How important are Open Days in preparing for the 11+ exams?
Welcome to our first blog post!
When preparing for the 11+ entrance exams, it’s easy to focus only on study. However, attending school open days is just as important. These visits can give families a real sense of a school beyond brochures - its atmosphere, teaching style, and values.
For children, open days can ease nerves by making the environment feel familiar before exam day. They also provide motivation, turning the goal from simply “passing the 11+” into gaining a place at a school they can truly picture themselves attending.
Open days also help parents assess whether a school is the right fit, not just academically but socially and emotionally. Speaking to teachers and seeing students in action offers insights you won’t find online.
Some families choose to begin visiting schools as early as Year 4, though it’s worth noting that not all schools allow this; checking individual school websites is essential. We’ll aim to keep you updated each week with upcoming open day dates to help you plan ahead.
Dates for the diary
Wetherby Senior School: Open Day 29 April
Dame Alice Owen: Test Registration opens 29 April
HABS Girls and Boys: Summer Tour 7 May
Merchant Taylors: Open Morning 9 May
Westminster Under 11+: Open Morning 9 May
Saturday 25 April
It was great to be back at Tutorsquared today especially with the sun shining! Here is an outline of what we did.
Year 4
English - We focused on two literary devices: onomatopoeia and personification. Understanding these devices not only helps pupils answer comprehension questions more effectively, but also improves their own creative writing.
Maths - this week Year 4 was investigating 2d shape. They were asked to identify and label angles using the terms; acute, obtuse, reflex and right-angle. We looked at different polygons and compared their perimeters and areas.
Year 5
English - 11+ vocabulary and word class revision. We read the poem The Majesty of Spring and studied the use of personification and pathetic fallacy.
Maths - Quick 10 minute quiz on mental arithmetic and formal methods for calculations. Then a lesson on converting between the different units of time eg seconds to hours; 24 hour times and word problems involving lapsed time.
Verbal Reasoning- Word problems involving days, dates and the calendar.
Non-verbal Reasoning - Block counting and Rotation of 3d shapes.
Interview Practice - “If you had unlimited money, how would you spend it and why?”
