When to Start Preparation

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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Melx

Post by Melx »

Hi njg

Sounds like you had a very busy year. well done to your son. My son joined JHGS last Sept and is enjoying it.

You mentioned you have another child in year 5. My daughter has too just gone onto year 5. Given your experiences when will you satrt prep for your year five child?

Dear Sally-Anne

You also seem to have so much knowledge experience etc. Would you say I am right in leaving starting my daughters tuition(which I am doing myslef) until January. We live in Bucks so will be doing the Bucks test only.

Also a quetsion for anyone is there any truth in in that the test is harder one year then the next. Some people I know whose children took it last year say it was harder then previous year so that would mean next years will be harder again. Any thoughts on this anyone.

Mel

Fell free to move last question to a new topic if you think it shoud be
hugh

Post by hugh »

is there any truth in in that the test is harder one year then the next
I've no idea, but as the number of gramar places is (more or less) fixed, it doesn't really make any difference whether the exam is harder one year (except perhpas to morale) as it will be harder for everyone. If necessary the pass rate will be adjusted to fill the places.

What is probably far more significant in winning a place is the number of children in the cohort, which certainly varies year to year.
njg

Post by njg »

Hi Mel X

I started with my year 5 child over the summer.
Nothing formal - just introducing types and strategies in a kind of fun way.
Will start with the IPS etc stuff after xmas.
Melx

Post by Melx »

Hugh

I guess then the test is what it is and like you say its the number of entrants that effects the results.

njg

I didn't sue IPS when I tutored my son two years ago. At the time I didn't know about this forum and so only used NFER papers and then late on when I discovered this site I downloaded some free papers of different sorts. What are the IPS papers and are tehy like teh real thing

Mel
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Melx wrote:Dear Sally-Anne

You also seem to have so much knowledge experience etc. Would you say I am right in leaving starting my daughters tuition(which I am doing myslef) until January. We live in Bucks so will be doing the Bucks test only.
Hi Mel

In my opinion January is perfectly sensible. My current Year 5 likes word puzzles, so he occasionally does some of the questions on the Tutors CDs just for fun, but I don't coach him through them at all unless he asks for help.

The IPS papers are very good indeed for Bucks. They are shorter tests than the real thing - 50 questions instead of 80, so are less intimidating. They also show the question type above each question, so you can track any problem areas from paper to paper.

If you start coaching in January, the IPS papers would come into play roughly around May/June. By that time your daughter will hopefully have mastered the individual question types and be ready to put the whole thing together in short timed tests.

Hugh is right about the tests not being particularly diffferent from year to year. The pass rate has remained at 121 for a long time. There was an unusually large cohort a couple of years ago, but the number of entrants is fairly stable at present, so there is no need for Bucks to adjust the difficulty level.

Do come back to us at any time if you need more help.

Best wishes
Sally-Anne
njg

Post by njg »

Mel X
IPS are as near as damn it to the real thing.
If you start with the intro book it (pale blue), then the green and finally the purple tests.
They have a page of each type so you can work out strengths and weaknesses.
The purple tests are 50 questions in half and hour, which is a bit more managable to begin with and i think a good reflection of ability.
Patricia and Sally-Anne have both posted an order for DIY tuition which is very handy.
At this stage though i think a gentle intro is best. My son has seen the trauma twice now and is understandably wary!
Also try a word a week to improve vocab. I chose one from the NFER word list and put the word and it's meaning somewhere where they will see it regularly.
Talk about capital cities and animal families etc, hopefully they won't even know they're learning!
Catherine
Posts: 1348
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:47 pm
Location: Berks,Bucks

Post by Catherine »

Here's a link to some recent advice from Mike and Patricia on how to tackle the Bucks VR
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... php?t=3170
Guest

Post by Guest »

I noticed there are some new books by a lady called Madeline Guyon - has any one used them as I wondered if they were worth getting for preparation for Bucks 11+. When should they be used in Patricia's order of use?
Sally-Anne
Posts: 9235
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:10 pm
Location: Buckinghamshire

Post by Sally-Anne »

Hi Guest

They were only published in July, so I doubt very many people will have used them yet.

All the materials on the site are very carefully vetted before the site features them in it's bookshop. From the description they appear to replicate the Bucks NFER format well. The author is clearly a very experienced tutor.

Perhaps ForumAdmin can comment, or Patricia if she has seen them?

Sally-Anne
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear Guest and Sally-Anne

Yes, they have been recently added to my collection, however have not had the time to peruse. I have my stock for the current cohort, so there has been no need to 'use' them.

I will give them a look over, possibly for next years intake.

Patricia
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