Reading School

Bewildered · Post by **Bewildered** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:28 pm

Just finished reading other threads. Concenus appers to be.... put some practise in before a grammar school entry exam test.

Only problem is the advice given by school/LEA is..............

3 tests of 1 hr each, Reasoning (verbal or non), Maths, and English.
The tests will build on current good practice adopted in primary schools and will be tests for which
NO additional preparation is necessary.
NO past papers are available and NO further information with respect to the tests will be given.

Not very helpful to us poor parents, methinks....

Any ideas on what we can do to prepare, for timed tests which are multi choice? Nfer, Bond, IPS???

Thanks

The Tutors · Post by **The Tutors** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:52 pm

Ignore "teacher speak" or "LEA speak" or "DFES speak" and follow your parental instincts.

In life, how many people sit a "blind test"?

I have gone through the standard education process to degree level, at every level I have been advised to prepare and revise for tests and examinations.

Why should 11+ (a relatively low level of academic achievement) be so different?

Kaz · Post by **Kaz** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:55 am

I looked on their web site and they don't give any more info. Your best bet is to try and talk to boys /parents who sat the test in the last couple of years. You may at least get to know which practice papers they used. Everyone practices and all the schools and LEA's tell you not to!

There are loads of good tips on this site and free downloads that would help anyone taking any 11+ test. Good luck.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:11 am

If you don't prepare your child for the 11+, he will be up against children from private schools who have done little else BUT prepare for the 11+.

I think it helps to go through some papers before hand, particularly ones like NFER as they are very difficult and although there are only 4 papers for each subject, they cover a good range.

Has anyone used the new Bond 11+ papers that have just come out. I was going to have a look at these for my son who sits the KE in Birmingham test in a fortnight.

Bewildered · Post by **Bewildered** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 9:12 am

Thanks for your thoughts.

Its particularly frustrating, as the only other Grammar school in the area (a girls only), not only tell you which papers they use, but also that you can purchase them from WHSmiths!!

I will speak to other parents and ask what they did, but only problem is their children didn't manage to get in.

A bit more detective work needed, and Luckily we've still got time.

Thanks Everyone

sleepless · Post by **sleepless** » Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:54 pm

One of the main problems here seems to be that the school says that there will be three tests, each lasting one hour, one will be maths, one will be English and the other will either be verbal or non verbal reasoning. Doubtless you will have seem both types of papers somewhere along the line and will realise that verbal and non verbal reasoning are totally different. It may be worth phoning the school and asking them if they can tell you which it will be. They may think that you are daft, even to think that they are going to give that information away but, on the other hand, they may be happy to tell you and obviously it would be a huge advantage. As regards the girls' school, I assume you are talking about the Kendrick? I find it odd that tests for Reading and Kendrick are so different, since essentially one is Reading's grammar school for boys and one is Reading's grammar for girls.

Anyway, going back to the tests, if you cannot find out which reasoning type it will be then you will need to prepare for both. Under no circumstances should you assume that a child who is good at verbal reasoning will be equally good at non verbal. Experience in my own family and with friends taking entrance exams for difference schools, etc, suggests that the two abilities do not often go hand in hand.

Personally, I tend to think that VR tends towards those with a higher ability in English, whereas NVR is logic (and therefore possibly maths/science) orientated. It may be that the school uses different types of test in different years in an attempt to get a good cross section of both types of high ability, who knows.

Good luck.

kxangel · Post by **kxangel** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 1:27 pm

I am having the same problem, My son wants to sit the 11+ but I am very worried, his teachers & his current Head have said go for it. I have started late in the day, and we are going through the nfrtNelson papers. I have been told by the Grammer School, and my sons current school not to tutor. But I am glad that I have given him papers to practice. A child who has never seen a VR or NVR will find it difficult even if they are bright. My sons at the end of year five reached level 5 in maths & english, he is expected to be around a Level 5B when he sits the 11+ which is in Nov, but I am not very confident that he will pass. The children who get through are the extemely bright/gifted ones.

Sophie · Post by **Sophie** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:30 pm

My Son got into Reading last year. Only tutoring we did was working through 11+ NFER papers from Smiths. He said the English & VR were NFER but the Maths just said "Reading School Test" and he thought they had written it themselves. Much easier than 11+ tests.

He had VR, year before was NVR.

The essay is 15 mins. Also a comprehension paper, 3 texts + questions.

Good luck

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:14 pm

Sophie,

Thankyou for your valuable information.

Would you know about timing and how many qu's on VR paper, and if there were any that were different types, ie. only found in Bond VR.

All help greatfully excepted

guest65 · Post by **guest65** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 8:02 pm

My sons at the end of year five reached level 5 in maths & english, he is expected to be around a Level 5B when he sits the 11+ which is in Nov, but I am not very confident that he will pass. The children who get through are the extemely bright/gifted ones.

I'm no expert on primary school grades but I thought achieving level 5's at the end of year 6 meant you were above average, so surely achieving level 5 at the end of year 5 means your son is extremely bright. Any comment from those who understand the grading system better than I do.