If your child is entered for the Trafford Consortium entrance test, by now you should have received an email confirming that this exam will now take place on Monday, 19th October 2020. A link to the information is here: https://www.traffordcem.entrancetest.org.uk/.
How we will support you
We will be supporting our students all the way to the exam. We will be reopening our tuition centre on 7th September but if it is not possible or advisable for you to bring your child to the centre, we will accommodate you online. This is likely to pose organisational challenges for us so our lessons will need to be your priority. If our lessons clash with other activities we understand that this is difficult but you will need to prioritise our lessons – after all, it is only for a few weeks.
We will temporarily extend our Saturday opening hours to accommodate Year 6 children preparing for entrance exams (recommended as we expect the children will be tired in the first few weeks of term after such a long time away from school) although you are of course welcome to come after school Tuesday – Friday. We will run an additional practice exam in October. You may also wish to book a practice exam in August or September or you may be interested in our very popular entrance exam masterclasses.
Secondary School Applications
You may be asking yourself what will happen with secondary school applications. These have to be in by 31st October but it seems extremely unlikely that you will have received your child’s exam results by this time. Unfortunately, you will probably have to submit your application for a secondary place before the results come in. You will have to put the grammar school of your choice first on the list.
The government has issued advice about this, recommending that parents should have one extra choice. The government’s full advice can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/903437/Selection_testing_guide_2020_FINAL1.pdf
On page 5 it is stated:
• “… advise that local authorities with grammar schools offer all parents applying for a secondary place at least one additional preference, if this is possible, to help address the same issue. Local authorities in which a large number of parents choose selective schools in neighbouring authorities may also wish to consider whether a similar approach would be feasible or appropriate in their area, particularly where they currently offer parents the minimum number of preferences.”
Hopefully this will mean that children applying from outside Trafford will also have an extra choice.
If you would like to book a regular tuition slot from September, please get in touch with Paul Syrett or Christine McLaughlin on 0161 748 3912 or via email at info@bettertuition.co.uk.
