My eldest son recently sat his 7plus exam, a stressful experience for some but somehow not for him. North London is said to be the most competitive in the country for schools and places but we see it as a great advantage to have so many great schools on our doorstep! We are very lucky because he attends a wonderful little school which prepared him thoroughly for the experience. Here are a few tips:
- when attending the tests/interviews, we told our son he was choosing the school rather than the school choosing him. How could he know which school he likes if he has not done “lessons” and “met” the teachers? This took the strain away from him, I think.
- We said that we would make a decision about the best school for him as a family (i.e. it is not his decision alone to make)
- Practice times tables/adding in the car, on the way to school, whenever you have a moment. As a working mother your time may be limited but make the most of the time you do have. Emphasise that you are doing this to help the child and make it as fun as possible. We made up rhymes, and had a fun book. Anything that can make the process easy for the child helps
- Try not to stress in front of the child – if they don’t get into your school of choice, it wasn’t right for them
- Be relaxed when visiting the schools. Of course, as a working parent, it is difficult to fit in all those visits but I would recommend starting early so as not to annoy your employers too much. If you are visiting, say, 6 schools, if you split it out over a year it won’t be so bad. All those stay at home mothers seem to visit 3 or 4 times – as a working mother, forget it – make your decision at the first trip!
- Take your child to the exam/interview even if you have to take holiday to do so
- Give them a treat afterwards. After each one, we took a number of children out to Pizza Express for lunch which they all loved (and that is what our child remembers about these days)
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I strongly believe that the working mother should not leave her job ...because she will miss her economical independence; her old relationships at work, certainly she will be emprisoned by the authority of the husband.She must struggle for her rights................
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