Time to Open Shop and Help

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

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Successful Parents

Time to Open Shop and Help

Post by Successful Parents »

For those considering the test for 2007 Nov.

The test in Nov 2006 had several sections, the details and timings I can't recall much. However, to help you in someway, the following is advisable.

There is a VR section, NVR section, and maths - not too challenging I was told by my son. There is a section on meaning of words and word association. A comprehension section, reading passage and questions. My personal opinion, based on the method used for my son, don't concentrate too much on testing and timing during the first 3 months, get use to methods and understanding of what is being asked in the question.

Having read many of the notes on this forum, parents are too anxious to get the child to do tests in timed conditions too soon, without having covered the appropriate material. You have to remember that kids wanting to do the 11+ start the preparation in year 5, at which time a lot of the material has not been taught at school. Many aspects of the test will not be taught at schools either, in particular NVR/VR methods.

A good indicator of whether the child has the potential is using the year 4/5 sats results. Getting maximum grades in years 4/5 is a good indicator that the child will do well and be able to cope.

A time table of additional study over and above school homework is a good idea and it should be planned to address the gaps that need to be covered. The use of a good, experienced tutor is part of the whole scenario, your support and research is a major part of the success.


A broad word list should be part of the daily routine, having a good grasp of the English language is key to answering questions in all areas of the test. I can’t emphasize the importance of reading, reading and more reading. A selection of challenging reading material, certainly for boys is very important. Books on cars and football will not help them develop the skills that will be required.

This is my personal method used for my son.
Guest

Post by Guest »

I'm not surprised you can't remember the details of the test; after all it was your son who took it not you.

Supposedly, the children are not to be taught VR and NVR, as that distorts the intake.

Another issue that should be considered is whether the KE exam favours those who are better than Maths rather than those who are literate and good at English.
KE Mum

Post by KE Mum »

Hi

Actually I think the difficulty with the KE test is that it tests VR, NVR, English and Maths - but I think a lot of schools test all of these, both independent and state grammars. It also has "surprise" elements which are a bit of a worry because there is little information on what these might be. They want their children to be good at everything, so a child who is brilliant at Maths, but not so good at English could be at a disadvantage, and vice versa.
Successful Parents

Post by Successful Parents »

Guest, what's your point? I have made en effort to give back to this board, afer it has helped us.
normalmum@mo

Post by normalmum@mo »

Hi there. I'm a new mum who will have this pleasure/ordeal tto go through this Nov 07, or should I say, my daughter will!

Successful parents, really appreciate the advice and insight you have given above. With the risk of sounding "thick"(good job child taking test, not me!!), can you clarify what word association is? Also, I gather that the suprise element (general knowledge?) has been taken out in recent years?

Congratulations on your son passing!
Helpfull Hint

Post by Helpfull Hint »

KenR wrote:Hi

The only information that is available about last year's test is the detail that was provided by KEMum via her daugther who had a good memory:-

(Note: my son had forgotten completely what was in the test!!)
My daughter explained:

10 mins proof reading
10 mins word recognition with definitions
25 mins maths and verbal reasoning

15 mins break

10 mins non verbal
20 minutes maths
15 answering questions on proof reading and finding the meaning of made up words.

She said that the words were hard - ie meaning of words - inaugurate was one, and pompous another. However, in my experience children struggle terribly with word meanings. Maths - some was easy and some was hard. For example, how long did it take to fill different sizes of containers? Something like that, now I think that is harder than NFER papers which we practised - she is very good at maths, so if it was hard, I believe her. She was getting 90ish% on NFER. The words were 81 in 10 mins.
So in each 45 min test there will be a series of questions which will be classified as either Eng/VR, Non Verbal Reasoning or Numerical/Maths. Questions of the same type will be added together and a raw score produced. Te total number of questons of each type shouldbe similar to the total number I mentioned in my previous response.

Once you have the raw scores for each category these are age standardised (see a section about standardisation on this web site - there is a link from the home page)

The key thig to note about standardisation process is that it is a statistical proces that varies from exam to exam and year to year. So you can't state accurately what the standardised score is for a particular raw score for a child of a paticular age. However, what you can predict is that the standardisation process wil be very benefitial for your child as he is very young (August Birthday). The spread in raw scores cold be as much as 5-6% for children at opposite age extremes for the same Standardised score. So if you child is scoring well in NFER tests that sounds good news.


I hope this helps you on your way. Look through posts before Nov last year for trends.
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

Hi Normalmum,

To clarify the word assoociation are generally synoym pairing aimed at a reading age of greater than 13.5 years. In last years paper (not sure about Nov 2006) candidates had to match pairs of words as in the example below.(only 1 full example question given). The timing was very tight in that paper - 80 questions to answer in 10 mins (7.5 secs per question!!)
  • VOLATILE, loud, explosive, talkative, welcoming
    VIBRANT
    INDOLENT
    LABYRINTHINE
    ENIGMATIC
    NOTORIOUS
    ZEALOT
    etc etc
If you are starting 11+ preparation for the KE grammars you could do far worse than create a number of 80 word lists. I understand (not confirmed) that they used to have all of the words starting with the same letter at during earlier tests.

(Perhaps something for last year's exam candidates to confirm)

Hope this helps
normalmum@mo

Post by normalmum@mo »

Many thanks for your reply Ken.

So synonyms basically, right? Looking at the examples you have given, cannot imagine where to start in creating word lists like those! Help, where do I start?!!

Luckily, DD does enjoy reading and I am reading classics to her at moment, but can't honestly say I've come across words like those in the texts so far!!

I think you're right about creating word lists, I guess its going to be a bit of a lottery where the words are concerned and can see that this will be the hardest bit to address. Like you, had heard that the words all started with same letters but will check this for last year (quite a no of kids took test at our school).

Right, let the demise of my sanity begin!!!

Thanks Ken
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

Hi Normalmum

If you want to register on the site and drop me a Personal message with your email I can forward a few other bits of material. I think some of it is KS3 English type comprehension material but this is just the sort of reading and word lists that they need to understand for the KE 11+

Strangely enough we didn't use this type of material ourselves at the time but in hindsight I wished we had. Most of our friends taking the test said that the children found the English and VR the hardest. If they get used to books and material at an advanced reading age they will find the exam a lot easier.

It's a good idea to work on comprehension. I think there are a few good publicationa available - also take a look at some of the word lists on this site and also the test materials. The CD material is good value - also the e-papers. make sure you save the e-papers to disk so youy can print and use again some months later with your child. Saves the pain of rubbing out NFER papers.

Hope this helps
KenR
Posts: 1506
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:12 pm
Location: Birmingham

Post by KenR »

Hi NormalMum

Forgot to add that it's worthwhile starting with Patricia's word list on this site:-

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/pdf/11 ... tricia.pdf
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