NVR out of county testing at Judd 19th Sept

rosered100 · Post by **rosered100** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:24 pm

Irene+ wrote:Sorry for off-topic.
Why Judd? I thought the exam was at Gravesend Grammar?

There was more than one school used on Saturday.

My DS was at Judd & he's pretty certain he was given 9 minutes per section. He didnt finish the last 3 sections - had 5 or 6 q's left on each, so there was not enough time but I think it was because of the difficulty of the test, not any mistimings.

Reluctant Traveller · Post by **Reluctant Traveller** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:39 pm

rosered100 wrote:
Irene+ wrote:Sorry for off-topic.
Why Judd? I thought the exam was at Gravesend Grammar?
There was more than one school used on Saturday.

My DS was at Judd & he's pretty certain he was given 9 minutes per section. He didnt finish the last 3 sections - had 5 or 6 q's left on each, so there was not enough time but I think it was because of the difficulty of the test, not any mistimings.

Correct - there were many schools used. At Judd, there were two groups of children. Those in the main hall didn't have any problems. The children in the Cohen building (the one with the clock on, across the courtyard and downstairs) were the ones who had timings issues.

Irene+ · Post by **Irene+** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 10:39 pm

rosered100 wrote: There was more than one school used on Saturday.

My DS was at Judd & he's pretty certain he was given 9 minutes per section. He didnt finish the last 3 sections - had 5 or 6 q's left on each, so there was not enough time but I think it was because of the difficulty of the test, not any mistimings.

I see. Starina in her first post didn't mention it was all about Judd. As my son was at Gravesend, I assumed that all OOC sat the test at Gravesend. I didn't know there was more than one school. Sorry.

Anyway he had similar experience - didnt finish the last 3 sections.

Bexley Mum 2 · Post by **Bexley Mum 2** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:12 am

A quick scan through posts suggests that there are three posters whose children may have been affected by an invigilator not allowing the correct amount of time: Noma, Starina and Reluctant Traveller (sorry if I've missed anyone).

Can I ask if you've established whether your children were all in the same school and classroom? (If by any remote chance you've still got the stickers your children were given, these give the name of the invigilator and the room number). Although you all seem to be saying different amounts of time were allowed (Noma 6 mins, Starina 4/5mins, RT 4 mins) it might add weight to your case that there was a 'rogue' invigilator if you know that your children were all in the same room.

I hope you get to the bottom of this - now is definitely the time to contact Admissions and raise your concerns (don't wait until you get the results).

starlight · Post by **starlight** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:25 am

Can I just point out to Jimmymack that KENT residents sit the test on a Saturday if they attend a school outside Kent, so it is not just children from Out of county who are advantaged or disadvantaged in this way. Don't want to be contentious!

yoyo123 · Post by **yoyo123** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:53 am

There are 2 distinct topics here.

Out of county children/children who attend school outside the county and the question of the timing.

I think that if you are really concerned about the timing you should contact KCC as soon as possible ,having gathered the facts.
Bexley mum 2 has given some excellent advice

As for the question of out of county children - this is a complex issue and one that has been debated at length for several years.
There seems no right or wrong answer, but can we please debate it in a friendly manner.

Post by **hermanmunster** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:29 am

starlight wrote:Can I just point out to Jimmymack that KENT residents sit the test on a Saturday if they attend a school outside Kent, so it is not just children from Out of county who are advantaged or disadvantaged in this way. Don't want to be contentious!

thanks starlight, similar thing happens in other counties for OOC kids (either through residence or school location) - seems they manage it without getting so territorial!

noma · Post by **noma** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:26 am

My DD sat for th OOC Kent 11+ at TWGS and she was in a group of 24 children from the same school. A few other children from her school were in a different group at TWGS. My DD told that she was given 6 minutes per section for NVR (4 sections 18 questions each) and hence she could not finish all the questions. I found this really surprising as we've always made her practice her NVR with 30 secs per question, as all practice papers recommend. First i thought they must have changed the format this year to make it more difficult but then I asked this question to others on this forum and found that everyone else was given 9 minutes for 18 questions . Since then I have contacted other parents from my DD's school whose children were in the same group as her and they confirmed they were given 6 minutes per section. I have also checked with another child from her school who was in a different group at TWGS and she said they were given 9 minutes per section. I have reported this to the Headteacher of her school as it affects 24 children from my DD's school and contacted the TWGS who are looking into the time recording by the invigilator for that group. Now writing to KCC!

Twinkle · Post by **Twinkle** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:31 am

Please let us know, Starina and Jimmymack, how you get on with your respective complaints ( firstly that not enough time was allocated to certain children and secondly that other children were awarded an extra 5 mins). If either complaint is upheld it brings the whole testing system in Kent into serious question and makes one wonder how many other instances of maladministration of the tests occurred??!

medwaymum · Post by **medwaymum** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:43 am

At the beginning of each section of questions there are usually two practice questions. I'm wondering if children are getting confused with the total amount of time they had, as usually they give time for the practice questions, then after that, seperate amount of time for the section questions.