What parents say...

Thank you so much for helping me with my maths!  I have come along much more in maths lessons at school! Hopefully, depending on whether I need help when I go to Secondary School I might come back again. (I hope so)  Thank you again. Madison.
Mrs H Breen
Happygirls
“Our children have enjoyed their time at your tuition centre very much, and my wife and I have been incredibly impressed with your professional approach to tuition. Thank you so much for all you have done in making our kids feel comfortable, cared for and safe.” Mr Usuanlele.
Mr UsuanleleParent
We were super happy with your approach and B settled in so well. She looked forward to the tutoring and got a lot out of the sessions. Without a doubt her confidence has grown and I wouldn’t hesitate to use I Love to Learn again in the future. Many thanks, Cat
We are Super Happy!
Albie
Albie had been diagnosed with mild dyslexia and his reading age was around 2 years behind!  The standard in private school is often higher, so we were worried about the Entrance Exams.  Soon after he enrolled he started making rapid progress.  The school say he is now Level  5 in literacy and the teacher can see a lot of difference.  His reading age has shot up and the gaps in maths have been filled in and he has caught up amazingly quickly. It has definitely, definitely made a difference and I have recommended the centre to my friends.
Jilly (Albie’s Mum)
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!
Mahera's Mum
“Joshua got his GCSE results today and I just wanted to let you know how he got on. He got an 8 in English Language and a 7 in English Literature, he has always struggled with English and wouldn’t of been able to achieve these amazing grades without yours and Adam’s help, if you could please let him know how Joshua done. So once again thank you for all the work you did with him.” Emily (parent) 2021
Emily EvansparentI Love to Learn Portsmouth
She is a quiet girl and I was concerned that her poor spelling was not being corrected.  When she saw the progress Bella was making in such a short time, I enrolled her for Maths as well!   It has transformed her thinking and she now has the self-esteem to ask questions in both numeracy and literacy.
Ms R Temple
At the time of writing this testimonial, my daughter has had only 5 sessions and her confidence and ability has increased significantly!  (Now) 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.
S BondParentPortsmouth
Thank you both so much for all the support you have give our Darcey.  she really has grown in her confidence with her maths and you have defo given her the foundations to grow.  She is very excited about starting senior school in September and I am sure we will be back in the future for more support for her or her younger sister.  Big, big hugs.
Heidi & Lee
Alex had been tested in Year 4 for dyslexia and he came out mildly dyslexic for spelling.  He has a poor short term memory, and we were concerned about him going to Senior School with these problems. Alex started off a bit ‘anti’, but now he agrees that his writing is better and the improvement has been commented on by teachers.  We are so pleased he is getting professional help, and are especially pleased that he now see the benefit and is self-motivated. He now is now asking for help with his Maths too!
Mrs D Wilson

SATs HELP FOR BUSY PARENTS

SATs Help:  How can busy parents help their children facing Year 6 SATs?

When and How?
Age 11 early May of Year 6: SATs in English and maths, marked externally, results published nationally. Teacher assessment in science.

Year 6 SATs

Year 6 SATs

Date

Test

  • Monday, May 12th 2025
Grammar and Punctuation Test-45 mins

Spelling Test-20 mins

  • Tuesday, May 13th 2025
English Reading Test-60 mins
  • Wednesday, May 14th 2025
Mathematics Arithmetic (Paper 1)-30 mins

Mathematics Reasoning (Paper 2)-40 mins

  • Thursday, May 15th 2025
Mathematics Reasoning (Paper 3)-40 mins
These are held early May, the Key Stage 2 tests are a bit more formal: done over a set week, with certain papers on particular days, and marked externally. Papers are typically delivered to the school on the Monday of SATs week. Your child should expect to complete the following papers:Year6Sat

Day 1: Grammar and Punctuation
Spelling Test

Day 2: English Reading Test

Day 3: Maths Arithmetics (Paper 1)

Day 4: Maths Reasoning (Paper 2)
Maths Reasoning (Paper 3)

Your child will also be assessed in their writing, however this will take place after SATs week, with many schools focusing on this towards the end of the year.

Obviously, the children will be aware that there is something going on and that they are going to be tested.  During Year 6, your child will undoubtedly get plenty of exam practice and specific work on how to answer particular questions in exams, particularly in regards to the reading comprehension exam.  Some schools will put on more pressure or expect more revision than others, with many offering extra tutoring either before or after school. It may be a motivator for some kids to try and bit harder, however, many find it stressful.

Our Advice:

You can also help your child at home in the following ways:

Chat to the teacher about where your child is at and if there are areas for improvement.

