This summer is logistics, not revision. Uniform, the route to school, and finding the other families doing the same journey as you.
That last one is the thing worth real effort, and it is the one nobody does.
What this summer is not for
It is not for academic preparation, and a child who has just come through a year of 11+ work has earned the break.
Grammar schools set their own baseline assessments in the first term and teach from there. There is no syllabus to get ahead on, and arriving pre-tutored for Year 7 buys nothing. Families who ask about keeping the tutoring going over this summer are usually asking out of momentum rather than need.
Keep the reading going, because that always pays. Beyond that, let them have the six weeks.
The practical list
- Uniform, from wherever the school specifies, early rather than in August.
- Open days and induction days, and go to them.
- Understand the school routine. Day length, lesson structure, what they carry.
- Equipment, including a calculator if the school asks for a specific one.
- Travel sorted, which is the big one, below.
As a parent the job is to get ready together, so the first morning is not the first time any of it has been thought about.
Do the journey properly
Grammar school catchments are wide, so a lot of children travel much further than they did to primary.
- Do the actual journey, with your child, at the real time of morning.
- Do it on a weekday, not a quiet Sunday.
- Price a full year of it, not a single fare.
- Walk the last part from the stop to the gate.
- Work out the fallback for a missed bus or a cancelled train.
Do this in June or July, while there is time to solve a problem it reveals.
Find the other families
This is the advice I would push hardest, because it solves the hardest problem.
From June, start looking for other families whose children got a place at the same school, particularly ones facing the same commute. Go on the forums and the local groups, ask at the induction day, put yourself out there. If you know of other students who passed and have the same journey to make, make contact.
It is difficult to gauge in advance who is in the same position, which is exactly why you have to ask rather than wait.
The car share, as an example
Here is what it can produce, and it is a real case.
I have had several students who lived in Birmingham but got places at Queen Mary's in Walsall. That is a long commute on a daily basis, and for a child just turned eleven it is a lot to take on in the first week of a new school.
One of those families went looking, and found two other students in Birmingham making the same daily journey to the same school. They set up a car sharing scheme between them. It made the whole thing easier for the parents and for the children, who went in together by car instead of alone across the city.
Nothing about that was arranged by the school. It happened because one parent asked around in the summer. See our guide to Queen Mary's Walsall.
The first two weeks
If you are facing a difficult journey, the first fortnight of term is the period that matters.
That is when the routine sets, when the child finds out whether the commute is manageable, and when the other families are still working theirs out and are most open to sharing it. A problem raised in week two gets solved. The same problem raised in November has become normal.
So go in expecting to adjust, talk to the other parents at the gate and the station, and treat the first two weeks as the time to fix things rather than endure them.
See where your child stands today
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Ask around in June, not in September
The summer before starting Year 7 at a grammar school is really just about getting ready: getting the uniform, attending open days, understanding the school routine, the school route, and how to get your child prepared in terms of travel. As a parent it is very important to get ready together.
It is also a good time to build or try to network with other parents who have children going to that school. I have had situations where there were several students who lived in Birmingham but got a place at Queen Mary's Walsall. That journey from Birmingham on a daily basis is a long commute.
So I do advise parents, especially in June, to start collecting information. If you know of any students who passed the grammar test and have the same journey to do, then ideally go on the forums, bring yourself out there, and try to build a network. There was a student who went from Birmingham to Walsall and then found out there were two others within Birmingham making the same daily commute, so they managed to have a car sharing scheme set up, which made it easy for the parents and for the students. Sometimes it is very difficult to gauge, but normally it is the first two weeks within the school that are quite important if you are in that predicament.
Mushtaque Ahmed, Founder of GrammarPath and Bright Mentors
Frequently asked questions
What should a child do the summer before starting Year 7?
Not academic work. Grammar schools set their own baseline assessments in the first term and teach from there, so there is no syllabus to get ahead on. Keep the reading going and otherwise let them have the six weeks after a year of 11+ preparation.
Should we keep tutoring over the summer before Year 7?
There is no need. Schools assess and teach from scratch in the first term, so arriving pre-tutored buys nothing, and families who ask are usually asking out of momentum rather than need.
How do you prepare for a long journey to a grammar school?
Do the actual journey with your child on a weekday at the real time of morning, walk the last stretch from the stop to the gate, price a full year rather than a single fare, and work out the fallback for a missed bus. Do it in June or July while there is time to solve what it reveals.
How do I find other families at my child's new grammar school?
Ask, from June onwards: local forums and groups, and the induction day. It is difficult to gauge in advance who faces the same commute, which is why asking beats waiting. One family who did this found two others making the same Birmingham to Walsall journey and set up a car share.
What matters most in the first two weeks of Year 7?
Fixing the practical problems rather than enduring them. That is when the routine sets, when you learn whether a commute is manageable, and when other families are still working theirs out and are most open to sharing. The same problem raised in November has become normal.