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00:00Hello my name is Amber Allitt and I'm a journalist specialising in education.
00:04Parents whose children will be leaving primary school next year might also be
00:08starting to think ahead about their applications for secondary school. These
00:12include your top choices of schools and they will be due later this year. But
00:17picking out which ones are the right fit for your family isn't always easy. If
00:20your child is achieving highly at school, a grammar school might be an option
00:24worth considering. These selective schools can help them to reach their
00:28full academic potential, but they will in most cases need to sit and do well on
00:33a special test to get a place at one. This is called the 11 plus test and it
00:39will usually cover four key areas. English, maths, verbal reasoning and
00:44nonverbal reasoning, which includes things like word problems and following
00:48written instructions for verbal reasoning and for nonverbal reasoning
00:51things like processing information from pictures, using their problem-solving
00:56skills to work out how shapes and objects are related to one another.
00:59While keeping up with their regular schoolwork, trying out past papers or
01:04potentially even tutoring can help prepare them for this test, online exam
01:08prep company Atom Learning says there are fun creative ways that you can help
01:12build their confidence in these skills at home too. Here are three of my
01:15personal favourites. One is to write math sums on post-it notes and stick them
01:20around the house. You can reward your child for each note they solve with a
01:24marble in a jar and each time they manage to fill the jar they get a prize.
01:28Another is to ask your child to read a simple newspaper article at breakfast. On
01:33the way to school you can ask them questions about it to improve their
01:37reading comprehension skills. Finally, create treasure hunts where they must
01:41crack the clues using nonverbal pictures like shapes or diagrams. This is perfect
01:47for tuning their nonverbal reasoning skills.
01:54you