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Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:15 pm
by tazzy_dad
Hi all,

First post so be gentle...
I know we've left it very late but we've decided to try for the Forest and Bancroft entrance exams. My DS has been tutored on VR and NVR for the local grammar but unfortunately not Maths and English which will be the exams for Forest/Bancroft. He is a bright boy, top groups in his class and started Y5 at level 5b for both maths and English. I have a number of questions which I hope someone can help with:

- Is there enough time to get him upto speed? Exams are on 11th and 18th Jan so approx 6 weeks.
- What would be the best approach? We are looking for a tutor and will try to cram in as many sessions as possible from now until the exam.
- What maths and English books would be suitable?
- What past papers would be suitable?
- I would appreciate it if someone could recommend a good tutor.

Thank you in advance!

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Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:23 pm
by Ladymuck
Deleted.

Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:39 pm
by tazzy_dad
LadyLuck, thank you so much for the info, it's very much appreciated.
I will definitely have a look.

Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 10:48 pm
by leanmeamum
There is still time for your child to get ready - start practising with all the independent school papers available for free as mentioned by LM. Try to get as many as possible done between now and the exam and cover all the weak areas as they start showing up. It is also useful to do some Schofield and Sims Mental Arithmetic - books 4 and 5 at this point will be good.

Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 9:28 am
by tazzy_dad
Thanks Leanmeamum!
I had a look at the Scholfield & Sims books you mentioned - they do look good so order placed.

For English do you recommend and books that may give tips and advice on answering comprehension and creative writing questions?

Again much appreciated!

Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:44 am
by Daogroupie
It is not too late at all. I know a state primary student who got 90% in the Dame Alice Owen's English exam after just five weeks of hard graft. This is an English paper that many students from our local preps find it impossible to get a good mark on. The most important factor is your ds. Does he want to go there? Is he prepared to put in the work required to make it? No problem with material. Use Ladymuck's great list of free materials and get the CGP books on next day delivery from the forum website. If the drive and the materials are there then all you need is time. Get started now. Do a paper tonight! DG

Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 10:58 am
by leanmeamum
Can't think of anything which gives tips on answering comprehension apart from one by ISEB written by Susan Elkin in which she has given few model answers. Lots of comprehension books with answers can be bought - most of the answers are in bullet points.

Comprehension books by Schofield and Sims, Bond, Andrew Brodie (each comprehension has 3 sets of questions by levels so you can choose which level you need to work at - no answers though), ISEB, Close reading 11 - 14 (fiction and non-fiction) by Mary Firth and Andrew Ralston are good and should give you plenty of practise material. You could also download free papers from indie website, although these do not have answers but are very good practise material.

The best way to improve comprehension is to get your child to read 2 - 3 pages of a book and then talk about it. You can ask various questions - ranging from fact within the pages to opinion based ones. Eg - who is ...........? Where did he/she..................? How do the event make you feel? Do you think ........... could be different and why and how?

Practise as many comprehensions as you can - all answers are within the passage. It is just having the patience to read and re-read the passage as many times as required to find the answers. At the 11+ stage there are very few opinion based questions but these can be improved by talking about various material they are reading (as mentioned in the above paragraph). It helps them to form opinions about what they are reading and be able to express them.

Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 11:02 am
by leanmeamum
Yes - DG is right. Try to do at least 1 Maths and 1 English paper every day (comprehensions can even be talked through, if your son is too tired). Weekends and holidays put in plenty to discussion sessions and practise 1 paper of each daily.

Good Luck - my DS is in Bancrofts and loves it there.

Re: Late Tuition advice for Forest and Bancroft

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 2:11 pm
by tazzy_dad
Dao & Leanmeamum, thank you for your kind advice, I appreciate you spending the time to answer. I feel more confident now and will definitely give it our best shot.