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Advice please

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:34 pm
by mum23
Hi

This is my first post,apologies for it being a question already !

Our friend has a son the same age as one of ours (9).He is at a private school and has just had his year 4 tests and from the results of these tests they have said he is grammar school material.We home educate a couple of our children (the eldest is at school) and so they do not do these yearly qca tests.I am curious if my 9 year old is also "grammar school material" but cannot get my hands on the year 4 tests as they only sell them to schools.I think his is bright but of course,I am his Mother and a little biased !

I am wondering is any of you know if there are any other tests out there that are similar to the qca year 4 tests ? I am also curious how (apart from testing) you would know if your child is likely to be able to pass the 11 plus ?

I would really appreciate some advice on this.

Many thanks

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:11 pm
by mitasol
I found these (Maths 2005) after a quick search I'm sure you could find more if you google them.

http://www.edu.dudley.gov.uk/numeracy/m ... 3/sats.htm

At our school children are also given papers for the year above - if they are capable.

Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 10:30 pm
by Just1-2go
Could you find a tutor to give him an independent assessment? The one we use tests maths, NVR and VR and then gives you a very honest answer as to whether they are GS material.

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:32 am
by mum23
Thankyou for the replies...I have just printed out the maths test and he is sitting out in the garden with the dog doing it (he enjoys maths) Can I ask what you put in the google search as I tried to find some tests a few days ago and couldn't find anything.

That is a good idea too about the tutor,thanks.Someone independent would be great.This is why I thought it was worth asking on this forum as there are people on here that are helpful and also have experience of this whole 11 plus thing,whereas I don't have a clue !

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 12:51 pm
by mitasol
You may be right Mum23. I had another look and I can't find any others.

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:01 pm
by mum23
No problem...thanks for finding this one for me.

He has done the test and seems to have them all right apart from a couple which are things that we have not covered yet (we are not doing national curriculum exactly) does anyone know how I work out what level this makes him so that I can compare him to our friends son ?

What about English etc any ideas where I could get these tests ?

Many thanks

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:38 pm
by moved
For more maths you could also try http://wiganschoolsonline.net/curriculu ... ssess.shtm

Edit: The level required depends on the region, for highly selective grammars you are probably looking at level 4s at this stage of yr 4. For a less selective grammar children with 3s will be fine.

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:04 pm
by Milla
yes, I was going to say, track down a tutor - they'll have experience of comparable children, the standards required and be able to give you a realistic assessment.

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:06 pm
by mum23
Thankyou "moving" for this site...I have printed all the tests off and he will go through them over the next week.I don't have the mark scheme for the test he did this morning but with them all correct apart from two,I would imagine this would be a 4 rather than a 3 ?
The tests I have just printed out have the mark scheme so I will be able to see what level he is at...
I like the tutor suggestion but how do I go about finding one ? Is there a "proper" way to go about this ?

Thanks

Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:09 pm
by Milla
it tends to be word of mouth, plus you're better off approaching anyone you know who might have children in a different school year from yours - people are all too happy to divulge tutors once their kids have gone through the process but prior to that it's Evasion Time. Do you know of other children already at grammars and in years 7 and 8?? (it's got so much more competitive than it ever was even a few years ago)