Should I get a tutor for the Wirral 11+?

'Do I need a tutor? School should be doing it all. I will tutor my child myself.'

We hear all of these at ELC and always say to parents that at the end of the day, you know your own child best and can make the best decisions for them.

When discussing tutoring we will never put pressure on parents (nor will be speak down about primary schools who do an amazing job considering the vast amount of work they need to get through each day/term/year with over 30 students in a classroom).

What we do say is that our 11+ tutoring has been shown to help students make rapid and sustained progress year after year. Our lessons are carefully structured to ensure that all students walk out at the end knowing that there have been areas that they have achieved in and areas that they can focus on for further development.

Often we will speak with parents who have made the brave decision to do the tutoring for the Wirral 11+, St. Anselm's or Upton Hall by themselves...and have then thought better of it. In these situations we often hear of 'weeks flying by', 'life taking over' or simply that getting their child to work causes tension in the house that they would rather not have. Once tutoring starts we take the responsibility for the motivation and drive of the students. We identify the areas for development and ultimately, allow you to get on with being a family.

As part of our commitment to a learning journey for children, we ensure that we provide a quality learning environment. There are no distractions from the aroma of dinner cooking and nor is the television/computer calling for attention. As a result, during an 11+ lesson at ELC we can achieve a high level of focus and ultimately, a high level of success when the children sit the 11+, St. Anselm's or Upton Hall exams in September.

Whichever route you decide to folllow, the simple commitment of working with your child to boost their literacy and numeracy is what will be of most benefit to them. The work that is required of the 11+ exam means that by completing it they will be in a stronger position when they make the transition to secondary school.