Advice needed
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Advice needed
can anyone give us a plan on what books we should go through the bexley and kent exam
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PettswoodFiona
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2014 11:24 pm
- Location: Petts Wood, Bromley, Kent
Re: Advice needed
Both tests are run by different providers, Bexley by CEM and Kent by GL. You will find more on this site about the exams under the schools > regions pages with links to the materials. We found the bond ten minute tests very helpful for both types of test. We also used the GL practice papers you can buy from this site.
For Kent we struggled to find any materials on the spatial reasoning, there are a few examples on the Kent example paper plus a few pages that cropped up in general internet searches at the time but I never did find a formal source of spatial test samples.
Also bear in mind it isn't just about materials to pass the test, reading widely and techniques e.g. for speed are also essential.
Mock tests can also be helpful to identify any weak areas, be in as close as you can get to an exam type, time situation etc.
When is your child taking the test? Is it this September? I ask as some do start very early and give their child the 10-11 or 11-12 books and it completely de-motivates the child so make sure if you are doing the Bond books to build up their confidence by doing the books appropriate to their age. Saying that you shouldn't need to start too early, we started with an hour a week familiarisation in Y5 then did a little bit each day in the summer holidays prior to the tests.
Good luck.
For Kent we struggled to find any materials on the spatial reasoning, there are a few examples on the Kent example paper plus a few pages that cropped up in general internet searches at the time but I never did find a formal source of spatial test samples.
Also bear in mind it isn't just about materials to pass the test, reading widely and techniques e.g. for speed are also essential.
Mock tests can also be helpful to identify any weak areas, be in as close as you can get to an exam type, time situation etc.
When is your child taking the test? Is it this September? I ask as some do start very early and give their child the 10-11 or 11-12 books and it completely de-motivates the child so make sure if you are doing the Bond books to build up their confidence by doing the books appropriate to their age. Saying that you shouldn't need to start too early, we started with an hour a week familiarisation in Y5 then did a little bit each day in the summer holidays prior to the tests.
Good luck.
Re: Advice needed
CGP 10-minute tests and tests, Bonds (use the placement test to check which books to start with), First past the post, Scholastic Mental Arithmetic (again do placement test first to check level), Scholastic Verbal and nonverbal Reasoning, GL/ Letts papers, plus reading of his own choice. We also have some books by Eureka! but they were pretty hard to start with (to the extent that I couldn't understand them myself) and then we ran out of time in the summer. Of all books I like the 10-minute ones from CGP, Bonds and Scholastic as they are more doable during the school week.
Re: Advice needed
I have some materials that I collected when my daughters were taking the exams. They are not in CEM format as they were the first to take CEM in Bexley.
If you are interested please PM me.
The other responses have been very good advice; I preferred regular in small bits than a rush at the end. I also found mock tests very helpful to check progress and to identify areas of weakness
If you are interested please PM me.
The other responses have been very good advice; I preferred regular in small bits than a rush at the end. I also found mock tests very helpful to check progress and to identify areas of weakness
