Class of 2015 12 month countdown...

[santanur]

Can anyone tell me the actual syllabus of 11+ MATHS,ENGLISH, NON VERBAL AND VERBAL.

[onthebrink]

You are joking, right??? if you have found this forum then presumably you have found your way to the different school websites which explain the tests??

[enigma]

Can anyone tell me the actual syllabus of 11+ MATHS,ENGLISH, NON VERBAL AND VERBAL.

Honestly that was also my question before as I didn't really know what particular syllabus to cover for my DS review. There were 11+ test papers that were too easy and some were difficult. Some say 11+ is a year 5-6 level but most people say over 50% of 11+ has never been taught in the primary school. I've also searched the net for exact syllabus of the 11+ but it always ended up with some gray areas. This probably the reason why 'paid' tutoring comes into play. In my experience, best to start with is familiarization of the GL assessment papers, CEM, bond or the like... as for the VR, it's quite easy there are around 22 types of VR questions that DC need to familiarize, you can check them on YouTube or some 11+ websites. As for NVR there are also particular types of questions like sequential, relational, continuity, etc. best to check available test papers like GL Assessment papers, CEM, bonds, etc. English is usually reading comprehension, vocabulary, the 7 parts of speech and grammar (e.g. identifying errors).... Math is the one with the widest range of them all. I didn't really know where to start and where to stop. We've started from the very basic arithmetic, decimal-fraction-percentage operation, geometry, statistics, up to the higher solid geometry and 2 equations 2 unknowns of Algebra just to make sure we didn't miss a thing... but answering as many test paper as we can I believe was the key factor of my DS passing the actual tests.

[Moodelay]

We have just been through the process and my daughter passed Alty & Sale by a good margin. We had a tutor from Oct Y5 once a week in term time and tbh I didn't get involved at all - she works pretty well on her own and just did the work set (2 practice papers a week and a page of a maths book). Then in the summer holidays I set her up on a website called [Edited by moderator] where the subscription was £5.99/month which enabled her to practise online. It also gave marks straightaway and further practice in anything she'd got wrong. I only got involved in the last month before the exams when we did a practice paper every other day approx (the tutor gave us as many as we wanted) and I marked them and then made up more questions based on the ones she'd got wrong (not in NVR - I had to stick to the books for that!) To my surprise it was actually really enjoyable - for both of us - a real bonding experience as it felt like a team effort in the home strait and I wished I'd got involved earlier on. When my son goes into Y5 next year I'm definitely going to take more of an interest although I think we will still use the tutor (£20/week in term time) as I have a 3rd child and all three do tons of stuff out of school and I also work, so I liked the structure of knowing that even on a busy week some 11+ work would get done. Also the tutor was v supportive with providing materials so I didn't have to buy any papers or books. Oh and we did the mock exam at North Cestrian and that was a useful experience ([Edited by moderator]). Hope that helps

[wilmslowmum]

Hi All, my DS has just passed his exams for Alty and Ambrose, with a good pass for Alty to hopefully get him in OOC. My daughter sat for Alty and Loreto a few years ago she didnt pass for Alty but got in Loreto. I think first and foremost a reasonable expectation of the childs ability is very important. Attitude of the child, both mine were different one very willing but not as able , the other quite able but not very willing! Both created arguments one out of frustration and the other not wanting to do it!!! My advise is start early and make a routine where ever possible set times that maybe you can both discuss and agree on beforehand. Early on i did the papers with him and then compared our scores (i let him beat me) he loved that!! I had a tutor for 45 mins every week what i did was do the bond or GL mark it myself and the areas which they were struggling with the tutor then took them through it and backed it up with her own worksheets. I found that they would listen to her much more than me, and of course i didnt always know how to do the maths questions which caused even more frustration for everyone. Regarding NVR although bond is a good start dont stay on them too long as i found they were quite different than GL and GL is what they get in the Altrincham exam. I think the scofield and sims maths books are good also as a change from bond. My DS did a couple of mocks which he enjoyed and helped with getting timing . He went to a summer school last August which he loved ,work covering all exam aspects and sport in the afternoon i thought he wouldnt like it but he loved it and i have to say it was exceptional value for money and it also did a mock with feedback and then the children could choose which work eg nvr , VR,maths or english they wanted to cover for the rest of the week. It is in Trafford and pm me for details as i cannot say on the forum i would highly recommend it.I think it also makes them realise that it isnt just them working hard. Finally my DS said the altrincham papers were a little easier then the actual GL which is a little comforting to know. I used to tell my DS it wasnt forever! He said last week he was glad i pushed him and made him work hard even though it was tough.Good luck it will soon pass and all the hardwork and battles will be in the past.

[Wonkyrunner]

Brainfreeze, we had the same issue:
"1) My DS is absolutely devastated when he gets anything wrong. I have tried to reassure him that he isn't meant to get it all right at this stage as the whole point of the prep is to learn and improve etc. Also that every other child preparing for the exam will be going through similar emotions. Sometimes I feel as if he blocks out my encouraging words because he is so unused to getting things wrong and doesn't deal with it well. Any tips?"

He would also refuse to jot anything down as working - he was adamant he could do it all in his head (mostly he could) and felt it wasa point of pride to do it the hard way! Same for methods - he would sometimes invent a really complicated method of his own and was quite chuffed with it.
Frustrating in the short term for exam purposes but shows he's engaged and trying stuff I suppose so long term a better prognosticator
I agree with Enigma - we let him do it his way then showed him the easy way. We also explained the purpose of the exam is that very few get full marks - designed so they see everyone on a scale rather than 60% full marks etc.
lastly we pointed out the exam format is not allabout who's cleverest per se - it's about who can get most right answers in the time - so although we were impressed he could do it all in his head, he had to hold all the parts of the question in his head which took longer - if he answered 10 less questions, the examiner would'nt care who'd answered them in their head (or whose method was harder!)or who'd ,in his strange opinion, "cheated" and written bits down through the question.
He did start to take it on board but it never completely went away - it's his personality I suppose so you don't want to dampen that, just find a way to separate the exam issues from his normal practice.
Good luck!

[miltonkeynes]

We started doing GL papers from around Christmas. At that stage i didnt time, it was more important to get the answers right, we just did 1 a week. From June i started timing the tests. To save money papers can always be bought second hand on Amazon/ eBay or local press.

[cleo]

Hi,
It has been confirmed! According to AGSB website the September 2015 entrance exam will consist of Verbal, Non verbal and a maths paper. Thank god its been sorted earlier rather than leaving it to the last minute. Just shared this information with DS and he is delighted as he hates writing but he does like reading.

[Brainfreeze]

Ooh cleo!

Where is the update if you don't mind me asking? I think in my over excitement I have lost the ability to calm down and find the link.

[Brainfreeze]

Okay so I just gave them a call and asked the question 'Will the boys who take the entrance exam in 2015 definitely be taking NVR exam and not English?' and the answer was 'That is correct'.

Can I rip up the comprehension past papers now please?