With the 2016 Kent Test just over a month away, the
following posting is a quick summary of the approach that I took in the run up to the Kent Test for my two children- who took the 2014 and 2015 tests respectively.
Whilst many go the tutor route, I personally helped prep my own children for the exam. Whilst I introduced them to some NVR concepts in the six months preceding the Kent Test (consisting of some of the Bond NVR books), I didn't make them do much specific Kent Test exam preparation. The reasoning for this is that the NVR are of such an alien concept when first viewed, that normalising them in your children's eyes is half the battle!
However, there was always an encouragement in getting them to read. I think the key here is to find a series that hooks them- and the rest takes care of itself. So, for example, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Laura Marlin Mysteries, the Scream Street series, Tolkien, Joesph Delaney's Spooks books and (my personal favourite kids book) the Lockwood and Co series- have all captivated my children at some point over the years. It is great to see them find a quiet corner in the house/garden and delve into the magic of a well crafted book. I believe their reading was also helped by the brilliant Accelerated Reading Scheme at their primary school that really incentivised them to read more.
Reading aside, I've always helped them with their maths, pushing them a little further than the work they carried out in their class in preparation for their KS2 exams- a positive side-effect being that it also helped with the Kent Test too.
During the summer holiday before the Kent Test, I made them sit (under exam conditions) various GL Assessment sample papers. I've put the summer schedule for both my children at the end of this posting.
The aim of getting them to sit these sample papers under test conditions was threefold:
1) To get them comfortable with test conditions- so that the final Kent Test didn't come as a total shock to them
2) Build their confidence that the Kent Test wasn't the monster that they may have heard it was from the school playground.
3) Provide a guide to the areas that they were weak on. After each test, we would spend time going through those areas that they struggled with- and reinforcing those areas that they felt comfortable with. This post test debrief was a useful exercise- and was probably the most valuable part of the exercise.
On some of the days they didn't do a sample paper, I would prepare a quick 15-20 minute session where we would go through quick questions, or general exam techniques. But once finished, that was it for the day.
To help make some of the sample papers (especially the NVR ) a little more "fun" (if that is a word you can ever use for exam practise), I sat the some of the papers with them. Not only did this show my own inadequacies (!!), but it also showed my children that they weren't alone. Coupled with this, it made me fully understand some of the trickier questions within the papers. Indeed, on the NVR questions, their younger and more agile minds often ran circles round me- something that they enjoyed (and which in turn made it seem less of a chore)!
2) More is not always best. I suspect that there is a limit to how much practise that you can do with your child, especially during the summer holiday. Having breaks of up to a week, helps them recharge their batteries for the more intensive periods. I suspect with my youngest child I probably did too many sample tests at the end of the summer holiday- with the sample paper results reflecting the fact that a limit had been met.
3) Hide the stresses of the test. I personally felt I was getting a lot more stressed about the Kent Test than my children. It is key to ensure that any concerns and stresses that you have as a parent are not visible to your kids (who are only 10 years old!). Getting them stressed will not help them. Once the exam practise was over the words "11+ and Kent Test" were banned from any conversation for the rest of the day. The key is to make them confident and relaxed.
4) It is important not to take the scores from individual sample papers to heart. As the results from the sample papers in the 2 schedules below show- not all the papers are of the same complexity. So scoring lower on one paper than on one previously- does not mean that they are getting worse- it probably means the paper was trickier. For example, I didn't make them do the GL NVR paper 1 as it was simply too hard in my opinion- and would have adversely impacted their confidence.
5) Remember that the pass marks are not impossibly high- indeed in 2015 the Maths and Reasoning paper pass mark (of raw scores) was below 50%. The English pass mark was fractionally higher than 50% (see earlier posting for more details). Obviously it was higher for the Kent super-selectives.
The following is the schedule of Kent Test sample papers that my children sat before the 2014 and 2015 tests respectively. Each area- VR, NVR, Maths and English is colour coordinated.
Schedule 1- 2014 Summer:
The following is for my eldest child during the summer of 2014, with it being a mix of GL and Bond papers.
Schedule 2- 2015 Summer:
The following is for my youngest child during the summer of 2015. If the paper is not stated as a Bond or CGP paper then it is a GL Assessment sample paper. My hunch is that the spurt at the end of August and start of September was, with hindsight, unnecessary.
