About the Literacy Club
The Literacy Club offers tuition for able children who would like to work with to secure a place at an excellent selective Independent or Grammar School locally.
It is not focused solely on 11 Plus preparation, but on ensuring that children have a rich experience and grasp of core literacy/VR. We cover some areas in depth, such as punctuation and spelling, which may not feature in the 11 Plus exam. The aim in not just for children to gain entry to a specific school, but to be confident in the school when they begin.
This club is geared toward success, and the children who attend want to be successful.
The 11 plus journey has to be a partnership between the child, their parent(s) and us, with all three being involved in the process.
All children are assessed before joining a class, as I need to ensure that all children can access the level of work we cover at the Literacy Club. Some children may have a few weaknesses that can be remedied through additional support at home until they 'catch up'.
If a child is performing below the national average for their age, the Literacy Club is not the best tuition group for them, but I would explain this and encourage parents to find other tuition that can meet their needs.
By ensuring that all children are of a similar level, and are all capable of understanding the level of work covered, I can keep the quality of teaching and learning in my groups very focused and high.
Once a child is in spring term of Year 5, the amount of homework will begin to become significant, and it is vital that parents are able to help their child organise this and complete the work well and in good time. Most of this will not be 'worksheet' tasks - it will be reading and memorising.
I do not set huge amounts of paperwork each week - but I do set memorisation of poetry and vocabulary, and expect that any written homework should be completed with care and thought.
Punctuality and high levels of attendance are vital. As we can cover a lot of work intensively in each lesson, a child with regular absence will struggle to keep up. Arriving on time is also vital, as if a child misses just 5 minutes from the start of every lesson, they will have missed over 4 hours of tuition over a year. They will also have disrupted over 4 hours of the other tutees' lessons. That is why I feel it is kinder to everyone to take a strong stance on punctuality.
We meet during most weeks of the year but never meet on bank holiday weeks.
We have a box of wonderful prizes and rewards for the children, and each child has a reward chart, enabling them to work toward prizes, particularly through reading books.