St Olave's 2016 Stage 1 results
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Re: St Olave's 2016 Stage 1 results
Thanks, yes ds has done well so far and we are so relieved that he was in the Bexley top 180 and totally never expected it. The written English side of Olaves worries me as ds is fairly slow. It's so difficult keeping the motivation going and I feel panicky about not having much of a strategy. At least with Stage 1 we broadly followed the GL pattern. Unfortunately I can't find this years papers that I bought at the open day for Stage 2 so that's not helping. Anyway, plodding on.
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fleurdelacourt
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 2:19 pm
Re: St Olave's 2016 Stage 1 results
ds did both stages of the Olaves test last year.
from what I can gather, the stage 2 paper was fairly similar to the independent exams. Most of the independent schools have sample papers on their websites so those are a good start.
I can't shed any light on the maths, but the English paper I can a little. The text was a pretty complex one which could be read on 2 levels. This made the comprehension pretty tricky for ds as he hadn't understood the metaphor at all.... So it's worth reading more complex texts together with your son and discussing hidden meanings?
The composition was to write the next stage of the story. Am pretty sure they didn't mind if there was no conclusion to the story which did help ds. But clearly the style of the text was already set - in last year's paper there was a lot of direct speech with all the punctuation pitfalls that that entails.
from what I can gather, the stage 2 paper was fairly similar to the independent exams. Most of the independent schools have sample papers on their websites so those are a good start.
I can't shed any light on the maths, but the English paper I can a little. The text was a pretty complex one which could be read on 2 levels. This made the comprehension pretty tricky for ds as he hadn't understood the metaphor at all.... So it's worth reading more complex texts together with your son and discussing hidden meanings?
The composition was to write the next stage of the story. Am pretty sure they didn't mind if there was no conclusion to the story which did help ds. But clearly the style of the text was already set - in last year's paper there was a lot of direct speech with all the punctuation pitfalls that that entails.
Re: St Olave's 2016 Stage 1 results
Thanks fleurdelacourt! very helpful indeed. Is ur DS currently at Olaves?
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11plusplus
- Posts: 37
- Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:50 pm
Re: St Olave's 2016 Stage 1 results
Congratulations to the DS and the parents for having got through Stage 1
Rather than go by whispers / gossips
Stage 2 information
http://www.saintolaves.net/uploads/cked ... ebsite.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
St Olave’s Stage 2 English Test for Year 7 Entry
The first and most important thing to understand about our Entrance Test in English is that there really isn’t anything that can be done to ‘cram’ or ‘revise’ for it. The things it tests are, on the whole, skills and habits rather than factual knowledge - things, in other words, which a child picks up over a period of years rather than weeks. And this is quite deliberate. We want to see what candidates are capable of without any special preparation.
What we don’t want, however, is for good candidates to come unstuck simply because they got lost in all the instructions or panicked at the sheer unfamiliarity of the tasks. Hence this sample paper, which has a similar, not exactly the same format to the real thing. Your son will almost certainly find it useful to work through these ‘taster’ questions. This will familiarise him with the procedure, and thus, with any luck, reduce the anxiety and confusion - thereby making it easier for him to do himself justice on the day.
Section One tests Reading: Part (a) assesses candidates by multiple choice questions, based on fiction or non-fiction passages and some questions on basic grammar; part (b) requires candidates to explain and justify inferences with evidence from a text, such as a poem.
Section Two tests Writing and assessment will be made of the ability to choose a form and content appropriate to the task; use syntax and paragraphing to shape meaning; use punctuation correctly and expressively; use vocabulary creatively; spell accurately; use handwriting, layout and presentation effectively.
One thing worth getting used to is the fact that the test involves different booklets:
1. Section One will be in two parts: In part (a) candidates circle their answers to the multiple-choice questions posed about the passage; and in part (b) candidates will use a separate answer booklet to write their answers.
2. Section Two will use another answer booklet into which candidates write their answer to the extended writing question.
Finally, a word about timing. The test lasts one hour. The marks are allocated equally between Section One, part (a), Section One, part (b) and Section Two. Candidates are advised to spend about the same amount of time on each task and to make sure they read the questions and texts thoroughly before answering. They should also carefully check and correct their writing before the end of the test.
All the very best ......
Rather than go by whispers / gossips
Stage 2 information
http://www.saintolaves.net/uploads/cked ... ebsite.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
St Olave’s Stage 2 English Test for Year 7 Entry
The first and most important thing to understand about our Entrance Test in English is that there really isn’t anything that can be done to ‘cram’ or ‘revise’ for it. The things it tests are, on the whole, skills and habits rather than factual knowledge - things, in other words, which a child picks up over a period of years rather than weeks. And this is quite deliberate. We want to see what candidates are capable of without any special preparation.
What we don’t want, however, is for good candidates to come unstuck simply because they got lost in all the instructions or panicked at the sheer unfamiliarity of the tasks. Hence this sample paper, which has a similar, not exactly the same format to the real thing. Your son will almost certainly find it useful to work through these ‘taster’ questions. This will familiarise him with the procedure, and thus, with any luck, reduce the anxiety and confusion - thereby making it easier for him to do himself justice on the day.
Section One tests Reading: Part (a) assesses candidates by multiple choice questions, based on fiction or non-fiction passages and some questions on basic grammar; part (b) requires candidates to explain and justify inferences with evidence from a text, such as a poem.
Section Two tests Writing and assessment will be made of the ability to choose a form and content appropriate to the task; use syntax and paragraphing to shape meaning; use punctuation correctly and expressively; use vocabulary creatively; spell accurately; use handwriting, layout and presentation effectively.
One thing worth getting used to is the fact that the test involves different booklets:
1. Section One will be in two parts: In part (a) candidates circle their answers to the multiple-choice questions posed about the passage; and in part (b) candidates will use a separate answer booklet to write their answers.
2. Section Two will use another answer booklet into which candidates write their answer to the extended writing question.
Finally, a word about timing. The test lasts one hour. The marks are allocated equally between Section One, part (a), Section One, part (b) and Section Two. Candidates are advised to spend about the same amount of time on each task and to make sure they read the questions and texts thoroughly before answering. They should also carefully check and correct their writing before the end of the test.
All the very best ......
