Preparing for the 11+ Interview
11+ Interview Tips
How often are children interviewed? Not very often! For most it will be a first experience, so here is some information and a few tips to help smooth the process. Everyone will want your child to present themselves as honestly and fully as possible in the time given.
Why interview?
Each school knows the sort of children that they cater for. They are looking for their ‘type’ of child with the sort of ‘behaviours’ that are expected at their school. Will your child fit in, not just academically but socially too? It is a good idea for you and your child to do some research about the school. What are their achievements, what facilities do they have, what subjects and activities do they offer: and most importantly, what are their values? They will want to find out what your child is interested in contributing to school life and which activities they will want to take part in? The school will also want to know if your child is committed to studying and has the personal drive and stamina to work hard.
What else will they have to do?
They may have to read aloud so practice reading previously unseen text aloud at home. Encourage reading with expression and understanding. Use the punctuation to help the passage make sense.
They may have to talk about an item of interest or a piece of work they are proud of. Your child needs to be ready to talk with enthusiasm and confidence. They will be nervous so give them opportunities to do this beforehand.
Find out more about how we tutor for 11+ and Common Entrance Assessments by clicking here….
Possible Questions
- Why are you interested in joining our school?
- What hobbies and interests do you have (sport, music)?
- Can you tell us about your school and any extra activities you currently do?
- What book are you reading currently outside of school?
- Who is your favourite author?
- Is there a current event or world issue that interests you?
The key with these questions is to elaborate! One word answers will not convey much enthusiasm. What does your child feel excited by and what do they feel strongly about?
Discussing the news and world events shows a broad interest in the world and will give your child an awareness of their wider context. The Week Junior Magazine, or similar, is worth buying for current news.
Find out when the local Common Assessment Dates are in January by clicking here…..
On the Day
- Get a good night’s sleep, go to bed early with The Week Junior or good book! Be fresh and alert but being nervous is also normal!
- Eat a good breakfast. If you are nervous, and can’t eat, perhaps drink a smoothie. Also, drink some water and take some with you.
- Dress appropriately, look smart and formal. Parents too!
- Arrive early! You do not want to be rushed. Parking may be an issue, so work out travel arrangements beforehand!
- Remove ALL distractions, phones, electronic devices, smart watches off, read a book or look at the school prospectus again. Be ready to engage when adults speak to you, give good eye contact.
- Sit up straight with good posture. Show you are enthusiastic, even if you are nervous! Don’t hide, look at your feet or chew your sleeves!
- Try to enjoy being the centre of attention.
Remember, if the school believes you will fit in well and thinks it has what it takes to help you develop your particular talents they will probably offer you a place. If it is not the right school for you, please don’t think you have failed, you just might need a different type of school.
Can’t we just use Spelling Checkers?
Why is Spelling so Hard?
infographics_2 (1)Those of us who struggled with learning to spell or are in the process of helping little ones learn their ‘tricky’ words, would love the answer to this question to be “Yes!” Spelling rules just seem, well, unruly, and anyway don’t too many corrections crush creativity?
The problem is that we learn spellings in a variety of ways. Sometimes we have to spell the whole word from memory, these are the dreaded ‘sight’ or tricky words, but more usually we need to sound out and decode words using phonics (letter sounds).
Words are both symbols on paper and sounds we say. So when we read words we hear them in our head. This is what makes poetry or songs work well and sound attractive (or not). If we can’t hear words when we read them we won’t enjoy their rhythm or rhyme.
You might say, but why not just spell phonetically? Sadly, there is no one way to say a word (just watch Coronation Street), and this is made more complicated by English being spoken by people all over the world.
Also, if words that sound the same (e.g., rain, rein and reign) were spelled the same way, their meanings would be harder to work out.
Spell checkers are fine as an aid, but the student who spells “does” as “dose” will not see the mistake, and will continue with the misspelling habit. However, the good news is that technology can help us learn our spellings more efficiently, with tuition programmes, online resources and spelling gadgets.
Back to the tricky words then; try getting the child to see the shape of the word (using joined up handwriting), say, and hear the word. This will help the ‘working memory’ learn better!
