SW Herts Consortium maths questions

[onzeplus]

DS will be sitting the SW Herts Consortium tests in the Autumn but I'm a bit confused about the maths papers.

Based on the sample questions and comments on this forum it appeared to me that the maths questions were based on fundamental maths concepts (arithmetic, fractions, percentages, graphs) and things they've done so far as part of KS2. However, looking through some of the material recommended on this site I see topics that are a bit more advanced. For example, flicking through the Bond books I see questions on probability, mean, median and mode. I'm quite prepared to go through these topics with DS but I want to focus on topics that are most likely to come up.

My question is, from the books that this site recommends which ones am I better off concentrating on so that I have the best chance of covering what might come up in the test and not spend time on teaching material that is unlikely to come up.

[Hera]

The Consortium say that they only cover material studied in key stage 2. However the tests are at the start of year 6, so it is important to make sure that the kids have covered the whole of the key stage 2 syllabus by the time they take it. Checking the topics in the S&S key stage 2 maths revision guide or the Bond How to do Eleven Plus Maths is a good idea. You mention probability, mean, median and mode and these are definitely part of the key stage 2 syllabus and something my current year 5 DC has already done at school. When my DS took the exam the general feedback from the kids was that the maths paper was not at all complicated, however many of them didn't do as well in the maths as they expected. As it was easy the standardised score was high so each silly mistake cost them dear. IMO it is all about accuracy.

[3b1g]

I agree with Hera's comment.

We also used 'How to do 11+ Maths'. There were 27 topics so we started in the January of Y5 and went through one a week.

The Maths is not difficult, but many children at the start of Y6 have not yet come across algebra or averages. The head teacher at my children's primary advised parents not to attempt topics that hadn't been covered at school, but missing out five questions could be enough to put your child out of the running for WBGS/WGGS/Parmiters, even if they got every other question correct. I ignored the head's advice and covered all topics. DS1 got an academic place at WBGS and DS2 scored 136 in the Maths, so I think I made the right decision.

[onzeplus]

Thanks Hera and 3b1g.

Looks like I need to go through whats covered in the syllabus.

Up until now I've been getting DS to show me how they do things at school and then I have tried to continue using those techniques when we revise as I was concerned I would confuse matters by using my own techniques. For example, the way they multiplication and long division (chunking etc) is quite different to how I would do it. I guess the books will give me hintsa on how they should be doing things these days.

[3b1g]

At this stage, they can use what method they want, so long as they get the correct answer every time. There is a lot more on the curriculum than arithmetic. Angles, Bar charts, Fractions, Decimals, simple Probability, Area & Perimeter etc.

[3b1g]

When it comes to straightforward calculations, even as part of a word problem, I just ask "And how will you work that out?" Provided they aren't adding when they should be subtracting, I let them get on with the method they have chosen.

[onzeplus]

I do need to go through the curriculum and get started on the topics that haven't been covered yet at school.

[HappyCow]

Definitely go through topics first - we used Galore Park maths book.
Ensure DC is fast with timestables.
Also, Schofield & Sims mental arithmetic books are good. Should probably be able to start with book 3 OR perhaps every other paper in book 2 - just to build up confidence.
They seem to cover all the Maths topics.

R&S Educational produce some maths papers for age 9-10 years - these were a gentle introduction to papers and then build up from there.

I also liked the Bond books, a paper or two a week and amazing how you will get through the books.

Good luck.....