greater emphasis on interviews in the admissions process has been part of an increased effort by schools to ‘tutor-proof’ the admissions process. Indeed, some schools, such as Mill Hill and Merchant Taylor’s, interview students prior to the written examination; further evidence of the increasingly important role that the interview is playing in the admissions process.

Even the interviews themselves are changing. Schools are asking a wider range of more challenging, and less concrete, questions, as a way of determining the potential and character of the interviewee. The questions are designed specifically to reveal those students who are naturally articulate, well-informed, and confident, rather than those who have been intensively prepared or coached.

In light of these developments, a much better use of the funds and time dedicated to tuition will be to make sure that tuition complements preparation for exams with more comprehensive skills development.

The best tutors, like the best classroom teachers, will already know how to inspire children to love learning. Ultimately, that is the quality that will serve the children best in the future.

To view Dr. Ray’s original comments to The Telegraph newspaper, please visit the link below.

www.telegraph.co.uk/educationnews/10121380/Leading-headmaster-calls-for-abolition-of-11-plus.html

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