my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Eleven Plus (11+) in Bexley and Bromley

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
shahinoor
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:00 pm

my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by shahinoor »

Hi,

Having just gone through the 11 + with my son (accepted a place in chis and sid)
I thought I would offer advise based on my experiences

1) You really need to be in the catchment area or on the borders unless you are aiming for your child to get 95%. Otherwise it is really unfair on the child to work so hard, do well in the exam only to rejected because you live too far out. Consider renting near the school or moving is my strongest recommendation.

2) I don't believe the exams are hard. Rather they just need preparation. You can teach them yourself or get a tutor. I am not a big fan of tuition groups except they give motivation studying in a group. But at that age they really need tailored tuition. (PM me if you need a tutor)

3) Bond books are fine ..if you child gets 80-90 % than he or she is ready. VR needs practice and can't really be taught. Maths needs tuition.

4) It is also worth doing the kent exams a week early...even if you have no intention of going there. It is good for practice (mock exam is not good idea as it is copy of one GL papers and therefore gives a false impression of the exams being easy)

5) Do some Mock tests under exam conditions near the end once you have covered all the syllabus.

Finally - kids develop at different ages. It may well be that your son/daughter is not ready at this age. if not send him to a good state school and get him some private tutors.

Hope this helps

Shahinoor
ontarget
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:08 am

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by ontarget »

Thanks for the advice, shahinoor.
Can you remember if Bexley has all 21 types of verbal reasoning questions i.e. if it includes the HIKNOS questions?
shahinoor
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:00 pm

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by shahinoor »

I am not sure...and my personal opinion is practice as many
Different types of questions. In the end it should initutive
Rather than a science. If your child is able to do bond books
And gl papers by the end of august..then they pass.
(Provided they are in the catchment area)
These exams are not meant to trip kids up but are
Straightforward enough...such they should need
An over analysis of questions

Sent by htc mobile
ontarget
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:08 am

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by ontarget »

Thanks, shahinoor
christmasbonus
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 4:45 pm

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by christmasbonus »

I'm pretty certain that I looked into this when DS was preparing 2 years ago, and I think neither Bexley nor Kent did HIKNOS. That's not to say of course that they might not slip one or two in - unless the exam publishers just don't use them for some reason.
kingsgen
Posts: 121
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2010 7:02 pm

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by kingsgen »

shahinoor wrote:Hi,

Having just gone through the 11 + with my son (accepted a place in chis and sid)
I thought I would offer advise based on my experiences

1) You really need to be in the catchment area or on the borders unless you are aiming for your child to get 95%. Otherwise it is really unfair on the child to work so hard, do well in the exam only to rejected because you live too far out. Consider renting near the school or moving is my strongest recommendation.

2) I don't believe the exams are hard. Rather they just need preparation. You can teach them yourself or get a tutor. I am not a big fan of tuition groups except they give motivation studying in a group. But at that age they really need tailored tuition. (PM me if you need a tutor)

3) Bond books are fine ..if you child gets 80-90 % than he or she is ready. VR needs practice and can't really be taught. Maths needs tuition.

4) It is also worth doing the kent exams a week early...even if you have no intention of going there. It is good for practice (mock exam is not good idea as it is copy of one GL papers and therefore gives a false impression of the exams being easy)

5) Do some Mock tests under exam conditions near the end once you have covered all the syllabus.

Finally - kids develop at different ages. It may well be that your son/daughter is not ready at this age. if not send him to a good state school and get him some private tutors.

Hope this helps

Shahinoor
Hi Shahinoor,
These are very good points but I disagree that VR cannot be taught. VR can be taught but it needs a bit mastery of vocabularies by the pupil. They need a lot of practice as you have said.
Some children are good, they need less work than others, some can easily understand instruction, some can read widely so they have bank of vocabularies in their head, some can easily think like contestants in "who wants to be a millionaire", use elimination by substitution method to get the right answer and guess right. Some needs motivation and mental preparation etc. I have worked with children and still working with them. All children are not the same. There are practice papers that are more challenging than GL assessment papers. Doing well in Mock does not guarantee pass in the 11 plus as the children are aware that nothing at stake to lose but mock papers can expose their weak areas to develop on and timing as well.
Well done for self tutoring your child. I have promoted this as well. The truth is not many parents have the patience to work with their children, sometimes I have to send parents away from their children vicinity. Your points will help many. Well done once again.
shahinoor
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:00 pm

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by shahinoor »

Very valid points...originally i also wanted to add the following
But i wanted to keep the advice to 5 simple points....
(Ps i am not just a parent self teaching a child but also
A maths tutor...):

Perhaps i should add that reading lots of books should
Also be mandatory...the VR assumes a certain level of literacy
As english exams have been phased out. So getting your
Child hooked on reading will help a lot....
layla22
Posts: 116
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:48 pm

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by layla22 »

My DS is terrrible at picking up a book. You have to poke him with a stick and then he will read one page and look over the top to see if you are watching him! Yet he managed to get 96% in the Kent VR test last year. ( I did not find out about Bexley test, but he was in top 180).
To achieve this was akin to training, like an athlete- using the Bond books to go through each type of question methodically and then practicing and practicing.Added to that using Patricia's tips on short cuts, which you can find on this forum somewhere and really useful and common sense tips from I think Villagedad, again they are somewhere on this forum.
I do believe that you can teach/train a child to pass the VR and NVR for that matter. You have to start early and and have oodles and oodles of PATIENCE!!
There is so much on this forum to self help with tutoring your DCs and there are lots of us who have been through it and are willing to give back to others.
Regards Layla22
ontarget
Posts: 122
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 10:08 am

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by ontarget »

Thanks, christmasbonus
shahinoor
Posts: 101
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:00 pm

Re: my advice for kids taking 11 + bexley exams

Post by shahinoor »

Then i stand corrected...looks like people out there are teaching vr as science...
I have always believed it is more an art that you practice...
First starting on easy vr eg bond book 8-9,9-10 and then build
Up to 10-11...
Even if people are teaching vr the key to it i think we all agree is
Practice,practice,practice
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now