todays test 1 (1st Oct)
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Advice needed
My daughter sat the paper yesterday and was unusually calm and said the paper was easy. Now looking at the posts on here I'm worried.
Also she said she was told to "hurry up" by one of the teachers and the teachers were whispering behind her somewhere - hope this didn't put her off!
What do others think?
Also she said she was told to "hurry up" by one of the teachers and the teachers were whispering behind her somewhere - hope this didn't put her off!
What do others think?
Hi,
I've been a lurker on this site (makes me sound a bit creepy) for a while and have followed a great deal of advice for tutoring my DD who took her first 11+ test yesterday. I would like to thank all those comments/advice that has been put of this forum for without it I would have definitely been at a loss at to what to do.
My DD came home slightly dejected, feeling that she had not done very well as the questions appeared harder than those she had been covering with me. Through reading the comments of others on this site and from friends 'texting' me after the event (whose children also found the whole situation stressful/hard) she has perked up, realises it wasn't just her that felt like this and seems more positive about the next test.
I've been a lurker on this site (makes me sound a bit creepy) for a while and have followed a great deal of advice for tutoring my DD who took her first 11+ test yesterday. I would like to thank all those comments/advice that has been put of this forum for without it I would have definitely been at a loss at to what to do.
My DD came home slightly dejected, feeling that she had not done very well as the questions appeared harder than those she had been covering with me. Through reading the comments of others on this site and from friends 'texting' me after the event (whose children also found the whole situation stressful/hard) she has perked up, realises it wasn't just her that felt like this and seems more positive about the next test.
Heartmum x x x
1st test
Son to take test in a week (OOC) but just thought i'd add, in my experience how a child thinks they have done doesn't always correspond to how they have done - some are so relieved they're happy to finish, others by nature are pessimistic. My son I know will say it was "ok" and I'll have no idea how he has really done apart from past performance. Daughter did tests 2 years ago and she was always confident doing 11+ work at home - but she came out of 1st test saying it was just 'ok' and then that she had completed it in half an hour (never did this at home) - I spent the following month being very worried etc...(kept to myself of course) thinking she had rushed the test in a panic. She passed both..... Good luck to all
I'm totally with you Mumsy B - convinced now that my DD must have been missing something, because she doesn't generally sail through papers, but thought this one was easy. Of course, there's always a chance that our DC hit it lucky and got all the question types that they like in this paper - which unfortunately means that all the ones they don't like will be in the next paper! 
Mind you, as long as they get 121 or above on one paper, I don't care about the other!
Anyway, there's nothing any of us can do about it now, except to keep them calm for the second paper, and cross all our fingers and toes!
PS I also agree with the comment about children thinking they've done well when they haven't and vice versa - this is my 3rd child to take the 11+, and I honestly don't think the other twos comments when they came out had too much correlation with the actual results that they got. Thank goodness for this website for making me realise that I am not the only one going quietly insane analysing it all to death! Roll on 20th Nov when we get the dreaded envelope to put us out of our misery!
Mind you, as long as they get 121 or above on one paper, I don't care about the other! Anyway, there's nothing any of us can do about it now, except to keep them calm for the second paper, and cross all our fingers and toes!
PS I also agree with the comment about children thinking they've done well when they haven't and vice versa - this is my 3rd child to take the 11+, and I honestly don't think the other twos comments when they came out had too much correlation with the actual results that they got. Thank goodness for this website for making me realise that I am not the only one going quietly insane analysing it all to death! Roll on 20th Nov when we get the dreaded envelope to put us out of our misery!
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Sassie'sDad
- Posts: 459
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:36 pm
- Location: Rugby
Something to bear in mind when doing your 11+ exam...
"The final exam results are ‘standardised’ which means your score may actually go up or down depending on how well you do in comparison to everyone else taking the test this year in your area. There are only a set number of places in grammar schools so if everyone does really well on the test paper all of the scores will be adjusted down slightly, so that only the required percentage of students passes the test. The same happens if the test is really hard and everyone gets a very low score, the scores will be adjusted upwards slightly to ensure that the required percentage still passes.
Therefore, all you need to do is realise that if the test paper seems really easy, please make sure you work as accurately as possible to ensure you get the highest mark you can without making any careless errors as it is likely the scores will be adjusted downwards if the test is easy. Likewise, if the test paper seems really tricky, stay calm, as it is very likely that everyone is finding it tricky so keep working through the paper as best you can to score as well as you can since the scores are likely to be adjusted upwards."
