To mock or not to mock!

Eleven Plus (11+) in Trafford

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cleo
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:45 am

To mock or not to mock!

Post by cleo »

Hello,

Its all very quiet in Trafford at the moment :o

Has anyone given their child an NFER paper to complete yet. I'm thinking of letting my DS do one next week in the half term holidays (all three papers with a small break in between) to guage his progress. I was thinking about booking him for a mock test but I think they are quite pricy. Never used one for previous DS but that was more to do with not knowing about their existence more than choosing not to sit them. My niece completed a couple last year but did not inform parents of anything they did not already knew. The results were consistent in what she was getting completing papers at home.

How is everyone else getting on with home tutoring and with your opinions about sitting children for mocks. Do you think they are value for money? The only benefit I can foresee is DS experiencing first hand sitting in a room/hall with children unfamiliar to him.
ManYou
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:34 pm

Re: To mock or not to mock!

Post by ManYou »

Each parent knows where the child is up to and are in the best position to decide how they wish to approach. Although, it's nice to have nosey every now and again to see what others are up to :)

For my child, it's a bit too early to start mocks, it may knock his confidence as he is struggling with the time element.

We are just doing the Bond books at the moment and the exercises are taking 50% longer time than they should.

We tried a couple of papers and I'm afraid the concentration to compete a paper within the timeframe is just not there yet!!

I'm hoping, we will be ready to tackle the mock exams in April.
cleo
Posts: 135
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:45 am

Re: To mock or not to mock!

Post by cleo »

I was not really going to time the papers but was going to let him complete them one after another. It was to show him what the real thing would be like come September. At the moment he is doing the work I set for him in his own time i.e in between watching TV and playing a bit of footie ect.

I thought for both our benefits Ill let him do the papers (without the TV on) for an initial assessment and to see where his gaps are. He has not done any maths papers as yet as he has been working through the Schofield and Simms book and using the Peter Robson books to plug the gaps. He has done some VR and NVR exercises from books not from any papers.

Probably will let him sit one of the NFER papers over the half term holiday as they are now eight practice papers available.
wilmslowmum
Posts: 96
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2012 9:13 pm

Re: To mock or not to mock!

Post by wilmslowmum »

Hi Cleo, i can't believe it was a year ago i was getting my DS prepared for the exams, so glad it is now over! I remember when started GL I didnt time him initially, also i just made him do say a third of the paper rather than all of it, then we would mark it together which allowed him to see any mistakes. (My DS wasnt the most cooperative child!) around Easter time we started doing complete papers timed. At first I was quite surprised that he couldnt finish them on time. I think the timing comes with practice. By the time the exams came around he was very competent with his timing so dont worry too much initially. He did do a couple of mocks i thought that the experience made my DS more focused as it made him aware of other children doing the same as him which motivated him i actually think he enjoyed them. I dont think that it improved his scores anymore than doing papers at home. Good luck with the journey it will soon pass.
lainey01
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 3:47 pm

Re: To mock or not to mock!

Post by lainey01 »

I would definitely mock. I've done this two years on the trot and its been invaluable. I'm not worried about the exam results at this stage, but giving them a taste of the exam environment I think takes a worry out of it. Things like what if they need the toilet to the queuing outside, and what to expect between papers. Its a shame Testing Times aren't doing them this year as my third ch is sitting them this year.
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