Sale CEM recommendations
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Re: Sale CEM recommendations
sorry about the typo errors , i hate smart auto-correcting software , maybe, English is not so simple after all? 
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Daogroupie
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Re: Sale CEM recommendations
Have you looked at any of the North London English papers? Do you really think that a ten year would find Arlington Rise or Rakesh's secret girlfriend simple? How about Jane Eyre and the Pearl? Then there is Bleak House and Hard Times and Tess of the D'urbervilles. There were students this year who got 30-40 percent in the English papers at one state selective yet managed to win a place at QE Boys, Habs Boys, Merchant Taylors and St Albans boys.
Look at the Sutton Mock A results that have just come out for 1200 students where the highest English mark is 85% compared to 100% for the Maths.
Students who come out of these English exams (as so many did) saying they were really easy are usually the ones who misread the questions.
Even at GCSE level I already know of several potential A* students who misread the poetry question last week.
Scanning through questions and thinking they are easy is a very common mistake with English papers.
Look at the Sutton Mock A results that have just come out for 1200 students where the highest English mark is 85% compared to 100% for the Maths.
Students who come out of these English exams (as so many did) saying they were really easy are usually the ones who misread the questions.
Even at GCSE level I already know of several potential A* students who misread the poetry question last week.
Scanning through questions and thinking they are easy is a very common mistake with English papers.
Re: Sale CEM recommendations
About time Trafford came Alive !
Re: Sale CEM recommendations
ManYou that made me laugh
But in seriousness I am not against the 11 plus; that would make me a hypocrite
Enigma my argument was not with the entrance exams but the amount of support/ tuition that goes on prior to the exams which cannot be measured. The 11 plus intention was to select the top 25 % naturally able children to be educated in Grammar schools. Now unless you don't tutor (yes I am sure they will be some exceptions) the likelihood of that child passing will be very low. I remember sitting the 11 plus in the dining hall in the 80'sand looking back I did not know at the time it was the 11 plus but that has all changed. This is why schools have to change. I believe new free grammar schools should be introduced in all areas but the Secondary will not be able to reflect the Grammars because they have creamed to most able. This is why I believe they should be smaller class sizes, more teachers ect in Secondary Moderns compared to Grammers. This would make it an even playing field for all children.
But in seriousness I am not against the 11 plus; that would make me a hypocrite
Enigma my argument was not with the entrance exams but the amount of support/ tuition that goes on prior to the exams which cannot be measured. The 11 plus intention was to select the top 25 % naturally able children to be educated in Grammar schools. Now unless you don't tutor (yes I am sure they will be some exceptions) the likelihood of that child passing will be very low. I remember sitting the 11 plus in the dining hall in the 80'sand looking back I did not know at the time it was the 11 plus but that has all changed. This is why schools have to change. I believe new free grammar schools should be introduced in all areas but the Secondary will not be able to reflect the Grammars because they have creamed to most able. This is why I believe they should be smaller class sizes, more teachers ect in Secondary Moderns compared to Grammers. This would make it an even playing field for all children.Re: Sale CEM recommendations
I have to admit they are quite difficult texts for 10-11 year olds, I would imagine my DS having significant difficultly with this level of required comprehension at 10yrs old but here is the rub, English does come with time and maturity and now at 15 he could squeeze the pips out of any formal or informal text.Daogroupie wrote:Have you looked at any of the North London English papers? Do you really think that a ten year would find Arlington Rise or Rakesh's secret girlfriend simple? How about Jane Eyre and the Pearl? Then there is Bleak House and Hard Times and Tess of the D'urbervilles. There were students this year who got 30-40 percent in the English papers at one state selective yet managed to win a place at QE Boys, Habs Boys, Merchant Taylors and St Albans boys.
Look at the Sutton Mock A results that have just come out for 1200 students where the highest English mark is 85% compared to 100% for the Maths.
Students who come out of these English exams (as so many did) saying they were really easy are usually the ones who misread the questions.
Even at GCSE level I already know of several potential A* students who misread the poetry question last week.
Scanning through questions and thinking they are easy is a very common mistake with English papers.
To accelerate a child's Maths skill is easier imo and getting 100% would not be that uncommon , but for some children they never manage to get their heads around it , but most will get there heads around English eventually.
What I found was, when prepping my DD for indies 11+exams the consortium exams where too easy(was 3 yrs ago so things may of changed since), we used The Common Entrance Exam 13+ books with the separate answer books which came in two forms basic and more advanced answers but the hidden text used were the same , this implies to me that English comprehension can be made arbitrary as hard or simple as one wants, maybe this is way "setting" in English classes is unusual but common for Maths because it is a precise and more rigorous subject whereas English answers are less so imo.
as for potential A* candidate misinterpretation of the poetry question, are you sure they are A* standard the first lesson we learn in exam technique is R.T.F.Q
The reason parents use your services is not because they are bamboozled by the difficulty of 11+ English but because they do not have the time or skill to teach to young children which must require the patients of a saint but for a significant % of parents they find the maths genuinely beyond them .
