Sort of new...and so many questions!

Eleven Plus (11+) in Essex

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bravado
Posts: 468
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:28 am

Sort of new...and so many questions!

Post by bravado »

Hello - I've dipped into the forum from time-to-time for about 3 years but decided to take the plunge, so "hello" :D

My DD is 10 and currently in Yr 5. She's been voluntarily and gleefully doing the Bond Assessment Maths and Verbal Reasoning papers since she was 5 - entirely her choice as she loved them :D She called them quizzes and constantly asked me if she could do more. She wants to go to CoCHS so she'll be sitting the 11+ in September - wish there was a nail-biting emoticon lol!

I've got so many questions: should I put them here or should I try and put them in the relevant sections?
For example

1. I tutored her elder sister myself and I've been tutoring her from the beginning and I was wondering how many other Essex children have won places to CoCHS with only home-tutoring?

2. I was also wondering what last year's pass marks were for the 3 papers and whether they change each year according to the average attained? Is 79% - 90% per paper enough?

3. It was her choice to attempt her first CSSE past papers in all three disciplines last week, we timed them strictly and under exam conditions. She completed the English and VR but left out 2 Maths questions - should we be further along, preparation-wise and speed it up or are we racing too far-ahead?

4. She copes really well with any format of VR question but which technique book do Essex parents/tutors recommend ie GL Assessment, IPS, Bond or Susan Daughtrey's?

5. I don't want her to peak too soon or to feel inundated - however I'm torn by the fact that she has a voracious appetite to learn and do the 11+ work - should I let her do as much as she wants..which is loads?

I've got loads more questions - is there an etiquette for the number of queries one can put on here lol?
Thanks
Last edited by bravado on Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:50 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Minesatea
Posts: 1234
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:08 am

Re: Sort of new...and so many questions!

Post by Minesatea »

Hello,

- Yes my older two Dc's are both at Colchester grammar schools having "only" been home tutored. Personally, provided you can work well with your DC, I think it can be better.

- The pass marks do vary from year to year, especially the raw marks, depending on the difficulty of the papers. DD had the first of the "new format" English papers 2 years ago and many children got a place with less than 50% on that paper. The VR is the most important and you need to be looking at a high percentage in that. The slight problem with predicting marks required for next year is that no-one knows what effect the Chelmsford catchment area will have on applications to the Colchester schools. There seems to be 2 theories at the school gate - 1) that more Chelmsford children will get into the Chelmsford schools instead of Colchester thus reducing the pass mark for Colchester or 2) All the children that would have applied to Chelmsford but are now out of catchment will apply to Colchester instead and so the Colchester pass mark will go up!

- sounds fine to me

- there is a good post on this somewhere I will look ,but NOT Bond. Personally I used GL assessment and Walsh but I know some people feel Walsh are very hard, DD felt they were more the standard of the real thing though.

- I would think as long as she is happy thats fine!

-No! :D




edited to correct typo!
Last edited by Minesatea on Mon Jun 11, 2012 12:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Minesatea
Posts: 1234
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:08 am

Re: Sort of new...and so many questions!

Post by Minesatea »

This is last years scores thread. I think the last place offered to Colchester girls in March was somewhere around the 150 -160 position.

http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... 15&t=24554

21 type VR papers:
In ascending order of difficulty:

IPS
Letts
Learning Labs
Lucky Gecko
Susan Daughtrey
GL Assessment
Walsh
aang
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 1:41 pm

Re: Sort of new...and so many questions!

Post by aang »

Welcome to the forums :-)

I agree with Minesatea's responses. Lots of Essex children are home tutored and successful.

There are no pass marks as such. It is the overall rank/score that is important, and that is a combined score of the three papers as well as going through a process called standardisation. For indicative purposes, for the 2011 exam for entry in 2012/13, based on the scores posted in this forum, we know that any score above 331.614 resulted in an automatic offer from ColCHS (the actual cut-off could have been slightly lower). This overall score was built up of 30/50 English (60%), 22/40 Maths (49%) and 59/80 VR (74%). Another pupil achieved an overall score of 332.584 built up of 29/50 English (58%), 26/40 Maths (58%) and 57/80 VR (71%). If your child is getting 79% per paper, then that would easily be enough (although bear in mind that we never see the actual VR paper).

It is misleading to look at an average percentage as papers can vary from year to year, and weighting and standardisation will show a very different overall picture. My two cents is that the verbal reasoning paper counts double and so is more important, and many of the VR techniques are not taught at school and can be improved via practice. For most successful applicants, the child should be aiming for scores in VR of 70%+ in exam, and 80%+ in practice.

Slow and steady wins the race in the maths paper. Last year's format was different in that there were sub-sections to questions and if you got the early parts wrong, then forget about the later part. Having said that, there are no points deductions for wrong answers and with practice, pupils should be able to complete every paper - the VR is the one that is more stressful in terms of time management.

I would suggest you number your questions within a post so that people can respond easier. Feel free to ask lots of questions as there are many people here who are happy to share their knowledge and expereince.
bravado
Posts: 468
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 11:28 am

Re: Sort of new...and so many questions!

Post by bravado »

aang wrote:Welcome to the forums :-)


I would suggest you number your questions within a post so that people can respond easier. Feel free to ask lots of questions as there are many people here who are happy to share their knowledge and expereince.
Point noted lol! :oops: I have to say that in my day-to-day work I always number issues/queries etc for clarity and ease of response... but I only meant to enter a few things in my initial post...and got carried away lol!


As far as point 4 is concerned - which books are particularly recommended for the theory or explanation of technique for 21 VR questions, as opposed to practice?
I'm pretty confident that we've covered a huge amount of ground but I want to make sure she's confident and familiar :wink: I may be missing some pivotal, utterly fantastic explanation that could save her some precious time in the VR exam cos I know that so much of it (and the Maths and English) is about time-management as much as anything else. She's really hot on time-management already but I'd love to get those dreaded code questions "boxed off" :lol: Sometimes I can't see the answer and I love VR!

Thanks Minesatea and aang - very much appreciated :)
Minesatea
Posts: 1234
Joined: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:08 am

Re: Sort of new...and so many questions!

Post by Minesatea »

I used a method book by the tutors but I can't seem to find it advertised any more. IPS do one that should be the correct types.

This is the list of types you need.
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/advice ... t-a-glance
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