New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

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ahap
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New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by ahap »

Quite an old news but here it is..
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/ ... _plus.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
'What we have learned is like a handful of earth; What we have yet to learn is like the whole world.' Auvaiyaar.
mystery
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by mystery »

Very old news. We haven't heard the ending yet. They went out to tender ages ago but no contract has been awarded so far as we know (yet). And saying like sats was a bit misleading too. The tender document on here somewhere did not make them sound like sats.
TBB
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by TBB »

Update on new provider of Kent Test: for anyone interested, follow this link to view the Kent tender document details. After loading the link, scroll down to the bottom of the page for attachment: "Final tender document". https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/p ... plier_home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NB The deadline for tender is 10.09.13, so we won't know who new provider will be until after this date!
mystery
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by mystery »

Oh. Wonder why the previous tender exercise failed and why this is a one year contract and the last one was for three years.
mystery
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by mystery »

The documentation that TBB has referred us to now shows Mandatory and Non-Mandatory requirements and how the tenders will be evaluated. There is a scoring system for the responses to the non-mandatory requirements.

Mandatory is:

"Two tests are required appropriate to a grammar school selection process for children at the start of year 6 .... to assess children's ability in numeracy, literacy and reasoning skills in September, taking account as appropriate of National Curriculum expectations"


Non-mandatory includes things such as:

- reusable familiarisation materials
- multiple choice format
-security of the main tests
- all test items new to Kent each year and if it is necessary to compile Kent's tests from a pool or bank of suitable materials, these should not previously have been supplied to Admission Authorities in Kent or neighbouring geographical areas
fatbananas
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by fatbananas »

So does that mean, as with Bucks, that DC are only tested on a curriculum they've been taught until the end of year 5?

And whatever appears in Bexley test won't appear in Kent (as it's neighbouring), but what might appear in Birmingham or Bucks might appear in Kent Test?
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mystery
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by mystery »

This year 5 work business is very unclear; G55 is adamant that there is such a thing as a year 5 syllabus in primary maths and literacy in Bucks schools, but I certainly do not get that impression here in Kent.

If CEM becomes the provider of choice, have you read the Bexley familiarisation papers? They are on the Council website and linked to from the Bexley forum on here. Maybe I'm feeling pessimistic but even in those (and Bexley is not superselective is it?) the standard of receptive English vocabulary looks extremely high to me - certainly far higher than material they read even with the top groups in year 6 at our school, and the example comprehension question is pretty tricky - think a lot of pretty intelligent adults would fall foul of the example given. There is a thread on the Bexley familiarisation papers but everyone in Bexley seems to have gone a bit quiet on it .... seems like CEM leads to less parental co-operation than the previous system! Perhaps everyone is just dumbfounded, I don't know.

The Bucks familiarisation papers are not here.

Yes it does look as though questions could be recycled (in a way, how could they not be - it would be phenomenally expensive to bring out well-tested original questions year on year on year - it takes three years to develop KS2 tests). But this does not mean, if we had CEM, that you are going to find chunks from the Bucks paper in Kent the following year or vice versa. It just means that over time some questions from a bank would be used in both places.
fatbananas
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by fatbananas »

I suppose once it's announced who the provider is, that would be the time to gain some clarity over year 5 work etc., either from schools or from KCC.

It's a real pain in the proverbial that we have to wait until September. I wonder if they just didn't like any of the proposals from providers and have asked them to go away and think again. Bexley only found out in December or January (I think I remember reading somewhere) that they were changing to CEM in September. I guess the longer they leave it before they announce the provider, the less specifically-tutorable time (ie tutoring for a specific test, be it CEM, GL etc.) there is before the test, and that's what KCC wanted :roll: .
Seize the day ... before it seizes you.
mystery
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by mystery »

I don't know if that's the reason. But if it is, it is a this year only benefit unless they go for a procurement exercise every year and don't award the contract until October every time, which does not sound too desirable from lots of different points of view.

Yes, Bexley parents seemed to be told in January, but when was the contract actually awarded?

Yes it is a pain. If they scrapped the last tender exercise, they could scrap this one. Maybe they can reappoint GL assessment to do the same old thing much later in the day than they have said before. So then the people who have just carried on blasting through GL assessment type stuff oblivious to potential change will have had an advantage. And there are certainly Kent heads and ex-heads involved in tutoring companies that do this.

It's impossible to make this thing fair.

I really don't think there will be clarity over "year 5 work" either from schools or KCC. My personal view is it's a bit of nonsense to make things sound fair.
Okanagan
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Re: New 11+ exams will be like Sats says Kent CC

Post by Okanagan »

I'm just wondering if the new timings are because they want representatives from the grammars on the procurement panel, and doing that in the school holidays wasn't going to work. Now they're doing the selection early in the new term it will be easier to have the schools involved.
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