3+ 4+ 5+ 7+ support thread 2015

[mumteacher]

I started the below thread last year and have had so many people find it useful I thought it might be worth doing it again.

I have had a number of messages asking if I have any spaces in my classes. I'm really sorry but I have been at full capacity for some time now.

However, I do appreciate that this is a very stressful time of year for parents who have children sitting these private school assessments in January. So, I'm hoping that by setting up this support group thread I can help by answering some questions you have about these assessments.

Hopefully this thread will also contain some useful insight from the experiences of parents who have already been through the process.

I agree.

Although cliptea you should work towards the end goal being that Ds is being able to do 45 mins of maths, 40 mins of comp, 30 mins of story writing with some 20 mins of mental maths too.

Of course you're a year away and should build up to this and there will be 15-20 mins breaks during the morning of assessments.

Also I do say to parents school if your school isn't preparing your child towards the assessment then consider how much time should be spent on school hw and how much emphasis needs to be put on work that will aid prep for the assessments.

Thanks Brightideas and mumteacher. DS is applying for Colet Court, WUS, KCJS, Latymer Prep and Wetherby Prep. Latymer and Wetherby are our fall back options and we will be thrilled if DS gets an offer to CC, WUS or KCJS. Apart from Bond books are there any other textbooks you recommend? Do the boys need to be working at 9-10 years by the time of the 7+ to have any chance of getting an offer?

8-9+
Go easy. Be wary of overwhelming your son and putting so much pressure on him that he becomes reluctant and disinterested. Success tends to come about as a result of success. Build on what he CAN do. I use so many different resources that I woiodnt know where to start without knowing him and where he's at.

Wouldn't

Brightideas and mumteacher is that really how much preparation you think they need to be in with a shot? An hour a day a whole year ahead?

My DS's pre-prep don't help prepare them for 7+ either as they have their own school they can go on to at 8 without having to do its entrance exam.

DS has just done 7+s but if that really is how much preparation all the other boys will have done then he won't have a chance in hell.

We started in December. With after school clubs, school homework and music practice we really don't have much time during the week. We did a past paper a day at the weekends plus the odd bits here and there in the week in the couple of weeks leading up to the tests.

Used Exam Papers Plus (set up by an ex pupil who went to DPL, then Colet and onto St Pauls) as they seemed closer to the standard the London schools were expecting than the Bond papers.

Will he have been woefully underprepared compared to everyone else???

We were very wary of making this too big a deal and putting too much pressure on him.

I didn't say that an hour a day was to be recommended. On the contrary - please have a look at my comments and suggestions below. However, a child taking exams ought to be practising with similar formats, timeframes and 'loads' to those they'll be sitting.

In the months leading up to the exams, a child would be best rehearsed and least anxious / out of their depth if working in such timed and measured ways had become second nature. Obviously, this wouldn't be where you'd be starting off. To do that would be counterproductive and overwhelm / demotivated them

I wasn't being critical.

I genuinely wanted to know what the minimum amount of prep people thought was needed to be in with a shot.

I also wondered what the tutors on here thought of the approach we've taken as I'm in the anxious waiting phase now and keen to get a steer on our chances especially if they are poor so I can prepare DS.

Wandymum it really depends on where your don was in his learning journey when you started the prep in Dec.

Could he already write a story? Was his inference/comprehension skills already well polished?

It hard to tell how much (in terms of time) a child should be working each week towards the exams but if it helps I set two comprehensions, 1 story and around 2 hours of maths per week.

Wandymum, I am not a tutor but a regular mom, whose DD has recently (last week) went for 7+ assessment at three very competitive north London independent schools.
Now in a retrospect I can confirm the following:

• you need to be prepared. PREPARED even! :) regardless of what they say siblings are your major competition. You must be way better or you don't stand a chance

• an hour a day is reasonable but impossible to commit to! Do as much as you can as often as you can but don't look for excuses. Commit, and do your best

• you MUST do work on holidays. At this age they forget what they know unbelievably quickly!

• google "sample test papers" and you will have plenty sample tests from different schools to practice

• time story writing. I obviously don't know but I feel like Story is one of those "make it or break it" factors. Math is easy - either Correct or Wrong. With the story, however, three people will read the same story and give three different marks. I hope this make sense.

Story is tricky. It could be anything: * write a story about "whatever title" * read the half of the story - write what you think may come next * look at the picture and write a story Write as many stories as you can. The more they write the easier it gets.

