Gloucestershire Grammars 2018 entry

[Watermelon8]

Just starting to DIY prep for the 3rd time
Start early, build up momentum/intensity especially as you get towards next summer & vocab, vocab, vocab!
Good luck

[Kismet]

Can I reiterate watermelons vocab, vocab...... My DD is a reluctant reader and in spite of being in top groups for maths and English really struggles with vocab and spellings. Can't emphasise enough how important it is for them to read well. Eventually I gave up trying to push the classics and recommended books that DS had been perfectly happy to read but even at a lower level if they are reading any sort of book they are building up vocabulary. I am still a firm believer that you learn the proper usage of words and their spellings by seeing them in context. Flash cards are a poor substitute (in my opinion) and have only helped in a limited way with DD, although they were a good supplement for DS.

Am I going to miss it all after tomorrow? No, I think I've come to realise that state schools (and we are at a good primary) don't have the resources to do all that my children need so (after a break) I will give them a little help and maybe have my two do a teeny bit extra each week just to stay on top of things.

DS (yr 8 Tommies) has already forgotten some elements of maths that he learnt in yr 6, which I discovered when he was helping me to explain to DD.

Anyway, good luck again.

[gmw.pts]

Yes - vocabulary is such a huge element of the CEM test. Please may I reiterate my earlier recommendation of the website: http://www.vocabulary.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All the vocabulary taught on this excellent website is taught in context, including homonyms & homographs so children learn the different meanings of words with more than one meaning, e.g. 'contest' verb meaning to oppose and 'contest' noun a competition. All words are repeated in different ways until the student reaches 'mastery'. Any unknown or difficult words can be repeatedly practised until mastery is reached. You can sign up and then create your own vocabulary lists for children to work through. In addition to testing the vocabulary they also test spelling with an additional Spelling Bee button so you can also use the website to input your child's weekly spelling lists too. One warning - the website is American, so if you use some of the lists already available on the site you need to check the spelling before assigning to your child. However, you can search for lists that have been added by other members. When you search for "11+" or "CEM" you'll find lists that have been created by 11+ tutors in the UK and you can assign those. Someone has already put a CEM 11+ vocabulary list on there that contains 500 words. My children became competitive trying to clock up the highest scores.

[stroudydad]

Hi All, I'm back after a couple of years sabbatical. Having been through it before (twice in succession) with the old system, I'm now about to start again with the younger 2. Any tips right from the off?

[cazien]

Tutor yourself - their are plenty of books (Bond, CPG etc.) to choose from.

Time - try to set a regular time frame every week to 'study'. NO phones, Ipod/pads etc for distractions

Vocab and comprehension - widen vocab, synonyms/antonyms etc. Read aloud noting any words DC's do not understand and ask them to look them up in dictionary. Read a variety of factual topics from magazines (like Aquilla) etc, analyse poetry, categorize things (ie. plates, cups etc.= crockery. Spoons, forks etc = cutlery. Is it an animals, reptiles, fish, insect? Is it woodwind, brass, string etc instrument?)

Maths - learn words and methods (inc. mode, mean, median, diameter, circumference, radius. Ratios, percentages, fractions, decimals and equivalents etc.)

Speed, accuracy, put an answer in every box and correlate question to the correct box on answer sheet.

Would strongly recommend sitting a mock test.

Best of luck!

[steppemum]

stroudydad - I thought you were an old hand!
dd has just started at shs and I remember a few conversations with you.

We used (and I continue to use, as I am helping another friend's dd through) we use CPG books. I work on the basis that if they know/can do everything in those books we are OK.

Both dd and the friend I helped last year said that the test was easier than the practice ones given in the books. dd got in the top 150, but we are waiting for results for friend's dd, so don't know how true it is! I think the book ones are very tight on time, tighter than the actual test.

On top of that, instant recall of times tables and vocab, vocab, vocab.
maths was actually all taught in school, bar a very few things. But they had to practise it so that they remembered the facts quickly and could apply them. eg, when presented with an angle question, know straight away that angles on a straight line add up to 180. I made some maths fact cards for all these odd maths facts.

they loved this:
Hey diddle diddle, the median's the middle,
You add then divide for the mean.
The mode is the one that you see the most,
And the range is the difference between

[Stressed?Moi?]

We loved this one:

http://www.scholastic.com/wordgirl/synonym_toast.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CKMum]

All brilliant advice and much that I have used in the past. With both my DD and DS1 visits to all the schools they were interested in was such a great incentive as when the (inevitable) struggle to do some practice reared it's head, we were able to use their visits as encouragement and if they want to go to the school that they liked the best, it is worth putting in the extra effort. We live in the catchment of a very good comp, so are fortunate to be in a win-win situation. However, they both wanted grammar, and thankfully ended up in the school of their choice - so do visit - more than once if necessary!!

Also, agree with getting the CAT score from the Year 5 teacher. Our experience is that the schools don't offer this info - you have to ask for it, but it is a great indicator of where your child is at and where they could do with focus.

Freerice is great for vocab and IXL is a maths website which lets you do 20 questions a day for free - so another one to look at.

All the very best - about to embark on the 11+ for the 3rd time with DS2