KE Maths

Eleven Plus (11+) in Birmingham, Walsall, Wolverhampton and Wrekin

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KLCustard
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:01 am

KE Maths

Post by KLCustard »

Hi
I have been lurking on this forum for ages and found it to be so valuable for helping to prepare my DD for her 11+ - thanks everyone!
She sat the Sutton Girls exam a few weeks ago and is getting ready for KE tomorrow.
Just a quick question, if someone could help, re maths for KE:
- I was reviewing her homework, this morning, that was sent home from her tutor this week ( her last class was on Tues) and saw this question:

b= 6+2 (1+5a)

Where a= 0.5 Find b


For the KE exam, should she work left to right after doing the brackets or follow BIDMAS?
Working left to right gives an answer of 28, whereas using BIDMAS would give 13, the latter was the answer on her homework sheet.
I presume the tutor was expecting them to use BIDMAS but DD has not been taught this and obviously this is way too late in the day to be introducing it!
Any thoughts?
fm

Post by fm »

You would definitely use Bidmas.

To be honest, I have never taught my pupils more complex than if x = 3, what is 6x + 5, or if x is 4.5, what is 2x + 5, so I wouldn't stress on this.

In fact, what little time you have left, should be spent talking exam tactics rather than specific questions. Basically tell her to go to the toilet in the break, keep filling in the boxes, blank out each section when you move on to the next and, above all, keep your nerve.

Regard it as a decathlon in which you can afford to be useless at javelin, shot putting and hurdles, okay at discus etc. etc, and really good at sprinting and high jump, and still win the bronze medal (I say bronze because it's the same prize whether you score 330 or 430, as far as Camp Hill Girls is concerned).
Footballdad
Posts: 112
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:20 pm

Post by Footballdad »

FM fantastic advice. I shall use this approach.
KLCustard
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:01 am

Post by KLCustard »

Thank you so much for the advice fm.
You are right - it is definitely too late to learn new techniques... I guess I wanted to know more for my own sake!! So you think that that question is more complex than they would find in KE? That is good to know because algebra in general stresses her out!!
I have given her lots of pointers about not panicking if she can't do certain questions and to just keep on going and not get too fazed and treat each section with fresh eyes - just hope can can do it on the day!! She is a bit of a perfectionist and really hates it when she can't work something out. I have told her to expect it to be very different to SG. Like the decathlon analogy!!
fm

Post by fm »

I have no idea if there will be more complex algebra but, even if there is, it will be a very miniscule part of the overall mark so does not warrant either too much time devoted to it or too much stress if a child can't do it.

If a child is likely to be a borderline candidate, then they will probably be weak at more than algebra so a thorough knowledge of decimals, fractions and percentages would rank as much more important than algebra. If a child is a very strong candidate, they can afford to drop a few on algebra.

I would, however, make sure your perfectionist daughter really does understand that she should leave things that are proving time-consuming. I have sat beside children watching them wasting valuable minutes on questions they aren't even going to get right. I always say that, if a question is taking that long, chances are you are not going to get it right because you have missed the point of it.

And also the children must forget their Sutton Coldfield experience. I do not encourage children to do this exam unless they are going to take up a place if offered because I don't find it is useful practice at all. It just lulls the children into a false sense of security because the bright ones all finish with vast amounts of time to spare and then are appalled by the time restraints of KE.
KLCustard
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:01 am

Post by KLCustard »

Thanks fm - her maths overall is pretty good and her mental arithmetic is very quick. I guess we were just trying to cover all the bases, so that not too much will catch her by surprise but I'm sure there will still be things that will be unfamiliar. She is fine on the basic algebra you mentioned in your earlier post but with more complex equations, she gets confused when she has to start balancing out each side and canceling down etc.

I have tried to push home to her how different the KG exam will be time wise to SG. You are right, she did finish with loads of time to spare and answered every question and had time to got back & check her answers. We did take the exam with a view to accepting a place- we live just up the road from SG but KG Handsworth is our 1st choice.

Well, going to try and have a stress free evening and make sure she gets a good nights sleep ... can't believe it will all be over by tomorrow afternoon ( KE is our last exam!)
fm

Post by fm »

Well, my year 8 in Camp Hill Girls is still struggling with that kind of algebra so that's not unusual. I tend to touch on it but, if it looks like the child's becoming confused, I leave it. Better they understand the basics.

Best of luck, anyway.
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