Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

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PanickingNow
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:54 pm

Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by PanickingNow »

Our eldest is taking the 11plus for Gloucestershire in a couple of weeks time. He's attended tutoring since last October and has practised regularly, including a "cramming" week where he had daily tutoring in groups every morning (which apparently was "really fun!" Strange child :lol: )

His tutors haven't raised any concerns over his prospects and when asked directly, said they expected him to be fine. However, over the past month his practice scores have declined sharply and he's now averaging around 50% whereas he was previously over 80%.

He's been taking CGP CEM tests which seem very difficult compared to some other tests (Letts for example). In fact I got him to do a Letts one yesterday to boost his confidence - he scored 78% which made him feel a bit better.

Has anyone else found this happening? Is it pre-exam burn-out? It's like he's forgotten what a ****** synonym is (not to mention those hideous jumbled up sentence things). Reassure me PLEASE!
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by Guest55 »

Give him a complete break for a few days at least - he is tired.
ToadMum
Posts: 11945
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by ToadMum »

Guest55 wrote:Give him a complete break for a few days at least - he is tired.
Seriously, if testing and testing him is having this effect, there is an obvious answer - stop doing it :lol: . I don't know what the weather's like in Gloucestershire, but it's been 32 degrees Celsius here all day and if someone tried to make me do yet another pretend CEM test I would just shade any old box just to get it over and done with (if you could have got me to do it in the first place, that is).
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
booellesmum
Posts: 611
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:44 am

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by booellesmum »

Not that she did much anyway, but towards the end DD1 couldn't be bothered at all. She was quite open about saying the testing didn't count for anything and she would do it on the day.
Have a few days break and then go over the papers with fresh eyes.
Good luck.
tropicmama
Posts: 78
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 3:20 pm

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by tropicmama »

My DS is the same. Although in fairness, he never gets anything over high 60's, just last week he did one of the CGP practice tests (CEM, PACK 3), and got 40%! It was so disheartening marking it, I actually didn't want him to see what he got. Thankfully, he did a Bond one yesterday and got a 62%. But I have seen quite a steady decline in the quality of his work. I am guessing that it might be burn out. I am also trying to gauge what the best thing to do would be, given there is less than a month left. Just let him do a paper every week? Complete break? Just a couple of 10-minute tests every other day? Anyway, you are definitely not alone! I can totally relate.
parentoftwo
Posts: 75
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:26 pm

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by parentoftwo »

Nothing new I would say, my DS is more or less bored too ..so am I :roll: A day off will do wonders I think. Also, little treats for scoring good marks should boost his morale..worth trying. we are doing short tests only for the past few days. simply reading the word lists not actually testing it.

Take it easy as they need to maintain the steady state of mind for the exams now. Weather might be factor too..everything needs to cool down a bit :)
PettswoodFiona
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Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by PettswoodFiona »

Some advice from someone who went through this last year. Just doing tests isn't helpful. You need to pick out what questions are regularly got wrong and concentrate on those. DD was trying for some superselectives in different areas but the same principle applies. DD was home tutored. Do some confidence building tests on what he knows as if confidence is dented that is a major worry. Then explain he can do loads and loads really well and you are now working on the few weak areas where you don't expect such high results and really analyse what is going on with those type of questions. Once DD was back at school early Sept we didn't do any more 11 plus practice. She had enough to deal with being back at school and homework etc.
Stokers
Posts: 358
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:48 pm

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by Stokers »

I think that is very sensible advice from PettswoodFiona. My DD found endlessly doing tests really dull, esp. if she thought it included sections that she was really good at. We would do individual sections where she was struggling, eg., as many shuffled sentences as we could find or create. This way, DD felt there was some purpose to the work, it was much shorter and we weren't getting hung up on percentages and scores. We would do a full paper may be once a week just to keep the stamina up.
Rags
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:43 pm

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by Rags »

I believe there is a traditional farming analogy - 'you don't make a pig fatter by weighing it'

Some test familiarization is no bad thing - but don't just endlessly do tests. The tests help work out where problem areas are, and then those need addressing specifically.

And hot, tired, bored children (and adults) don't generally perform well.

Enjoy some time off.
loobylou
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Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Less than 3 weeks to go and scores dropping like a stone

Post by loobylou »

We did very little over the summer but in the last 2 weeks were back from holiday so did do some stuff. My dd is very self-aware but was utterly fed up of doing whole papers - so I asked her to go through papers and just do the questions she thought looked hard. That does rely on some self-discipline but it worked for her.
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