When is the best time to start Mixed Practice tests

[Newbiee]

Hi,
Now that the date for the exam is getting closer I wanted some advice on when to start the practice test papers(mixed mock style). Is doing 1 paper a week sufficient? My DD is currently doing assessment papers for all four VR,NVR,EN,MA. Is that enough? What is best prep for these last few weeks? Please advice.

Thanks

[Petitpois]

Hi,
Now that the date for the exam is getting closer I wanted some advice on when to start the practice test papers(mixed mock style). Is doing 1 paper a week sufficient? My DD is currently doing assessment papers for all four VR,NVR,EN,MA. Is that enough? What is best prep for these last few weeks? Please advice.

Thanks

My thoughts

1) I didn't do any mocks, but I would if I had my time again, especially for the KE. You have got to remember that there is a fear element on the day. It rears its head no matter what (it came back for the SATs in May). Those that have been trained to deal with that have an inherent advantage.

2) That said we did Mix tests every other day. They can get tired so back off if it is getting too much, but I think one a week might be a little light. We heard of some going nuts and doing one each morning and afternoon, so that's where your role as the parent is. You to decide what the best balance is. One a week if it gets your DD to peak at the right time might be right.

3) Really really critical. It is super essential that you invigilate the test in the way they are going to be hit with it. Strict timing. On the bond papers and others, they give strict timings of about 6-10 mins per sections. Run the test continuously till it is finished. Stick to them ruthlessly. This could make the difference between succeeding (or not) on the KE. So do the whole test, but stick to timing and don't allow any breaks, and be rigid. Then review timings and the impact on accuracy and completeness with your DD

It might possibly feel difficult to do this yourself, hence the added value of the Shirley mock type people and you get a detailed report too + there are likely to several hundred others doing it at the same time, and that is an important factor too. Might be a bit late now, but worth enquiring about.

[Stokers]

I will endorse PP's point about sticking to timings at this point - this close to the exams, it's really important to get used to not finishing sections and moving on - if a DC stays anxious about what they haven't finished, then it will affect how they approach the next section. If they're used to not finishing, and recognising that they will do better in some sections than others, that will be excellent preparation.

[OldTrout]

Hi Newbiee:

Generally agree with Petitpois advice but would add it may be worth considering how is your DC doing on the 1 paper a week.

Emotionally - is this a battle or are they enjoying it an up for more.

Academically - are there gaps you'd be better off filling in (focusing on now thoroughly)

Testing pattern - are there consistent problems - misunderstanding instructions/ always finding a type of question difficult - sometimes more time on that kind of thing helps

If they're doing well - so 80% + correct on a paper - then stick to your routing but put in more work on week areas (particular type of question/ problem or if one type of paper is the source of trouble - so maybe NVR is weak - in which case do extra 10 minute bonds).

If they're borderline (which was the case for both my DDs) - consider doing more (if generally getting similar results across the board) or consider extra practicing if one area is particularly weak.

I was also cunning - at some point I would reintroduce a test DDs had taken very early on - but maybe in mixed order (so paper 2 first and then paper 1). Both did feel it was familiar - but looked at it afresh. I personally found the fact they had noticeably improved between attempts (1st attempt April Y5 - 2nd attempt late July before Y6/ 11+) very reassuring - and it seemed to give both DDs a boost.

The other trick you can play is reintroduce those missed questions from previous papers.

So spend some time typing in missed questions - mix them up (I'd just type them up/ print them out and cut them out as strips - and give 10 missed questions in a go). I felt this helped too.

Best of luck Newbiee - I'll be rooting for you and your little bee in September & hoping for a great result in October.

OT

[OldTrout]

newbiee

forgot to say if you have a printer that can scan - you can scan in papers and cut out the missed questions (great for NVR and maths problems especially).

[Newbiee]

Great advice..Thank you so much

[Newbiee]

Hi Newbiee:

Generally agree with Petitpois advice but would add it may be worth considering how is your DC doing on the 1 paper a week.

Emotionally - is this a battle or are they enjoying it an up for more.

Academically - are there gaps you'd be better off filling in (focusing on now thoroughly)

Testing pattern - are there consistent problems - misunderstanding instructions/ always finding a type of question difficult - sometimes more time on that kind of thing helps

If they're doing well - so 80% + correct on a paper - then stick to your routing but put in more work on week areas (particular type of question/ problem or if one type of paper is the source of trouble - so maybe NVR is weak - in which case do extra 10 minute bonds).

