English Paper Nov 2010

[kaynor]

Hi everyone

We have just looked through the English paper the DC sat. It's only our opinion but we thought it was a stinker. Feel guilty we actually put our DC through it! No wonder they looked a little shell shocked when they got out. Anyone else seen it yet? If so what do you think?

Good news.........the maths looked more palatable.

Best of luck to all our kids, they all deserve medals.......whatever the outcome!

[Moonlight]

My DS sat the 11+ in November 2009 and the English paper that year was also really hard,a Dickens novel. This type of paper was far harder than anything DS had done at Primary school. I remember he came out of the hall at the end of the morning telling me he couldn't answer the first question of that paper. It must have been an awful feeling for him and I felt really sorry that I had put him through such an experience. Fortunately though he managed to put that to one side and is now at CRGS and really happy.

Good luck to everybody waiting for results on 1st March. I will be thinking of you all.

[colchestermum]

I now feel really nervous as English is my DS weaker area and he came out saying it was a lot easier than he expected. I fear now that either he was fibbing about it being easy or he totally misunderstood it!

I hope that its just a case of 'everything falling into place' only 18 days to go!

[jessmum]

Our DD said she totally flunked the English paper and to be honest we have ruled out the Grammar school now as she said she did so badly on it. It was her weakest subject anyway (she said she found the Maths absolutely fine) so it was always going to be hard for her even with a more palatable text! She said it was unbelievably difficult. Could be very good news for those with DCs that are very strong at English as those extra marks could make all the difference! Good news for us is that our local comp just got an "outstanding" Ofsted and at least its 10 mins not 90 mins every morning...trying to look on the bright side !!!

[moved]

Hi Jessmum,

We had ruled out CCHS for DD after the exam as she said her English paper was dreadful. It had been her best subject, but when the results came it was much worse than maths and VR. She did, however, get offered her place at CCHS so don't give up hope just yet.

[Moonlight]

I am sure that everything will 'fall into place' for you. I kept thinking 'if he (DS) gets such and such a mark in this that will compensate for that etc' and, in the end, it did. Verbal Reasoning was DS's strongest paper so this did help to boost his overall score. Try to enjoy the next few weeks if you can and then hopefully you can look forward to lots of celebrating.

[Moonlight]

Hi jessmum, definitely do not give up hope of DD getting a place at grammar school. It may well be that maths and VR will come good for her. There is also a good deal of movement for places (taking into account that some children do not place the grammar schools as first choice etc) so it is not all over yet. Great news that you have a fab local school if you need it. That will really take the pressure off you if you don't get the result you were hoping for. Good luck to you and your DD whatever the outcome.

[Hopefuldad]

Jessmum

My DD said English was bad immediately after the exam. It seems like, from the feedback on this forum, a few have found it easy but a lot more have found it hard. This is why they use SS rather than raw scores to allocate places. If most DC's find it difficult then the average score will be lower.

SS's are therefore relative scores and not absolute scores.

So hang in there.

HD

[First-timer]

I've seen the paper and I don't think it was a stinker but it was quite different from recent papers, which may have thrown some children. I don't think the text was easier just because it was more modern - it had some really testing vocabulary for ten year olds. I suppose they are trying to tackle over-tutoring by ringing the changes. I thought it was a good thing that it was wider in scope than previous papers. The Maths paper doesn't just focus on one or two areas so it's appropriate that the English paper is broader than just comprehension, vocabulary and punctuation.

I did think the Maths paper was perhaps too easy. There will be a lot of high scores and children whose strength is Maths won't have had the opportunity to shine. I know they standardise the scores but I'd still be annoyed if my DC had sat it this year (although I think the English paper would have suited him better so it's probably swings and roundabouts ).

[Guest12]

I looked at the English paper and thought it was ridiculous. As a year 6 teacher, I would never use a text like that, with the types of questions on 10/11 year olds. I showed it to a relative who teaches English at secondary school to A level students. She was stunned. The question about irony, she said she would begin to introduce/teach to GCSE students. I have a son at KEGS and absolutely holding his own there - and he couldn't do it. Had he taken it this year he would have failed, which would have been a shame as KEGS us absolutely the right school for him. My worry is that children who deserve a place will have been tripped up by this paper. Having said that all the children would be experiencing the same but there will be some children who do very well in it. I maybe shot down in flames here, but I think the vocabulary will exclude some children from different backgrounds where that type of vocabulary is less likely to be used. As for my daughter who took it - unfortunately it was evident when she looked through it and told me what she had put, she will be lucky to even get 20% in the paper. Unfortunately the 42% she could have picked up on punctuation and spelling she messed up in super style!!