Preparation - with hindsight what worked (and did not)?
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Re: Preparation - with hindsight what worked (and did not)?
We worked on getting the basics of maths/English/VR/NVR right using the Bond books to identify gaps for the first term of Year 5. We then started on the GL papers around March of Year 6. This threw up further gaps which we then worked on. At around this time we worked on vocabulary (antonyms/synonyms), started work on cloze (for CEM) and shuffled sentences (never that good at those but there was a section on them in the Bexley exam). We did multiple choice comps from everywhere (GL, Athey, Bond). In the summer we worked on the CGP/First Past the Post series, revisited some of the lower scoring GL papers, Bond CEM with strict timings and 10 minute CGP tests (tried to get these down to 7-8 mins).
It was hard trying to do the two formats but if you are getting good scores on GL then use the CEM material to speed up.
Ds is also sitting for St Olaves so we also had to work on creative writing/letters etc.
It has been very hard work for both of us but our approach has paid off so far as ds gained Top 180 in Bexley and a high score in Kent. Your child however, has to be on board with you and also don't leave it all to the tutor. Get involved, question what they are doing, arm yourself with knowledge of the CEM and GL formats.
Best of luck!
It was hard trying to do the two formats but if you are getting good scores on GL then use the CEM material to speed up.
Ds is also sitting for St Olaves so we also had to work on creative writing/letters etc.
It has been very hard work for both of us but our approach has paid off so far as ds gained Top 180 in Bexley and a high score in Kent. Your child however, has to be on board with you and also don't leave it all to the tutor. Get involved, question what they are doing, arm yourself with knowledge of the CEM and GL formats.
Best of luck!
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PettswoodFiona
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Re: Preparation - with hindsight what worked (and did not)?
+1 to all grgygirl says. I would add that finding those gaps of knowledge is essential. We knew about the cubes in Kent for example and they were hard to find examples to practice with. We also did some mock tests in both styles. The mocks came back with the results clustered in groups of types of question which really helped with focussing on any weak points.
