thank you

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saimaj21
Posts: 35
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 9:03 am

thank you

Post by saimaj21 »

Hello all members
I just felt I owed a great big thank you to this forum and all its members

My dd has secured a place at Tiffins this year (scored 244) so very pleased with her

But i wanted to say the amount of help and advice ive recieved from this forum is amazing.
Ive posted numerous questions asking for help and have always had a reply, and as a parent who doesnt know much about vr/nvr i cannot be grateful enough for everyones contribution.

this forum is not only a gem but a light of guidance for those who do not have a clue where to start when selecting schools. i started a year ago without any direction and with the time spent on reading endless number of threads i had enough confidence to see my dd through, so thank you all.

There is ample written on advice regarding past papers and which ones to do but not much on exam technique advice and being a doctor myself (and having sat endless medical exmas!) i passed on a few to my dd for her exams which i feel worked well, she scored 130 in slough/langley exam and came 28th position in kendrick and i feel id like to share some for those parents who cannot understand why their child is unable to complete papers in time or has to leave a few questions out due to time:

1) once all techinques taught time papers - one paper per hour, stop your child once an hour is up and establish how many questions left out - then during papers remind him how much time he has left - even though he may make a few mistakes on rushing he is picking up speed (ofcourse do this a good 10 months before the exam)
2) time each nvr section - start with 1-2 minutes per question in each section so 10 questions = 10 minutes, then tell them to move to next section
3) after a few months halve the time given in nvr per section or make it 1 min per question. eventually for 10 questions i used to give my dd 5 minutes (3 months before exam) initally she left a few out but eventually her fingers and mind started to race through and she picked up speed. initally they will make mistakes because they are not used to speeding through the questions, ignore those silly mistakes and correct them at the end - what you are trying to build is effective speed - it is always good to know questions done as silly mistakes or because of lack of time for thinking were not qrong because they were hard
4) for vr 80 questions i used to give 45 minutes only - this was pushing for time but not impossible with a amximum of 5 mistakes allowed - brought down to 3 mistakes a 3 months before the exam
5) keep a clock infront of child and give toime reminders every 15 minutes
6) in the last month my dd was doing vr papers in 30 minutes 80 questions with no less than 95% being allowed in the house!
6) im sure lots of people do this but in the nvr teach your child that 3 questions are 100% wrong in that they are telling you from the page 'I AM WRONG!' - put a line through them immediately - if techniques are truly mastered this step takes about 10 seconds to do. then you have your final 2 choices and spend the remaining 30 seocnds or so thinking about them. this helped my dd immensely and she loved the elimination process!
7) never leave a question out...and intelloigent guess is always better than no guess at all - there is no negative marking
8) if my dd left any questions out i told her to circle the questions number on the ANSWER SHEET (lightly) just so in the last 10 minutes when you go over your mistakes a cirlce staring at you will make you want to go to address that question first...during her tiffins exam an inviglator at the end of the exam mentioned to her 'thats a very good exam technique you had going on there!'

i know the above requires the parent to be around 100% but it is all worth it in the end when you open those letters where you read your child has passed with flying colours:))

hope the little above helps even one child out there
thank you all
tiffinboys
Posts: 8022
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Surrey

Re: thank you

Post by tiffinboys »

Vow! what a drill with military precision........ Bravo to your DD and am sure this dicipline and continous efforts to improve will stay with her for ever. 8)
Please support Tiffin School’s Gym Appeal. Visit school’s website to donate.
mariare
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:35 pm

Re: thank you

Post by mariare »

Hi,
I also want to say thank you to everybody in this forum. For last one year,every single day, it has been kind of a habit for me to visit this forum . I always got the necessary information throughout my 11+ journey from this forum. Now, I think I must thank this forum as my son got a place at Tiffin with a score of 277. And I also congratulate everybody who got their places at their desired schools.

Thanks
mariare
:D :D :D
tiffinboys
Posts: 8022
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:00 pm
Location: Surrey

Re: thank you

Post by tiffinboys »

That's really amazing score. Congratulations.
Please support Tiffin School’s Gym Appeal. Visit school’s website to donate.
mariare
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:35 pm

Re: thank you

Post by mariare »

Thank you tiffinboys.
geling
Posts: 153
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 12:18 pm

Re: thank you

Post by geling »

Hi, Mariare:

Big congratulations! Your DS got 277 (280 is full score)--it is an amazing score or unbelievable one! It is the highest one I have heard of since I joined this Forum 4 years ago.

Well, if you don't mind, please tell us how your DS prepared? :lol: I am sure the other parents will learn something from it.

Best

geling
suzanne

Re: thank you

Post by suzanne »

Well done that is a fantastic score! Must be 100% in both papers and a summer birthday.
mariare
Posts: 25
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:35 pm

Re: thank you

Post by mariare »

Thanks geling and suzanne. Actually, we do not know if this is the highest or not. We rang the school to find the rank as my
Ds scored 100% in both Bucks and Slough Consortium exams. But, we were told that they maintain
the merit list only for the waiting list. About the preparation, the key factor was to keep him pressure free throughout
the 11+ journey.He scored 140 in Vr out of a possible 140, 137 in NVR out of a possible 140 and no he is an October,
2000 born.


:D
thanks
mariare
Last edited by mariare on Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
fatbananas
Posts: 1411
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 2:03 pm

Re: thank you

Post by fatbananas »

Many congratulations to your DS. He's done spectacularly well!

Out of interest, how do you keep things pressure free on the 11+ journey? I think that is something a lot of people struggle with. Me for one! :roll: :)
Seize the day ... before it seizes you.
ninja11
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed May 04, 2011 1:32 pm

Re: thank you

Post by ninja11 »

I agree with mariare and saimaj21.
Working on exam technique and keep it as relaxed as possible is quite important. We prepared for exam in 6-8 months but did it in regular but small pieces with having a plan & milestones in mind (lots of wonderful ideas and tips have been posted on this forum about it). Though my dd did not score as high as mariare (well done to her ds) but my dd got into TGS with good scores(254).
We tried to squeeze in exam free breaks and if possible..relaxed holidays in between. I think that it is important not to stop other non-academic activities or at-least try to keep one running in parallel that your child like most. Resist the temptation to do tons of practice papers in the last few weeks before exam and stop all together few days before exam.
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