However, there was always an encouragement in getting them to read. I think the key here is to find a series that hooks them- and the rest takes care of itself. So, for example, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Laura Marlin Mysteries, the Scream Street series, Tolkien, Joesph Delaney's Spooks books and (my personal favourite kids book) the Lockwood and Co series- have all captivated my children at some point over the years. It is great to see them find a quiet corner in the house/garden and delve into the magic of a well crafted book. I believe their reading was also helped by the brilliant Accelerated Reading Scheme at their primary school that really incentivised them to read more.
Reading aside, I've always helped them with their maths, pushing them a little further than the work they carried out in their class in preparation for their KS2 exams- a positive side-effect being that it also helped with the Kent Test too.
The Summer Holiday Before the Kent Test (the final 6 weeks):
During the summer holiday before the Kent Test, I made them sit (under exam conditions) various GL Assessment sample papers. I've put the summer schedule for both my children at the end of this posting.
The aim of getting them to sit these sample papers under test conditions was threefold:
1) To get them comfortable with test conditions- so that the final Kent Test didn't come as a total shock to them
2) Build their confidence that the Kent Test wasn't the monster that they may have heard it was from the school playground.
3) Provide a guide to the areas that they were weak on. After each test, we would spend time going through those areas that they struggled with- and reinforcing those areas that they felt comfortable with. This post test debrief was a useful exercise- and was probably the most valuable part of the exercise.
On some of the days they didn't do a sample paper, I would prepare a quick 15-20 minute session where we would go through quick questions, or general exam techniques. But once finished, that was it for the day.
To help make some of the sample papers (especially the NVR ) a little more "fun" (if that is a word you can ever use for exam practise), I sat the some of the papers with them. Not only did this show my own inadequacies (!!), but it also showed my children that they weren't alone. Coupled with this, it made me fully understand some of the trickier questions within the papers. Indeed, on the NVR questions, their younger and more agile minds often ran circles round me- something that they enjoyed (and which in turn made it seem less of a chore)!
Lessons I have learnt:
1) From my experiences, before sitting down to do work/exam practise with them, it is important to clearly timebox the amount of time that you are expecting them to do. I always felt an urge to "do one more question". However, by clearly setting out the time period that they would have to do stopped this natural urge to make them do more. This also made my children more relaxed- as once finished that was it for the day.2) More is not always best. I suspect that there is a limit to how much practise that you can do with your child, especially during the summer holiday. Having breaks of up to a week, helps them recharge their batteries for the more intensive periods. I suspect with my youngest child I probably did too many sample tests at the end of the summer holiday- with the sample paper results reflecting the fact that a limit had been met.
3) Hide the stresses of the test. I personally felt I was getting a lot more stressed about the Kent Test than my children. It is key to ensure that any concerns and stresses that you have as a parent are not visible to your kids (who are only 10 years old!). Getting them stressed will not help them. Once the exam practise was over the words "11+ and Kent Test" were banned from any conversation for the rest of the day. The key is to make them confident and relaxed.
4) It is important not to take the scores from individual sample papers to heart. As the results from the sample papers in the 2 schedules below show- not all the papers are of the same complexity. So scoring lower on one paper than on one previously- does not mean that they are getting worse- it probably means the paper was trickier. For example, I didn't make them do the GL NVR paper 1 as it was simply too hard in my opinion- and would have adversely impacted their confidence.
5) Remember that the pass marks are not impossibly high- indeed in 2015 the Maths and Reasoning paper pass mark (of raw scores) was below 50%. The English pass mark was fractionally higher than 50% (see earlier posting for more details). Obviously it was higher for the Kent super-selectives.
Summer holiday schedule:
The following is the schedule of Kent Test sample papers that my children sat before the 2014 and 2015 tests respectively. Each area- VR, NVR, Maths and English is colour coordinated.Schedule 1- 2014 Summer:
The following is for my eldest child during the summer of 2014, with it being a mix of GL and Bond papers.
Schedule 2- 2015 Summer:
The following is for my youngest child during the summer of 2015. If the paper is not stated as a Bond or CGP paper then it is a GL Assessment sample paper. My hunch is that the spurt at the end of August and start of September was, with hindsight, unnecessary.
Finally:
I have started to answer some questions directly in the 11+
Kent discussion forums that can be found at the following url under the user name NorthKentParent- and these may provide more information that is not detailed here.