If they're borderline (which was the case for both my DDs) - consider doing more (if generally getting similar results across the board) or consider extra practicing if one area is particularly weak.

I was also cunning - at some point I would reintroduce a test DDs had taken very early on - but maybe in mixed order (so paper 2 first and then paper 1). Both did feel it was familiar - but looked at it afresh. I personally found the fact they had noticeably improved between attempts (1st attempt April Y5 - 2nd attempt late July before Y6/ 11+) very reassuring - and it seemed to give both DDs a boost.

The other trick you can play is reintroduce those missed questions from previous papers.

So spend some time typing in missed questions - mix them up (I'd just type them up/ print them out and cut them out as strips - and give 10 missed questions in a go). I felt this helped too.

Best of luck Newbiee - I'll be rooting for you and your little bee in September & hoping for a great result in October.

OT

Awesome OldTrout. Thank you for the great advice. specially the printing stuff..its is really a good idea to do that. the problem that my DD is having currently is we go through the paper and talk about it but she ends up repeating the same mistake again.

Thanks again

[Newbiee]

Hi,
Now that the date for the exam is getting closer I wanted some advice on when to start the practice test papers(mixed mock style). Is doing 1 paper a week sufficient? My DD is currently doing assessment papers for all four VR,NVR,EN,MA. Is that enough? What is best prep for these last few weeks? Please advice.

Thanks

My thoughts

1) I didn't do any mocks, but I would if I had my time again, especially for the KE. You have got to remember that there is a fear element on the day. It rears its head no matter what (it came back for the SATs in May). Those that have been trained to deal with that have an inherent advantage.

2) That said we did Mix tests every other day. They can get tired so back off if it is getting too much, but I think one a week might be a little light. We heard of some going nuts and doing one each morning and afternoon, so that's where your role as the parent is. You to decide what the best balance is. One a week if it gets your DD to peak at the right time might be right.

3) Really really critical. It is super essential that you invigilate the test in the way they are going to be hit with it. Strict timing. On the bond papers and others, they give strict timings of about 6-10 mins per sections. Run the test continuously till it is finished. Stick to them ruthlessly. This could make the difference between succeeding (or not) on the KE. So do the whole test, but stick to timing and don't allow any breaks, and be rigid. Then review timings and the impact on accuracy and completeness with your DD

It might possibly feel difficult to do this yourself, hence the added value of the Shirley mock type people and you get a detailed report too + there are likely to several hundred others doing it at the same time, and that is an important factor too. Might be a bit late now, but worth enquiring about.

Thank you Petitpois for your advice. I am sticking to timings but currently not timing 6-10 mins per section but just timing for the entire paper. Do you think i need to time for each section?My DD is able to do 1 set of Practice tests only per day. Don't know if this is enough.

[Newbiee]

I am quite confused how much a child should be scoring as average in their MOCK test and Practice test Paper's at this time.
I know that depending on paper's the score will vary according to the difficulty but does anyone know (from previous experience) they should be scoring in CGP, Bond etc...? My DD currently seems to be scoring higher in CGP and bit low in Bond. Looked at the paper and there isn't much difference. Any ideas? My DD is scoring between 70- 80% in Practice Test packs. Whats is her chance of getting in(experienced parents) know how much?

Thanks in advance

[JaneEyre]

My DD is scoring between 70- 80% in Practice Test packs. Whats is her chance of getting in(experienced parents) know how much?

Hi Newbie,

I will let others give you some ideas of scores, but really, I do feel the best way to proceed is not to think ‘what the score should be’ and fret about that, but rather to focus on your DD’s weaknesses.

When the apple of their eye enters the exam hall, no parent can be sure that their child will succeed, even if they had the time to prepare him/her as well as they had wished: there can be so many unforeseen incidents!

However, one thing is absolutely sure: whatever explanations you give now to your DD, whatever good books you share with her and talk about it and explain the vocabulary, whatever museum you visit with her to widen her understanding of the world or history or art or science, whatever good film you watch with her, all these little things will help her in her understanding of maths, English, the world around her, etc… and this will help her in whatever school she will attend, be it GS or not.

Good luck for the prep!