Secondry school entrance exam

bellapip · 11-01-2010 10:34pm #1

I know that there is a site SOMEWHERE!!! which allows you download a sample paper of what kids can expect in the entrance assessment for senior school, but I have searched and searched and I can not find it,.
I have asked the school where my daughter will be attending and they have told me not to worry about it, as it is not an exam, just a very minor test to give them an indication of where she is at.

That's all good and well, except in order for her to know what she should brush up on it would be great to have a look at one,.
If anyone knows I would be delighted to be pointed in the right direction, she is getting herself worked up and though I am trying to be calm and reasonable I do understand her fears.

Thanks

Bell.:D

biko · 11-01-2010 10:35pm

Don't worry about it. It's not an exam, just a very minor test to give them an indication of where she is at.

El Weirdo · 11-01-2010 10:36pm

Wrong forum tbh. AH would point her in a direction that you don't want her pointing in.

dr.bollocko · 11-01-2010 10:36pm

Let's just hope that the answer to question one isn't secondary eh?

ashyle · 11-01-2010 10:37pm

It honestly is not something you study for. Its like a Micra T test if I remember correctly (had one in 2001). It's just to give an indication of reading comprehension, basic maths skills etc.

Aodan83 · 11-01-2010 10:38pm

I thought they got rid of them....
Although, in my day it was just a few maths problems and a bit of comprehension really.

Danbo! · 11-01-2010 10:39pm

Chonaic mé timpiste ar an bóther. Chodail mé go sámh an oiche sin.

Is all she needs to know.

bellapip · 11-01-2010 10:46pm

Marvelous,. LOL.

Bell.:D

11-01-2010 10:46pm

"Brushing up" with a copy of an entrance exam is cheating.
It's simply things they've already done.

bellapip · 11-01-2010 10:55pm

No I am not looking for her to brush up with the actual exam, I was just looking for a previous exam so that she could have an idea of what to expect, I most certainly not condone 'Cheating' and as the post primary school keeps pointing out, it is not an exam, it is just an assessment.

The junior school is being very vague and saying revise, however they have never done winter or summer exams with the class over the years and she feels a little nervous about it, understandably as far as I am concerned.

Anyway, not to worry, I have asked in another forum and have been pointed to the 'Irish board of education' who give a guide to what the students should brush up on, which is exactly what I was looking for,.

Thanks for the help.

Bell:D

mud · 11-01-2010 10:58pm

When I did mine it was (to me) ridiculously simplistic.

Joining baby animals with their parents, very basic grammar/comprehension.

She'll be fine

Midnight_EG · 11-01-2010 11:00pm

An english essay, some maths problems including algebra, irish comprehension, that was it.

Well....for me.... I got the best English essay of my whole year, and a couple years before it :P

4zn76tysfajdxp · 11-01-2010 11:01pm

I never had to do this exam. Should I be worried?

The guy · 11-01-2010 11:01pm

Mine was in three subjects: Maths, Irish & English.

The results determined which class you got into for school.

Bajingo · 11-01-2010 11:01pm

bellapip wrote: »

No I am not looking for her to brush up with the actual exam, I was just looking for a previous exam so that she could have an idea of what to expect, I most certainly not condone 'Cheating' and as the post primary school keeps pointing out, it is not an exam, it is just an assessment.

The junior school is being very vague and saying revise, however they have never done winter or summer exams with the class over the years and she feels a little nervous about it, understandably as far as I am concerned.

Anyway, not to worry, I have asked in another forum and have been pointed to the 'Irish board of education' who give a guide to what the students should brush up on, which is exactly what I was looking for,.

Thanks for the help.

Bell:D

If she can multiply and divide and can read at all she'll be fine..if she's worried calm her down but don't get panicy over it yourself or you might scare her more..

I dont remember mine that well but I do remember being easy and most people were waiting for the bell to go for ages because they finished it so quick..

Jev/N · 11-01-2010 11:01pm

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Let's just hope that the answer to question one isn't secondary eh?

Says he who shuns the 'grammar' nazis

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 11-01-2010 11:21pm

Rayden Swift Fan wrote: »

I never had to do this exam. Should I be worried?

Yup, it's an indication of how old you are

D-Generate · 11-01-2010 11:29pm

The purpose of the exam in my school was determine what level you were at and what class you should be placed in to. I would imagine the same questions come up every year and by giving her an advantage compared to others it could inflate her scores and put her in to a class where she won't get the necessary attention.
Just let her do the exam and see what class she falls into. Around Christmas time in first year the classes were re-arranged anyway to take account for those who might have had a bad exam day anyway.

Gah I hate this mentality of trying to prepare kids for utterly pointless exams such as entrance exams. I hope we don't end up like it is in the UK where there are grind schools for 11 year olds to make them exam ready.

xw2lj9uspm1eyh · 11-01-2010 11:33pm

I remember the teacher gave us out sample papers and the Irish paper i got off him was the exact one that appeared for the entrance exam pity i never studied it properly oh well long time ago

.

finger · 11-01-2010 11:37pm

Entrance exams really are nothing to worry about, nothing that you would need to "brush" up on or revise for, just a very general test. I remember freaking out when it was coming up to doing mine (and it was on a saturday) but i soon realised its nothing to worry about and once your in there, its grand

January · 11-01-2010 11:39pm

"The cat lives in the box - Where does the cat live?"

Was a question on my secondary schools entrance exam.

brummytom · 11-01-2010 11:41pm

Rayden Swift Fan wrote: »

I never had to do this exam. Should I be worried?