Keep to routine by making sure they are well rested and get plenty of exercise.  Avoid late nights or sleepovers during this time.yawn

Talk to them about why tests are important but also not to worry.  Keep up the communication so that they can tell you how they feel.

Talk about stories, books and characters.  Read them stories and hear them read.  Play story CDs in the car.  It helps children to hear stories before they write them.  Much children’s TV is chopped up into short or fast moving chunks that don’t hold any narrative, so minimise this.

Practice and re-enforce basic maths skills such as timed tables.  It’s an essential skill that will  improve accuracy but also fluency (getting it right but also completing more questions).

Suggested Links:

Here is a link to Past Papers:

KS 2 Year 6 Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling Past Paper

KS 2 Year 6 Reading Assessment Booklet

KS 2 Year 6 Reading Assessment Questions

KS 2 Year 6 Maths Paper 1 (Arithmetic)

KS 2 Year 6 Maths Paper 2 (Reasoning)

KS 2 Year 6 Maths Pape 3 (Reasoning)

booksWe recommend Andrew Brodie books especially for maths.

Also CPG SATs revision books are great for maths and English.

 

In the end it is better that issues are flagged up now if they need extra support.  SATs should be information for you and the school about your child’s progress rather than their performance.  If you would like to book a free assessment with us to get professional advice then click here…

Who Our Tuition Is Not Suited For?

A Guide to Who Will Not Benefit From Our Tuition Service

We want parents and children to get the best out of our tuition service.  The last thing we want to do is waste anyone’s money on something that is not for them.

Here is a guide to help parents decide if we are the right service for their child or children.

Last minute exam prep-esp GCSE

tuition
Take a Break!

We are not able to cram for exams.  Our tuition is designed to look for areas of weakness that students might have.  We may need to go back a few years (educationally) to work on skills that students may have missed.  This can take some time, and if you (or the student), are too focussed on an exam you might become frustrated.  We are aiming for mastery and not just short term exam performance (that will probably be forgotten the day after the exam!)

SEN

We are not a specialist special needs centre.  However, if we meet children for an assessment and feel we can work with them, we take them on.  There are a few students, maybe their behaviour is too bad or maybe they can’t speak any English, who we find it difficult to help.  The best thing to do is book in for a free assessment and we will give you our honest opinion.

Can’t Attend a Centre Regularly

Regular attendance at lessons is essential for progress.   In many cases we only get 80 minutes once a week. We do not want to waste anyone’s money, so if you cannot attend regularly, we may not be the place for you.

If You Want Online Tutoring

We do not have an online offer at the moment.  We still feel in centre tutoring is of a much higher quality than online, and that most children needs teachers to be present.

Free or Cheap Tuition

Good quality tuition by professional and experienced tutors does cost money.  We have to provide a great learning environment and pay for fantastic, experienced and qualified tutors.  We try to provide the best tuition that money can buy but we quite understand that it is not in everyone’s budget.  We are committed to helping your child make progress so please don’t try to drive down our prices.

 

 

 

11+ Entrance Assessments 2024/25

Independent Schools in Portsmouth, Fareham & Havant

Greetings, parents! In the Portsmouth area, you’ll find a variety of independent schools, each offering its own unique blend of educational ethos and environment, ranging from the grand to the intimate, and spanning a spectrum of academic rigour. We take great pleasure in assisting children with their preparation for the 11+ common entrance assessments, recognising the significance of this milestone. Additionally, we recognise the importance of ensuring everyone is well-informed regarding relevant dates and schedules. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on that front.

Scholarships

Academic Scholarships may be awarded to the top achievers based on the results of the school’s 11+ assessment. The criteria for this will vary from school to school, so you must apply directly to them.

Additionally, some schools offer scholarships for excellence in Art, Drama, Music, and Sport at 11+, 13+, and Sixth Form. These need to be applied for, and applications are usually submitted by the end of November preceding the September of entry. You can apply for more than one scholarship.LovingIt

Financial Assistance

Some schools may offer financial assistance (means tested on income and exam performance) for Year 7 and Year 9 entry, and the deadline for applying is normally the end of November prior to the year of entry. Often, financial assistance is allocated first and foremost based on the child’s exceptional performance in the Entrance Assessments; the financial information you provide is then considered.

N.B. Please note that advice given here may vary between individual schools. It is important that you get in touch with individual schools to find out their exact criteria for entry requirements, scholarships, and financial assistance.

Common Entrance Assessment or 11+

This exam is so called as it is taken at the age of 11 years at the beginning of secondary education. Not all independent schools are selective, but almost all schools will want students to take an entrance assessment exam of some kind.

