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Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 9:09 pm
by Rachdougl
Hi, I was hoping that there are some parents still on the forum whose children sat and passed the exam last year, that they maybe able to offer some advice as Cem was introduced for the first time in Bexley in 2013.

How much did your child study over the summer holidays, any particular materials you found useful.

Any advise welcome.

My daughter currently attends Dulverton in sidcup.

Good luck to all on this journey.

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 11:34 pm
by rosehulk
We did 2 hours a day, our tutor had materials. We did at least one mock comprehension/maths exam a week. This was really useful. Also we were set vocab tests - I think we were told to have a 1000 words or so.

Hope this helps

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 1:16 am
by parent2013
2-3 hours would do if :
you are in Bexley catchment
your child is bright
you have prepared for over an year
you have already completed most of the material (Bond, GL, CGP, Letts & Athey)
you have a tutor with right strategy on CEM
your child has done the mocks with good results

If not, then she might have to try harder.

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:35 am
by dpla2428
2-3 hours per day! If your child is bright enough, surely this amount of prep isn't required. I'm certainly not planning on doing this much with my son over the Summer holidays. He has a tutor for an hour a week, and I'll probably do a practice paper or two each week with him as well. I think if I gave him 2-3 hours per day he would start to resent it, and it would possibly have a negative rather than positive effect. I believe he is clever enough and capable of passing with the prep I have planned. If he doesn't, then I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:18 am
by Mich895
My daughter is bright but by no means exceptional. We live in the catchment area for all the Bexley grammar schools. We began work on the 11 plus at the start of year 5 and through the Summer break we probably did an hour a day. We had a two week holiday abroad and I took some First Past The Post books and CGP and we did about 30 minutes a day. She passed comfortably and is going to her 1st choice school.

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:29 am
by kenyancowgirl
dpla2428 wrote:2-3 hours per day! If your child is bright enough, surely this amount of prep isn't required. I'm certainly not planning on doing this much with my son over the Summer holidays. He has a tutor for an hour a week, and I'll probably do a practice paper or two each week with him as well. I think if I gave him 2-3 hours per day he would start to resent it, and it would possibly have a negative rather than positive effect. I believe he is clever enough and capable of passing with the prep I have planned. If he doesn't, then I guess it wasn't meant to be.
And you, my friend, have got absolutely the perfect attitude to ensure that your son will do superbly, wherever he goes!

I completely agree with you - if you are having to do 2-3 hours a day to get your child in, what are you going to do when you get there - do 2-3 hours a day just to help them keep up? 2-3 hours a day in the holidays? My sons wouldn't have agreed to do that much in a week, let alone a day!

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:48 am
by gameon
Every child is different and they all have different learning curve.
Do what you think is right for your child. Some have to work little bit extra to get there. It could be for different reasons. Some may not speak English at home, or some may not had a good foundation at the beginning of their primary school.

2-3 hours will not kill the child. I have a son who did 2 hours per day during the summer holidays and he is at the grammar now and he is thriving.

What I am saying 2 hours may not right for one child, but there are others who would happily( or with little hesitant) will do 2 hours.

Good luck to everyone. Enjoy this lovely weather.

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:56 pm
by christmasbonus
We did basically same as Mich. Had plenty of days off too (DD a bit dramatic otherwise!). Probably more like half an hour most days, did CGP books and Bond comprehensions. She did some of the First past the post, but they were published quite late so didn't get all of them done (particularly the cloze). DD got a very comfortable pass.

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 2:17 pm
by wildwest
Rose hulk, may I ask, what you mean by 1000 words?

Re: Advice - From parents whose children sat in 2013 cem

Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 7:58 pm
by rosehulk
Our tutor advised to learn at least 1000 words to ge through cloze and matching words.
I must say this helped also the Comprehension