why help saturday candidates

ergo · Post by **ergo** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:52 am

My child sits test today and I reported nothing regarding posts to her. I would never let my child 'cram' certain types of questions the day before the test anyway, I can't believe anyone would even if specific types had been discussed. I also heard anecdotal stories from friends whose children sat the test during the week but nothing was given away about content, just how their particular child coped on the day.

As to whether more children pass who take it on Saturday, I presume that this could be the case as out of county children do have to score very highly. Therefore parents (some I know) would not put their children in for it unless they were considered to be strong candidates for high passes. However, I do not have any statistics.

Good luck to all children who are taking/have taken test and hoping that they all get the outcome they want.

One Down · Post by **One Down** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:22 pm

I agree with the principle of the post but I think all of us who were around last year have been careful not to give out any info helpful to Saturday candidates. For instance, I've resisted the urge to bemoan the lack of a certain regular question type in NVR for this reason, up until now - probably safe to discuss as any remaining candidates must be taking the test now?
The info about NVR question nos and time is common knowledge, as it has been this way for the last two years' tests. Also it has been posted on this forum at least twice in the last couple of weeks, once by myself, so all candidates had an equal opportunity to benefit (if there is any to be had-I didn't find it useful myself).
A higher % of OOC candidates do pass, because the are a self-selecting high-performing bunch i.e. only the best bother to apply. These candidates are a v. small % of total kent children.
I also don't think that any sane parent would tell a child that a paper is hard, or even easy!
Local wisdom seems to be that NVR was hard and tricky, VR alright and that maths was easier than some other papers.

shuff · Post by **shuff** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 6:10 pm

One Down I am so glad you mentioned about the NV being hard. My son was shocked that it was so hard. His 2 friends with him said it was 'pips'. He was fine with VR and found maths no problem. Sadly maths is his strongest subject and I don't feel he'll benefit from an easy paper.
Please more people say NVR was horrible for my own sanity!!

gloucestermum · Post by **gloucestermum** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 6:37 pm

Just popping in from Gloucestershire!
Can I reassure everybody that,if anyone were to post information which could be seen as helpful to children who have not yet taken the test,then the moderators would quickly step in.We aim to keep information on this forum helpful and strictly non biased!

Regards,
Gloucestermum

One Down · Post by **One Down** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 7:06 pm

Shuff,
My info was gathered from friends in about about six different schools - a couple of children in our own school were crying during nvr and I've heard of crying and panic attack from other schools. Also one person crying during vr. Poor kids - at least it's over now! My own DD2 is naturally good at NVR and she said it was hard, as did her friends who are normally good at NVR. Maybe your DS's friends missed something......??? I think lack of codes also threw some of them. And an easier maths paper hasn't done my DD2 any favours either!
Don't worry - the harder the test the lower the passmark!

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 7:50 pm

Hi All

Just to state that gloucestermum is absolutely correct - we will Moderate swiftly and without mercy if anyone posts information that could clearly give an advantage to candidates sitting the test later in any area, not just in Kent.

If you are uncomfortable about anything you see posted here on Kent or elsewhere in that regard, please send a PM to a Moderator for that area, or to any of the Forum Moderators (Patricia, Etienne, Chad, KenR and me).

twellsmum wrote:Bit confused here - is it true that out of county candidates (who I assume are hte ones sitting it on Saturday) end up with more passes than all the children in Kent schools who have sat the exam over the last two days? Maybe it is just that the out of county children have to pass extremely well to get into the grammars so they are the very brightest as opposed to *just* the brightest 25% !

As I posted some months ago, that is definitely the case here in Bucks - the pass rate among OoC children is significantly higher. The main reason given is that these children are very actively "opted in" to the test, whilst parents of in-County children are more likely to let their child take the test just because everyone else is doing so, even if the child doesn't have a realistic chance of passing.

Sally-Anne

nkm · Post by **nkm** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:17 pm

Many thanks for all the reassurance. i do understand that to be obsessive is not ideal and appreciate that all posts are moderated. I would however have told my child the format of the NVR. And it might helped her!
I feel for all of you going through this and wish you and yours all the best. Try to sleep!

shuff · Post by **shuff** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:55 pm

One Down wrote:Shuff,
My info was gathered from friends in about about six different schools - a couple of children in our own school were crying during nvr and I've heard of crying and panic attack from other schools. Also one person crying during vr. Poor kids - at least it's over now! My own DD2 is naturally good at NVR and she said it was hard, as did her friends who are normally good at NVR. Maybe your DS's friends missed something......??? I think lack of codes also threw some of them. And an easier maths paper hasn't done my DD2 any favours either!
Don't worry - the harder the test the lower the passmark!

Many thanks One Down for your reassurance, I am hoping too that they might have missed something from their reaction?!

Sally-Anne · Post by **Sally-Anne** » Sat Sep 20, 2008 10:00 pm

Hi Shuff

shuff wrote:Sure, if the questions were posted up then it would be somewhat different, but that would never happen.

It has happened before, but as I said, we Moderate without mercy when it does!

Sally-Anne

shuff · Post by **shuff** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:50 am

One Down wrote:Shuff,
My info was gathered from friends in about about six different schools - a couple of children in our own school were crying during nvr and I've heard of crying and panic attack from other schools. Also one person crying during vr. Poor kids - at least it's over now! My own DD2 is naturally good at NVR and she said it was hard, as did her friends who are normally good at NVR. Maybe your DS's friends missed something......??? I think lack of codes also threw some of them. And an easier maths paper hasn't done my DD2 any favours either!
Don't worry - the harder the test the lower the passmark!

As I am out of county and out of the loop a bit, I am keen to know what other children thought of the non verbal. One Down was very helpful with her thoughts (above). Today at the school, a friend whose son I value the opinion of, also said he thought nv was hard. My DS said it was harder than the hardest nfer paper! Anyone else have any comments about it?