My DD took a mock today and did badly....Help

[khanji17]

My DD is very good at her studies and is 5c + at grades and a top girl in her class, we're preparing at home for the grammar school tests by Bond books and *** Advertising Censored *** online daily tests, My daughter did her first *** Advertising Censored *** mock test today and came out really upset that she has missed half of her questions.

I am so worried that maybe she is not where we thought she was academically. Can someone shed light on their experiences of their childs mock tests and then the actual grammar school test.

TIA

[kenyancowgirl]

What area are you in, as the levels required around the country vary greatly.

Generally speaking the Bond books are relatively lightweight for highly selective areas.

For CEM tests, the children are not expected to be able to answer all the questions in the time given. With CEM, the biggest issue is the time and the ability of the child to move on, if they cannot answer the question.

However, just because a child is top of the tree in her school, unfortunately, this does not always equate to being top of the tree in the general cohort who will be accessing the test that your child is accessing, so make sure that you have robust back up plans in place for alternative schools.

[khanji17]

Thanks, We're in the Birmingham area.

[Daogroupie]

+1

Is she in Y5?

Bond is not challenging enough and does not prepare you properly for timed exams.

If you have exams in 50-60 days time you need to be doing all your prep as timed mock exams.

It is not a test of what you can do, but what you can do in the time.

If she only got half way through the mock then it seems to indicate that you have not been placing timing at the top of the priority list.

Being top of the class is merely geographical and in my opinion is a disadvantage as it lulls parents in a false sense of security At the primary down the road she might not even be on top table. DG

[khanji17]

How can I prepare her for the time more appropriately? Yes, she is year 5.

[Daogroupie]

You need to sit timed papers that reflect the format and timing of the exam she will be taking.

There is lots of information about this in the Birmingham section.

Did you sit Walsall? DG

[Sally-Anne]

If it's the tutoring outfit I think it is (given that the thread title has converted itself to "Advertising Censored", so it's an organisation we do not have complete faith in ...), I would completely bin the result, and just work with her calmly on how to cope with any panic moments in the real test.

[guest201]

I would wait for the results of the exam before panicking. If your child found it hard then others probably did too. How long before you get the results, will you be given a rank as well as a score? My DD did a mock exam in Shirley don't know if it is the same company as yours. She did OK but not brilliant, the good thing was it highlighted the need to work on certain areas which we did over the summer, don't panic there is still plenty of time to get up to speed,