English Paper Nov 2010
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manicmummy
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Sat Nov 13, 2010 11:12 am
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
I,m with you Bizziemum .....didnt want to read anything about this years papers but as soon as I saw the topic I was straight in there 
Now not sure if I feel better or worse.DD came out pretty confident overall said maths and vr were fine ......English was alright but very different not liking English she was always going to be less enthusiastic ...a few weeks later she imparted to me that she really didnt understand some of it at all !1 (stomach churning moment) Having read comments though I probably feel better that it wasnt just her and agree that having all taken same exam all scores relative ....
I dont think I have ever felt this level of anxiety in my whole life and wish you all and your DC the very best of luck for a great result. Not long now
Now not sure if I feel better or worse.DD came out pretty confident overall said maths and vr were fine ......English was alright but very different not liking English she was always going to be less enthusiastic ...a few weeks later she imparted to me that she really didnt understand some of it at all !1 (stomach churning moment) Having read comments though I probably feel better that it wasnt just her and agree that having all taken same exam all scores relative ....
I dont think I have ever felt this level of anxiety in my whole life and wish you all and your DC the very best of luck for a great result. Not long now
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
Seriously don't panic or have your anxiety levels raised. I thought the English paper was hard - but everyone will find it difficult. My daughter mucked it up as she missed marks on the punctuation and spelling worth 42% but looking at it lots of children will pick up those marks. If it makes you feel any better my son got into KEGS last year getting 56% in English - he wasn't in the top rankings but not in the bottom - was ranked in the 60's. He is doing very well in his English classes and it hasn't hindered him at all and he is certainly not bottom if the class his in middle to high in his English class!
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anxiousmumof2
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:27 pm
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
Can anyone who has had the guts to buy this year's Maths and English papers (not me obviously) please tell me how many marks the Maths was out of? It seems to vary from year to year and the lower the total, the more every mark counts!
Similarly to many others, my DS strengths do not lie in English - he hardly picked up a book until last summer and it was always a complete struggle. I am hoping he will have made up enough marks in the Maths and VR to compensate (he's going to need it by the sounds of things).
Wishing everyone loads of luck for the 1st, not long now.
Similarly to many others, my DS strengths do not lie in English - he hardly picked up a book until last summer and it was always a complete struggle. I am hoping he will have made up enough marks in the Maths and VR to compensate (he's going to need it by the sounds of things).
Wishing everyone loads of luck for the 1st, not long now.
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
maths was out of 40
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
My DS came out saying that the English and Maths was easy and the VR OK.
He is strong at Maths but English has always been his worst subject so I was suprised by this. However, he is very good at spelling and punctuation so I feel comforted that this portion of the exam makes up 42%.
VR worries me as he told me there was one question that we had not covered. When he described it to me I was able to show him that we had covered it, but he said he had forgotten. He did complete all papers though so this is some comfort.
I have not bought the papers as I cannot put myself through that and will just wait till 1st March. Not long now!
He is strong at Maths but English has always been his worst subject so I was suprised by this. However, he is very good at spelling and punctuation so I feel comforted that this portion of the exam makes up 42%.
VR worries me as he told me there was one question that we had not covered. When he described it to me I was able to show him that we had covered it, but he said he had forgotten. He did complete all papers though so this is some comfort.
I have not bought the papers as I cannot put myself through that and will just wait till 1st March. Not long now!
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colchestermum
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:13 pm
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
This is EXACTLY the same as my DS - infact I could have written it! My DS struggled with comprehension but like your DS he is good at spelling & punctuation so this may explain why he said it was easy. He said VR was the most difficult of the 3 papers, not really really hard but he only just finished it in time but he finished every paper, worked hard and did his best - I couldn't ask for more.jacksmum wrote:My DS came out saying that the English and Maths was easy and the VR OK.
He is strong at Maths but English has always been his worst subject so I was suprised by this. However, he is very good at spelling and punctuation so I feel comforted that this portion of the exam makes up 42%.
VR worries me as he told me there was one question that we had not covered. When he described it to me I was able to show him that we had covered it, but he said he had forgotten. He did complete all papers though so this is some comfort.
