which papers are best for plymouth?

[span]

We are preparing for Plymouth 11 plus in Jan. I can't work out which are the best books and papers to match the real test. Everyone says save NFER for last few weeks, got them ready and waiting. Till then, don't know what to do ? Have got Tutors vocab builder but my daughter is finding some of it very hard. Other bits 90% - how worried shoud I be?

[Mad Mum]

Hi, are you using a Tutor or coaching yourself? We had a tutor for our daughter who gave her a short test each week until the last few months. In addition to this I trawled the internet sites for all the free exam papers (there's loads of them!) and she did these timed tests in between her weekly visit to her tutor. I didn't buy any other books/papers apart from this. Is your son/daughter doing the Mock exam at Devonport Boys in October I think it is?

My daughters tutor was very keen to build her up slowly and not have her burn out too soon from too much practise and exam stress. It really seemed to work and I would say that she was at her optimum prime when the exam came around in January.

Have you downloaded the free papers from this site?

[span]

Thanks for your reply, madmum, I am trying not to get stressed, and failing, I think. We have a tutor, but it's very low key, haven't started even short tests yet. This week, I think we have reached burnout and so decided to take a break and haven't done any work at all. No idea if that is a good idea- just going on instinct.
Got practice paper at DHSG tomorrow - first year they have offered one, I think. I have used some free papers and stuff which are great. My concern is the varying scores, ranging from 95% to 72% and she isn't aware of when the paper went well or not.
Have decided to spend lots of time doing other stuff together over weekend and then hope she is refreshed to re-start practice next week.
Hope your daughter is happy in year 7.

[Guest]

Hi span, I think you are absolutely right to take time out - you will have a much better idea of how your daughter is going to be under exam conditions once she has done the mock paper. My daughter passed but only by a few marks and then went on to get a good score in the actual 11+. Don't be put off if her scores aren't as high as you hoped for, its only a bench mark and you still have 3 whole months to go over areas that need a bit of work.

Good luck for tomorrow, I think the anticipation is actually worse than the exam! (at least for us mums anyway!)

[span]

Thanks guest. I am glad we have taken a break. The primary school are not exactly supportive and she is the only girl taking exam so feels a bit isolted BUT she really wants to go to DHSG or Plymouth High .
Off to pick her up now and be smiley and relaxed!

[plymouthmum]

I've heard a rumour of a tutor in Plymouth with a 100% success rate for DHSB but no longer have the number of the person who told me about her. What do you reckon? Myth? Legend?
Any recommendations based on past experience for me???

[Hope]

I'm under the impression all tutors say they have a 100% success rate. Do they tell you about the children they decide won't pass and so do not want to tutor them? Probably not! Some tutors use the mock 11+ to decide which children they want to continue with, dropping others they've tutored for months. Statistics can always be manipulated and at the end of the day they're trying to make a living so won't tell you about their failures!!

[Guest]

isn't that the idea of a tutor?

Surely what you are paying for is help and advice,if their pupils ate failing they are not doing their job,I would rather be told if my child had little chance of passing,hence why MOST tutors can honestly say they have a 100% pass rate,this isn't to say if your child is accepted to be tutored they are gaurenteed to pass.

At least with a tutor you get accurate information unlike like the parents of untutored children who only see what they want to and think their children are amazing.
The amount of parents heard to be saying'my daughter/son got ...in the mock and they havn't even got a tutor,they must be soooo clever'

when really the parents are tutoring the kids much more intensively one on one,of course they choose not to acknowledge this........

[c00k1e]

Hi, nice to log in and see all you other mums in the same boat as me out there. My 12 yr old daughter is at a comp but I want my sons to go to DHSB, particularly for my 10 year old as I feel it is a better environment for him and he would thrive. I might be wrong! Any how, I am at present going over sample papers from internet with him. He's doing quite well, 22 out of 40 for the non verbal reasoning. I guess this isn't high enough to get him in based on that alone. I myself find the verbal reasoning quite difficult! The two letter patterns got to us all! To get to the point, I heard that DHSB have a different set of papers and do not include non-verbal reasoning, can anyone confirm this? I found the schools admission line very unhelpful and biased, telling me I wasn't to tutor my son at all! I think we all know that puts us in an instant unlevel playing field.......
I am going to call up a tutor today and start the ball rolling there. I think the only thing that scares him is that he is the only one seemingly from his class to go for this and he's not familiar with 'exam conditions'. Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.

[c00k1e]

I forgot to ask if anyone knows how I can source a good tutor for 11+ in Saltash area, as I'm having trouble finding one who isn't fully booked! Have I left it too late???