Friendly, one-to-one 11+ tutoring in Poole
One-to-one Grammar School 11+ tutoring at my home, a two-minute walk from Poole Grammar. Focused teaching, calm exam technique and a child who walks into the test believing they belong there.
Zanna BrunnerIndependent Grammar 11+ tutor, one to one only
One test, four schools
All four share a single entrance test, sat in the first weeks of Year 6. Prepare for one and you have prepared for all of them.
The test
Multiple choice, timed, and unlike anything in the school day. We work on all three and spend longest on whichever one your child finds hardest.
Number, fractions, shape, data and word problems. Working quickly without losing accuracy, and knowing when to move on.
Comprehension, vocabulary, spelling and grammar. We read widely and talk about what we read, which is where good vocabulary comes from.
Codes, sequences and word logic. New to almost every child, and the paper that improves most with steady practice.
Where
Sessions happen at my home on Gravel Hill, two minutes from Poole Grammar. Children who see the school every week stop being frightened of it, and that calm shows in their scores.
The session
Every session is 45 minutes and has the same shape, so children know what is coming and settle fast. You get a short note at the door.
5min
Puzzles and quick-fire questions to switch the brain on.
25min
The paper your child needs most this week, taught properly.
10min
Timed practice so test day feels familiar.
5min
What went well, what to practise, in plain English.
When to start
The test comes at the very start of Year 6, so almost all of the preparation happens in Years 4 and 5. Two steady years beat a frantic six months.
Times tables, reading habits, a first taste of puzzles. Fortnightly is plenty. No past papers yet.
Weekly sessions, a timed mock in the summer term, and a holiday plan that still leaves room for a holiday.
Registration closes early in the month and the test follows soon after. We ease off in the last week so your child arrives rested.
Your tutor
I am a mum of three boys, and all three won their places at Grammar School with me at the kitchen table. Two of them have special educational needs, so I learned early that there is no one way to teach a child: you find the way that works for the one in front of you. No tutors, no classes, just a plan, a timer, a lot of patience and the odd biscuit.
Somewhere around the third one, friends started asking if I would do the same for their children. Then their friends asked. Family kept saying I should make it my job. So here I am, tutoring one child at a time, at my home a short walk from Poole Grammar, for the Poole and Bournemouth Grammar School entrance test.
I have a BSc (Hons) and an MSc, so I know how to teach a method properly and not just drill it. And I know this test from the parent's side too: the September nerves, the Year 5 slog and the moment a child suddenly gets verbal reasoning. That is the bit I love.
From parents
*****My daughter looked forward to every session. Zanna is calm, encouraging and knows exactly what the test asks for. We felt in safe hands from the very first chat.Ali Kennedy, parent
Questions parents ask
Fortnightly in Year 4 if you want a gentle run-up, weekly from the start of Year 5 at the latest. The test is in September of Year 6, so Year 5 is the main year.
No. Every session is one to one. It costs a little more per session than a group, and it is the reason the session works.
A little, and it is always something your child can do alone in twenty minutes. Reading every day matters more than worksheets.
£35 for a 45-minute session, billed a half term at a time. The first chat and the short assessment are free. Prices are on this page so you never have to ask.
Then they go into Year 7 reading better, calmer under a clock and more confident in maths than they were. Nothing is wasted. I will tell you honestly, early, how things are looking.
Get in touch
Tell me a little about your child and I will say honestly whether tutoring is the right next step, and when to begin.