I have not bought the papers as I cannot put myself through that and will just wait till 1st March. Not long now!
I have no intention of looking at the paper as whats done is done and it will no help DS or myself to relive it.
Only 2 weeks to go! Good luck to everyone. I can't wait to see how all your DC's have done.
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
I feel just them same. It is done and dusted and this is torture enough without putting myself or him through the agony of going over the papers.colchestermum wrote:I have no intention of looking at the paper as whats done is done and it will no help DS or myself to relive it.
He thinks he done OK in the VR - it was just that one question, but thinks that he worked out how to do it. We even practised that question type the week before the exam and he got everyone right.
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
In addition to what's already been said there were 2 questions that involved selecting the correct wrong multiple choice answer I know some believe it shows greater knowledge and reduces guessing but it seems such a negative approach. Would say the spelling and punctuation will be even more important than usual because the remainder of the paper was pretty onerous. So in an effort to try and widen the scope by making the remainder so tricky they have missed an opportunity. It's a shame for the DC who had a bad day in the s & p sections and likely demoralised some.
Think the general consensus is that the maths was nearer the other end of the spectrum.
Sure it will all come out in the wash..........que sera sera
I know some believe it shows greater knowledge and reduces guessing but it seems such a negative approach. Would say the spelling and punctuation will be even more important than usual because the remainder of the paper was pretty onerous. So in an effort to try and widen the scope by making the remainder so tricky they have missed an opportunity. It's a shame for the DC who had a bad day in the s & p sections and likely demoralised some.Think the general consensus is that the maths was nearer the other end of the spectrum.
Sure it will all come out in the wash..........que sera sera
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
Hello, I hope you do not mind a newbie/ex-lurker posting but I could not hold out any longer.
I have just managed to get hold of this year’s English paper and now feel a little more worried. We had tentative expectations that our DS might stand a good chance of being one of the few August born candidates capable of getting into GS but now this dream has all but faded away.
I think the change in format of the English paper this year will have stumped quite a few candidates but with a disproportional affect on the younger ones that lack the maturity needed for good exam technique in this situation. Advice like ‘go for the synonyms and punctuation first because you’re good at those’ was completely lost as the format of paper was so very different.
I predict that the English scores this year will be tightly clumped around a very low average score which means that a couple a lucky guesses could set a candidate apart from the mainstream. If this is true then a paper like this will be an extremely blunt instrument for selection purposes.
I would love to know what the CSSE's agenda is in setting a paper like this - is this making the system any fairer?
Apologies for the rant – just feeling a bit deflated at the moment...
I have just managed to get hold of this year’s English paper and now feel a little more worried. We had tentative expectations that our DS might stand a good chance of being one of the few August born candidates capable of getting into GS but now this dream has all but faded away.
I think the change in format of the English paper this year will have stumped quite a few candidates but with a disproportional affect on the younger ones that lack the maturity needed for good exam technique in this situation. Advice like ‘go for the synonyms and punctuation first because you’re good at those’ was completely lost as the format of paper was so very different.
I predict that the English scores this year will be tightly clumped around a very low average score which means that a couple a lucky guesses could set a candidate apart from the mainstream. If this is true then a paper like this will be an extremely blunt instrument for selection purposes.
I would love to know what the CSSE's agenda is in setting a paper like this - is this making the system any fairer?
Apologies for the rant – just feeling a bit deflated at the moment...
Last edited by dansdad on Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: English Paper Nov 2010
Obviously I don't know but I suspect the CSSE 's reason for change was to try to counteract the allegation that the English paper was too easy to tutor for, as it always followed a very distinctive pattern. Logically those with natural ability in English should do better than those that had been tutored extensively.
However my DD who is much better at English than maths (and also one of the oldest in the year) still came out saying that the English paper was horrible and that she didn't understand most of it, so maturity didn't help her!
My personal feeling is that the format of the papers should vary more from year to year - I just wish our kids hadn't been the first year that they tried it on!
However my DD who is much better at English than maths (and also one of the oldest in the year) still came out saying that the English paper was horrible and that she didn't understand most of it, so maturity didn't help her!
My personal feeling is that the format of the papers should vary more from year to year - I just wish our kids hadn't been the first year that they tried it on!