11+ Creative Writing Guide with 50 Example Topics and Prompts
The 11+ exam is a school entrance exam taken in the academic year that a child in the UK turns eleven. These exams are highly competitive, with multiple students battling for each school place awarded. The 11 plus exam isn’t ‘one thing’, it varies in its structure and...
10 Questions You Can Ask at Parents’ Evening (+ 1 to Avoid)
There’s only so much that can be said at a tightly timed appointment in full view of other parents and teachers. Here’s some practical advice to make the most your parent teacher consultation meeting. Who am I? I’m Hayley Hobbs, the owner Griffin Teaching, a tutor...
11 Plus Preparation: The Parents’ Guide to Passing
Let's start right at the beginning... What is the 11 plus exam? Interestingly, ‘11 plus’ is a much more general term than you might imagine. It’s the name given to any entrance exam taken in the school year the child turns eleven. There are multiple 11 plus exams...
What I Really Think About Pen Licences
The first time I heard the term 'pen licence' I was listening to Charlie, my eight-year-old, in the back of the car on the way home from school. He wasn't wildly impressed with the concept. He explained to me that his teacher, Mrs. Barker, awarded pen licences to...
Tips & Tricks: How to Prepare Your Child for 11+ Non-Verbal Reasoning Questions
The eleven-plus (11+) exam includes three “reasoning” sections—verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning, and spatial reasoning. If you’re anxious about your child’s ability to understand and answer these reasoning questions, you’re not alone. Non-verbal reasoning tends...
10 Kent Test 11+ facts that may surprise you
Confession. I’m an absolute Kent Test geek. I’ve been studying the details, and noting down children’s responses to particular questions and timings, for over a decade. Here are some key pieces of information I'm keen to share with you: 1. Timing is everything in this...
Use your fridge to teach 11+ Maths
Using your fridge is a gentle, stress-free way to help your child revise key maths facts. Maths isn't all calculations and understanding new concepts. Some content is purely revision-based - and that's where your trusty chiller comes in... Challenges of the Kent and...
Teach Your Child the Correct Way to Hold a Pencil or Pen
When your child first picks up a pencil, their teacher shows them how to hold it, and then off they go. Well that's what most of us believe... Even as an experienced teacher myself, I too used to presume that once a pencil/pen grip had been put in place in the early...
Why is my child’s writing so messy?
Are you concerned about your child’s poor handwriting? Are you afraid that your child will the the last in his or her class to receive their pen licence? If so, you’re not alone. Many school-age children have poor, and sometimes indecipherable, handwriting. It’s a...
How to encourage your child to write
Why are some children reluctant writers? Producing a successful piece of creative writing is a complex process. Children have to fully understand the given task, organise their thoughts into sentences, sequence those sentences, consider the spelling of their words and...