Sutton mock results are out - Session A

[Nlmum]

Thanks so much for your reply.

I will definitely step up the English revision and do more timed papers. She was getting an average of 82% in the GL assessment/FPTP English papers so was relatively confident before the Sutton mock. She's now feeling quite deflated but we haven't made a big deal of it so hopefully can build her confidence up over the summer.

Unfortunately we haven't booked for Session B but she is doing the MHCHS VR on Sat 14th. On the one hand I think this is a bad idea as it may dent her confidence even more but on the other hand it offers great experience of going in and doing a proper exam before September.

Thanks again for your help!

[Daogroupie]

I know a whole boatload of students doing Mill Hill next Saturday. Many will be applying lessons learnt at Sutton to slow down and read the questions properly. Certainly I would hope that none of them will be finishing early and sitting there doing nothing thinking that it was easy and not bothering to check and recheck the answers as students did last year. I would suggest doing some timed VR papers this week. Matrix which schools are you applying for? DG

[Matrix]

Hi DG

We are applying to the Surrey grammar schools.

Kind regards

[2Girlsmum]

NImum, I agree with Daogroupie. Both my daughters sat the Sutton Mocks and were both borderline pass. We home-tutored in Y5 so were perhaps a bit behind the schedule of the private tutors. Also the date of the exams changed significantly between DD1 and DD2, and with DD2 (who was very hard to pin down to do the work) we were even further behind. Having been borderline in the Sutton test (a wake-up call as previously stated) they both did very well in both St M's and Latymer tests and would have been offered places at both. DD1 is Y9 in St Michael's and DD2 starts this year.

I think that the Latymer and St Michael's exams occurring at the start of Y6 has plus and minus points. The plus is that it allows time to really work on the papers and critical timing over the summer holidays. The minus is that the children are tired when the test comes as they are adjusting to being back at school. Last year both tests were at the end of the second week of Y6. The St Michael's exam day was on the 13th, and Latymer on the 14th. This year they are on the 12th and 13th. DD2 was tired and moody at the end of the first week back and her marks were bouncing. I decided to keep her home for a couple of days before the actual tests because I know how demanding the St M's exam day is, and with Latymer the next day felt a couple of days of missed school a reasonable crime to commit in the overall scheme of things.

How is your daughter doing in NVR and VR? They are GL Assessment, and you will have to work with that style/level. Bond isn't good enough - give a variety of papers from different publishers. There are 4 exams in one day and it's really exhausting. If it's like previous years then the order is English (2 comprehension tests, grammar and an essay in about 80 mins), break, Maths (1 hr), NVR (30-40 mins), lunch, VR. They all bring in a packed lunch and snacks, but are given juice and biscuits at morning break and juice at lunchtime. You need to time back-to-back papers over summer, and aim at scores in the high 80%- low 90% mark if possible. English scores are usually a bit lower. Learn what is required in an essay - Daogroupie really helped us (thank you again!). Your daughter will possibly have a headache at the end of the day and might not want to talk much for a little. Also lots of children miss out a few answers with the VR paper as it's tough and fast. Don't worry too much about missing a few out, but make sure your daughter finishes the tests at home with time to check.

The Latymer exam is the CEM one, and we didn't spend as long on that one because St Michael's was our first choice, and teaching 7 different 11+ subjects was a challenge! Hopefully the Latymer exam will be better run this year as last year was an experience! Read the threads if you haven't already...it's comical/farcical.....there were cars everywhere, hundreds and hundreds of children lined up, no toilet breaks etc..........

Anyway, good luck with the tests, and fingers crossed:) xx

[Nlmum]

Hi 2Girlsmum,
Thanks for all the info and advice, particularly on St.Michael's. The actual examination day sounds exhausting....poor girls! I think dd is probably more worried about what to do during the breaks/lunchtime. She's incredibly shy and doesn't know anyone doing the exam. She keeps asking what she will do between papers
She's ok at vr and nvr but certainly needs work over the holidays. She is averaging high 80's in vr and low 80's in nvr. We are doing a combination of Athey and GL assessment. I bought the nvr 11plus explained book and we've starting going through it in the hope that her nvr will improve a little.
I have some CEM materials and hope to get on with those over the holidays too-time permitting! Unfortunately her vocabulary isn't as good as it should be so I'm not expecting her to do very well in the Latymer exam. We live in Muswell Hill so distance to the school would be a consideration even if she did get in. St. Michael's would be our first choice.
We're off to the open evening on Thurs for a second look (we went last year too).
Congratulations to your dd's for both achieving a place at the school-you must be thrilled and thanks again for your advice.

[2Girlsmum]

The IPS books are very close to GL - more so than Athey, as are the online ones from 11+ exams. Don't forget to go over the test explaining the questions and answers afterwards, and find some in the style that are most difficult to back up the technique. Children bring in books to read at break. There isn't much spare time really - it is taken up with eating, drinking and visits to the toilet! xx

[Nlmum]

IPS books arrived today. Thanks for the tips 2Girlsmum! xx