Hello and Practice papers question
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Hello and Practice papers question
Hello
I have been lurking and gaining some great info from this site since last Sep when my DS joined Y5. I have worked through a couple of age-related Bond books with him and he has been managing them well. I panicked about whether I was giving him the right sort of questions he will come across in the test, so I found a tutor for him after May half-term this year. She said he was doing well and showed me the sort of questions he will have. I have decided to work with him myself as I didnt really feel he was gaining anything from the tutor that I couldnt give him. He has done two of the Nelson NFER practice papers over the past two weeks (I have him and his friend round after school one eve and they work under test conditions) and he finished them both in time, gaining 85% on 11A and 90.5% on 11B. Any advice/encouragement etc would be MUCH appreciated as this is all new to me. And my question is, do the Grammar schools have any old practice papers they give out to potential students before the test in November? He will be sitting the test at Tommys. Thanks for a friendly and informative forum and I look forward to meeting other parents on here who are getting twitchy as Nov 8 draws near.
I have been lurking and gaining some great info from this site since last Sep when my DS joined Y5. I have worked through a couple of age-related Bond books with him and he has been managing them well. I panicked about whether I was giving him the right sort of questions he will come across in the test, so I found a tutor for him after May half-term this year. She said he was doing well and showed me the sort of questions he will have. I have decided to work with him myself as I didnt really feel he was gaining anything from the tutor that I couldnt give him. He has done two of the Nelson NFER practice papers over the past two weeks (I have him and his friend round after school one eve and they work under test conditions) and he finished them both in time, gaining 85% on 11A and 90.5% on 11B. Any advice/encouragement etc would be MUCH appreciated as this is all new to me. And my question is, do the Grammar schools have any old practice papers they give out to potential students before the test in November? He will be sitting the test at Tommys. Thanks for a friendly and informative forum and I look forward to meeting other parents on here who are getting twitchy as Nov 8 draws near.
Hi and welcome ziggy!
You have come to the right place for information - watch this space and I am sure you will be inundated with helpful advice!
Those scores sound fantastic - so you are clearly doing everything completely right. My DS was scoring around those marks too and he has just started Year 7 at Crypt School, the grammar of his choice.
Last year, we only received a couple of sample practice questions from Crypt (where he sat his exam), and not a full old practice paper. They do get to do some samples before the actual tests on the day as well to make them feel more at home! I am not sure whether Tommies will send out anything different this year to you.
There are some good revision and practice questions on this site - my DS used to enjoy doing these so perhaps this could be an option?
I wish your DS every luck in his exam - I know exactly how you must be feeling...I think the parents do all the worrying!! Just read back on the forum to see what some of us went through leading up to the allocation day!
You have come to the right place for information - watch this space and I am sure you will be inundated with helpful advice!
Those scores sound fantastic - so you are clearly doing everything completely right. My DS was scoring around those marks too and he has just started Year 7 at Crypt School, the grammar of his choice.
Last year, we only received a couple of sample practice questions from Crypt (where he sat his exam), and not a full old practice paper. They do get to do some samples before the actual tests on the day as well to make them feel more at home! I am not sure whether Tommies will send out anything different this year to you.
There are some good revision and practice questions on this site - my DS used to enjoy doing these so perhaps this could be an option?
I wish your DS every luck in his exam - I know exactly how you must be feeling...I think the parents do all the worrying!! Just read back on the forum to see what some of us went through leading up to the allocation day!
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;51;459/st/20080902/e/DS%27s+1st+day+at+senior/k/f5bf/event.png[/img]
PS I am Burneth and I am a lady....!
PS I am Burneth and I am a lady....!
Hi Burneth
I hope your DS is settling in well at Crypt. Fantastic that he got the school of his choice. My son went to swim lessons at Tommys when he was six and declared that this would be the school he would go to! At least that has motivated him to do the practice papers! I agree it is worse for us parents - now I know what my own parents went through! Yet I can't remember being at all bothered by what was going on myself. Oh the innocence of youth! I am wary of putting him off so he does one Bond and one Nelson over the week but I shall try and get a few more of the multiple choice papers for him.
Ziggy
I hope your DS is settling in well at Crypt. Fantastic that he got the school of his choice. My son went to swim lessons at Tommys when he was six and declared that this would be the school he would go to! At least that has motivated him to do the practice papers! I agree it is worse for us parents - now I know what my own parents went through! Yet I can't remember being at all bothered by what was going on myself. Oh the innocence of youth! I am wary of putting him off so he does one Bond and one Nelson over the week but I shall try and get a few more of the multiple choice papers for him.
Ziggy
Are you going to do the rounds with all of the Schools (grammar/comps) over the next few weeks at the open evenings? It is good to check out all your options - however they are very busy and it is often better to go during the day as well.
Yes, DS is very much enjoying his new school - let's hope it continues!
I don't actually think my parents went through what I did...even though I went to a grammar school, I don't recall doing any sort of test for it...it must have been during the school day!
Yes, DS is very much enjoying his new school - let's hope it continues!
I don't actually think my parents went through what I did...even though I went to a grammar school, I don't recall doing any sort of test for it...it must have been during the school day!
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;51;459/st/20080902/e/DS%27s+1st+day+at+senior/k/f5bf/event.png[/img]
PS I am Burneth and I am a lady....!
PS I am Burneth and I am a lady....!
Thanks for your replies everyone. It does make me feel better when I read how everyone copes. We are going to look around several schools as we havent been to any of them before. We hear so many things about different schools - good and bad. I guess all we can do is look, get a feel for the place and of course, it helps if we know our children well too. My priority is getting him into a school where he will be happy and enjoy his education. I heard the Bond papers are a good resource too. Any one agree/disagree before I buy them next Wednesday?
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Hi and welcome!
I would agree with everything that has already been said.We didn't use the Bond papers-but we did use Susan Daughtrey Bright Sparks and Walsh(my DS found Walsh quite challenging!).The Susan Daughtrey books 1-8 are good for practicing various types of questions that they find hard,but they do have types in there that will not be found on the actual paper,so you have to be selective.
GM
I would agree with everything that has already been said.We didn't use the Bond papers-but we did use Susan Daughtrey Bright Sparks and Walsh(my DS found Walsh quite challenging!).The Susan Daughtrey books 1-8 are good for practicing various types of questions that they find hard,but they do have types in there that will not be found on the actual paper,so you have to be selective.
GM