Which practise papers should I buy?

[Guest]

My son is taking the Kent test in January. I've bought seom NFER test papers (11c) but there doesn't seem to be a lot of choice in the shops and I can see a time when he's done the ones I've bought and will remember the answers!

I've had a look at the ones on sale here but am totally confused! I don't want to buy the wrong ones, so can someone please point me in the right direction? I've been told he needs the NFER multiple choice papers, but is there anything else similar I can buy for him to practise?

Thanks!

[reddebs]

Bond assessment papers are excellent. I have used these for both my children and get them to do 10mins each day in VR/NVR/Maths/English - 1 each day that is - not all on the same day!

They come in age grouos and are available online from Amazon, Tesco and their own website,
I also find ebay a great source for cheap practice bits and bobs - lots availabe free on the web too if you are willing to search.

Deb

[TEESA]

I know how it is.All the trial and error method..cost me two thousand pounds.No private teacher.
Those books are very good but you need to start early.Year three is best age to start.
Check this website if I were you.January just around the corner.

[yoyo123]

I don't think ther is any need to start in year 3. As long as you make sure that the child has quick recall of tables, understands teh techniques and methods of vr and is familiar with teh papers. The Tutors cd1 is good for Kent, it covers practice of each type . We only do 15 in Kent. There is no English paper but pupils each do a pieceof writing which will be looked at if teh child is borderline. Teh cd2 is not so good for Kent as it is complete test and covers teh 21 types of question. Look on teh home page and click on advice, that shows what is included in teh test.\ I found teh tutors maths cds useful too. Nfer papers are good as they set teh Kent test and teh vr covers all the types of question used here.

There are alos some useful downloads of useful words and some compund words with ideas for games.

[Guest]

I know how it is.All the trial and error method..cost me two thousand pounds.No private teacher.
Those books are very good but you need to start early.Year three is best age to start.
Check this website if I were you.January just around the corner.

Argh!!!! Year three?! Well, I've missed my slot there and, as you say, January is just around the corner so shoot me now!

[Anne42]

You are dong exactly the same as me , came on this site & started panicking .
My daughter takes it next month , but we've only just started practising . If she's good enough to pass she will , shouldn't need years of tutoring .

[Guest]

You are dong exactly the same as me , came on this site & started panicking .
My daughter takes it next month , but we've only just started practising . If she's good enough to pass she will , shouldn't need years of tutoring .

Those are my thoughts, really. Although I'm slowly beginning to realise that I am probably in theminority in the playground! How naive of me! There have been lots of tutoring and coaching chats going on around me. Still, my boy is bright so hopefully he will be OK. Definitely needs to practise though.

Thanks!

[Guest]

There is plenty of time before the 11+ in January if you are looking to start practising now.
The only subject in which you could be pushed is maths IF your child is very behind in what they have done at school. Please bear in mind, however, that they do not need to have covered every subject to pass the Kent test; you will hear people on this site saying "algebra is key" and such like. Rubbish- you could miss out the couple of questions which feature simple algebra, get another handful wrong, and still score 140.
As far as the reasoning papers are concerned- Well it's a bit like that "brain gym" or whatever it's called which you can get for a Nintendo DS. A bit of practice quickly gets your speed up. You would need a very high boredom threshold, however, to practice for more than the 3 months left!

[yoyo123]

absolutely!

read the advice on this board...

if you are confident and know your child(which I am sure you do),there is plenty of advice and help.

I really do not believe that you need to start in year 3 that is scare mongering.

I speak as a parent of 2 grammar school pupils, who is a tutor and a primary school teacher, ex senco and G&T co -ordinator.

We are fortunate in this part of kent (the Kent test part!) in that grammar schools are widespread and there is not the horrendous hothousing that necessitates tutoring from year 3.

PM me if you need any help or advice..I am happy to help!

[Guest]

We didn't even start with practise papers before this time last year (Around half term October) when my son was in year 6. We took a complete break at Christmas and only had one last 'go' at each paper in the first week of the Jan term- in the week before the actual tests.
He passed just fine and is now happy at his Grammar school.
Some children may need a bit more or less practise than others- so don't go panicking that you didn't start sooner. The thought of coaching my son from year 3 makes me shudder!

(Kent Mum- forgot to log in!!!)