My dd is in year 5 and we are doing 11 + prep. We are working through cgp 10 min tests and nearly finished 9-10 and also schofield and sims mental arithmetic book 4. She seems to be coping with this but then I went on an purchased a bond book aged 9-10 and it has just demolarised her as it was a level of maths she had never done before but yet was 9-10. Why is this? Should I be worried she can’t do this level of maths.

I then went and purchased the letters practice papers get ready which are the level before the real test papers but she only scored 50%. Has anyone else encountered this 5 months before or am I flogging a dead horse

Hi Slater25:

It is really difficult to judge whether there is a cause for you to worry or not.

I DIY tutored my girls - and both had good and bad days with 10 minute bonds. My advice would be to use the bars at the back and shade the scores and see if generally they are improving. I found that every now and then the score would drop - but it could be for any reason (feeling tired/ feeling ill/ not in the mood/ etc....) so don't worry about one bad result - it's the general improvement you should be looking for.

My firm belief is that you should be spending as much time as possible on every wrong answer - go through the questions you child got wrong - I was always positive - glad for the opportunity to explain something a bit better which might appear later on the test. It's always time well spent.

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Now in terms of maths. As you said the first problem is it was a concept your child hadn't come across.

So - the question I have for you is where do you think your child is at mathematically just now? Are they solid with addition/ subtraction? - can they handle big numbers? Do they know all their times tables to x12? Can they recall them quickly? Can they handle inverse multiplication facts - so not just knowing that 3 x 9 = 27 but knowing that if you have 27 and divide by 3 it's 9. And doing that swiftly. I know some people worried about algebra and tricky geometry problems - but the reality is there are only a few problems like that on the test - and I actually think they are designed to eat up time - my advice is if you find it tricky don't panic - move on. If there is time at the end of the test, you can always go back and give it a try. Circle the question number (on the answer sheet) and move on - just be sure you skip that line when answering the next question.

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My view with the Birmingham Grammars 11+ was that mathematics is not a huge component (really it's biased to reading and verbal reasoning) - so my advice would be to tell your child to just go on to the next question if they find it tricky or can see it will be tricky. If you are really worried about maths there are all sorts of resources out there. Our primary had my maths so we used the lessons and games over the summer to keep up maths practice. There are also a lot of multiplication games out there to speed up times tables facts. If your child needs a bit of a carrot - try Timez Attack (download the free version) - it is a game with pretty scary ogres that crush you if you don't get your times tables fast enough - but it really puts you through your paces.

I hope that helps. Please don't let a single test - a bad day (even a bad week) get you or your child down. Sure it would be lovely if they got perfect scores on every test - but mine never did (sincerely) and my girls did sometimes score 50% or even lower. Often just before getting ill or after a very busy day. So chalk it up - to not your child's day - and a test on things your child isn't very familiar with. Work on improving their abilities with that kind of maths problem - and try to remain positive.

All we can control as parents is to offer our support/ encouragement and give our children that chance. It may work out - it may not. So many factors are out of our control with the 11+ - there's no knowing how well prepared the other children taking the test will be. But know that this is an amazing educational opportunity - which will give your child a head start at secondary school regardless of wherever they go.

Hope that helps and hang in there! It really is worth it - whatever the result (and little fish would agree with me!).

OT

sorry - just to explain - little fish is my oldest daughter - she didn't quite make it into her preferred grammar and opted to go to our local non-selective secondary school. She's done very well there - she's on target for good grades on her GCSEs this summer (but I'll keep you all posted - I don't want to jinx her so will say no more now).

The 11+ may not work out for your child but it doesn't mean that the experience isn't educationally beneficial. I certainly know that a lot of Year 11 parents are complaining about their children not taking GCSEs seriously - whereas my little fish vividly remembers not doing as well as she hoped on the 11+ and is determined not to be in that position again all these years later. I have never had to chase her about revising for her GCSEs. I just have to provide regular snacks!

OT

I'm currently doing the same.

I did the same for my older son who is currently in year 7 at one of the Grammar schools.

We didn't use Bonds. We used CGP.

However, at the moment I am using 10-11 CGP books. I would encourage that you start using these and make sure you go over the incorrect answers and the ones they guessed.

Be honest with yourself because they will be a level of maths that the school would not have covered yet or not at that level.

Be patient as there is still time to go. Also it isn't the end of the world if they don't get in.

This is my 4th child and only two wanted to take the 11plus. The first two have all done extremely well at other schools.

All the best.

My DD1, year 7(CHG) , tells me all the time, that the Bond books were really hard and it stressed her out. She said the actual test was really easy. I am helping my second one (Y5) now and not using bond anymore. Thanks

I've stayed away from the Bond books. I am currently using the CGP books (10/11).

The focus should now be on making sure you go over their mistakes and if there's anything new then go over it as much as possible.

They will encounter new material that has not been taught yet...especially in Maths.

Keep going.

Caveman