Subjects
Maths & English Specialists
Maths
Reception to GSCE
Students joining our maths programme from early years and KS1 will start with gaining key numerical skills including counting with confidence, addition, subtraction, multiplication and place value . As students move into KS2, we develop these skills further, ensuring all of the main curriculum topics are covered including fractions, geometry, units and basic algebra. We also place importance on developing their reasoning skills to ensure worded problems can be tackled in preparation for their KS2 SATS. These skills are developed even further as students enter KS3 before starting to prepare our GCSE students for the exams in Year 10. We include exam practice for all of the main exam boards (i.e. AQA, Edexcel) and ensure lots of exam style questions are included in their sessions.
English
Reception to GSCE
We cover the English National Curriculum from early years to GCSE English literature and language. For our early year students, we help build their reading skills with a focus on phonics. Throughout your child's primary school years, we will build on comprehension, writing and reading skills, along with developing their understanding of grammar and punctuation in preparation for the Year 6 SATS. After this, we move students onto the KS3 curriculum, encouraging students to engage with texts in more depth, developing their analysis of literature and their written communication. As students enter their GCSE years, we can work with them on the books their schools are covering (i.e. Macbeth, An Inspector Calls, A Christmas Carol etc). Practice papers are also included at this stage.
Exams
11+ and Entrance exams
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What is the difference between 11+ and common entrance exams?
The 11+ exam is the exam taken to get into the Grammar schools (these are in Trafford, Manchester). These are non-fee paying schools. The main exam board in Manchester is CEM. This include maths, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. The Trafford schools include Stretford, Urmston, Altrincham and Sale. Children applying for these schools sit just one CEM exam, and each school sets their pass rate individually. Entrance exams are also taken for fee-paying schools. In Manchester, these include Withington Girls School, MGS, Stockport Grammar etc. They are similar to the 11+ CEM exams but not exactly the same.
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What does the 11+ exam include?
The CEM 11+ includes maths (this is advanced maths, mostly in the form of worded problems), verbal reasoning (this includes comprehension, and questions mostly based on complex vocabulary), and non-verbal reasoning (puzzle-like questions involving nets, symmetry, odd-one-out etc). This is a multiple choice exam. Students sit two papers and each paper includes all of the above elements.
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How do apply for the 11+ and entrance exams?
You will need to apply directly with each individual school via their website. For the 11+ Trafford exams, the applications tend to open at the start of June until the end of June. The exams are then sat mid-September of Year 6. For the fee-paying schools, they typically open applications in November for the exams to be sat in December/January of Year 6. Please check with each school individually as this can change.
When should I prepare for the exams?
These exams are extremely hard and therefore we ask for at least one year to prepare your child for these. Your child should expect to do minimum of half an hour per day of homework to start, increasing to 1 hour and more as the exam gets closer. We include mock exams the summer before. Exam pass rates change but your child should aim for 80-85%.
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