How many past papers should we do in the last few weeks?

[HotCrossBun]

Thank you for all the kind responses and gentle encouragement. I was prepared to be told to "get my rear in gear!"

[Stroller]

she didn't give up any activities, apart from not going the night before the test. You can't put your life on hold, or make your child give up things that to my mind are just as important as the academics. Good on you, girl (I am making an assumption there...!).

Ditto, except the only activities DD missed were those that conflicted with the time of the test itself. I gave her the option to skip a fun club the night before a super selective exam and she said, "No way!" Curtailing enjoyable activities, all of which SHE chose to do, would be seen as a punishment; maintaining them, I guess, is a form of escapism.

The same applied to school, parties and sleepovers - unless the timing of a test conflicted squarely with something, DD did what she would have done every other year. Keeping the whole approach reasonably low-key keeps it in perspective. No matter what the outcome, it's not the end of the world and she'll still have plenty of good memories of other stuff she did in year 6!

[J50]

We've got a tutor (for English only) once a week that sets a comprehension and a composition for homework. Apart from that I do something with / set something for son each evening whether that is a NVR/VR mixture, maths paper (MGS proving useful), or we go through a couple of comprehensions between us and talk through the answers. There's only one piece of (easy) school homework each week. Seems a lot but if he's unwilling or tired then I usually let him off!

No change to other activities which fit in around, football & football training, cricket 2x a week, S&C training 2x a week, school drama club after school and he'll be on his guitar & garageband playing or writing as well as the PS4 often enough!

[firefox]

We have 6 weeks to go and currently do the following:

1 Bond Ten Min Test per subject (Maths, English and VR) twice during the week.
1 Past Question Paper per subject over the weekend

This is in addition to DS having 2 hours per day on Sat and Sunday with Tutor.

Over the Xmas Hols, we will do 1 Past Question Paper per subject every day and a "Mock Exam Day" as suggested upthread by Ladymuck.

If I'm honest, I do think it's a little overkill..we are sitting Whitgift and Trinity 10+ and DS is at a Feeder Prep (and in the top 5% of the cohort for Maths...scored high130s in INCAS assessment for Maths.. and Top 15% for English) so should be ok...we are fortunate enough to be looking only for a full fees place but, all that said, Im trying to make sure I have a "belt and braces approach!!

I do have one rule though, I quickly gauge how productive the working sessions are and when DS says its time to take a break or have a night off, I let him.

[firefox]

We have 6 weeks to go and currently do the following:

1 Bond Ten Min Test per subject (Maths, English and VR) twice during the week.
1 Past Question Paper per subject over the weekend

This is in addition to DS having 2 hours per day on Sat and Sunday with Tutor.

Over the Xmas Hols, we will do 1 Past Question Paper per subject every day and a "Mock Exam Day" as suggested upthread by Ladymuck.

If I'm honest, I do think it's a little overkill..we are sitting Whitgift and Trinity 10+ and DS is at a Feeder Prep (and in the top 5% of the cohort for Maths...scored high130s in INCAS assessment for Maths.. and Top 15% for English) so should be ok...we are fortunate enough to be looking only for a full fees place but, all that said, Im trying to make sure I have a "belt and braces approach!!

I do have one rule though, I quickly gauge how productive the working sessions are and when DS says its time to take a break or have a night off, I let him.

[Ladymuck]

Deleted by user.

[firefox]

Firefox, we probably did something similar during the holidays (in our case 2 papers a day, and then follow up from previous days papers), although we did have Christmas week off fully, and he didn't go back to school at all until the exams were over. So we worked at around this level for 2 out of 3 weeks - it still gave him around 8 free hours per day. With the exams being so early in the term and the last week or two of the previous term taken up by Christmas events, it is very easy to lose a month due to Christmas! But I agree that it can be difficult to work out what is enough and what is too much. That said it wasn't as if he was constantly scoring 100% and we could see the amount fo progress that he made. I would also say that the work has continued to pay off at senior school as you can see the solid foundation as well as good work ethic.