"The final exam results are ‘standardised’ which means your score may actually go up or down depending on how well you do in comparison to everyone else taking the test this year in your area. There are only a set number of places in grammar schools so if everyone does really well on the test paper all of the scores will be adjusted down slightly, so that only the required percentage of students passes the test. The same happens if the test is really hard and everyone gets a very low score, the scores will be adjusted upwards slightly to ensure that the required percentage still passes.
Therefore, all you need to do is realise that if the test paper seems really easy, please make sure you work as accurately as possible to ensure you get the highest mark you can without making any careless errors as it is likely the scores will be adjusted downwards if the test is easy. Likewise, if the test paper seems really tricky, stay calm, as it is very likely that everyone is finding it tricky so keep working through the paper as best you can to score as well as you can since the scores are likely to be adjusted upwards."
i agree it's hopeless to try to guage how well it's gone from what your child says my son has thought papers easy and done not so good and thought papers really hard and done well i was quizzing him loads but realised it was just stressing him more it's like trying to find out what quetions were in the first paper we went through the types and he remembers they were all in the test which can't be right so i've just given up and am just gonna chill now until next week and take it as it comes
11+
I don't think the misery is over jellybaby.
In my experience, thank goodness this is the last time we have to do the 11+, even when you get the letter you might have to go to appeal so then you have to wait for that and then the letter allocating the school. My other DD only missed by 1 point but then went on to score 141 in her CATs 4 weeks later grrrr!
All was well in the end and the appeal was successful. I do think though that it's not the end of the world not passing, there is life after the 11+ and it should be the school best suited to the individual child and not the "in" school.
Don't mean to sound so chilled - DD2 has been beside herself with tears, angst etc etc and wasn't sure letting her do this was the right thing but wanted her to have same opportunities as her big sis.
Time will tell. Plus we've also got extra paper the equating test kind of quality control poor things!
In my experience, thank goodness this is the last time we have to do the 11+, even when you get the letter you might have to go to appeal so then you have to wait for that and then the letter allocating the school. My other DD only missed by 1 point but then went on to score 141 in her CATs 4 weeks later grrrr!
All was well in the end and the appeal was successful. I do think though that it's not the end of the world not passing, there is life after the 11+ and it should be the school best suited to the individual child and not the "in" school.
Don't mean to sound so chilled - DD2 has been beside herself with tears, angst etc etc and wasn't sure letting her do this was the right thing but wanted her to have same opportunities as her big sis.
Time will tell. Plus we've also got extra paper the equating test kind of quality control poor things!
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scottishpear
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:13 pm
"What a difference a day makes - 24 little hours" ... how true a line!
Yesterday my DD was upset, felt that she had not done as well as she could. Now today admitted that she had to guess about five and although completed the test didn't get time to go back and check them. As I pointed out to her it's better to guess and have a chance of getting it right than leaving it blank and be wrong for sure!
I got a nod "... that's what I thought!" and she walked away with a bounce in her step.
Amazing
Yesterday my DD was upset, felt that she had not done as well as she could. Now today admitted that she had to guess about five and although completed the test didn't get time to go back and check them. As I pointed out to her it's better to guess and have a chance of getting it right than leaving it blank and be wrong for sure!
I got a nod "... that's what I thought!" and she walked away with a bounce in her step.
Amazing
Heartmum x x x
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another mum
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:02 pm
yes- dd thought test difficult too!
My daughter sat the test yesterday and was really upset she didn't do as well as normal.
We haven't done tutoring but did a few papers and she always got about 95% so we thought there was no need to worry too much! But in the paper yesterday she says she just couldn't do 10 questions (ones she normally gets straight away) and had to guess. She is confident the rest were ok but upset that 10 wrong isn't good enought to pass.
Hopefully if everyone finds it difficult then the pass mark will go down!
We haven't done tutoring but did a few papers and she always got about 95% so we thought there was no need to worry too much! But in the paper yesterday she says she just couldn't do 10 questions (ones she normally gets straight away) and had to guess. She is confident the rest were ok but upset that 10 wrong isn't good enought to pass.
Hopefully if everyone finds it difficult then the pass mark will go down!
