Eleven Plus Fitness

The aim of every Eleven Plus parent must be to strive to make sure that their child arrives at the examination fit and rearing to go.

Sadly some children will not be able to do themselves justice. They will quite simply be too unfit to pass the examination. We worked with an Eleven Plus girl last week who managed just over half the reasoning questions and then remarkably few on the second half of the paper. It was almost as if she had stopped reading the questions and had started guessing. Her explanation to her parents was that she had `run out of puff’.

As the family walked down the stairs we heard the mother informing every one that: `We have to get her fit.”

Steps to Eleven Plus fitness

1. Encourage your child to walk with a good posture.

2. Try to help to avoid stress.

3. Work with your child on the amount of sleep that will be needed.

4. Try to avoid periods where you expect your child to concentrate for prolonged time.

5. Try to help your child to appreciate the value of fresh air.

6. Work together to try to create an environment where there are few external distractions.

7. Expect your child to have off-days.

8. Make sure that your child has a comfortable seat to sit on while working.

9. Check the eyes for eyestrain.

10. Help your child to acquire a comfortable wardrobe.