School life articles

Individual healthcare plans are designed to keep children with medical conditions safe, well and involved at school. We explain how these important documents work.

Every parent wants their child to have the best chance of 11+ success, and choosing the right tutor could be the key. We explain how to find the best person for your child.

Does bringing your child to a parent-teacher meeting give them valuable input or get in the way of frank conversation? We discuss the pros, cons and practicalities.

No one likes to hear bad news at a parent-teacher meeting, but knowing how to respond could help your child turn the issue around. By Lucy Dimbylow.

The transition from primary to secondary school is a big step for your child, but summer term induction days can help them to prepare for their new milestone. We explain how they work and what you (and your child) should expect.

One in five primary school children speaks a language other than English at home. We find out how this affects their learning, and what schools (and parents!) can do to help.

Turn screen time into a super-powered learning experience with a new generation of coding toys. Your child will learn programming skills as they play, as well as the basics of computational thinking (and hopefully how to fix your IT problems, too!). We asked programmer, tech-expert and mum, Claire Wardle, as well as other parents, to put the toys to the test and share their findings.

Introduce your child to the world of chemical reactions, crystallisation and chromatography with the right chemistry set for every age and stage. From pre-schooler test tubes and safety goggles to pipettes of luminol and alcohol burners, we've picked great kids' chemistry sets for every budget and every budding chemist.

Yorkshire has six selective schools, split across three local authorities. Here's what you need to know about taking the entrance tests.

Learning how circuits work is an important part of Key Stage 2 science. Make the learning light up, buzz, ring and whizz up into the air with these brilliant electronics sets for children, designed to make exploring electricity creative and captivating. From sturdy sets suitable for small fingers to circuit-diagram projects, these sets offer a fantastic hands-on electrical education.

Competition is fierce for places at Barnet and Enfield's grammar schools, so what does the 11+ test involve?

With a massive 15 selective schools to choose from, what do you need to know about registering your child for the Lincolnshire 11+?

All the facts you need to know about entering your child for the 11+ test for entrance to the Slough and Reading grammar schools.

Learning a language at primary school is more than just words; it’s a gateway to other cultures. Dawn Francis-Pester shares top tips for bringing languages to life for your child.

Expand vocabulary, develop spelling skills, learn about homophones, anagrams and synonyms and compose huge numbers of silly sentences... all while having a great time. Whether your child is 3 or 13, our favourite word board games and literacy card games offer fast-paced fun for the whole family.

With 11 schools to choose from, Essex is one of the largest grammar school areas in the country. We explain the testing process.

A popular choice for schools and authorities that use 11+ tests, we find out the facts about the CEM assessment and explain what to expect if your child will be taking the CEM 11+.

If your child is applying for a place at one of Wiltshire's two grammar schools, they'll need to sit the 11+. Read on for the facts about the test.

If you're living in Buckinghamshire, your child will take the Transfer Test to decide which type of secondary school they'll go to – but do you know what's involved?