Important update from TheSchoolRun
For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.
What this means for subscribers:
- Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
- In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
- As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.
A few changes to be aware of:
- The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
- The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.
*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.
Your 11+ Exam Prep Reading Adventure
Preparing for the 11+ exam is hard work for the whole family, but reading is a great way to boost your child's vocabulary and super-charge exam preparation time – the fun way!
TheSchoolRun asked secondary English teacher, parent and 11+ exam tutor Emma Larard to choose 40 books that are guaranteed to challenge your child and move their reading comprehension up a level. From wonderland to Blitz-torn London, Stone Age caves to Narnia, these titles will introduce your young reader to wonderful fictional worlds and classic texts. They'll fall in love with the stories they read – and pick up huge amounts of new, rich vocabulary as they immerse themselves in books.
For readers who are keen to boost their vocabulary further we also have KS1 classic book recommendations and KS2 kids' classics picks – and some 11+ vocabulary flashcards too!
How does reading help your child prepare for the 11 Plus exam?
Reading is essential for success in the 11 plus exam for several reasons:
- Improves vocabulary: reading exposes children to a wide range of vocabulary words they might not encounter in everyday conversation. Many 11 plus exams include verbal reasoning sections where a strong vocabulary is crucial.
- Enhances comprehension skills: the 11 plus exam often includes comprehension passages where students must read a passage and answer questions about it. Regular reading helps improve comprehension skills, including understanding main ideas, making inferences, and identifying details.
- Develops critical thinking: reading challenges children to think critically about what they're reading. They must analyse the text, make connections, and draw conclusions, skills that are useful in all sections of the 11 plus exam.
- Boosts writing skills: many 11 plus exams include a writing component where students must write an essay or a creative piece. Reading exposes children to different writing styles, structures, and techniques, which they can then incorporate into their own writing.
- Increases general knowledge: the 11 plus often includes questions that test general knowledge in subjects like science, history, and geography. Reading a variety of books exposes children to different topics and helps broaden their knowledge base.
- Builds concentration and focus: reading requires concentration and focus, which are essential skills for tackling the timed sections of the 11 plus exam.
Overall, regular reading not only helps children prepare for the specific sections of the 11 plus exam but also fosters a love of learning and improves academic performance in general!