The entrance exams always cover maths and English to a high level. Children are also usually tested on their verbal and nonverbal reasoning. These tests are designed to be more difficult to prepare for as they are not school subjects. Verbal reasoning is concerned with language and word problems, while non-verbal reasoning includes logic, shape, and number patterns.

The 11+ Assessments typically consist of the following: Maths (50 mins); English (45 mins); Reading Comprehension (30 mins); Non-verbal Reasoning (30 mins); plus an Interview (20 mins).

Full Bursary

Student“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!”

Click here to read more about our success…..

 

Portsmouth High School for Girls

Music, Art, Drama & Sport Scholarship Day

Monday 6th January 2025

11+ Assessment Day

Tuesday 7th January 2025

Portsmouth Grammar School

11+ and 13+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 9th November 2024

Mayville High School

All Candidates Sit Exam

Saturday 16th November 2024

The Gregg School

11+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 25th January 2025

Meoncross School

Open Week:  25- 29th September 10.45am

Open Morning November Friday 24th November 10.45am

Boundary Oak School

Assessment can be booked all year

Are you considering entering your child for an independent school?  Book a Free Assessment today!

NOW IS THE TIME

If your child is currently in Year 5, then NOW is the time to start preparing for the entrance assessment exam in January.

Adam Ashworth

During your child’s free forty-five-minute assessment we will:

  • Test your child’s reading age, spelling age and maths ability.
  • Give you honest feedback on your child’s ability to pass the entrance exams for each school.
  • Discuss our previous experience preparing students for entrance exams for local independent schools.
  • Give you a breakdown of the topics your child needs to cover to prepare for the entrance exam.
  • Explain our materials and teaching methods to you.
  • Give you the chance to ask any questions and to tap into our expertise.

 

Click here to find out more about tutoring for Entrance Exams …

 

Most Improved in Tutor Group and Year Group!

Most Improved Maths

Finley was struggling with Maths at school when his mum got in touch.  She said “It scared him that he was finding if so difficult.  I had tried contacting tutors before but there’d been no response.  I was really pleased when I spoke to someone and got a free assessment.  He enjoys the lessons and has no problem now.”

Linda his tutors says,”He has become more confident and improved a great deal.  He works hard and he want to do well each lesson.”

Finley has gone from strength to strength and now enjoys maths.  He got certificates for most improved student in tutor group and year so school have certainly notice it!

Christmas Competition

Christmas Competition 2018

We are excited to announce our latest Christmas Competitions.

Prizes
Win some great gifts!

Maths

Santa’s Super Times Tables Challenge

This is a speed mental maths challenge using our computer programme.  Choose the Super Challenge and try to get a high score in one of the three levels (Some, More, All).  Make a record witnessed by a tutor and you can enter it for the competition.

English

Reindeer Writing

Either; write an information piece about reindeer or a poem about life as a reindeer.

Entries will be judged on an age appropriate level and can be handed in early.  Entries by Friday 14th December please.

GCSE Maths Success in Only 3 months!

GCSE Maths Grade 2-4 in Three Months

Alex had always found maths difficult at school. He found himself in Year 11, dreading the thought of taking his GCSE maths exam. He enrolled with us for maths tuition with just three months to go and attended two lessons a week to try to catch up. It was the repetition and individual attention that he found very helpful. Alex says, “I learned more in the three months than my whole time in the maths classroom at school. I went from dreading it, to feeling much better about being there.” This Summer he was overjoyed to find that he had gone from a Grade 2 in his mocks up to a Grade 4 (C) pass in his final exam.

Maths funNow he is at Portsmouth College studying his A levels and very happy! Howard Jones, his tutor, said, “Alex was a very motivated student and knew what he wanted. I was able to channel this energy into a really positive direction. If students are prepared to put in the work, it is amazing how quickly some targeted one-to-one tutoring can make a difference in many cases.”

We had to go right back to the level of maths that Alex could cope with. We then focused on drilling his number work to improve his fluency and arithmetic (remember, at least one of the papers is non-calculator). Each lesson, we also completed a set of mixed questions which analyzed areas of weakness. These were matched each lesson with GCSE-type questions which we repeated until Alex could answer them independently for himself. As the exam got closer, we then focused more on exam-type questions, making sure we repeated each one to give Alex maximum confidence.

 

How we teach maths…

We recommend Corbett maths for revision…

Summer School 2018 Pictures

Celebrating Our Largest Summer School Ever!

This year our Summer School was so full we needed extra space!  Howard, Linda, Maxine and David would like to thank all the students for making our jobs so fun and rewarding.  It really was a pleasure!

summerschool2018summerschool18summerschool2018summerschool2018summerschool2018

Everyone enjoyed earning stamps, stickers and prizes for their hard work.  They all completed 10 hours of tuition and made lots of progress in just a week.

