Maths in the 2014 test

[Rachdougl]

No, I think the assumption was made that the children wouldn't bring in a calculator as it was a test. No children were checked before. The letter we were sent clearly stated what the children should bring with them pencil, ruler etc.

My husband said that if the child felt she had to use a calculator then clearly she wasn't grammar material in the first place, controversial I know.

[fatbananas]

A calculator? This is getting more farcical by the minute

Dh and I were just speculating that with so many guessed or left out answers, the fairest thing to do would be to take all the subjects as a whole, or at least the maths and a English combined, and take the top 21% of that score to dilute the effect of guessing.

I must say, as you can no doubt tell, this 11+ Chatter has really enlivened our marriage after all these years or maybe we should just drink during the week more often.

[mystery]

Did the letter tell them what not to bring? If not, I think taking a calculator was very sensible. Good for her.

An electronic thesaurus and spell checker would have been a good idea too. Can't believe what they took in was not checked on the door. We always had to take things in with us in clear plastic bag and it was looked at by the teachers - and that was just for an internal school exam. People's brains really seem to be addled these days. Ironic really for an eleven plus test that the adults in charge appear so lacking up top!

I would think something would have been done about it after the event, but she couldn't really have been asked to stop the test there and then. It could have caused a big kerfuffle and the calculator would not have helped in the English paper. It wasn't her fault, I guess. Have to feel sorry for her that her maths mark is probably now completely invalid although a calculator would only be a partial help - you still have to understand the question and the method.

Let's hope GCSE is better invigilated than that or people will be taking in their quick reference revision packs without anyone spotting them.

[MJMoore]

Mine also had no countdown. It's sounding more and more like an unfair test.

[Carpediem247]

Mine said they had no 5 min countdown. But maybe she was concentrating ?! All materials were provided apparently. Not sure what they were. I wanted my Dd to use a ruler but she thought they were not allowed. We received no letter beforehand giving us any information only a line in the school newsletter that it will be in school.

[frangipani]

Rulers have never been allowed as far as I'm aware. They have measurements on them which could give those with rulers an advantage.

All that is supposed to be allowed is pencils, pen, rubber, pencil sharpener. And most schools provide their own.

[mystery]

Took me ages to find out from our school what they were supposed to take and then the message was conflicting. I was told nothing, and then DD came home the day before and said they could take in their own ruler if they wanted, otherwise the school would provide one.

She said she thinks they were given a 10 minute and 5 minute warning.

You know what? I don't think anyone cares about these tests apart from some of the parents and some of the children sitting them. So certainly do never listen the advice some people trot out on not helping your child prepare.

Being aware of the passage of time and leaving time to guess at the end is clearly a vital taught skill.

[frangipani]

Being aware of the passage of time and leaving time to guess at the end is clearly a vital taught skill.

It never occurred to me to teach DS this until after! Huge mistake on my part.

But on the positive side, at least if he does pass, we can be sure he achieved that all by himself.

[mystery]

Yes ! And I'm sure a lot of the things that people are worrying about on here won't make a difference in the grand scheme of things at the top 25% cut-off level .... which has to be a bit hit and miss anyhow as so many kids have such similar standard scores at that lower cut-off point and the confidence interval makes it even fuzzier.

But it must all make the cut-off for superselectives even more iffy than it ever was.

[scarlett]

Frangipani...don't feel bad about the timing. I went on and on to my dd about filling in the blanks and she still didn't although to be honest, when she did that at home ( because she couldn't be bothered to do the last questions !) She only would gain 1 mark and did much better when she concentrated on doing less questions but properly. She even said to me that she thought it was better not to finish and get them right then to rush and guess and actually get more wrong. I have to put my faith in her that she knew what she was doing.