BOND ENGLISH
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Guest
BOND ENGLISH
I would just like to share my panic with you. My child will be sitting an NFER MC English paper in three months. We have started with Bond test papers before NFER to get him into the swing of things. He has done papers 1-3 so far and has got 80%, 72% and 68%. His marks seem to be getting worse and I'm starting to panic especially as I think these papers are easier than NFER. The more I try to explain things the worse he seems to get and I don't know how to tackle this. I am at my wits end. To cap it all his NVR,VR and Maths are very strong but I think his English will let him down and he won't get the school place he so desperately wants. Any bright ideas anyone?
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fm
I'm not sure I agree with you. I have used both sets of papers on pupils and, like the maths, I generally find the scores lower for the Bond than NFER.
Also, if I have a child whose test scores are going downwards, I would certainly take a breather from testing them. Perhaps use the test as pro-active rather than reactive learning tools and do the last test with him. If it is comprehension that is the problem, then ensure he can find the relevant part in passage, underline it and then extract the necessary information.
At this stage many children are sick to death of tests and a deteriorating performance can be linked to nerves or boredom rather than any intellectual deficit. It is tempting (especially if it is your own child) to keep heaping test after test on them in the hope of producing a continuous improvement or reversing a decline but sometimes this can be counterproductive. We're looking for that final, high test score so we can be reassured our child will get in but that may be more about us than them.
At any rate, try teaching rather than testing him and remain as upbeat as possible at this stage of the game.
Also, if I have a child whose test scores are going downwards, I would certainly take a breather from testing them. Perhaps use the test as pro-active rather than reactive learning tools and do the last test with him. If it is comprehension that is the problem, then ensure he can find the relevant part in passage, underline it and then extract the necessary information.
At this stage many children are sick to death of tests and a deteriorating performance can be linked to nerves or boredom rather than any intellectual deficit. It is tempting (especially if it is your own child) to keep heaping test after test on them in the hope of producing a continuous improvement or reversing a decline but sometimes this can be counterproductive. We're looking for that final, high test score so we can be reassured our child will get in but that may be more about us than them.
At any rate, try teaching rather than testing him and remain as upbeat as possible at this stage of the game.
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fm
To guest,
Sorry. I misread your post. I didn't realise you had a whole 3 months to go. I assumed the exam was imminent.
With all this time to go, why don't you purchase some easier papers and work up to NFER level? Bond would be my final port of call. There are several excellent test packs of a slightly easier nature you could do together. Also, I wouldn't set any of my pupils the proofreading parts in the Bond or NFER papers without doing weeks of preparation on punctuation and spelling rules because, even the ones from independent primary schools, are going to score quite indifferently in this area without specific preparation.
Also, is your target school an independent? I ask because of the date of exam. If so, I'm surprised they use multiple choice rather than standard comprehension.
Sorry. I misread your post. I didn't realise you had a whole 3 months to go. I assumed the exam was imminent.
With all this time to go, why don't you purchase some easier papers and work up to NFER level? Bond would be my final port of call. There are several excellent test packs of a slightly easier nature you could do together. Also, I wouldn't set any of my pupils the proofreading parts in the Bond or NFER papers without doing weeks of preparation on punctuation and spelling rules because, even the ones from independent primary schools, are going to score quite indifferently in this area without specific preparation.
Also, is your target school an independent? I ask because of the date of exam. If so, I'm surprised they use multiple choice rather than standard comprehension.
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Guest
Thanks fm
Its a state school. He will only sit the English if he passes the first round in Nov (NVR and VR). He finds the grammar/punctuation parts easy usually getting full marks. Its the comprehension that seems to be the problem.
I see from your first post that you think Bond is easier than NFER. I don't know why I assumed the opposite - I just did. Nice to see you think the Bond is harder.. However, in your second post you sugeest that Bond would be your first port of call. Was that a typo? We have already tried Athey which he found OK. He is good at quesions that require full written answers but unfortunately his first choice school use MC NFER.
I think I'll go with your idea of taking a break from tests. I thought about getting him to read something and then asking him questions a while later (read that on here somewhere). He often reads too quickly as he is encouraged at school to skim and scan which unfortunately doesn't seem to work with these papers.
What would you do as a tutor in this situation? I do feel slightly panicked which I know does not help at all and as a non-teacher I am finding it really hard to explain things to him in a way that he understands.
Its a state school. He will only sit the English if he passes the first round in Nov (NVR and VR). He finds the grammar/punctuation parts easy usually getting full marks. Its the comprehension that seems to be the problem.
I see from your first post that you think Bond is easier than NFER. I don't know why I assumed the opposite - I just did. Nice to see you think the Bond is harder.. However, in your second post you sugeest that Bond would be your first port of call. Was that a typo? We have already tried Athey which he found OK. He is good at quesions that require full written answers but unfortunately his first choice school use MC NFER.
I think I'll go with your idea of taking a break from tests. I thought about getting him to read something and then asking him questions a while later (read that on here somewhere). He often reads too quickly as he is encouraged at school to skim and scan which unfortunately doesn't seem to work with these papers.
What would you do as a tutor in this situation? I do feel slightly panicked which I know does not help at all and as a non-teacher I am finding it really hard to explain things to him in a way that he understands.
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fm
To guest,
I put 'final' port of call. I use other tests before NFER and I rarely use Bond. The tests I use are the alpha series but this may be bleeped out by website because I don't know if they have their blessing. There are about 10 tests in this series, MC or Standard, and I think they are good training to build up to NFER which I presume you are keeping until nearer the time.
As I say, don't necessarily use them as tests but learning tools.
Also, I use the short comprehensions in the Bond Assessment Papers to train how to extract information.
On the subject of 'skimming' the text. He may have to do this due to time constraints. The passages are quite long in both NFER and Bond--the exam could be over if you ask him to read them thoroughly. I tend to ask mine to read quickly (most haven't the patience to do otherwise) so they have a general idea of passage, then train to go looking for relevant part, underline and extract info.
I put 'final' port of call. I use other tests before NFER and I rarely use Bond. The tests I use are the alpha series but this may be bleeped out by website because I don't know if they have their blessing. There are about 10 tests in this series, MC or Standard, and I think they are good training to build up to NFER which I presume you are keeping until nearer the time.
As I say, don't necessarily use them as tests but learning tools.
Also, I use the short comprehensions in the Bond Assessment Papers to train how to extract information.
On the subject of 'skimming' the text. He may have to do this due to time constraints. The passages are quite long in both NFER and Bond--the exam could be over if you ask him to read them thoroughly. I tend to ask mine to read quickly (most haven't the patience to do otherwise) so they have a general idea of passage, then train to go looking for relevant part, underline and extract info.
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Guest
Sorry I misread what you saidI put 'final' port of call.
Thanks for that. I will try. I think I just needed some practical help from someone with experience at this stage in the game. Clearly starting to feel stressed although son seems completely unconcerned!!Also, I use the short comprehensions in the Bond Assessment Papers to train how to extract information.
On the subject of 'skimming' the text. He may have to do this due to time constraints. The passages are quite long in both NFER and Bond--the exam could be over if you ask him to read them thoroughly. I tend to ask mine to read quickly (most haven't the patience to do otherwise) so they have a general idea of passage, then train to go looking for relevant part, underline and extract info.
