KE Birmingham
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Essex Dad
Sorry to jump into Birmingham forum from Essex, but:
First Aid for English, and the Answer Book, is also available in this websites' bookshop!
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... p?g=f&p=13
The shop on this webiste is really good, everything in stock only is displayed, recorded delivery the next day! We have bought three times and the service has been exceptional all times.
First Aid for English, and the Answer Book, is also available in this websites' bookshop!
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/ ... p?g=f&p=13
The shop on this webiste is really good, everything in stock only is displayed, recorded delivery the next day! We have bought three times and the service has been exceptional all times.
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KE Mum
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CBissel
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KE Mum
I wouldn't say that what I received constituted practise papers! It was one page of questions which showed how to complete the answers really, ie completing the computer marked parts by colouring in the answer section. My daughter completed it and got nearly everyone wrong - this was 2 days before the test - not very encouraging.
Hi KE MUM,
Had to laugh when I read your post. Our familiarisation paper was literally one sheet of paper for each subject. 6/7 questions for maths and VR. My daughter zipped through them and got half wrong about 4 days before the test
Wasn't funny at the time but I'm glad to read now it wasn't just us it happened to.
HP
Had to laugh when I read your post. Our familiarisation paper was literally one sheet of paper for each subject. 6/7 questions for maths and VR. My daughter zipped through them and got half wrong about 4 days before the test
Wasn't funny at the time but I'm glad to read now it wasn't just us it happened to.HP
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CBissel
Thanks for your responses. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how best to prep (if at all) for the maths elements of the test? I've seen conflicting reports on how the test approaches the topic - my first instinct is just to continue to focus on core skills but I have a sneaking suspicion that there may be some value in developing certain techniques - any comments?
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KenR
To CBissel
Hi
I don't think any special preparation is required for the maths element of the KE Foundation test. We just did the usual variety of 11+ maths tests available in the shops and the e-papers available on this site.
I think my main concern would be appropriate preparation for the Verbal part of the test. From our own experience and talking to other parents this was by far the most different and difficult section for the candidates. Most NFER material is not suitable for this section. The synonyms and comprehension is unusual and puts the candidates under severe time pressure.
I managed to get hold of my son's marks in this years test - he had a very poor score in the Verbal section of the paper but scored very high marks in the maths/numerical and non Verbal sections. By contrast, in all of our VR practice tests over the last 6 months (using NFER and e-papers etc) he had been scoring well over 90% in all tests. So this particular session must have really thrown him - I know that many of his friends also struggled in this section.
He got into KE Five Ways ok which we are really pleased about, but I think it was a lot closer than it probably should have been. He was offered Scholarship to 2 Independent schools which I guess demonstrates that he does perform well in conventional 11+ VR exams in other schools.
My recommendation would be to try to focus on particular aspects of the KE style of VR 11+ paper. To be honest, I'm not sure there are any e-papers covering - maybe an email to the forum editor might be able to help.
Hope this helps.
Hi
I don't think any special preparation is required for the maths element of the KE Foundation test. We just did the usual variety of 11+ maths tests available in the shops and the e-papers available on this site.
I think my main concern would be appropriate preparation for the Verbal part of the test. From our own experience and talking to other parents this was by far the most different and difficult section for the candidates. Most NFER material is not suitable for this section. The synonyms and comprehension is unusual and puts the candidates under severe time pressure.
I managed to get hold of my son's marks in this years test - he had a very poor score in the Verbal section of the paper but scored very high marks in the maths/numerical and non Verbal sections. By contrast, in all of our VR practice tests over the last 6 months (using NFER and e-papers etc) he had been scoring well over 90% in all tests. So this particular session must have really thrown him - I know that many of his friends also struggled in this section.
He got into KE Five Ways ok which we are really pleased about, but I think it was a lot closer than it probably should have been. He was offered Scholarship to 2 Independent schools which I guess demonstrates that he does perform well in conventional 11+ VR exams in other schools.
My recommendation would be to try to focus on particular aspects of the KE style of VR 11+ paper. To be honest, I'm not sure there are any e-papers covering - maybe an email to the forum editor might be able to help.
Hope this helps.
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KE Mum
I think they are looking for speed and accuracy. We made sure she knew the times tables off by heart which is very important for any child really. She also did some higher level maths like algebra but I don't think this was at all necessary as it didn't feature in the test. However, it might give you more peace of mind if your daughter knows about replacing numbers with x and y as some children haven't come across this before in primary.
