11 Plus Exams Forum

Just given dd another Bright Sparks VR test, under exam conditions. She got 49 last time, this one 42

Think I am going to give the tests a break for the moment and just let her concentrate on practice sheets etc from her tutor and build up her word power.

Please someone tell me that getting an average score at this point is a good thing - she has been doing VR with her tutor for a year so has seen these questions before, but has probably not seen the correct standard with her tutor yet as he builds up slowly. She misses out loads of the ones that she could do but she knows takes her a long time...... I think a lot is a confidence thing that must get better??????????????????

Moved tell me she will come on in leaps and bound by next September

A year in advance is really early for whole papers. I only give them in the last few months otherwise they run out.

I would look at the paper and see which areas she is dropping most marks and sit and teach her the techniques to improve. There is little point in a paper unless you use it as a diagnostic tool.

Certainly don't worry yet! Plenty of time, but just make sure that at each stage she is learning from her mistakes.

moved wrote:A year in advance is really early for whole papers. I only give them in the last few months otherwise they run out.

I would look at the paper and see which areas she is dropping most marks and sit and teach her the techniques to improve. There is little point in a paper unless you use it as a diagnostic tool.

Certainly don't worry yet! Plenty of time, but just make sure that at each stage she is learning from her mistakes.

Thanks Moved, I know I shouldn't really give her whole ones yet. I am going to slow down a bit now and wait until next year before trying again. Just make sure she keeps up with the work her tutor sets her, which she is.

I have sat down and looked at them with her briefly - I think it is more a case of her thinking "Oh those ones take me longer, I won't do those and just go over the ones I know I can do' - just really bad exam technique. When I went over some that she had left - she could do them! Aaaagh.

Thanks for the support.

Araucana girl wrote:

moved wrote:A year in advance is really early for whole papers. I only give them in the last few months otherwise they run out.

I would look at the paper and see which areas she is dropping most marks and sit and teach her the techniques to improve. There is little point in a paper unless you use it as a diagnostic tool.

Certainly don't worry yet! Plenty of time, but just make sure that at each stage she is learning from her mistakes.

Thanks Moved, I know I shouldn't really give her whole ones yet. I am going to slow down a bit now and wait until next year before trying again. Just make sure she keeps up with the work her tutor sets her, which she is.

I have sat down and looked at them with her briefly - I think it is more a case of her thinking "Oh those ones take me longer, I won't do those and just go over the ones I know I can do' - just really bad exam technique. When I went over some that she had left - she could do them! Aaaagh.

Thanks for the support.

Welcome

If you can face it, I would recommend that together you learn how to do a type each week and keep reading.

Araucana girl wrote: Moved tell me she will come on in leaps and bound by next September

Yes, she will definitely come on in leaps and bounds with continued practice. My DD didn't start doing full papers until after Easter last year. By the September she was consistently scoring 94-98%.

We used a Bond 'How do do VR' first, and worked through the different question types. Then got lots of practice with VR from Bond books, free downloads, etc., etc. Whatever we could lay our hands on.

When DD started full timed papers after Easter, she never quite finished them, needing 5 to 10 mins extra. By the September, she always finished on time and even had time to check over! With practice they get familiar with question types, build up confidence and get quicker.

Keep up the good work and come September you will be pleasantly surprised. As they say, practice makes perfect!

I think I'd agree with moved's comments about you running out of papers
It's still very early days yet, so keep strong...both of you

As moved has said, it's a really good idea to focus on the areas where marks were dropped and practising one type each week, is a superb plan

We loved the GL Assessment "11+ Explained Verbal Reasoning" book. It covers the question types needed for the CSSE exam. It's beautifully presented, easy to digest, visually appealing and has games and quizzes for you to play, to build on the skills learned. It ticked all our boxes, especially as it was published by the same company who set the real test.

As a little exercise to diagnose any issues/problem areas, we used the IPS "Verbal Reasoning Additional Practice Questions Book C" The 12 questions are set by type, so you have a chance to do 12 "Type O", 12 "Type S" etc. They were invaluable.

If you need more resources to build up the intensity level for each question type, then you could always put in some "Bright Sparks" at the end of your learning - a progress marker, if you like Although the Daughtrey books in the "Technique and Practice" and "Graded Papers" range cover more question types than are used (or generally have been used) for our purposes, you could pick and choose some exercises for her to try. Variety is the spice of life in the 11+ voyage and we tried hard to make sure DD didn't get bored of the same old question papers.

Don't forget that there's the IPS 10 minute, daily tests, too for later but they mix question types together.

I'm sure that much closer to the exam, you'll been wondering why you were worried and she'll be doing Walsh questions with confidence We've all done it

Thanks Bravado, I will try to forget about papers for a while now, don't think it did her or me any good at this stage lol.
Thanks for the tips. Just realised I do have the GL Verbal Reasoning Explained book so will go back to that for speed tips and hints. She probably gets more than enough practice at the moment from her tutor who sets her loads of verbal reasoning sheets. From the stuff she did today ( which were the type she ignored completely in the paper I gave her yesterday) she got them all right no problem, which goes to show she can do them, just didn't want to in the test!!!!!!!!!! What do you do lol!

The GL Assessment book is fabulous. As Bravado said, its beautifully presented and easy to digest. We are really enjoying working through it and our DC really enjoys it. He had the choice of an IPS paper, or working through the GL book, tonight and he jumped at the GL book.. odd as that may seem for a 9 year old boy on a Sunday at 5pm !

The lucky Gheko books in VR are really useful, I recommend parents give the example paper that's available online and then buy the practice pack which contains 4 books and practice papers and covers the techniques commonly used in the essex VR paper.