Preparation - with hindsight what worked (and did not)?

[BumpyRoad]

Congratulations to all of those who have received the results they hoped for in the NW and Bexley tests. Whilst it remains fresh in your minds would you be kind enough to share what, with the benefit of hindsight, was time well spent during preparation, which books/mock tests you thought were most effective and any other tips on what you would/would not do if you were about to start preparation now.
Many thanks!

[Godfather]

we used a tuition centre and pretty much all twenty students passed (it was good value as well !)

But here is what think is one formula that you may try

English
1) Read 10-15 min and catch 3 new words
2) Go through roughly 50 or so comprehensions
3) Go through roughly cloze practice
4) Go through plenty of shuffled sentences

Maths
1) Do all the maths topics (you can use how to Bond maths if you want)
2) Do bond 10-11

NVR
1) Go through CGP NVR study Book
2) CGP NVR CEM book

Now we used a tuition centre but I think you could do it DIY. But the advantage of a tutor or tuition centre is that they motivate your child. Also most parents like me don't have the time or patience so far better to outsource this

Hope this helps

[hanaF]

We didn't use any tutor, but we have done 4 mock tests to keep track, 2 local creative writing workshops (12 hrs in total) and a 3-month online revision course part-funded by a relative. Pm me if you want the details.

DS was well above average and in the top group of his year before we started the 11+ journey. He was an avid reader with excellent spelling and word knowledge. So we only had to give him chance to flourish not 'cramming'. Overall we did 30mins-1hr of work a day (school or 11+), he does his own reading, a bit more work over the summer holidays when we were at home.

Material-wise we used:
English and verbal - FPTP comprehension, Bond, CGP 10-minute test, KS2 comprehension and verbal reasoning 5 by schofields, Letts GL English tests. We didn't complete all sections in the books as we move on once he is confident of the concepts.

Maths - CGP 10-minute tests, Bond How to, Mental Arithmetic 5&6, Letts GL test, and random papers from the internet. King of Maths app for fun.

Non-verbal - CGP guide and 10-minute test, schofields book 4&5, Bond CEM paper and the online course.

I prefer CGP materials for CEM.

We have also helped a friend's dd who also passed Bexley. Her core skills was much lower when we started in spring. She used mainly CGP materials, some Bond SAT skills for the basics, Mental Arithmetic 4&5, and a few odd things here and there. She used a local tuition centre for mocks and tuition from June (2 hrs group tuition a week). I asked her to keep a vocabulary list and a notebook of study points, as she was making the same mistakes again and again. Overall she was doing about 1 hr of work a day, more over the holidays. She also attended the same creative writing workshop as my DS.

Hope it helps. The work wasn't too time-consuming but it is more about addressing knowledge gaps and weaknesses. Both children were motivated and wanted to succeed, and I think that made a big difference. Pm me if you'd like more detail on the local centres that we used.

[dwisdom]

If u have the patience and follow advice of this forum DIY can work.
But it is not for everyone - better to hire an expert

[Silverspire]

I home tutored my daughter and began the process during the second term of year 4. Had a break to have my youngest son, then continued the home tuition a month later. She took 2 mock test over the summer and it provided her with a good insight on what was to come. She received high marks for Newstead Wood, Kent and Bexley Top 180.

My daughter has always been in the top set in every year at primary school. She is very mature for her age and knows she needs to work hard to succeed. We did have the odd bad days, where I would almost want to give up. Thinking now, maybe I was a bit hard on her as I was also learning the process myself.

For kent we used:
GL assessment mixed packs, CGP 10 minutes for maths and NVR, FPTP comprehension, Bond mixed subject pack

For Bexley (CEM)
CGP assessment papers for all the subjects (9/10 and 10/11), all the CGP test packs, CGP 10-minute tests, Letts bumper pack, FPTP vocabulary and cloze, Bond mixed subject pack

For Newstead:
Combination of the above, plus the sample paper available from the school

She also had a book where she wrote down tricky vocabulary or anything she found difficult. I also printed out all the various sample papers I found on this site. Most week days she would work through the materials and then we would go through her mistakes. She started with marks around 75%. By mid summer it was between 95 to 100%.

I think the CGP and Bond papers are harder than they need to be. Newstead test was the easiest, Bexley and Kent was very rushed for timing. Letts materials is the closest to the Bexley test.

Hope this helps!

[dwisdom]

Remember it all depends how right your child is.... if your child is bright DIY is fine. But if childbis in the lower set like min was - hire a professional or join a class. It money worth spending

[PeppermintCreams]

Can I ask how you all juggled the differences between the Bexley CEM test, and the Kent GL test preparations? Especially the different workbooks and practice exams. Did you focus on the Bexley test one week, and the Kent test the following week, for example? Thanks.

[dwisdom]

I think there is a lot of overlap ... the only thing extra for Kent is English : spelling abd grammar and Traditional Verbal reasoning. Also make sure u live in the distance for Kent otherwise it is is waste of effort preparing

[ToadMum]

Remember it all depends how right your child is.... if your child is bright DIY is fine. But if childbis in the lower set like min was - hire a professional or join a class. It money worth spending

Believing that your 'not so bright ' lower set DC was indeed suited to a grammar school must have been some leap of faith . I assume you mean, just not at the top of a very clever year group (sort of the reverse of being led to believe that one's DC are objectively brilliant just because they have always been on top table, then discovering that in comparison with the outside world, they were just top of a not very distinguished pile that was their particular school's sub set of the cohort ).

[Guest55]

Personally, I don't think anyone really knows exactly what made the difference because there is no 'default' to compare with.

Most children do not need a tutor - there are plenty of resources for parents to DIY.

Unqualified tutors are not necessarily the best - ask to see qualifications before spending.