As I said before, Bond was a good book to use as it has lots of variety and introduces questions that the children wouldn't ordinarily see. They need to be able to analyse graphs and also work out angles, so they need to know the 180 degrees = a straight line and so on. The practise paper had a question with angles on it and it seemed to confuse her terribly, I don't know why.
As a guide, a few days before the test we went through the KS2 CGP Maths revision guide and I know that she was able to do all the maths in the book. I don't think they expect children to go into KS3 maths, but expect them to be able to look at a problem and work out an answer from the information given, which may involve some careful thought. She has said, since she sat the test, that she really didn't have a clue what they were asking for in some questions and she just guessed. There was one about cars and one about filling up jugs?
As a guide she could get 96% on both NFER NVR and VR 11+ tests - lower on the maths, but it is very hard for a youngster.
Any more questions - just ask - I found out all my information about the test by gossiping with others. My older daughter has said that it is very useful to have a gossip for a mother - I am inclined to agree!!
As I said before, Bond was a good book to use as it has lots of variety and introduces questions that the children wouldn't ordinarily see. They need to be able to analyse graphs and also work out angles, so they need to know the 180 degrees = a straight line and so on. The practise paper had a question with angles on it and it seemed to confuse her terribly, I don't know why.
As a guide, a few days before the test we went through the KS2 CGP Maths revision guide and I know that she was able to do all the maths in the book. I don't think they expect children to go into KS3 maths, but expect them to be able to look at a problem and work out an answer from the information given, which may involve some careful thought. She has said, since she sat the test, that she really didn't have a clue what they were asking for in some questions and she just guessed. There was one about cars and one about filling up jugs?
As a guide she could get 96% on both NFER NVR and VR 11+ tests - lower on the maths, but it is very hard for a youngster.
Any more questions - just ask - I found out all my information about the test by gossiping with others. My older daughter has said that it is very useful to have a gossip for a mother - I am inclined to agree!!
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KE Mum
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KenR
Hi KE Mum
I was only able to get the scores as my son had narrowly failed to get into KE Camp Hill Boys which we had put down as our 1st choice. In this situation you can formally ask that the Foundation Office write you you with your child's scores and show where they are on the waiting list. I don't think this option is available to parents who's children are offered their 1st choice as I guess with your daugther.
I was quite an eye-opener.
We originally thought that KE Five Ways would be too far for my son to travel but, as it happened, when we got the offer letter we realised that there was a fast direct school bus which solved the problem. I think if we had know this we would have put KE Five Ways down as our 1st choice anyway. We were a litle worried that KE Camp Hill Boys might be a bit too pressurised - I think the Boys school is a different to the Girls school in this respect.
I guess now just need we need to make sure that they quickly forget the 11+ and concentrate on the next step of the educational ladder!
As an aside, I have heard feedback from friends, that it has been very much harder for children at Independent Schools to get places at Oxbridge and Russell Group Universities this year. The start of government pressure!. I guess this could add to the demand for places at the KE Foundation Gramamars in future years. I just glad that the 11+ is all over for my family now and I don't have to go through that again!
Best of luck to your daugther at Camp Hill Girls
I was only able to get the scores as my son had narrowly failed to get into KE Camp Hill Boys which we had put down as our 1st choice. In this situation you can formally ask that the Foundation Office write you you with your child's scores and show where they are on the waiting list. I don't think this option is available to parents who's children are offered their 1st choice as I guess with your daugther.
I was quite an eye-opener.
We originally thought that KE Five Ways would be too far for my son to travel but, as it happened, when we got the offer letter we realised that there was a fast direct school bus which solved the problem. I think if we had know this we would have put KE Five Ways down as our 1st choice anyway. We were a litle worried that KE Camp Hill Boys might be a bit too pressurised - I think the Boys school is a different to the Girls school in this respect.
I guess now just need we need to make sure that they quickly forget the 11+ and concentrate on the next step of the educational ladder!
As an aside, I have heard feedback from friends, that it has been very much harder for children at Independent Schools to get places at Oxbridge and Russell Group Universities this year. The start of government pressure!. I guess this could add to the demand for places at the KE Foundation Gramamars in future years. I just glad that the 11+ is all over for my family now and I don't have to go through that again!
Best of luck to your daugther at Camp Hill Girls
