Kendrick 2014 exam prep

[menhow]

My first post here...

My DD is also in Yr 5 and a Kendrick hopeful for 2014 Cohort. I have two questions:

1) I am going to be DIY with the Bonds practise papers and various online resources this forum has indicated (spelling, vocab, GL assessment etc). I have calculated that we are going to go through around 230 tests/papers/quizzes (varying from 10 to 45 mins) resulting in about 120 hours of time. Does this seem about the right amount of work load?

2) I'm very keen to put DD through a mock exam to give her the 'real life examination' experience, but also feedback on her areas of weakness. Where did you do them and how often? I've heard sutton mock mentioned, but with one year to go, would Dec '12 and then July '13 make sense? or more or less frequent?

Great forum....

[Reading Mum]

I didn't find Bond particularly relevant - Susan Daughtrey was better.
We did the Sutton mock for the experience in the June before the exam in September - the content was not a great match and we only got scores not feedback but the experience was authentic and it's a large cohort (4000). We also did a local Kendrick mock a couple if weeks before - we did get feedback on that one but with 2 weeks to go there wasn't much time to act on it.
I can't say yet whether our approach worked yet - will know next week - but we did a lot less than your plan but that was right for us.
We didn't start till feb/ march in the year of the exam

[menhow]

thanks Reading Mum.

For the sutton mock it's purely for the experience to put her through just two subjects VR and NVR within a large group. She's quite used to doing music or ballet auditions/performances/exams, but these have been individual or small groups of friends/peers.... nothing quite like the same as being one of the masses (4000 not in one room ). !

What is the Kendrick mock? I haven't heard of that? Are there actual past papers that the School have released in the past or a commercial body that provides mock tests locally?

The Bonds are for her current age group 9-10, so are you suggest getting the Susan Daughtery VR (Technique & Practice books 1-4) commencing Jan/Feb time? And then the GL Assessment come the summer holidays?

Any recommendation for publishers of NVR material?

[stevew61]

Hi menhow and welcome,

I've waved my magic wand and moved your request to its own thread with a new title.

You are on the right track, look back through the Berkshire forum or use the search facility you will find lots of shared experiences. Some local tutors run mocks tailored to Kendrick so ask around.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/servic ... /98/tutors" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I would echo SD for VR, the four books followed by Further Practice and the two books of standard papers. After that it gets a bit harder to find standard format, we used some Dynamite and Athey. Also used some easier multiple choice papers (AFN) without using answers grid. The danger is you focus on the 21 types and not the full 35+ variations.

For NVR I liked (others don't) the AE How to do Books 1 & 2. They teach the basics, almost like learning a language, and then have graded examples. I wouldn't worry about some of the level 5 stuff found it a bit contrived.

At the same time look at some starter NVR papers, ten minute books Bond or Letts (will check later). Also IIRC AFN NVR were easier.

Little and often is the key.

Also look at vocab lists synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homonyms? etc

The First Aid in English book contains some good vocab, sometimes it reads like a compilers guide to VR.

Don't get side tracked into doing harder and harder papers, my feeling is that the Kendrick papers are not super hard in content but are time pressured. So it's a test of nerve, speed and accuracy on one day, oh and you need a high score as everyone says eventually you will need to be getting 90% plus, but not at the outset!

If you find a weakness note it, take a step back fix it and move to a higher level, technique is more important than number of papers completed.

Finally focus on the limited number of nfer papers available to get the look and feel.

Keep an eye out for the notification, just before Christmas? confirming the exam and entrance procedures.

Anything else please ask.

There that should keep you going for this weekend and half-term.

[Reading Mum]

For the sutton mock it's purely for the experience to put her through just two subjects VR and NVR within a large group. She's quite used to doing music or ballet auditions/performances/exams, but these have been individual or small groups of friends/peers.... nothing quite like the same as being one of the masses (4000 not in one room ). !

I think there are about 10 dates with 2 sittings per date but that is still a couple of hundred in a sitting. In the end the Kendrick exam was split into much smaller groups than that but it was still worth it. Plus you get an idea of where your DD sits within a cohort of 11+ aspirants.

What is the Kendrick mock? I haven't heard of that? Are there actual past papers that the School have released in the past or a commercial body that provides mock tests locally?

No past papers. It was just a local company.

Any recommendation for publishers of NVR material?

Tricky - we did not get on with the AE books at all. I would give them a go though as everyone is different. GL assessment do a how to book which we liked better. I think for NVR we mostly did 10 min tests (Bond - I know I said not Bond for VR but these are a bit more relevant), free downloads and the like, building up to the GL papers.

[BaileyLane]

Hello Menhow *waves*

Stevew61's advice is bang on the money from what we've learnt (DD just sat for Kendrick). I think my DD may have done the same local mock that Reading Mum is talking about, and I must admit I thought it was a huge waste of money in terms of feedback and results (which were given as a percentage, but with no idea of how the cohort had done - what use is that?!) but it was probably a good learning experience for children who had never sat an exam like that before. However, more importantly, get your daughter to understand the time pressures she faces - start timing small sections and keep a note, so you can demonstrate to her how well she's doing as she progresses.

My DD passed but not at a super-high level, so please feel free to disregard what I say , but I would echo the little and often advice, and never overload your child with work - making them unhappy and stressed just isn't worth it IMHO. You hear of parents making their child do hours and hours of prep a day...........

[harrow123]

For preparation: You have enough time so get ur dd to do most of every book that u find in wh smith or as per the list on this forum

We used *** Advertising Censored *** mock test (google for this) for my ds/dd, these mock tests are harder and my dd failed infact though she passed all real tests.

I did not mean to advertise at all, but sorry for that

[menhow]

My Plan is based on roughly two hours a week, 2 assessment papers (40 or 45 minutes) + a couple of 10 minutes revision (Corrections, Types, Vocab, Bonds 10 mins). We are only week 3 (of 52) and she’s enjoying it so far, so no pressure on her having to doing it – it’s purely her opting in.

On the Mock Test, I’ll look at local Reading Tutors. But I noticed on various threads that Parents have sent their DD to attend exams in different Counties/Consortiums. Is there a risk of doing standard format for VR at Kendrick vs multiple choice for say the Bucks (we are considering moving to High Wycombe as the stats are better)? Or is it the case that DD can work out the question and answers, but just being mindful of the answering technique?