11+ Classes
Open Minds Tuition
Learning is a cornerstone of Islamic teaching and is the key to a successful career. With that in mind, we are pleased to offer verbal reasoning classes to help students prepare for 11+ and 12+ exams in order to gain Grammar school entry.
Buckinghamshire has a selective schooling system, and pupils who achieve a score of 121 are offered places in Grammar schools. We offer subsidised small-group tuition to support pupils from minority groups to get higher scores in the 11+. As well as the standard of education being better in grammar schools, the schools generally offer a single-sex learning environment, which is favoured by most Muslims.
If you would like to take advantage of the classes, which start at only £6 per hour, please contact Amjad Iqbal on 07878 126099. Alternatively complete the form attached to this link and post to: Open Minds, C/O WISE Learning Centre, 17-18 Portland House, Arnison Avenue, High Wycombe, Bucks HP13 6DQ.
Regular lessons are held on Tuesdays from 6 till 7.30pm at the WISE Learning Centre. The times may vary during Ramadhan.
Ad hoc tips
Diet:
Food rich in omega-3 fats, especially those found in fatty fish such as salmon, help boost brain power. Other sources of omega-3s are flax oil and raw nuts such as walnuts and almonds - you may now understand why you're mum told you to eat badaams (almonds) to improve your intelligence!
Studies have shown that kids scored better on tests the more omega-3 fatty acids they ate (being twice as important in girls). This is not surprising considering that the body uses these to make docosohexanoic acid (DHA), the most abundant and essential fat in the brain. It's interesting that DHA passes from the mother to the child via breast milk and is thought to be the main reason behind improved academic outcome experienced by breast-fed children (Pediatrics, January 1998).
Memory skills:
It appears that young children are similar to adults in that they can only hold 3 things in their working memories at a time. To overcome this limitation, you can remember things by grouping them in clusters, eg remembering a phone number by breaking it down into pairs or threes.
Also, scientists have found that a specific part of the brain stores things in its long term memory. So to memorise a new piece of work for an exam, you would need to link it to your long term memory otherwise it will be overwritten by new information in the short-term memory. For example, if you had to learn some new words for English you could try to link them to a nursery rhyme that you learnt when you were very young.