CEM????

[countrymum]

Thanks for the input, really interesting stuff. I never realised this CEM was very much in the news right now. We have decided to do a little cloze practice at home and that is it really. Two weeks just isn't long enough in my opinion to get ontop of this CEM thing and so she shall be going in not quite knowing what to expect

We are quite chilled about it here, what will be will be. If indeed she is not offered a place then of course I may look back and wonder that if I'd researched this CEM testing more, it could have made a difference to her result.

Of course is she is offered a place then IMO goes to show an 'un-tutored' in CEM child can indeed pass a test using it with no specific practice. I personally think at the end of the day every parent knows their own individual child, their strengths, their weaknesses etc and know what 'tutoring' their child may or may not need.

In fact she's quite excited about expecting the unexpected!

Good luck anyone still waiting on exam's/results

[ginx]

Everyone seems so scared of the CEM 11+! We've been doing this 11+ for years in Warwickshire.

Many dc have tutoring. I did some work with my dd2 in the summer holidays and she's passed (subject to school allocation letter!)

She's not top of the class but quite quick. She worked hard because she wants to go to the grammar school.

She did well without formal tutoring and we really did not do much work. When she came out of the exam, she told me we hadn't done any of the "right stuff" anyway! Countrymum, I'm sure from what you've said your dd will be fine.

I am surprised everyone's so worried about the CEM because you're all in the same boat. Say none of the children can do it, the children who have done best (even if they have low scores) will get into a gs.

I just don't like the fact that dc we know who had tutoring did pass with better scores ... so if you can afford tutoring, maybe it's worth it ... however, I'm not worried about my dd2 coping with gs work because she did it on her own. And she's not a genius. But I am left wondering if she had tutoring, would she have done a lot better? Possibly.

[tiffinboys]

Everyone seems so scared of the CEM 11+! We've been doing this 11+ for years in Warwickshire.

Just the unknown is causing the anxiety. Next year would be fine. Questions would leak out. Parents/Tutors would know better.

I am left wondering if she had tutoring, would she have done a lot better? Possibly.

May be or may be not. But you would not know now.... She has passed the test. Well done. Wish you the best.

[mad?]

Just the unknown is causing the anxiety. Next year would be fine. Questions would leak out. Parents/Tutors would know better.

Which is a shame really, surely the unknown levels the playing field a bit to go back to the original intention of it being a test of ability? If only for one year of course...

[tiffinboys]

Just the unknown is causing the anxiety. Next year would be fine. Questions would leak out. Parents/Tutors would know better.

Which is a shame really, surely the unknown levels the playing field a bit to go back to the original intention of it being a test of ability? If only for one year of course...

+1

How about children taking the test on short notice in their own schools, without any prior information about the test subjects?

[countrymum]

Surely the unknown levels the playing field a bit to go back to the original intention of it being a test of ability?

++1

Totally agree, the uncertainty is quite exciting to my DD, rather than panicking her, she's actually looking forward to something that may be a little more challenging/thought provoking. I've stopped worrying about what other DC's may be up to, all I can concentrate on is my own and what is best for her. Am looking forward to hearing what she thought of it when she comes out!

Can't believe I didn't have a clue what it was properly until only yesterday!!

[MAZER66]

In my experience most parents OVER ESTIMATE their childs potential not under-estimate it. Professions are professions, we should know what we are talking about. I spend 24/7 ruminating about these things. Why?? Because my livelihood depends on its. CEM is definitely tutorable "it's not rocket science" but yes it probably does require professional tutoring for now, until reliable on-line software hits the market.
PS which I am in the process of developing as we speak and I never tutored children who are in prep school.I believe in providing a level playing field for for all.

[countrymum]

Thanks Mazer and I respect your viewpoint. Do you think ALL children need specific tutoring for this CEM test, that it is impossible to pass without it. My (state school) DD shall be going in 'untutored' and maybe I am over estimating her potential but as we don't know the specifics of what the test entails exactly, I am happy for her to go in 'blind' as it were.

So this CEM is not really 'tutor proof' at all? *sigh*

[Okanagan]

Point to think about:

CEM tests (at least the ones here) are in timed sections - you can go back and check in that section IF you have time (but they're quite time pressured so you quite likely won't). But you can't got back at the end of the test and check through everything. And you can't go on to the next section until instructed to do so.

Maths - look at long multipart worded questions, interpreting tables/data, conversions, etc.

NVR pretty well as per usual but expect to see different formats to those in the mainstream NVR practice books/papers - qork on being able to spot what has to be done rather than continued practice of the same types.

Comprehension - pretty well as you'd expect - multiple choice here.

Cloze - may be in a "pick the correct word from a selection" format, or a fill in the missing letters to make the word format (test spelling too, and harder to make a lucky guess)
Also look at general vocabulary - antonyms, synonyms, etc

Conventional VR (codes etc) can be ignored.

If general levels of maths and vocabulary are good then preparation per se needn't be an issue - the tests pick up on good language skills and the ability to interpret and extract information. The vocabulary tested is complex though and well beyond what you'd expect of most 10/11 year olds, but that isn't really something you can prepare for at this stage, short of the proverbial "swallowing a dictionary".

Don't worry about not getting full/close to full marks. On CEM tests the scores are much lower due to the level of the questions, and it will be the same for everyone.

[countrymum]

Thank you Okanagan, a super helpful post from you, I shall take on board all your points.