Most Improved in Tutor Group and Year Group!
Most Improved Maths
Finley was struggling with Maths at school when his mum got in touch. She said “It scared him that he was finding if so difficult. I had tried contacting tutors before but there’d been no response. I was really pleased when I spoke to someone and got a free assessment. He enjoys the lessons and has no problem now.”
Linda his tutors says,”He has become more confident and improved a great deal. He works hard and he want to do well each lesson.”
Finley has gone from strength to strength and now enjoys maths. He got certificates for most improved student in tutor group and year so school have certainly notice it!
Christmas Competition
Christmas Competition 2018
We are excited to announce our latest Christmas Competitions.
Maths
Santa’s Super Times Tables Challenge
This is a speed mental maths challenge using our computer programme. Choose the Super Challenge and try to get a high score in one of the three levels (Some, More, All). Make a record witnessed by a tutor and you can enter it for the competition.
English
Reindeer Writing
Either; write an information piece about reindeer or a poem about life as a reindeer.
Entries will be judged on an age appropriate level and can be handed in early. Entries by Friday 14th December please.
Tuition Centre Director (Partner) – Havant
A Unique Opportunity for Passionate Educators!
- Location: Havant | Self-Employed Partnership | Profit-Share Model
Are you a dedicated teacher who loves seeing children flourish? Do you dream of leading your own tuition centre, making a lasting impact, and enjoying the freedom to grow professionally and financially?
At I Love to Learn, we believe that every child deserves personalised learning to build confidence, thrive academically, and reach their full potential. Our centres provide high-quality tuition for children aged 6-16, combining a supportive learning environment with a structured, proven approach to progress.
We also run a strong daytime alternative provision programme, supporting local schools and children who are out of mainstream education, ensuring no child is left behind.
Now, we’re looking for an ambitious Tuition Centre Director (Business Partner) to lead our Havant Centre, managing a team of tutors, growing the centre, and sharing in its success.
Application Deadline: 18 April 2025
Interviews Dates: 25 April-5 March 2025
Job Start Date: 1 July 2025
Read Our Fareham Centre Director’s Story Here..
Why Join I Love to Learn?
Be Your Own Boss – Run and grow your own tuition centre with our full support
Make a Real Difference – Help students build confidence and academic success
Share in the Profits – Earn based on performance with a clear profit-share model
Full Business Support & Training – We provide training, teaching resources, and marketing guidance
A Proven Tuition Model – Join a trusted, expanding education brand with years of success
Who We’re Looking For
A Qualified & Experienced Teacher – With QTS or the ability to teach in UK schools.
A Passionate Educator – Who thrives on seeing students succeed.
A Strong Leader – Ready to inspire and manage a team of tutors.
Business-Minded & Ambitious – Excited to develop commercial and leadership skills.
A Great Communicator – Confident in working with parents, schools, and local communities.
Your Role & Responsibilities
Lead & Develop a successful tuition centre (including some teaching).
Manage & Support a team of professional tutors.
Oversee Financials – Including budgeting and profit management.
Build Relationships with parents, students, and schools.
Promote & Market the centre to expand student enrolment.
Support Alternative Provision – Work with schools and students needing extra help outside mainstream education.
Investment & Financial Model
To ensure commitment and long-term success, Centre Directors make a small investment (e.g., £5,000), which is fully reinvested into their centre’s setup (venue, resources, marketing, etc.).
This is NOT a franchise – No large fees, and we provide all the tools and support you need to succeed. Flexible funding options available.
Earning Potential: £26,172 – £62,194+ per year (profit-share model + bonuses).
Additional Benefits
Company Events & Mentoring Programme
Flexibility & Autonomy – Set your own schedule.
Free Parking & Great Transport Links
Ongoing Training & Support
Interested? Apply now and take the next step in running your own tuition centre with I Love to Learn!
Discover more about our new Havant Centre and the exciting opportunities at I Love to Learn Professional Tuition Here…
Job Advert Form
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Summer Writing Competition Prize Giving!
Fantastic Story Writing
Thank you to everyone for coming to our Summer Writing Competition Prize Giving event!
