Where do I find the 11+ thread?

Giles did you get the link in your confirmation email to the familiarisation booklet? It looks like it is s combo of own sneers and multiple choice.

Oops dd. The exam my dd sat will be entirely different so go by the comments on the eleven plus forum will be more likely to be correct for your area.

Familiarisation

Blimey alot to wade through.

From.what I can.make out it's a CD and individually timed sections but doesn't state if it's the book style 5mins to 15 questions or the timings stated in the pp.

Still some debate on whether it's multiple choice or not.

Guess will find out Tuesday as it's the administration then.

Hopefully dd can follow the instructions

Giles Maths, English and Verbal were separate exams of about 25min each. The NVR were short timed sections. You need to know the format for your exam though as different regions have different formats (well your ds, but feels like you). Make sure you have looked here www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/11plus/index.php for your region.

I've realised I haven't yet asked DSs school to sign his ID doc.

Damn it...

We are screwed

Lots of individually timed sections I believe (can't get much out of DD!)

Was it lots of individually timed sections or 50 mins to do whole thing?

@Gileswithachainsaw, word on the street on the playground in Kent was that the English section was 'ok', the maths was much harder than usual and that non-verbal reasoning was ok as well.
The essay question choices (not sure if you have these) were uninspiring.

My DD managed to answer all of the questions in the time. She didn't have any tutoring but we did practice papers at home throughout the summer holidays (10 mins a day and a couple of timed tests the week before). Hopefully that should reassure anyone whose children have had more 'input'.

Whether she answered them correctly remains to be seen

I wonder if there is any question overlap between counties?

Im not sure I could pass myself either

Should say I am not sure that she would figure that out by herself but it has boosted my maths knowledge.

Giles you know that you have done too much 11plus prep when you immediately think 'well that would be 6 triangles which would be 3 rectangles which you can push together. Divide the height in half to find out the length of the large rectangle then divide the area by the length to find the width, then multiply by two.' I reckon that working with dd has pushed back my Alzheimer's diagnosis by a few months at least .

She said that the test was easier than the practice papers, but she is notorious for making simple mistakes and seeing a trap and leaping straight into it. CEM seems harder than GL. Just tell him to do his best and you are proud of him.

If it's like that we r fucked

The CEM maths is impossible we just looked at one that was asking the perimeter of a shape made out of hexagonal. It gave the area of the hexagon and the height.

I don't recall ever learning bow to work out the area of a hexagon the Google search showed some really weird formula and I'd have never thought to divide it into triangles.

I'm no carol vordeman but I'm not exactly phoebe from friends either.

And 5 mins to answer 10-15 questions?

All if which take multiple steps to work out?

Wtf

DS sat SW Herts yesterday and will also sit Bucks. We were also using the CEM books (which we also found hard). DS said it was "ok" whatever that means, but he definitely had more time (he says) than that given in the CEM practice papers. Having said that, he is someone who sometimes makes silly errors even when he has got extra time!

Don't know why, but I have a feeling he will find Bucks harder. Anyone around whose DC sat Bucks last year?
I do find them very organised, offering a practice test etc.

Those who kids have just taken it can you shed any light on just how "hard" it is?

We are bucks so not sure how much a difference that makes however my dd has been practicing on the bond11+ website and when I compare it to the CEM books we also have the books are alot harder.

Im.now worried that all the practice has been pretty much a waste of time if it's going to be more like in the books as...

The email with SET info is due out on or about Tuesday, a week in advance. Not much notice though!

We've got 6 spaces the form, lots of local schools, very few of which we're close enough to to get a place. Planning on seeing about 6 over the next few weeks though.

We are looking at every school in the area, 6 in total I think. Who knows where DD might end up so decided better to look at them all.

Gosh Rue they are leaving it late to notify you! Wasn't there an email or something? I would start badgering them tomorrow.

We've got 9 days to go till the Sutton SET, my nerves are starting to shred but DC seems unbothered so far. I'm sure there's chat at school about it though.

We don't yet know the time or venue of the SET, either - it would help me quite a lot if they'd at least tell us that much!

If you're looking at grammars, how many other schools are you going to look round? We have an open evening to go to the same night as the SET, which isn't great, and lots of evenings between the SET and the 2nd stage are taken up with open evenings too.

It is hard not to let ones own secondary experiences affect ones judgment. I went to a huge comprehensive which was socially beneficial overall but a disaster academically. Many kids had behavioural problems which affected teaching. Knives, violence and high level disruption were common, as was bullying.
I came through it ok and wasn't bullied but it took years longer than it should have to get myself to where I wanted to be academically and eventually, professionally.
I don't want DS (gentle, bit quirky, a bit of a dreamer) to go through the same thing, but I'm also conscious that although the system is unfair, there is some amazing teaching going on in state secondary schools, especially if you live in a high population area.
My cousin is at a well regarded boys' county grammar and I have noticed a growing tendency he has to be very self-critical and he seems less comfortable in his own skin (could be just teenage stuff too I guess).
As many say, it is all about finding the right school. We do however need really good BS detectors because as Hidden says, you don't truly know until the child is at the school.
I still hate NVR by the way. :( : / : ) ; ) ??

My fantasy ideal is that my kids will be in the environment that supports them to do their best and facilities happiness

Be lovely wouldn't it.

Shame reality is often the stresses of tests and a "choice" between schools they won't cope at or a scholl where 60 percent of kids don't get a-cs...

Tell me about it. We too want to keep options open, hence DS is doing the 11+, but we decided not to apply to the most local boys' grammar which is very popular because, having researched it and speaking to a friend whose DS is there, I consider it an exam factory with deficiencies in their pastoral care.

My fantasy ideal is that my kids will be in the environment that supports them to do their best and facilities happiness. But clearly I get caught up in what is or isn't a 'good' school, what is or isn't 'success' and my own secondary school experience. I think the local grammar would be right for DD. I think secondary might suit DC2 better (worried perfectionist). But who on earth really knows. I think if I had been in your situation I would also have let my DC make a final choice. You can only try your best at this parenting malarkey!