Maths, VR, & NVR - which is the most difficult?

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Villagedad
Posts: 526
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:22 pm
Location: Tonbridge & Tunbridge Wells

Maths, VR, & NVR - which is the most difficult?

Post by Villagedad »

Hi everyone

Just wondered out of the 3 subjects in the Kent test - Maths, VR & NVR - which one do DC generally find the most challenging..?

Is one of the subjects more difficult than the others, ie where a lot can fall down on, therefore bringing their overal mark down.

And if there is one subject (or two), is it possible to mitigate against that with extra practice / tutoring etc..?

Many thanks
Villagedad
medwaymum
Posts: 827
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:45 pm
Location: Medway & Kent

Post by medwaymum »

For years I have heard parents (and DC) groan over the Kent math test but this last year it seemed to be the Non Verbal that everyone was shocked by. Hope this helps. :)
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Post by yoyo123 »

different people find different papers the most difficult. I think it depends how your mind works.


Some pupils love NVR and others find it really difficult. similarly the VR fills some with dread while others enjoy it.
Gercha
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:47 pm

Post by Gercha »

I agree with Medwaymum, my son took the test last September and found the maths quite straight forward but both himself and quite a few of his friends struggled with the NVR. A number of his friends scored well on VR and Maths but failed the Kent test because their NVR fell short. It really does depend on your dc strengths and to be honest how well they fair on the day!
sp
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Location: groombridge, e.sussex

Post by sp »

You should be able to tell from practise papers which one your child finds most difficult. My DD loved doing NVR and used to teach her tutor how to do them!! She did well in the actual test. Her maths has always been a struggle so tutor focussed on that and she did well enough!
Cory
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:48 pm

Post by Cory »

Each child is different and will find different subjects difficult.

A couple of posts above have said how the kids they know found the NVR hard and the maths easy, however I have found the opposite. I know a few kids that sat the 11+ in Sept and got top marks for VR and NVR and lost marks on maths. And in the cases that I know of, the kids did not struggle at all with maths, in fact one of them got through to the final of the primary maths challenge.

The other interesting fact is that again a couple of the boys that dropped marks on the maths, came out of the test saying that they found it easy, and that they found the NVR difficult, but ended up getting full marks in NVR.

Once your child gets a little older and tries all the three subjects it will probably become quite obvious which one he is more likely to struggle with and which he will be good at.
Just1-2go
Posts: 523
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:43 pm
Location: Twells

Post by Just1-2go »

My experience is similar to Cory's my DS scored full marks in VR and NVR and lower in Maths last September (can't believe its been almost a year) Maths has always been his strongest subject by far and his practise NVR papers had me losing sleep! He did have a bad fall from his bike on the way to the Maths paper however so that may have been the problem.

DD always found the maths the hardest and the NVR the easiest, and that was reflected in her 11+ scores so it really does depend on the individual child. You need to find your own childs weakness, and go from there.
georgex
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:47 am

Post by georgex »

Hi
My daughter was the same full marks for NVR and VR but drop the points on the maths. She didn't say that it was hard found the Bexley maths test the hardest.
Tracy
Posts: 1123
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2007 10:28 am
Location: Bexley

Post by Tracy »

Villagedad, I think you have asked a very difficult question and that there is no one answer, if there is a answer at all.

Taking one subject at a time.

Maths - you are heavily reliant on what the teaching standards are at school. My dd was struggling with maths until we got a decent tutor on board, now she's at the top of the class and is acually very good at maths.

Boys are normally confident in maths overshadowing the more reserved girls. When a maths question is asked at school, it is normally the boys who have their hands up yet many will get the question wrong. The girls however will think it through and will normally have the correct answer.

I'm not saying that this is the case for all kids but might explain why some children's scores are not as high as they were 'expected' to be.

I'd get around this one by ensuring that the child is well equipped to undertake the 11+ syllabus and not pay too much attention to the sats syllabus. I ask myself how my child fairs alongside the tutor's other pupils rather than how well she compares to school chums.

VR - In my experience, this is favoured by girls. The codes sections are preferred by boys. I think that with a years's tuition, a little once a week for the first few months, child's vr scores can be dramatically increased. After 4 months we introduced timing which means at the this stage my dd is finishing well within time. Now she couldn't do many of the vr questions at all back in Sept last year and the time issue didn't even come into it -not being able to answer the questions anyway!

NVR - the Marmite subject - you either love it or hate it.
Again it's familiarisation and there's not many kids out there that can do this IN THE TIME allocated. There are some that whizz through this subject but they are rare. A little bit of practise with this one goes a long way. To a large degree this is a subject that you can either do or not but the ability to recognise quickly what you have to do will save you time and therefore your scores can improve.
With my dd, she can do nvr but the timing has not been good. As someone else said on this site, it's not a leisurely stroll in the park so getting her do them in the 6 mins has been a challenge but we are getting there.

I think that the only problem with the Kent test is that there is not room for being weak in only one area - even by one mark. Don't assume therefore that your child is strong in one area and avoid it, work on all three.

Living in Bexley, dd will be doing the Kent test as well. My opinion of both tests is that Kent has the easier maths but that's no good if your nvr lets you down.

Only my opinions having been through this twice! Can't wait for it all to be over
Villagedad
Posts: 526
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2008 5:22 pm
Location: Tonbridge & Tunbridge Wells

Post by Villagedad »

Great thanks Tracy and everyone else, some very good and interesting insight and advice there, appreciate it.

To evolve my original question a little...

What areas of the 11+ Maths syllabus do kids generally find the most challenging..?

Are there one or two areas more difficult than the others, ie where a lot can fall down on, therefore bringing their overal maths mark down.

I suppose the flip side question is, are there any areas of the 11+ Maths syllabus that you should pay special attention to in people's opinion..?

Many thanks
Villagedad
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