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any ideas?

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 3:58 pm
by njg
Hi
My daughter has done familiarisation 51/80 and 54/80. Oh dear.
She has been practicing at home and with a tutor and in mock tests she has been scoring over 90%.
We are a bit flumaxed as she said after the tests that she felt ok and that nothing came up that caused much concern.
We've done all Ips, Nfer and other bits, all good scores. Still have Bright Sparks to do.
As there are only 2 weeks left i'm not sure how to rebuild her confidence as it has been dented.
I do understand that there is a huge range in difficulty regarding tests which is why we have tried so many different types, but these scores seem way off mark - teachers are surprised.
Maybe she gets more nervous than even she realises.
Feeling a bit lost.
Anyone got any ideas?

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 4:28 pm
by usa
Dear njg
These are the fam tests done at school?
Have you still 1 to go?
Have you seen the papers.............where did she go wrong? There must have been a few wrong on each section for this score. Did she even leave a whole section out inadvertently?
If she is scoring 90% normally then that is great - I suggest you look at these "bad" papers and see what happened.
Good luck - I am sure it was just a blip.
USA

familiarisation

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:42 pm
by njg
Hi
yes there's still one more to go.
unfortunately we dont get the papers back until the end of next week when i fear it may be too late.

Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 5:52 pm
by usa
No - that is too late and not a lot of use to you at all.
Go in Monday and request them, saying you are concerned about her low score and would like to know where she is having a problem so that you can help her. They should give you the papers. Maybe she did not finish the paper (ask her) - then you can work on timing. Either way - do some practice this weekend - anything helps.
Do a paper you have not done this weekend (maybe an e paper from this site) and see for yourself.
Dont worry - it will be OK. Good luck!
USA

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:58 am
by Catherine
Definitely good advice from USA.

You must be able to assess the situation quickly by yourself. Are the tests that your daughter has done so far been given by yourself or the tutor? Were they papers that your daughter had never seen, of a similar standard as the real ones (NFER, IPS?), and performed under timed conditions (very importnant).
If this is the case, then your daughter may well be suffering from exam nerves. What can you do about it? May be make her do as many test as possible under exam conditions.. just a suggestion. You could try to ask for advice in the 'tips' section.

If you are not sure of the conditions under which your daughter has been tested, do ask her to do a test paper ASAP that is as close as possible to the real one.
If she had done IPS and NFER, you could use
patricia wrote: Susan Daughtrey...Bright Sparks [ DO NOT buy her books 1 - 7 they are mostly irrelevant for Bucks ]
E Papers [ on this site ] The tutors [ Mike Edwards ]...ensure you get 1 - 6 with the letter B at the end
as recommended by Patricia.

If you discover that your daughter needs extra practice, you could try the CD released by this site. It has got very good feedback.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... m.php?f=36

...and keep asking for help on this forum...

exam conditions

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:41 am
by njg
The tests that she has performed well in have been NFER and IPS. Some done at home with strict conditions and some in a hall with others just as in the real test.
Shall i do the Bright Sparks full tests this weekend?
Also i have made flash cards with compound words and extended vocab on so will persevere with those.
She finds IPS type k and u quite tricky. So do i!!!!!
Thanks everyone

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 8:16 am
by patricia
Dera Njg

Unfortunately all schools send the practice papers home in their own fashion, some will send home the question booklet and answer sheet after each test, some will send home just the question booklet home after each test and others will wait until all practice tests have been completed. You are in the hands of your schools 'rules' 'you don't get, if you don't ask'

Have you seen my free downloads on vocab and compound words.....bottom of the page.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/revisi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... wnload.php

Type K, see my post under tips

viewtopic.php?t=620

Type U

These are relatively easy, perhaps you are not approaching them in the correct way, not got time at the moment, will post later this morning or this afternoon with a tutorial.

With only 2 more weeks, probably best off with Bright Sparks

Patricia

Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:27 pm
by patricia
Dear NJG

Type U

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

The alphabet is always given.

RP is to UN
as TY is to?

Rule 1 Do NOT treat as a pair, they are individual letters.

Rule 2 Work from FIRST letter to FIRST letter apply to FIRST letter of second line.

ie. How to you get from R to U = +3 [ when moving forward or backward you ignore the letter you have been given and count on to the next given letter ignore R count on S 1, T 2, U 3]

Now apply +3 to T = W

Rule 3. Work from SECOND letter to SECOND letter, apply to SECONDletter of second line.

ie. P to N = -2 apply to Y= W

Answer =WW

Another example...

LW is to NA
as XY is to ?

L to N = +2 X + 2 = Z

W to A = + 4 Y + 4 = C

Answer = ZC

Occasionally the rules change

BW is to YC
as DF is to?

Child with practice will recognise this type or will have to go through the motions of working the answer out, finding the answer is NOT on the answer sheet, therefore knows it must be the 'other type' ie. ' coming in from the ends'

B to Y - B is 2 in from the BEGINNING of the alphabet, Y comes in 2 from the END of the alphabet.

W comes in 3 from the ENDof the alphabet, C comes in 3 from the BEGINNING

Apply the RULE of coming in the same number from the opposite end of the alphabet.

DF - D comes in 4, 4 from the opposite end is W

F comes in 6, 6 from the opposite end is U

Answer is WU

This kind only appears 'sometimes' but child needs to know, so as not to panic when the answer cannot be found on the answer sheet.

It's good for the child to know there way round the alphabet.

Hope this helps

See last post on the following link for getting child to know their way round the alphabet.

viewtopic.php?t=613

Patricia

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:56 am
by bucksguest
I'm confused. In your example D and F are not next to each in the alphabet but V and W are I would expect the answer to be similarly spaced? Having said that I find verbal reasoning hard so I'm glad I'm not the one sitting the exam!

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:07 am
by patricia
Dear Bucks Guest

Well spotted! I have now edited my post, thanks

Patricia