• read, read, read! I've noticed DD would write a story and every now and then I'll see "interesting" words that I remember from the book we read.

Read but focus on comprehension. Comprehension is the key. It is also related to math. Word problems.

The most important think - GOOD LUCK! I now feel winning a lottery is easier than passing these assessments. And don't believe for a minute that kids are stressed out. They are not. DD was super excited and is sad that we are done with assessments. Go figure!

Whilst preparing for the assessments you, as the parent end up spending a lot time with the child, which once they're over the child misses. X

Cluelrss2015 good luck with it all x

Glad your DD enjoyed it clueless2015 - mine did too. Although there were definitely some very stressed kids around.

One mother I met told me her DS had been off school all week with stomach pains which the Dr had told her were psychosomatic and caused by him being so nervous about the tests.

From reading this thread, I'm pretty sure we'll be getting bad news as whilst DS is bright he is certainly not a genius and we didn't do anywhere near as much preparation as everyone else seems to have done. Oh well.

Glad your DD enjoyed it clueless2015 - mine did too. Although there were definitely some very stressed kids around.

One mother I met told me her DS had been off school all week with stomach pains which the Dr had told her were psychosomatic and caused by him being so nervous about the tests.

From reading this thread, I'm pretty sure we'll be getting bad news as whilst DS is bright he is certainly not a genius and we didn't do anywhere near as much preparation as everyone else seems to have done. Oh well.

Sorry not sure why that posted twice!

Has anyone heard from Colet Court 7+ yet? This apparently should have been posted on Saturday.

Heard nothing!

We received our letter and its good news. Good luck to all the parents who are yet to receive the post.

kcw23, congratulations to your DS and you on his offer, from CC I am assuming from your last post! Did your DS also apply to WUS? If he did, I am curious whether the exam for KCJS, CC and WUS were equally challenging or if your DS thought some were easier than others? If he sat the CC 7+ on Friday before the WUS 7+ how did he cope with tiredness of the CC 7+

Thanks Clippertea. This is indeed from CC! We applied only 3 (from what I've heard, many kids applying to at least 4 to 6, bless them!) - KCJS, WUS and CC.
From what I could extract from DS, CC was more methodical with ample of time given to complete the paper and apply some thinking behind your answer. I've heard CC maths are the toughest of the lot, but my DS found it ok.
Re last Friday/Saturday, I just let him watch TV for most part of the afternoon and not mentioning even once that tomorrow he has to wake up again in the morning!

Are you in for this year or next year?

Thanks kcw23, my DS is applying for 7+ in 2016 to the same schools that your DS applied to and I can't help but notice that many boys receive multiple offers from KCJS, CC or WUS or are rejected by all three schools. I guess the schools all want the best performers. Is your DS at the top of his Year 1?

Good luck for the next year Clippertea and yes my DS has been throughout in the top set in all subjects.

I'd just like to reassure those worried their dcs aren't prepared enough ofr these exams. My dcs did 7+ a few years back . They were at a state primary, and not a 'naice' one, and I didn't employ a tutor. I did about 15-20 mins a day preparation with them. Nearly all of it was using Bond papers, plus a few old sample papers (spent longer on those obviously but we're talking maybe 6 in total), starting from about the preceding autumn term, a little bit earlier for dc2 as I was eager they both ended up at the same school.

hey both got in to some very competitive schools. They have friends who were similarly prepared, some were entered for the exams at the very last minute from state primaries and therefore had zero preparation.

Personally, I think an hour a day would be counterproductive for such young children and could potentially put them off learning, or certainly make them wobble on the day. Obviously, there's no way of testing either approach but please don't beat yourself up about not having done "enough". They're very young, if they don't get in to the schools you prefer at this stage there will be a second chance (usually) at 11+ and if they're not right for the school at 11+, then they will thrive elsewhere. Good luck everyone.

Thank you, everyone. And best of luck to all of you and yours!
I guess the next drama for everyone is interviews. These I am absolutely clueless about. Any bright ideas and suggestions are very much appreciated!

Congratulations kcw!! I am also interested to know how diff were the CC and WUS papers from each other (sitting tests next year). A friend whose DS sat both exams mentioned that WUS didn't have a creative writing piece (or maybe she doesn't want to share the info). I was surprised to hear that.

Good luck to your DS for the next stage.