Hot Eleven Plus Tips

“I heard of a really hot eleven plus tip today.”

The word `tip’ is said to originate from tipping waiters and waitresses in English 17th-century coffee houses. Boxes were provided for gratuities. The boxes were marked ‘To Insure Promptness’ hence TIP.

These are tips that parents could give to their children. There is no need to go through the whole list with your childIf ever you are offered an "Eleven Plus Grumble" ten you could just pick out one of these `hot’ tips to work on. I am quite sure that you will never need to remind your child of any of these tips.

TIP 1: Make sure that you bring your teacher or tutor an apple every day. If you forget to bring something you could always say thank you as you leave the lesson.

TIP2: Organise your work into a tuition bag. Keep a set of special pens and pencils along with your file of work. It is your responsibility to get your bag to your lesson. It not the `duty’ of your mother to pick your bag up and carry it for you. As a bright ten year old try to think for yourself.

TIP 3: If you want your teacher to be able to prepare some special work for you then ask your one of your parents to telephone with your request ahead of time. You only need to ask for `area’ or `analogies’. It only takes a moment to telephone but it does give your teacher or tutor time to prepare some work for you.

TIP 4: Enjoy the lesson. Be enthusiastic. Remember that you want to pass the examination – if you can. So just do your best in the lessons. It is no good grumbling that you do not like mathematics or story writing. Remember that it is: “For your own good!”

TIP 5: Before you ask for help try to read the question fist. It would be much better to tell your teacher or tutor what you have done to try to solve the problem rather than just grumble that you can’t do it.

TIP 6: Take the time to write down notes on topics you may need to remember how to do. You will be able to revise from an example you have written out for yourself. If you persist in simply writing answers with no working out then you have nothing to read over when you are trying to revise.

TIP 7: Speak up for yourself. Tell your parents about your hopes and dreams. Speak up about fears and worries. Tell them if you think that you have been unfairly treated – but always try to offer a solution. It is no good yelling, “It is not fair!” You have to say what is not fair and how you think that the wrong can be righted.

TIP 8: If someone has made an effort to get you to a lesson then just turn to them and say something nice. Try to avoid walking into your lesson without turning with a smile to say something pleasant.

TIP 9: Work neatly in the lesson. In an appeal situation a panel may look at your books and the work you have done in the lessons. You can not afford to be untidy.

TIP 10: All you are doing is your best. If you find something hard one day then you may find the same thing easier on another day. You can not expect to be able to learn all new topics immediately. Sometimes you will be learning things that are hard. Be prepared to be patient.

I doubt that any parent would ever have to say any of the above things to their children, so these “hot tips” are not offered to insure Promptness but to insure Politeness.