Well done to Alice and Shumaiya for winning our competition. Local author Justin Strain handed out wonderful prizes to all the children who entered.
Alice also won £100 in book tokens for her school (St Jude’s Primary) and I was able to read out part of her story to the assembly at the school. They loved it!!
GCSE Maths Success in Only 3 months!
GCSE Maths Grade 2-4 in Three Months
Alex had always found maths difficult at school. He found himself in Year 11, dreading the thought of taking his GCSE maths exam. He enrolled with us for maths tuition with just three months to go and attended two lessons a week to try to catch up. It was the repetition and individual attention that he found very helpful. Alex says, “I learned more in the three months than my whole time in the maths classroom at school. I went from dreading it, to feeling much better about being there.” This Summer he was overjoyed to find that he had gone from a Grade 2 in his mocks up to a Grade 4 (C) pass in his final exam.
Now he is at Portsmouth College studying his A levels and very happy! Howard Jones, his tutor, said, “Alex was a very motivated student and knew what he wanted. I was able to channel this energy into a really positive direction. If students are prepared to put in the work, it is amazing how quickly some targeted one-to-one tutoring can make a difference in many cases.”
We had to go right back to the level of maths that Alex could cope with. We then focused on drilling his number work to improve his fluency and arithmetic (remember, at least one of the papers is non-calculator). Each lesson, we also completed a set of mixed questions which analyzed areas of weakness. These were matched each lesson with GCSE-type questions which we repeated until Alex could answer them independently for himself. As the exam got closer, we then focused more on exam-type questions, making sure we repeated each one to give Alex maximum confidence.
Celebrating our GCSE Results!
Congratulations Everyone!
Well done to all our GCSE students who took their exams this summer. It was an outstanding pass rate. Special mention to Ella who was predicted an F for two years but got a C on the day! Also Alex who went from Grade 2-Grade 4 in just three months.
Amber E. 6(B) in English Language
Ella C. 4(C) in Maths
Renz J. 5(B) in Maths
Andrei I. 4(C) in English Language
Harrison M. 5(B) in English Literature
Alex A. 4(C) in Maths
Darcy G. 7(A) in Maths
Tyler B. 4(C) in Maths
Best of luck for the future
Summer School 2018 Pictures
Celebrating Our Largest Summer School Ever!
This year our Summer School was so full we needed extra space! Howard, Linda, Maxine and David would like to thank all the students for making our jobs so fun and rewarding. It really was a pleasure!
Everyone enjoyed earning stamps, stickers and prizes for their hard work. They all completed 10 hours of tuition and made lots of progress in just a week.
Many thanks to Michael Whitelock from P.S. Trampoline & Gymnastics who provided lots of afternoon activities including gymnastics, trampolining and tennis.
11+ Common Entrance Assessment Dates January 2019
11+ Entrance Assessments for January 2019
Indepedent Schools in Portsmouth and Fareham
We love helping children prepare for 11+ common entrance assessments. I thought it might be a good idea to make sure everyone has the dates they need.
The entrance exams always cover maths and English to a high level. Children are also usually tested on their verbal and non verbal reasoning. These tests are designed to be more difficult to prepare for as they are not a school subject. Verbal reasoning is concerned with language and words problems while non-verbal reasoning looks are logic, shape and number patterns.
Here is a testimonial we received earlier.
“We are so pleased that Mahera has got a FULL BURSARY for the local girl’s high school in Portsmouth. She has been to your centre before for tuition but we came back in November so she could get ready for the exams. She has worked so hard and Linda has really encouraged her in her writing! Thanks so much!”
Click here to find out more about tutoring for Entrance Exams …
Are you considering entering your child for an independent school? Tell us and we can help prepare them.
Click here to read more about our success…..
Portsmouth High School
11+, 12+, 13+ or 14+
Saturday 19th January 2019
Portsmouth Grammar School
11+ and 13+ Entrance Assessment
Saturday 26th January 2019
Mayville High School
All Candidates Sit Exam
Saturday 19th January 2019
St John’s College
11+ Entrance Assessment
Thursday 20th November
Tuesday 22nd January 2018
The Gregg School
11+ Entrance Assessment
Saturday 2nd February 2019
