Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

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cookie1
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jun 16, 2019 7:21 am

Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by cookie1 »

Hi All,

My DC is sitting the 11plus exam this September.

I was wondering if anyone has any top exam tips! any would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tranquility
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2018 10:33 pm

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by Tranquility »

I would suggest about 5 hours per day over August. That's what most children end up doing. Although the parents will always claim that their child did 20 minutes a day. It's dog eat dog I'm afraid, trench warfare. Dig in and good luck.
hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by hermanmunster »

Tranquility wrote:I would suggest about 5 hours per day over August. That's what most children end up doing. Although the parents will always claim that their child did 20 minutes a day. It's dog eat dog I'm afraid, trench warfare. Dig in and good luck.
Not sure that everyone would agree - though some might :wink: interesting to hear other thoughts
Lawmonkey
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2018 10:59 am

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by Lawmonkey »

Five hours a day would have driven my daughter into a nervous breakdown! At this stage last year we did half an hour of past papers a few times a week, with lots of normal relaxing fun summer holiday activities. We did all we could to take the pressure off her and reassured her this exam was not the be all and end all. Our goal was to make sure she was confident in the format of the exam and relaxed and in a good frame of mind to sit it.

Obviously every child is different, of course.
ToadMum
Posts: 11945
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by ToadMum »

Tranquility wrote:I would suggest about 5 hours per day over August. That's what most children end up doing. Although the parents will always claim that their child did 20 minutes a day. It's dog eat dog I'm afraid, trench warfare. Dig in and good luck.
The question for any parent that does that is, what makes you think that your DC is suited to a grammar school education, if you genuinely think that that is the only thing that is going to get them a sufficient score in the exam? How are they going to cope when their teachers just zip along, only explaining things once, or at most, twice?

One can only hope that they will cope just fine, because they did demonstrate their true ability in doing well in the exam, despite their parents' paranoia / lack of confidence in them.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
mike1880
Posts: 2563
Joined: Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:51 pm

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by mike1880 »

If you're making your child do 5 hours a day I think you need to think very hard about yourself and the effect your approach to life is having on your child. Child mental health is a rising problem in this country and it's easy to see why that might be.
SVK
Posts: 81
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:04 pm

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by SVK »

I think it all depends on how much preparation had been done ahead of this final month. Every child is different in term of preparation needs and motivation. For most child that had been preparing since start of year 5, this is the time to do some light revision, keep calm and stay focus.
JM40
Posts: 91
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2019 10:11 pm

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by JM40 »

As mentioned above, it can feel rather like an arms race. We are doing 30-60 minutes most days, a mix of practice tests and revision/consolidation of the areas DD finds hardest. Whether this is too much or not enough remains to be seen in October...

However in terms of tips, we’ve found that straight after breakfast is by far the best time slot for getting work done, as then the rest of the day can be spent on something fun.

I’d recommend also ensuring that DC doesn’t think passing 11+ is the be all and end all. We are taking every opportunity to talk up positives about our preferred local comprehensive eg. Interesting extracurricular opportunities, other children we know who go there, easy commute. I’d also consider a treat/reward for sitting the exam, rather than for the result, to reinforce that we are proud of our DC for working hard and doing their best. Passing should be it’s own reward.

Good luck. I’m sure the next month will fly by for everyone.
Pkaur
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:12 am

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by Pkaur »

5 hours?? gosh I am lucky if my son (who sits exam this September), will do 1 hour a day of study....He has started prep the beginning of year 5 so now its just past mock exams and trying to fill any gaps in knowledge. Vocab is the hardest as there is so many words in the english language of course and you cant know every word at this age and its meaning. So we can only hope the words he has learnt from a core set come up. On past mock exams his marks have gradually improved to the 75-85% level and he has done a few mock exams at a local centre too.

I can't give tips as this is our first go at 11 plus. But what I would say is do some mock papers, identify areas of weakness and make a crib sheet of these areas to look through a week or 2 before the exam. We constantly add to my son's crib sheet as we go along. Good luck to everyone too.
MathsMonster
Posts: 59
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:51 pm

Re: Sept 2019 11plus exam - top tips anyone?

Post by MathsMonster »

Every child is different, but I would advise little and often with maths to make sure they are not forgetting in between. Over the summer we did timed ten minutes of work every day of Schofield & Simms book 5 working through the book (I would do 15 mins if your child has not done any preparation or tuition yet and you're cramming). The schofield and simms books are great for all the maths skills needed including the wordy questions. I would get the answer book so you can mark it too. After every ten minutes, put a line under it and count how many questions they have completed and date it. Over the weeks they will realise they are getting quicker and quicker. Whether they pass or not, these books will prepare them very well for the next stage. I'm afraid i'm not qualified to advise on English skills.

Then in the last week of the summer I would do a paper each day timing the sections properly (I liked the Letts papers), I would mix up between CEM Letts papers, and Bond papers if they are very able. Bond papers are quite hard and can knock confidence a bit, so maybe try one to start, but prepare them for the fact that its harder. Once terms started we did half a paper, timed, every evening until the exam.

Most important thing at this stage I think is to be relaxed and encouraging, this can only help them to do their best.

It is true that many children do hours, and it does seem to get results, particularly for children who are borderline. Personally it wouldn't have worked for us as we had such a long day all year commuting, later school day and so much homework (non 11 plus) every night that a real break was needed, but it does work for some.
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