Bucks 11+

Eleven Plus (11+) in Buckinghamshire (Bucks)

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JuliaB
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:31 pm

Bucks 11+

Post by JuliaB »

Hi I'm Julia
My son is preparing for his 11+ test in the autumn. He joined a state school last September and has been bullied quite substantially since. He is very nervous about going back for his final year at primary in case the bullying starts up again. The headteacher dealt with it very well in the summer term when it all came out. I'm worried about him. He's done some practice papers in the holidays, scoring 76-78%. Any advice please?

I've read lots of the other items, what a great site this seems to be.
Julia.
Guest

Post by Guest »

Dear Julia,

I am really sorry to hear about the bullying. Understandably he is apprehensive about returning to school but if any thing you should use the negative as a positive motivating experience. Year 6 goes by very quickly and normally the bullies do not make it into grammars. Success at eleven plus means that he can pull away from bad company amongst other things.

There is plenty of excellent advice on the forum of how to improve your son’s score. To sum it up here, your son needs to shine in one of two exams in October. These exams between them contain 21 types of questions which you can find listed here:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/vr-que ... region.php

You can see examples of these questions here (by clicking on the demo for CD1):

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/cd/

Your son has to first master these 21 types of questions.

If he is struggling with any of these question types you should work through IPS method and technique book:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=85

Once you have the techniques under the belt you need to build up speed and vocabulary. He will need a vocabulary of around 2,500-3,000 words for success. This comes from practice papers, which should include-

Bright Sparks 11 Plus Verbal Reasoning Multiple Choice Practice Test Paper By Susan Daughtrey
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=120

E-papers by The Tutors
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/epaper ... hp?g=f&p=6

Nfer Nelson 11 plus Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers Multiple Choice
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=14

IPS Verbal Reasoning Practice Papers
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/books/list.php?ex=88

If your son prefers to work on computers then you can do a lot worse than verbal reasoning CD Volume 1 or Volume 3. These are written by The Tutors who teach in Wirral but share the same exam structure as us in Bucks. CD 1 give him 50 practice questions in each type of question and CD3 gives him 12 papers of 100 questions. Although the actual exam is fewer questions, each test here contains all 21 types of questions. The clock will help him focus. The link for CDs is:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/cd/

There are two excellent vocabularly lists in the free section which you must print out too:

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/pdf/11 ... tricia.pdf
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/pdf/11 ... d-list.pdf

This sounds like a lot to take in, but it can be done.

Final tip: On the fridge keep a list of all 21 types, as he masters each one cross it off. This is a great motivator. Often it is easy to keep worrying about one particular question type or another and loose sight of the fact that he has made progress in tackling 90% of the types. Remember it is a multiple choice exam, so if by the end of the preparation he has to guess a couple of questions he still will stand a very good chance of success.

Best of luck.
patricia
Posts: 2803
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:07 pm

Post by patricia »

Dear Julia

The 'guest' above has given, in the main, sound advice. I would just like to make it clear that there is a clear order of tests.

Susan Daughtrey [ Bright Sparks] and lastly NFER. While completing the NFER tests you MUST remember to practice HIKNOS, types as identified by IPS as these do not appear in shop bought NFER, BUT do find themselves in the Bucks tests

What tests have you completed so far?

.Re bullying, keep a close eye on the situation, if it continues into year 6, make an immediate appointment with his new teacher, DO NOT allow it to spiral out of control.

Dear Guest

As I have stated above I do agree with your advice, however I do not agree with your assumption that Julias son will be free of the bullies if goes to a grammar school. In my opinion, backed up by first hand evidence of many grammars, the word Grammar does NOT mean better behaved children. All types of schools have their share of the bullies/bad behaviour.

Troublesome year 6 children can and do pass the 11 plus, it is not a closed shop for well behaved children!

Patricia
bucksguest
Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2006 5:28 pm

Post by bucksguest »

Bullying most certainly occurs at Grammar School as it does at primary, secondary and fee-paying schools. Just because the children are able to complete verbal reasoning papers to a high level does not mean they are all good kind kids. What a misguided comment.
Guest

Post by Guest »

I think that the above "guest" probably is referring to degrees of bullying in that bullying becomes less extreme the more selective filters are applied. For instance by the time you get to university, in my experience, it was not even an issue.
JuliaB
Posts: 119
Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:31 pm

Post by JuliaB »

Thanks for all the information and advice, I will encourage him to think positive and keep plugging away at the practice papers. The fridge idea regarding 'crossing off' question types is a good one.

I will go back and check which ones he has been doing, and buy any missing ones.

Now that the staff at school are aware of the bullying issue (this class has always been 'difficult' apparently) I'm hoping Year 6 will be a fresh start, and as you say, one year does go reasonably quickly.

Julia
Guest

Post by Guest »

The word lists have been very helpful. He was surprised at how many of the words he knew already. We will keep peppering our conversation with them at dinner!
Thanks again
JuliaB
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