“We had planned to stop the tutoring after the 11+ exam, but with the next lockdown and more disruption to her education, we quickly relented when she literally begged us to continue going! The sessions are adjusted to her needs and she describes them as ‘really fun’ and she likes it that the work is specific to her level and much more individualised than the class work at school.”
Wow 100% Pass Rate for 11+Exams!
11+ Entrance Exam Success
Well done to all our 11+ and common entrance exam students for passing their tests. All students, who attended our sessions regularly, passed their 11+ exams in at least one of the schools they applied for. They included; Christ’s Hospital, St Catherine’s, Badminton, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, PGS and PHS. One of our students even got a full boarding scholarship, including all music tuition and exams paid in full!
Over the years we have had a lot of success, but this is definitely the best year ever. In order to celebrate we invited them all to Playzone on us! Quite a few were able to make it and really love the event. One mum said “Once again thanks you and Linda for organising this evenings party, the children had an amazing time and it was such a special treat to celebrate the end of the ordeal from the past few months! ”
It was really fun to celebrate together and we hope we can do it again soon.
Help with Handwriting
Dylan Had Always Struggled with Handwriting
Dylan had always struggled with very poor handwriting. We came to the centre and found the assessment very helpful.
After only a few months of tutoring with Linda, teachers can now read his writing and he feels more confident. His coordination problems have been recognised, thanks to your suggestion, and this has helped at school. We have now spoken to an Occupational Therapist who has recommended that Dylan gets more time in his exams. This will be a great help.
It has made a big difference to his schooling as he enjoys it much more now. All his teachers are much happier and able to give him more help. It has also shown him that he can do things he thought he couldn’t.
Meet Our Fantastic and Friendly Tutors
Two more great tutors who have recently joined the team!
Louisa is an experienced teacher with a career spanning over twenty two years. She loves to teach and likes to inspire her students to achieve their personal best. She has a really fun and friendly attitude.She currently works part time in a local Primary School and enjoys finding ways to help motivate and develop the children in her care.
She loves art and the creative areas of the curriculum. Louisa is also one of our First Aiders.
Simplifying Payment Options for Easter 2017
Simplifying Payment Options
We want to simplify the payment option that we offer. We have been finding it difficult to concentrate on tutoring and administering payments at the same time. Occasionally we make mistakes and missed payments are very time consuming to follow up. Also, the card machine is expensive and Charlotte (our new Administrator) can’t always be here.
Weekly Payment
Ideally we would make everything monthly direct debit, however we know that would not work for some people. We have tried to keep the option of weekly payment using our ‘Autopay’ system (we will need your card details). Autopay is an online payment system that you can access through your parent login. You can make weekly, monthly or one-off payments to us using this.
No More Card Machine
After Easter we will no longer have the card machine, and Autopay will be our only card payment system. (This also saves us money on machine rental so we can extend the discount we give!)
Cash Payments
We will still accept cash as long as they are for a half term or term in advance (with a 5% discount).
Summary of Payment Methods:
Weekly Autopay only £30 a session
Monthly Autopay only £30 a session
½ Termly Autopay or cash £32 a session with a 5% discount
Termly Autopay or cash £32 a session with a 5% discount
You can still use cash to make advanced payments (half term or full term) and will still receive a 5% discount.
P.S. Childcare payments remain unchanged. You can also login yourself and make payments via the website.
Great Creative Writing
The Angel Fish by Finley aged 8
We loved this wonderful description of an Angel Fish by Finley aged 8. He loved writing it and felt really proud of what he had achieved so we thought we would share it.
‘The magestic Angel Fish was slicing through the water like a knife slicing through cucumber. The curved fins were like a machete with grey and silver stripes like a tabby cat. Eyes as red as a tomato stared at the colourful coral. The spinnaker shaped dorsal fin glided through the water as the fish swam along.’ Finley 8
Double Success in Common Entrance Assessment!
