WOW! 5 years have passed... ????

Sat in my car; patiently waiting outside the cricket pitch, where my son was taking his lesson ??; something struck me...

I realised that exactly 5 years ago I was just like many of you ambitious parents ... dreaming of good education and a great life for my daughter but did not have a clear path on how to get there.

I had never fully understood the UK education system, was unaware of 11+ and didn't even know that she needed to sit for a competitive entrance exam to progress to a better school for secondary education.... ?? (it makes me mad thinking how stupid I was)

My daughter was already three months in year 5 when we started hearing parents mention about 11+. It piqued our curiosity but more than that made us anxious as we started to realise that we were too late in the game. ????

I remember having butterflies in my stomach when one of the parent said that she started preparing her DD in year 3 and knew exactly which schools they were targeting ????. Without hesitation I immediately asked if she had any suggestions for me (knowing very well that we were super late)..... like every other parent she gave me the best advice she could... "Buy CGP and Bonds books and start practicing"..... within the next hour Amazon order was placed and paid......????

We only had 9 months left before the exam and we still did not have a clear path. I bought the CGP and Bond books as suggested by other parents but was finding it too hard to take time out of my already hectic work schedule to sit with my DD ??. My daughter lacked the discipline and my wife was busy looking after her younger sibling.

Being a techie, I am naturally fast at spinning up apps; so within three days I crafted an app that worked on her iPad and started filling it up with Maths worksheets...

It brought little relief knowing that at least she has started some practice but we lacked the knowledge and did not have a plan. I nervously started asking parents for recommendations for tutors. After careful consideration, we went with the most recommended tutor in Rickmansworth for in-person face to face lessons. I wasn't worried about the cost, as the cost of not doing was a lot higher. ??????

A month later, my anxiety was still at the peak as I was not satisfied by the pace at which my daughter was progressing. The tutor was relaxed and patient. It gave me a false sense of hope knowing that we are in good hands with the best tutor in the area and he was not worried. "She is doing well. She need to work harder but she is making progress. Hopefully, she will be ready before the exam", he said. (hmmm...back then I could not sense that there was lack of predictability in what he said) ??????

After discussing my concern with the tutor we continued with his advice to patiently wait (as it takes time, he explained)....

Another month passed and I started getting worried about the pace at which things were proceeding...??????

By now she has consumed the CGP and Bonds books. Five months to go and I gave her a practice paper ... 65% ....is it good, is it bad... I did not know but my gut was making me heebie-jeebies. ???? (CGP and Bonds was not enough, I thought)

I was now feeling guilty of letting my daughter down by not preparing her in advance. ????

So that day I made the best decision. I fired the tutor. It was a risk I took but it felt like the right decision at that moment; and I had a plan (at least that was my assumption). ????

I had some idea of what I needed to do to create a plan that would get me closer to my result. Result is all that mattered. Result for my daughter. Pass the damn 11+ exam and get the offer from a good school. I knew she had in her. It was me who let her down (and the tutor).

I took 3 weeks off from work and decided to dive into it so I could create an action plan. I started adding more worksheets for Maths, English and VR in my app. I had a plan ready (so I thought)......

Next I sat down, discussed with my daughter and asked if she really wanted to do it. Being an ambitious girl herself; she decided to take the challenge despite knowing that the chance of success was slim. ?? ♀??? ♀??? ♀?

We broke down five months into periods. Each period for a specific action plan. (This has now become Four Pillars Of Success in my program). Our focus was concept mastery, mastering approaches, analysis to switch approaches with every question, daily practice, plenty of past papers, time management, time saving methods but never focused on trying to get the right answer...... It was a marathon plan not a hundred meter sprint?? ♀??? ♀??? ♀?

Was that easy? Not at all. We had moments of high stress. We had to make sure that we were taking breaks, to not get burned out but at the same time being efficient with time. We also had days when we decided to do nothing.....it was too stressful at times... ??????????

I used all the tools I had in my Project Manager toolbox. Kanban board, daily ten minute sit down, weekly retrospective etc.

IT WAS HARD WORK !! ??????

..............

Fast forward a few months. She got the offer from her first choice grammar school (rather parents choice).??????

The big smile on her face was like permanently painted for the whole day. She could not believe she got the result in her favour. She was the only one from her primary school who got the offer from the grammar school (that was a major achievement). Her teachers including the head teacher was really proud of her success. Her confidence was soaring sky high. ??????????????????

Reflecting all of this today, still gives me a jittery feeling but knowing that the plan worked was a major win.

Since then I have used the same process with several of my students who got in to the schools of their choice.

Over the years, I have optimised and perfected the the process which is now fully embedded in my program.

It has now become my passion to change lives for better. Knowing that I have something really unique that can change dozens, even hundreds, of lives is an incredible feeling. I have quit my Investment Bank job to become a coach and fully focus on helping ambitious parents and their kids make their dream a reality.

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