I'd need to check numbers but I think that the 10+ is likely to be more competitive than the 11+ this year. Current year 6 is a very low birth year especially in Croydon and there are expected to be at least 250 surplus year 7 spaces in Croydon schools next year. Both Whitgift and Trinity filled their 10+ spaces last year, and Whitgift went to 4 forms at 10+ in order to catch as many boys as possible. But off the top of my head I think the current year 5 and lower years are part of the "bulge" and there will be more boys than school places.

LadyMuck

Funnily enough, I did toy with the idea of not having DS go back until 12th Jan, but decided that I didnt want to push my luck as the Head of DS's prep is actually supportive of his 10+ application (Told us "I dont want to lose him but I understand and support you in your application).

As you say, 10+ will be competitive this year. DS is very sporty but not county level, musical but only plays his instruments at Grade 2 (although one instrument is a very unusual and sought after instrument) and like most boys...very good in Maths, not so good in English. We are fortunate enough to be able to go for full fees, so I am hoping that we'll have a good chance.

See if you agree with my logic/numbers....

I'm thinking that there will be around 200 sitting 10+ for 45-50 places for T and 250 sitting for 75-80 places for W.

I think that T will need to offer 80 and W will need to offer 120 (just under 2 offers per place)

To make those offers, they would need to probably interview say 120 for T and 160 for W

Ok, here is where my logic becomes pure guesswork/hope/idiocy! ....I think that around 65% of applicants will be going for school/bursary but 50% of places need to be full fees to make the numbers work for the schools. As such, by my warped logic, if 35% of applicants are going for 50% of places, then that increases the odds of offer significantly and the range of scores are likely to be wider.

Thoughts?

[Ladymuck]

Deleted by user.

[J50]

Interesting discussion, thanks for the input! We're not going for either of those schools btw, too far away from SW London.

You're doing about the same as we are I guess, though we have less time paying a tutor and more time me tutoring. I'm not that keen on the Bond 10 min papers, though I only have VR ones - do you think the other subjects ones are ok??

Son has 4 school exams from Jan 5th to 11th and I did think about having the week off (state primary) but again we have had a quite a few days off approved in the last year (mainly for cricket matches!) so don't want to push it too much. Also having put in the forms for a couple of days leave of absence for exams in Jan I did get the reply back --does he really need the full day or just half!

[firefox]

I don't think that the main bursary intake is at 10+. Usually these candidates will be sitting 11+ to have a chance at the grammars too.

In my experience provided that the VR is strong and one other is reasonable, then you should be fine. It will then come down to interview and report to see whether he is "ready" for senior school. I have occasionally been surprised by who gets called for interview but then doesn't get an offer, but most boys who pass the academic hurdle will get an offer.

The offer rate is usually higher than 2:1, as some parents, buoyed by the very positive feedback at interview, then review their options and decide that the grammars may be within reach, or wish to see if their DC can get a scholarship in a later year. And obviously most boys will have sat for both schools, so I think your estimate of the number of offers to be made is on the low side.

Finally I know the schools advertise the high number of pupils with a scholarship or bursary, but the numbers of bursaries in a yeargroup is usually pretty fixed. The majority will be full fee places with a number of 5% and 10% awards, with higher numbers going to the most academic pupils. So the good news for you is that far more than 50% of places will go to full fees entrants certainly at 10+ (the proportion and amount of scholarships increases at the higher entrance points).

Due to sheer numbers, Whitgift tend to have a wider ability range on entrance - the hurdle for interview at Trinity certainly seems to have got higher. Given where you're coming from you should be fine especially at 10+. The standards for 11+ seem to be rising year on year!

Thanks Ladymuck...great points. I guess we are looking at something like 110ish Offers for T and 160ish for W...Not bad odds considering. Agree that the standards at 11+ are rising each year, although the expanded places from the Sutton grammars is having a knock on effect at T and W.