Common Entrance Assessment
Some schools have a common entrance assessment for entry to senior school. Twins, Tom and Sophie came to I Love to Learn as their parents were told that they were below expected level for their year. This would put them in danger of not being able to progress to the senior school of their choice. After only 9 months, they have caught up and surpassed the expected level for English Comprehension and maths.
Both of them loved coming to the centre and looked forward to their session each week. They have massively grown in confidence and they love their improved performance in class tests (they are both very competitive)!
Malcolm (their dad) said, “Great communication and feedback was key, and we loved the guidance of how to continue to make progress during the holidays. We can’t fault it. We have stopped for a bit as we are moving house, but we will be back in the summer term.”
Click here to find out more…..
Christmas Competition
Can you guess the number of gold coins in the box?
We are always thinking of ways to have fun learning maths here at I Love to Learn! One important skill is estimating numbers of objects to help learn quantity.
Santa has helped us by providing golden coins for our children to count – but how many are there? Write down your guesses at our tutoring centre and we will announce the winner of an exciting age-appropriate prize very soon. Watch this space!
Entrance Assessments for local Independent Schools
Here are the 11+ entrance assessment dates for independent schools in Portsmouth 2017.
One of the fastest growing areas of our business is children wanting to prepare for independent school entrance exams. I thought it might be a good idea to make sure everyone has the dates they need.
The entrance exams always cover maths and English to a high level. They also usually test something called verbal and non verbal reasoning. These are designed to be more difficult to prepare for as they are not taught in school. Verbal reasoning is concerned with language and words problems while non-verbal reasoning looks are logic, shape and number patterns.
Here is a testimonial we received earlier.
“We are so pleased that Mahera has got a FULL BURSARY for the local girl’s high school in Portsmouth. She has been to your centre before for tuition but we came back in November so she could get ready for the exams. She has worked so hard and Linda has really encouraged her in her writing! Thanks so much!”
Portsmouth High School
11+, 12+, 13+ or 14+
Saturday 21st January.
Portsmouth Grammar School
11+ and 13+ Entrance Assessment
Saturday 28th January
Mayville High School
All Candidates Sit Exam
Saturday 14th January
Boys Assessment Day
Wednesday 18th January
Girls Assessment Day
Thursday 19th January
St John’s College
11+ Entrance Assessment
Saturday 21st January
Call us if you want to find out how we can help for next year.
No More Maths Anxiety!
She now talks about her ‘Maths Abilities’!
“My 12 year old daughter has experienced maths anxiety since Year 3 and on returning to school after the summer holidays into Year 8. This anxiety was heightened due to school pressures. We discussed strategies that may support her in her learning, having heard such good things of I Love to Learn, made an appointment for a free assessment.
Keen to Attend
The analysis of my daughter’s results suggested there was a difficulty in understanding the language of maths in addition to some gaps in her learning, despite being in top set for maths in her school. My daughter was keen to attend the weekly session as she had enjoyed her assessment so much.
‘I Am Thrilled’
At the time of writing this testimonial, my daughter has had only 5 sessions and her confidence and ability has increased significantly. She talks of enjoying maths and of her abilities in maths instead of her inabilities, participates more in maths lessons at school and is keen to do her maths homework, both from school and from the sessions.
As a parent I am thrilled that her confidence has grown significantly and would recommend I Love to Learn without hesitation!”
VACANCY-ADMIN ASSISTANT
ADMIN ASSISTANT VACANCY
Job title :P/T Admin Assistant
Closing date : 13/07/17
A part-time administrator is required to help support a thriving after-school tuition centre. Hours are flexible during daytime or early evening.
Enthusiasm and the desire to do a great job is more important than experience and qualifications. Candidates must be good communicators, flexible and enjoy working in a child friendly environment.
You will require a Criminal Records Bureau check. The job is dependent on suitable references.
The hours required are: 8 hrs per week min
The rate of pay is £9.50 p/hr
Please contact us on 023 93 968626 or email your CV to tutors@ilovetolearn.co.uk
www.ilovetolearn.co.uk
