Mock scores, need advice

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Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by Daogroupie »

The section that was missing sentences would have been clearly explained with an example given.

This means that she did not read the instructions.

It is essential that she reads the instructions as they can change.

Sometimes there is an extra word in shuffled sentences, sometimes there is not. Sometimes it is one odd word out, sometimes it is two.

They are out to trick you so make sure she always read the instructions at the top of each section even if she thinks she knows how to do it.

Is she doing timed papers with the tutor?

Every paper she does will help her. She will get quicker but you need to watch her and see how she uses her time and see if you can eliminate anything she does that is slowing her down. DG
PoppyPup
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by PoppyPup »

Thanks Daogroupie.

She is doing timed papers, manages to finish NVR mostly and synonym and antonyms.

Trouble lies with comp reading speed and Maths. I have managed to help her speed up comp as it was reading the passage that was taking a while. Maths, I’m not sure how to help her speed up. It’s the processing time that’s the issue. She knows what to do and how to do it, yet somehow it still takes a while.
Octsmum
Posts: 345
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:21 pm

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by Octsmum »

Hi

A couple of things I'd suggest:

For maths - the challenge is that they are still only in yr 5 so there may be topics they haven't covered. You need to ensure that you've covered them all to give them a decent chance at the maths sections.
They need to have a good level of mental maths for speed - do times tables grids and time them!
Get them to mark their work. It helps massively in identifying silly mistakes. If you mark it they don't learn.
Then do maths papers. Review them as a whole & look at the section where they didn't score well eg was it percentages or fractions etc...this will tell you where you need to go over.
Work on the combination of accuracy & speed as you head towards the exam.

For vocabulary & comprehension:
Read & more reading - wide & good quality. It doesn't have to be classics.
We did do vocabulary word lists but mixed them up synonyms & antonyms, crosswords etc to ensure understood the meaning in context. We put them into quizlet - made it a bit more game like.
Again we did a variety of comprehensions, again make them mark it. Go back over the text with them to ensure they understand where the answer was / why they were incorrect.
For us this was the more challenging area. However, it did seem to fall into place with the above.

Finally, get them into the habit of if they can't do it, circle the question and move onto ones they can. Comeback to it if they've got time. It's too easy to spend too long on a questions they're struggling with and miss out on marks elsewhere. Make sure she knows to check she's marking the right line.

Don't worry, you've still got plenty of time.
Manon
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 12:29 pm

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by Manon »

Poppypup, I pm'd you back at the beginning of July - have a look in your new messages box.

Manon
PoppyPup
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by PoppyPup »

Manon wrote:Poppypup, I pm'd you back at the beginning of July - have a look in your new messages box.

Manon

So sorry Manon, I have only just seen this and didn’t know there was a private message function. I have now replied.


Thank you all, it’s nice to have support.
Manon
Posts: 74
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2016 12:29 pm

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by Manon »

No worries, I thought you may not have seen it!

Manon
PoppyPup
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Feb 28, 2018 10:05 pm

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by PoppyPup »

Hi All,

I’m not sure if you will see/read this reply but as you were all kind enough to advise and offer support on my original post, I wanted to let you know how my DD got on in her latest mock.

She’s scored 76 %, I know this still isn’t in the 80 % region but all I really cared about when I opened that email was that my dd wasn’t left upset and unmotivated again.


She was so happy !!! Told me “Mummy, it’s going in the right direction” and had a lovely big smile on her face. She’s gone to bed happy and if she’s happy, then I’m happy.

Problem solving is still our biggest issue and was her lowest score at 58%, this pulled her other scores down to her 76%, we can keep working on her problem solving over the next few weeks and hopefully will see some progress there too.

Hope everyone’s else’s prep is going well.
Daogroupie
Posts: 11099
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Mock scores, need advice

Post by Daogroupie »

Great to hear she is making great progress. Hopefully this will be a real confidence boost to you both. DG
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