Year 4 Pre-11+ Programme
YEAR 4 Advanced English Workshop: Foundation Year at QEHBS
A rigorous 42-week programme designed to raise reading age, accelerate reading speed, widen vocabulary and build the precision and stamina our Year 5 course demands. Children receive expert weekly teaching, professional mentoring and carefully sequenced practice rather than light-touch tuition or generic workbook exercises.
Course at a glance
Year 4 should prepare children for the intensity ahead
This is not designed as a light-touch course.
Year 4 is the time to close gaps in reading age, bring reading speed closer to the standard required in Year 5, broaden vocabulary and strengthen writing fluency. Pupils learn to approach demanding texts with greater confidence and to embrace challenge rather than avoid it.
A 42-week programme gives these skills time to develop securely. It offers meaningful preparation, not a shortened course of thirty-odd weeks built around simple instructions and surface-level practice.
English receives the full lesson
Weekly interaction with an expert English teacher is crucial. Children need sustained explanation, questioning, discussion and correction to make lasting progress.
Bite-sized English sessions of under 30 minutes cannot provide the depth that advanced comprehension, vocabulary and SPaG require. For this reason, our 90–100 minute workshop is devoted entirely to English rather than being divided between Maths, VR and NVR.
The result is professional mentoring with continuity, not a brief weekly encounter with disconnected tasks.
The weekly QEHBS learning cycle
Every week combines assessment, expert teaching, reinforcement and measurable progress.
The mock is completed outside the live lesson, so valuable teacher time is used for explanation, debate, correction and strategy rather than silent testing.
Bespoke QEHBS materials, written for genuine progress
Every QEHBS pupil works from materials created in-house. We do not depend on generic, off-the-shelf 11+ workbooks or test packs that parents can readily purchase and mark themselves.
Our resources use inference-rich extracts and carefully constructed comprehensions designed to raise reading levels, sharpen evidence selection and expose tempting red herrings. Specialist tuition should provide expert teaching, precise diagnosis and targeted correction, not simply supervise commercially available exercises.
- All comprehension, vocabulary and SPaG materials included
- No parent marking required
- No parent-led teaching needed to complete homework
Complete stretch-level KS2 English
Children study the full range of skills needed to become more mature, accurate and independent readers.
Creative writing is taught once a month, giving pupils a purposeful opportunity to apply vocabulary, grammar and punctuation in their own work.
For confident readers
Children who already read well are stretched beyond straightforward retrieval. They learn to distinguish between a plausible answer and the best-supported answer, recognise nuances in tone and defend their interpretations with evidence.
- Sharper inference and critical analysis
- More precise vocabulary choices
- Greater awareness of traps and red herrings
- Improved speed without sacrificing accuracy
For children still building reading maturity
The work may feel challenging at first, but the challenge is carefully supported. Repeated exposure to ambitious texts, live teacher explanation and weekly vocabulary reinforcement helps pupils develop the habits that independent reading alone may not yet have secured.
- A stronger reading routine and wider vocabulary
- Greater confidence with unfamiliar extracts
- Improved comprehension speed and stamina
- A secure transition into Year 5 expectations
An online group that is better than a face to face group
Our classes are capped at 15 pupils: small enough for children to be known, questioned and guided, yet large enough to create rich discussion.
Pupils hear the thoughtful questions other capable children ask, explain their reasoning and learn from alternative interpretations. These interactions build confidence, intellectual curiosity and the willingness to participate, all of which are difficult to reproduce through solitary workbook practice.
Built to work for families
- Catch-up swap lessons for absentees where available
- A recording when a suitable swap cannot be arranged
- Online access that supports continuity during busy weeks
- Approximately 1–2 hours of homework and 1–2 hours of revision each week
Parents can support consistency without having to become the child’s English teacher or spend hours marking weekly papers.
What parents and pupils noticed
She loved the trial. I was surprised, as she does not usually like comprehensions.
I saw the quality of the material instantly. Really pleased.
Three pages of notes. He says he wants to join QEHBS classes.
My son thoroughly enjoyed the session and gained some very useful techniques.
A deliberate pathway into QEHBS Year 5
Pupils strengthen reading age, vocabulary, SPaG, speed, confidence and the stamina to sustain more demanding work.
Children arrive better equipped for the faster pace, harder texts, weekly timed assessment and precise exam reasoning required by our QE and HBS programme.