Consortium Group One Feedback from this morning

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Consortium Group One Feedback from this morning

Post by Guest55 »

ToadMum wrote:My first experience of reading Jane Eyre was when we did it in class in what we now call year 6. It's not the book itself which precisely defines the level - for example, when DS2 took the 11+ here two years ago, the book used for the comprehension was The Hound of the Baskervilles and for the reserve date, Lord of the Flies. Neither of them written as children's books, but perfectly possible to choose from them passages suitable for ten- and eleven-year-olds. What mainly determines the level of difficulty is the questions that are set. e.g. 'Find an example of indirect speech' / 'At what time of the year did this happen? Give two examples from the text' / 'In your own words, explain why character X is described as being...' etc
+1

It is not the book that decides the level of a piece of comprehension it's the excerpt chosen and the questions asked. It is perfectly possible to set questions on Jamaica Inn that are suitable for a 10/11 year old.

I think only an English graduate with experince in language analysis is really able to judge the difficulty.
PurpleDuck
Posts: 1586
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:45 pm

Re: Consortium Group One Feedback from this morning

Post by PurpleDuck »

Daogroupie wrote:No, 10 year olds just have to be reading challenging texts where you will encounter this level of vocabulary. Stop letting your dcs read Jackie Wilson and David Walliams and buy them something that will be able to deal with text at this level. The main literary devices in these texts are all part of KS2 and have been "taught" but just not applied enough.

You don't have to decipher the text in the same way as a 16 year old. The grade boundary on the IGCSE was 76% and very few of the DAO candidates would have got anywhere near 76% on the comprehension paper. A mark in the 60's was a great mark this year. DG
Thanks goodness for that; the comment about 'exactly the same text' got me a bit worried...

We never read Jacqueline Wilson's books, probably because my DS would not even look at a book with a picture of a girl on a cover :lol: . He enjoyed David Walliams in Y3 and after that started going for his older brother's books... In Y5 it was a fair bit of Jack London, Mark Twain etc. Jack London was challenging at times, but he enjoyed it enough to make it his bed-time reading.

I am fully aware that books such as, e.g., Diary if a Wimpy Kid are not going to be very useful when preparing for 11+, but it is frustrating that there is very little specific guidance for 11+ parents as to what children should read instead. Why are teachers so reluctant to suggest a few titles? It is not my problem anymore, but it still bugs me.
It felt like I hit rock bottom; suddenly, there was knocking from beneath... (anon.)
Ladymuck
Posts: 1240
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:04 pm

Re: Consortium Group One Feedback from this morning

Post by Ladymuck »

Try some of the private school websites. Colet Court has a 10+ and 11+ reading list - a bit boy focussed possibly but I would imagine girls schools would have similar?
PurpleDuck
Posts: 1586
Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:45 pm

Re: Consortium Group One Feedback from this morning

Post by PurpleDuck »

Ladymuck wrote:Try some of the private school websites. Colet Court has a 10+ and 11+ reading list - a bit boy focussed possibly but I would imagine girls schools would have similar?
That's very helpful, Ladymuck, thank you.
It felt like I hit rock bottom; suddenly, there was knocking from beneath... (anon.)
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now