Post match analysis

[Sabanna]

DD was happy going in and bounced on the way out. She said first paper was harder than second and didn't answer last couple on first paper as she ran out of time (never happened before).

She was a bit annoyed as there was lots of noise in the corridor during the first paper which she said put her off whilst it was going on.

Seems fairly relaxed about it all though so just a matter of waiting to see what she gets now.

[the voice of reason]

Actually it was maybe a game of three halves, Barry! At least I feel as if I have been divided into three halves after this experience!....First Test: 45 minutes 85 questions - Complete this test with random answers -> expected statistical result 20% - Guess at say 30 or 40 questions -> Probably get 15 to 20 of those correct (probably not enough) - Complete as many as you can correctly -> Probably get 95 to 100% of those correct!!!!! - Honestly! The children's comments straight out of the tests, whether true or not, cannot really give you an accurate assessment as to whether or not they have done well enough to get in to one of the admirable selective schools in North Gloucestershire - If they have we will all find out soon enough. Can you ever remember coming out of an exam and being honestly absolutey sure of exactly how you had done in it? Well, if you are /were Einsteen, perhaps yes. Anyway my cover has been blown, so this will be my last comment on any of these matters. If you believe in your child and your child believes in him/herself, whichever secondary school they attend, I am sure they will thrive - Just believe in and support them. Some will get into the selective schools and some will not. In most of this country there are no longer selective (Grammar) schools. Whichever secondary school your child attends (selective or otherwise) you, as parents, can still ensure they receive the best opportunities and education, and if they are brilliant they can even help to transform the schools they attend (selective otherwise). Signing off........

[Orson]

Just remember - it's all relative. If a child is well-prepared and has been performing consistently well in practice tests yet has struggled today, it's because the test was difficult. If they failed to finish when they usually have no problems then many others did too.
Last year paper 1 was 'nasty' and most children felt they had done poorly but someone had to come in each school's top 120 or so. I know of a girl who missed out 20 questions in last year's paper 1 and is now at Pate's. If your child shouldpass then they probably have. Relax

Small point: Some boys at Marling were told they had one minute left and thereby randomly guessed any unanswered questions before the end. Other boys were not told. Why the inconsistency?

[PaterGloucester]

Small point: Some boys at Marling were told they had one minute left and thereby randomly guessed any unanswered questions before the end. Other boys were not told. Why the inconsistency?

Seems to happen every year. DS1 wasn't given any warnings in 2010 so I told DS2 to stick his hand up and ask for one this year. His group got three, at 20, 10 and 5 minutes. Invigilators just forget, apparently.

[Cup of tea]

Small point: Some boys at Marling were told they had one minute left and thereby randomly guessed any unanswered questions before the end. Other boys were not told. Why the inconsistency?

Seems to happen every year. DS1 wasn't given any warnings in 2010 so I told DS2 to stick his hand up and ask for one this year. His group got three, at 20, 10 and 5 minutes. Invigilators just forget, apparently.

There should be 2 warnings: half way through (after 25 mins) and 5 mins from the end.

[stroudydad]

One sleep down, only 6-8 to go

[Moominmama]

On arrival on foot at the road that leads to Pates we were met lots of police cars with flashing lights, armed police & 2 police dogs. Wow! We thought this is very organised if not somewhat over the top! On walking past it became apparent that they were attempting to extricate someone from the block of flats opposite. Very exciting but a bit frightening too

Apart from that, drop off at Pates was great. There was very little traffic, cars could come on site to drop off DC, very organised. 6th formers were on hand for any questions and pointed us in the right direction depending on the colour on DCs label. We were met at the front entrance by the headmaster, who wished everyone luck, which we thought was a nice touch.

DS was taken straight to the test room, he was with half of his school friends plus dc from other schools. It transpires that the rest of his school friends again with DC from other schools were in another test room. He was the last to arrive (8.50).

DS says he had a headache, he suffers from migraines but got on with it. He said the practice paper was the hardest!! In his opinion Paper 1 was hard with nowhere near enough time to complete so guessed about 10 answers with 5 minutes to go & paper 2 was ok, with enough time to finish but not to check through. He has said that one boy consistently coughed throughout the first paper, which made DS headache worse and he also found it very distracting but was aware that a note was made every time the boy coughed. Break was in the corridor not outside. During paper 2 there was no coughing.

Pick up was easy, the police had gone, again cars were allowed on site & 6th formers were there to direct us. Children were taken to specific areas to be collected. No child that we saw appeared to be upset, in fact all seemed quite happy

Afterwards DS said he was relieved it was all over, we went home and watched a DVD and both fell asleep half way through!!

So now the waiting game.....

[DC17C]

Please remember that there is a late test next week so not to post anything about the papers

[Perplexed 2009]

I have heard that there were some upset DC, but I did not see them personally. It seems like the this was the first time some DC had seen these types of papers: I would be if shocked if I was presented with something like that with virtually no prep, and surrounded by lots of busy beavers.

Not sure how we prepare them for the results though!

[Pottscentral]

Had to join this forum just to say how relieved I am that everyone is saying the same thing ie first paper very hard with tricky vocabulary and second a lot easier. Why have they started doing it this way and with the bizarre times given for each paper? My son got upset during paper 1 and had to guess last 20 but was calmed down during the break by a lovely teacher (thank you to whoever she is at Pates) and found the 2nd paper easy. He said first paper was a different format to what he'd seen before.

Feeling slightly better after reading everyone else's experience!