Is it worth sitting the Kent test for practice?

Eleven Plus (11+) in Medway

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INONOTHING
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Mar 08, 2009 4:36 pm

Is it worth sitting the Kent test for practice?

Post by INONOTHING »

Hi
I am interested in a Medway school so therefore doing the 11+ Medway but is it worth sitting the Kent test anyway for practice?

If my dd did well in the Kent test but not so well in the Medway one - is it something I could use at appeal?

What are people's thoughts to having an earlier practice - is it a good idea or just more pressure on the child.

Thanks
Inonothing
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

if you are not interested in a Kent school then I would say there is no point in sitting the Kent Test. It will just be unnecessary pressure.

As long as your child is familiar with the format of the tests and has done a reasonable amount of practice that is ample preparation.
Tracy
Posts: 1123
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:28 am
Location: Bexley

Post by Tracy »

Sorry Yoyo, I disagree.

Remember the 11+ is a tiny shapshot of what your child is capable of and, kids being kids, sometimes can't manage it on the day. Also, there are a lot of distractions on test day and this can put kids off.

If you take the Kent test you will:

a, if results are the same ie successful, have confirmation of the medway test result and have the choice of more schools.

b, if different ie one pass and one fail, have the option of a kent grammar school or vice versa.

c, be able to use it as a practise test in test conditions - as long as it's not pressurised.

d, use a successful result at appeal - this has happened in Bexley twice to my knowledge.
medwaymum
Posts: 827
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:45 pm
Location: Medway & Kent

Post by medwaymum »

Of course its a personal choice, but I personally would NOT sit my child through an 11+ for purely practice. If it is a backup then that is fair enough but you need to think, yeah great if all goes well then the 'practice' was good, but what if there's a problem, and your child then loses confidence for the real 11+?
I agree with Yoyo. Do plenty of timed practice at home. If you want to make it more serious, send dc to a friend or neighbour and get them to time them, so they not at home.
Anyway, as stated this is just my opinion....good luck whatever you decide. :)
reddebs
Posts: 187
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:21 pm
Location: Medway/Kent

Post by reddebs »

In my opinion unless you really do want to extend your options and would want to take a school place in Kent then I would not advocate sitting the Kent test.
Reasons -
1) the content of the Kent test is different from Medway and you need to have Non Verbal Reasoning skills in your toolkit. This requires additional learning demands on your child.
2) The Kent test is actually 4 tests as it includes a piece of extended writing (a story) that will be looked at should a school appeal be sort. As your child would be sitting as an out of county all the 4 tests will be sat on one day (saturday) which puts a lot of pressure on your child.
3) The Kent test is first (September) and in my experience children that sit both tests sometimes lose themselves for a while after the first exam. As the Medway test is a few weeks after the Kent you may need to work hard to keep your child focussed on what is really the most important test for you. The loss of focus can be as a result of feeling they have made a) a good attempt and the pressure is off b) feeling they have made a poor attempt and and the pressure is on c) sheer exhaustion of preparation and pressure.
In summary - if it just exam practice you are after then work on this at home, with your child's tutor (if you have one) or look around during the summer hols to see if there is a centre that will support you in this aspect only.
This said my own daughter did sit both as we live on the Kent Medway border and did apply to schools in both areas. She was fortunate to get a yes from both areas but that was in the days when the Medway was in November and the Kent in January - I am not sure I would have done it if they were as close as they are now.
Hope this helps -
red_debs
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