About Sheena Ager: 11 Plus Author and Course Creator

I’m Sheena Ager, and I write my 11+ books as S. L. Ager. I created the Cadwaladr books after helping my own children prepare for grammar-school entrance tests in Reading, Berkshire.

My first 11+ novel, Tangled Time, was written for my son, who was a reluctant reader. I wanted him to meet difficult vocabulary inside a story rather than through endless word lists. Tangled Time became the first book in The Cadwaladr Quests. I later wrote the four-book Cadwaladr Chronicles as a prequel series and an earlier starting point for Year 4 readers.

There are now seven Cadwaladr fantasy-adventure novels. Each has an on-page dictionary so children can understand unfamiliar words without leaving the story. Knowledge Nuggets explain SPaG, literary devices and inference as children read. The books are written for a wide range of 11+ tests, including GL, ISEB, SET, CSSE, Sutton, Tiffin, Future Stories (FSCE), CEM and independent-school entrance tests, as well as SATs.

Some of the workbooks were created with Education Boutique and XL Education and cover comprehension, vocabulary and creative writing. Parents can see the two starting points, the complete seven-book order and which workbooks need a novel on the reading-order page.

I also created our 11+ Writing Course. It teaches story writing, narrative recount and description, alongside vocabulary, literary devices and SPaG. Children can follow the course from anywhere in the world and work through the lessons at any time. They receive personal feedback and can attend monthly live Writing Clinics. The teaching comes from real children’s writing and changes in response to what they submit.

I run free weekly comprehension, SPaG and vocabulary sessions for children who are reading my books. I’ve also run my 11+ Facebook group for around ten years. The group now has more than 10,000 members, and parents can share their children’s work anonymously if they prefer and receive feedback from teachers and tutors.

I’m honest with parents about what children find difficult, what they actually need to practise and what can wait. I don’t want children writing from a tick list or stopping after every page to learn every word. I want them to read, understand what they’re reading and know why they’re making each writing choice.