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Share your long hard journey

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:23 am
by rionatheprincess
CONGRATULATION to everyone those who got offer this year. Share your long hard journey with us. I can understand how relief you people are now. It will be really great if you share your views with us so that we can follow you......Regds

Re: Share your long hard journey

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 10:24 am
by Altymumof2
It is all a bit subjective but personally I felt that doing a few mocks beforehand really helped. You have to be careful as some can be expensive and the exam format is not always very relevant but DS found the experience of having to sit a 2 hour exam in unfamiliar surroundings very beneficial when it came to the real thing.
I wouldn't start the GL papers too early either as they can end up being really boring.
It is really tough now that different exam boards are used. SGS use CEM and although the format is meant to be VR, NVR and Maths, DS found there was a lot of English included. So it is best to cover VR, NVR, Maths and English if your DC is sitting a few exams
Hope that helps and best of luck. :D

Re: Share your long hard journey

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2015 2:08 pm
by twinsgashead
We did go down the tutor route despite people telling us that they would 'get in anyway as they're bright' but didn't want to take a chance. State primaries just don't cover the same sort of work and I found a tutor working with them (in a 1-4 setting) on what they needed to cover extremely helpful and they actually enjoyed the sessions and grew in confidence so by the time we started on GL papers after Easter it was more about technique than anything. We did 3 mock exams and lots of GL papers over the summer so by the time the Altrincham exam came round, they didn't bat an eyelid at the exam or the whole process and were very at ease with it all - not even too fazed by the Sale CEM paper as it was just work they had covered anyway.
In most cases I'd say you get out what you put in and it's very much down to being a nagging parent! Also having visited the school they wanted to go to really re-enforced for them why they were doing so much work and what the end goal was. SATS work this year has certainly been a breeze after Year 5. Though it's hideous and stressful at the time I think the process sets them up for the future - however, not sure I'd say the same if I'd done all this and they still failed. I think some kids are just not going to pass that exam however much you throw at it, in which case, is a grammar really right for you? I think if a child is borderline then it's a lot of pressure and potential heartache and you need to ask whether it's worth putting them (and you) through the whole process.