preparing for both kent and bexley

Eleven Plus (11+) in Bexley and Bromley

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tag30
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:28 am

preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by tag30 »

Hi all
My daughter has been going to a group tutor for just over a year now as i wasn't confident i knew enough about how to prepare. However, i would like to do some more at home with her over the school holidays. As she will be sitting both tests im not sure on the best strategy to use or whether to focus on one more than the other? I did buy some books such as 'first past the post' maths book 1 but when i looked through it it seemed very hard and more like gcse level! I havent used this as i feel it would overwhelm her. If she gets presented with something really difficult she just seems to panic and withdraw but when she is 'getting it' she loves it and wants to do more so its quite a balancing act.

Maths is her weak area which is why i want to focus on this area in particular. Ive also got some Bond books. She went through the 8-9 years math book no problem which gave her some confidence and ive now got the 10-11 ones too which i started on last night. These seem to a bit trickier for her but as long as they dont get any harder than simplifying fractions and ratios, she, and i, may be ok. Ive also got the 10-11 non verbal reasoning bond books. We are reading books such as diary of a wimpy kid (her choice) and marianne dreams (my choice). Her comprehension is quite good using texts from classics such as dickens so really i just want to know if there is anything more i should be doing or if there are any more recommendations for materials either in comprehension or maths that i could use for both tests? she will also be doing a week in august with the tutor where they practice test scenarios/papers etc.
We are only aiming for a pass as, luckily, we are in catchment for all bexley schools.
grgygirl
Posts: 382
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 11:09 am

Re: preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by grgygirl »

Hi tag30, we are also preparing for Bexley and Kent (but unfortunately not in the catchment!).

We did all the Bond books age 10-11 as a grounding and to pick up an 'weaker' areas. I thought the comps were quite challenging in the English Bond books. We have now moved on to the GL familiarisation papers to prepare for Kent as GL set the real papers. We are using the variety, multiple choice packs (vr/nvr/English/maths in each pack) to practise marking the answer sheets. There isn't a lot of time left over in the week for us with homework etc but for stretch practise we use the cgp/letts 10 minute tests to practise working at speed (very important from what I've read on here for the Bexley CEM tests). I have also bought the First Past the Post books from this forum website for Cloze practise and will start on Bond 11-12 maths assessment book soon.
We have signed up for the Sutton Grammar A and B mock tests and the St Olaves mock tests. There are other mocks for Bexley and Kent taking place in the early and mid summer periods.

I hope that helps. I'm in the dark with all of this as ds is our first child so just hoping that this approach works and there are many knowledgeable posters in the Bexley/Kent area so look out for their posts.
tag30
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2014 12:28 am

Re: preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by tag30 »

thanks grgygirl

this is also my first time going through this and there really isnt enough time in the normal week to fit much more in! Thanks for your recommendations ill deffo get the GL papers and the 10 minute tests to practise speed. She gets quite a lot of cloze homework from her tutor and i have non verbal bond books - as well as the 'how to do' one to go with it for myself! I hadnt thought about attending a mock test elsewhere so ill look into that too.

thanks for your help
dwisdom
Posts: 142
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2015 12:17 am

Re: preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by dwisdom »

For those sitting bexley test , I recommend sitting mock tests....last year we used a very cost effective tuition centre. PM if you need their details.
I got my results from bexley council and it was on par with the results of the mock test


Alternatively this forum also does them for 50 pounds (they are harder than real thing) but if ypu get over 60% then you are well on the way
PettswoodFiona
Posts: 2134
Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent

Re: preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by PettswoodFiona »

We did Bexley, Kent and Bromley last year and it all worked out really well. We didn't have a tutor but did help out DD at home. I second mock tests to help identify weaknesses. The ones DD sat locally identified any particular types of questions she regularly got wrong as well as ranked her against all those who say the test so we had an idea of how she was doing. Speed is also really improbably for Kent and Bexley. Think doing the ten minute tests in half the time and you about have it right. Otherwise it sounds like you are supporting your DD very well. We ramped things up from hour a week to a half hour a day during the summer holidays but that was DD's choice too. I have heard some children get fed up at a crucial point and give up so careful about doing too much and making sure your daughter is always on board. Good luck.
mumsdarling2
Posts: 270
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2014 10:25 pm

Re: preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by mumsdarling2 »

grgygirl - I did not do Bond Maths 11-12 with my DS yet he passed StOlaves. I personally don't think you need it.
fred
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 7:02 pm

Re: preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by fred »

hi
I still have a collection of past papers and bits & pieces that I used for my daughters a couple of years ago. They are not in the CEM format as ours was the first year of CEM. If interested please PM me.
mani123
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2015 5:24 pm

Re: preparing for both kent and bexley

Post by mani123 »

Hi - we used the GL papers for Kent prep (they set the test - identical format and ds confirmed they were really useful prep)...for Bexley look for CEM CGP 10 min tests. Also First Past the Post for cloze and comprehension (Bonds seemed harder - ds gave up on them a bit - also they're standard format i.e. full sentences rather than multiple choice - so perhaps less useful for CEM prep - FPTP better). I think we used FPTP maths too.
For maths, early on we used Bonds assessment papers -- quite challenging (and long) but good preparation. But my son loves maths so he enjoyed them, and i found them useful to help identify areas he found tricky. If those feel challenging then Bonds 10 min tests are very useful as in smaller chunks, which is closer to CEM format -- excellent to practise working at speed. Letts CEM tests with the audio track are very good for familiarisation -- we used these during the summer break. My son did a mock test around April/May - good for familiarisation and to identify weaker areas. Also made synonyms flashcards (on cheaply bought index cards) when spotted this was a weak area in the mock test -- tried to make up fun games (word wars - challenging to a duel) -- there are handy tips on this site. Didn't use a tutor, was a first timer and it's always tricky to know how much is enough with the first one, but this forum was a great help. If we had to do it again i'd focus on speed, exam technique a little earlier, as this was what my son found hardest...but i'd agree with Pettswood, pace yourselves, and try to enjoy it. Good luck!
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