English comprehension today (24th)

[Silver29]

I think the second sitting is next Wednesday, so we will be free to talk about it then. If you are desperate to know, do a google search on the name of the oldest character. this resulted in a wikipedia reference to the text in question.

Hope that helps.

I personally believe that the only paper that will be used again will be the VR. I think this may be why the children weren't allowed to write on the question paper. Apparantly, there are hundreds of children due to take the test next week.

[Sally-Anne]

I think the second sitting is next Wednesday, so we will be free to talk about it then.

Hi Silver29

Unfortunately I am not convinced about that. There will still be some children sitting the test later for exceptional reasons - illness, etc.

To Guest - it is possible that "Tess" was discussed on the Forum at some stage last year, but that was before the advent of the Super-Mods who watch over you all so tenderly!

To reiterate the reason for not posting details of the text. The Forum has a very good reputation for fairness. When people post details of 11+ questions here it means that someone, somewhere is going to be disadvantaged.

Quite frequently it is parents who tell the Mods that details of the tests have been posted, and ask us to remove them from the Forum. They do so because they feel it is unfair on their child - who has already taken the test with no prior knowledge of the questions - that others have the opportunity to prepare in much more detail for the test.

I am sure that you would feel the same if it was your child being placed at a disadvantage.

It is a particularly acute problem when the test is something as specific as a comprehension that can easily be prepared to "word perfect" standards.

I would ask all Essex parents to discontinue this discussion for those reasons.

One last point.

I don't like to interfere with your excellent work here on the forum but it seems important to some of the parents here to know the answer.

CSSE telephone number is: 01245 348 257

GillyGillyOxenPepper - whilst I appreciate your thought that someone might sort this out by ringing the CSSE, surely someone from Essex can spare the time? Patricia is, like all of us, an unpaid volunteer with a job, life and family. It is not part of our remit to research the 11+ countrywide!

Sally-Anne (Super Mod)

[GillyGillyOxenPepper...]

Apologies for causing any offence.

Personally I don't care myself whether the paper is discussed or not - my son has taken the paper and I know that the CSSE would never be so stupid to put the same paper out twice. Grammar schools in Essex (especially in Mid-Essex) are some of the best in the country and require some of the highest marks to get in - therefore the fight for places is white-hot.

I had already telephoned the CSSE when I last posted and they did confirm that the papers would be different - I just felt that the moderators would not be happy to hear someone else's word for it and would prefer to find out for themselves.

The logical answer is always to get the proper answer quickly and easily from the source of the information and the CSSE are always very helpful if you phone, even with a silly query.

Best regards.

[Sally-Anne]

Apologies for causing any offence.

I had already telephoned the CSSE when I last posted and they did confirm that the papers would be different - I just felt that the moderators would not be happy to hear someone else's word for it and would prefer to find out for themselves.

Hi Gilly

No offence taken (I speak for Patricia as well, but I'm sure she won't mind.)

Thank you for getting the answer - we are more than happy to take your word for it.

Best wishes
Sally-Anne

[Guest]

Allowing to discuss the 11+ questions in here, would encourage other area forum members to do so. So it does not matter whether Essex use the same question paper or not.

[123]

post 11 plus blues!!!!!!!!!!! everyones very hot under the collar
chill out its over now, i would act on the side of caution and stay tight lipped, are all the papers new ones or just the english??

[PicNMix]

My son took the 11+ at KEGS in 2006. As we walked out last year after the exam, he was happy that he had done his best, and I was unsure whether I would ever walk back through those gates....

So fast forward to March 2007 - I had decided that it would be better to be expecting him not to get a place at KEGS, thus meaning that I would not be too disappointed. However. when we got the email to say that he had a place at KEGS we were absolutely delighted!! He was pretty pleased too!

My advice - Chill out over the papers and how well your children think that they have done. [Each years scores appear to different - my son's VR score was said to be "low" and he got a "high" score on a "difficult" English paper. That meant that his score was still about mid-range in the Sept 2007 intake at KEGS]

Just try and relax - I'm sure that you must have done all that you could (afford) to help your children. Wait until March - you can then celebrate or commiserate as appropriate....

Enjoy your Christmas and stop worrying - it's only 3 months to wait for the results, and then 6 months until they can start at their new schools.

[jazzteddy]

My son took the 11+ at KEGS in 2006. As we walked out last year after the exam, he was happy that he had done his best, and I was unsure whether I would ever walk back through those gates....

So fast forward to March 2007 - I had decided that it would be better to be expecting him not to get a place at KEGS, thus meaning that I would not be too disappointed. However. when we got the email to say that he had a place at KEGS we were absolutely delighted!! He was pretty pleased too!

My advice - Chill out over the papers and how well your children think that they have done. [Each years scores appear to different - my son's VR score was said to be "low" and he got a "high" score on a "difficult" English paper. That meant that his score was still about mid-range in the Sept 2007 intake at KEGS]

Just try and relax - I'm sure that you must have done all that you could (afford) to help your children. Wait until March - you can then celebrate or commiserate as appropriate....

Enjoy your Christmas and stop worrying - it's only 3 months to wait for the results, and then 6 months until they can start at their new schools.

I agree with all the above, whats done is done, Christmas is on its way, enjoy it and try not to focus too much on what may or may not be. The main thing is that your children had a go.
The next few months will soon fly by and in the meantime worrying about result day will not change the oucome.

[Guest]

Just to confirm today's CSSE 11+ English paper was completely different to the one set on Saturday 24th! Hopefully, that will alleviate all worries about unfair advantages etc.

Would be nice now if all Essex users could "bond" as did last years intake parents. If you read last years post 11+ posts, you'll notice they formed their own little support group and were there for one another whilst playing the waiting game!

[naga]

As per my son, the english comprehension was given from "The Destructors" by Graham Greene.