Many thanks to Michael Whitelock from P.S. Trampoline & Gymnastics who provided lots of afternoon activities including gymnastics, trampolining and tennis.

11+ Common Entrance Assessment Dates January 2019

11+ Entrance Assessments for January 2019

Indepedent Schools in Portsmouth and Fareham

We love helping children prepare for 11+ common entrance assessments. 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. Children are also usually tested on their verbal and non verbal reasoning. These tests are designed to be more difficult to prepare for as they are not a school subject. 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!”

Click here to find out more about tutoring for Entrance Exams …

Are you considering entering your child for an independent school?  Tell us and we can help prepare them.

Click here to read more about our success…..

Portsmouth High School

11+, 12+, 13+ or 14+

Saturday 19th January 2019

Portsmouth Grammar School

11+ and 13+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 26th January 2019

Mayville High School

All Candidates Sit Exam

Saturday 19th January 2019

St John’s College

11+ Entrance Assessment

Thursday 20th November

Tuesday 22nd January 2018

The Gregg School

11+ Entrance Assessment

Saturday 2nd February 2019

 

 

 

Summer School 20th -24st August 2018

Maths and English Fun at Summer School

Summer will soon be here and Summer School 2018 is here by popular demand!   Each student receives 10 hours of professional tuition in a week.  Some children stay in the afternoon for sport activities.


Summer School 20th -24th AUG

Tuition: Maths & English 9-11am or 12-2pm Cost £200 6-16yrs
A full ten hours of professional tuition in reading, writing, spelling and maths to boost your child this summer.  Individual plans and all abilities catered for.  Classes in our Portsmouth and Fareham Centres.

RyanKaiden
It’s good to learn together.

Tuition and Sport*: Maths & English Tuition + Trampolining/Gymnastics 9am-3pm

Sport*: Trampolining, Gymnastics and other activities with fully qualified coaches from PSTGC
Learn some new moves and gain a badge and certificate at the end of the week!

*Transport is available to take students from the Fareham Centre and back to Priory Tennis for the sport activities.

-Save £30 by booking both Sport and Tuition-

Cost was £275 only £245 (if booked before w/e June 30th) 6-12yrs


Many Children Fall Behind

‘Research shows as many as one in three children can fall behind as a result of a seven-week break from the classroom.’

Tom
Amazing progress

For most children, summer is a time to leave classes and homework behind. While summer is a holiday from school, it does not have to be a holiday from learning. The summer holiday is great for recharging your children’s batteries, but if they are not using the skills and knowledge that was learned in the classroom, they will find themselves struggling when school starts up again.

Skills and knowledge gained throughout the school year fade during the summer months. Research shows that loss of content retention begins within 24 to 48 hours of learning unless the new information is reinforced or applied immediately. That is why, during summer holidays, even the best students forget lessons they have learned during the school year. After a month without reinforcement, approximately 80 percent of what a student has recently learned can be lost.

Gain Confidence

For children who have struggled in school, summer is an invaluable opportunity to catch-up on key skills and feel more confident when they return to class. For students who do well, it is an opportunity to keep their enthusiasm for learning high.

If your child needs help with reading, writing, spelling or maths call Howard or Linda for a free assessment on 023 93 96 86 26 now.

Request a Call Back

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Tax Free Childcare is Here

Save Money with Tax Free Childcare at I Love to Learn

As we are OFSTED registered you can use the below methods to pay I Love to Learn.

Tax Free Childcare is a new scheme from the government.  If you open an account and put in some money the government will give you your tax back.  You can use this to pay for childcare for children up to 12 years old. (For every £8 you pay in, the government will pay in an extra £2, equivalent to 20% of childcare costs)

Click here to open an account…

Click here to find out more from MoneySavingExpert.com….

TaxFreeChildcareYou can continue to use the below methods also:

If you are already using Childcare Vouchers issues by your employer you can use them to pay for tuition with us.  (You have until Oct 2018 to enrol as this scheme will end)

If you receive Working Families Tax Credit you may be eligible for help also.  Just give the Helpline a call and tell them that your childcare costs have gone up. They will let you know if you can receive extra credit.

The WFTC Helpline is 0345 300 3900.

Our OFSTED no. in Portsmouth is EY 387054.

Our OFSTED no. in Fareham is EY 559164

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if we can be of any help on this or any other issue.

FREE Assessment

Simply complete our form to book your FREE assessment.

Book a Free Assessment Now


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