summer prep

[Miltonkeynes1]

Hi All,
It's ever so quiet on here. I hope all is going well for those with DC's sitting the exams in September.
I found this site was invaluable when my DC's were taking their entrance exams.
Good luck all!

[wangxiaosara]

Wow, first post since May! My ds1 went through the journey last year and due to start year 7 in September. My next round will be in 3 years time. Good luck to all DC who are entering the test this year.

[Catseye]

We are happy to give advice but since no one wants it I assume everything is going swimmingly.

Good luck to all.

[rog369]

Hi
It has been a long time since I last posted on the Trafford forum - about 7 years in fact!

My youngest is now in the 11+ process and will be sitting exams this September for Sep 2018 entry. First choice is AGGS with SGS as second. DS1 went to AGSB and DS2 is at SGS. I've followed the DIY route this time (eldest had a tutor, second time round was also diy). This has worked really well for us. DD is compliant and also very motivated.

I thought I would post to let others know what prep we're doing over summer hols. Apart from a week's holiday when no work will be done I am planning about 1 hour per day on week days only. Over the last year we've completed the CGP 9-10 and 10-11 practice books and S and S Maths Progress Papers 1 and English Progress Papers 1 as well as targeting specific maths topics. We are now using the 10 min tests ( CGP, Bond, FPTP) with timed CEM papers as well. DD did a mock at end of July and scored very well which was a great confidence boost (for both of us!) DD does find the CEM timing very difficult for the maths and NVR so we are focusing on these areas predominantly. However as DD prefers the verbal work I'm making sure we do a bit of that as well. With regard to the timed tests we've done several different ones (Letts, Newell and online). Results have been good and I now going to throw in some Bond and CGP ones. I've held back on these as they look harder to me (and the CGP timing on maths and nvr looks insane). Hopefully DD will maintain her good levels but I'm not going to be too concerned if there is a dip in performance. From reading other posts this seems quite common.

As well as 11+ prep I'm making sure that DD has lots of fun as well. At the end of the day she's only 10 and needs to be able to relax over the summer. Year 5 has been an intense school year and she needs to wind down and recharge the batteries.

It would be great to hear from other Trafford parents over these final few weeks.

[Turtledove]

hi, just wondered how you found ABSB and SGS and what noticeable difference where there between the 2 if any?

[Trafmum82]

Hi, I have a DS sitting the exam in Sept, all feels a bit daunting right now! I have only just found this forum, so might be a bit late in the day, but any advice you are willing to pass on would be fab! At the moment my DC struggles with timings so I'm trying to work on that with him over the summer. Feels like an uphill battle at the moment!

[Trafmum82]

Prep wise we are doing 3 of the 10 min tests each day (so 30 mins) and he is doing 30 mins of reading every evening (vocabulary is the part he scores lowest, so trying to brush up a bit!). I don't want him to feel like he has to sit at a desk for hours on end over the school holidays, so trying not to do too much!

I have a few CGP mock tests for the CEM, so I was thinking of doing one a week in the run up to the exam, just to give him an idea of what to expect.

[wangxiaosara]

Which school does he aiming for?

[Itsallnew2me]

Hi, first post but have read as many as I can before asking questions.
We are out of catchment, so appreciate chances are slim to get in any schools, but DS loved St Ambrose and AGSBafter attending the open days... So up for being pushed to study over the holidays given the short time available.
Have a few questions if anyone is able to help....
I've bought a number of GL question packs, all exams are 50 mins long... Will the real exams be 3 x 50 mins?
St Ambrose mention an 'arithmetic' exam... I can't find specific arithmetic papers or other schools referring to this, only maths... Am I missing something, why have they named it arithmetic? Will practicing the maths papers be adiquate prep?
Should I buy the technique books? Or will practicing with papers be enough, I'm worried about running out of GL ones, are others suitable?
I have no idea what the creative writing exam element at AGSB will be like or how to prepare my son, does anyone have any tips please?

Many thanks

[wangxiaosara]

Hi, first post but have read as many as I can before asking questions.
We are out of catchment, so appreciate chances are slim to get in any schools, but DS loved St Ambrose and AGSBafter attending the open days... So up for being pushed to study over the holidays given the short time available.
Have a few questions if anyone is able to help....
I've bought a number of GL question packs, all exams are 50 mins long... Will the real exams be 3 x 50 mins?
St Ambrose mention an 'arithmetic' exam... I can't find specific arithmetic papers or other schools referring to this, only maths... Am I missing something, why have they named it arithmetic? Will practicing the maths papers be adiquate prep?
Should I buy the technique books? Or will practicing with papers be enough, I'm worried about running out of GL ones, are others suitable?
I have no idea what the creative writing exam element at AGSB will be like or how to prepare my son, does anyone have any tips please?

Many thanks

Ds didn't sit St Ambrose exam, but for AGSB, it will be a 50 minutes math paper, a 50 minutes verbal reasoning paper, a 20 minutes non verbal reasoning paper and a 30 minutes creative writing. According to my ds, the math paper in the actual exam is much harder than the GL practice paper. Hope this helps.