You have to repeat Secondary and any subsequent further education AFAIK

sky88 · 11-01-2010 11:51pm

test doesnt matter that much really but the amount of cheating that went on when i was doing it was unbelievable

Ruu_Old · 12-01-2010 12:00am

brummytom wrote: »

You have to repeat Secondary and any subsequent further education AFAIK

Times have changed, he will have to repeat life!

Holsten · 12-01-2010 12:30am

I was ****ting myself going into that exam hah.

ya-ba-da-ba-doo · 12-01-2010 12:43am

bellapip wrote: »

I know that there is a site SOMEWHERE!!! which allows you download a sample paper of what kids can expect in the entrance assessment for senior school, but I have searched and searched and I can not find it,.
I have asked the school where my daughter will be attending and they have told me not to worry about it, as it is not an exam, just a very minor test to give them an indication of where she is at.

That's all good and well, except in order for her to know what she should brush up on it would be great to have a look at one,.
If anyone knows I would be delighted to be pointed in the right direction, she is getting herself worked up and though I am trying to be calm and reasonable I do understand her fears.

Thanks

Bell.:D

Who studies for an entrance exam?

Tell her to go play in the snow slush.

An eleven/twelve year old shouldn't be worrying about exams.

And seeing that she is the type to get worked up over this I think she'll do juuuust fine.

(By juuuuust fine, I mean very well!)

Buford T Justice · 12-01-2010 12:46am

bellapip wrote: »

No I am not looking for her to brush up with the actual exam, I was just looking for a previous exam so that she could have an idea of what to expect, I most certainly not condone 'Cheating' and as the post primary school keeps pointing out, it is not an exam, it is just an assessment.

The junior school is being very vague and saying revise, however they have never done winter or summer exams with the class over the years and she feels a little nervous about it, understandably as far as I am concerned.

Anyway, not to worry, I have asked in another forum and have been pointed to the 'Irish board of education' who give a guide to what the students should brush up on, which is exactly what I was looking for,.

Thanks for the help.

Bell:D

Isn't the above the point? Its an assessment of their current abilities with xyz, not what they have studied for over the last few days. Seriously, they'll do enough of that with the Junior and Leaving cert.

Buford T Justice · 12-01-2010 12:47am

Rayden Swift Fan wrote: »

I never had to do this exam. Should I be worried?

Yes. But unfortunately, its too late for you now Rayden Swift Fan. Better just give up trying now.

Seloth · 12-01-2010 1:18am

The year I was going into 1st the two secondary schools in my town decided not to give itt see how it turned out,th year after the re-introduced it

citizen_p · 12-01-2010 1:23am

so you know somones who is entering secondary school...and you want them to cheat on a small assesment.

unless the person is intellectually disabled or really really stupid......i dont see the point

because
you choose your subjects and level....it dosnt go by who did the best on the crap assesment test

CrazyRabbit · 12-01-2010 1:31am

Rayden Swift Fan wrote: »

I never had to do this exam. Should I be worried?

That's what happens when you leave school aged 9. You miss these critical moments in education.

implausible · 12-01-2010 1:46am

Even calling it an 'entrance exam' is a misnomer. Schools have to accept whoever they get nowadays. More than likely, it's an assessment of the child's reading and numeric skills that will be kept on file and not make a difference what class the child is in, as many schools have mixed ability groupings now.

Chill out, your attitude is going to stress your child out:rolleyes:

neil_hosey · 12-01-2010 10:08am

it is worth putting the effort into revising. It will mean you will be in a higher class which usually receive the better teachers (in my old school anyway) and more opportunity to do honours when junior and leaving cert come around.

Some things i remember from the maths section:

-simple interest
-compound interest
-LCM
-long division
-i think there were some quadrtic equations.

English:

-some essay

Cool Running · 12-01-2010 10:34am

Dont worry about it! Its just a simple assessment to determine what level of class to put students in, which will determine how many honours thay do in Junior Cert etc and will ulimately decide the rest of their lives. But dont worry about it;)

pickarooney · 12-01-2010 10:41am

neil_hosey wrote: »

it is worth putting the effort into revising. It will mean you will be in a higher class which usually receive the better teachers (in my old school anyway) and more opportunity to do honours when junior and leaving cert come around.

Some things i remember from the maths section:

-simple interest
-compound interest
-LCM
-long division
-i think there were some quadrtic equations.

English:

-some essay

Heh, I wonder how many of use could do that stuff now.
I don't even know what LCM stands for and as for quadratic equations - either you're winding up the OP or your memory is fudged; there's no way a primary school kid in Ireland could do one of those (there's no way I could do one either, for that matter).

4zn76tysfajdxp · 12-01-2010 12:16pm

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

That's what happens when you leave school aged 9. You miss these critical moments in education.

That's okay, I was never one for words and such.

5starpool · 12-01-2010 12:49pm

Is this done for every secondary school now? It was only the posh schools in my day that did this.

DeirdreD · 12-01-2010 12:52pm

neil_hosey wrote: »

it is worth putting the effort into revising. It will mean you will be in a higher class which usually receive the better teachers (in my old school anyway) and more opportunity to do honours when junior and leaving cert come around.

Some things i remember from the maths section:

-simple interest
-compound interest
-LCM
-long division
-i think there were some quadrtic equations.

English:

-some essay

Most schools do not place kids in ability classes anymore, and furthermore I am sure things like compound interest are not in the revised primary school curriculum anymore

implausible · 12-01-2010 1:48pm

neil_hosey wrote: »

it is worth putting the effort into revising. It will mean you will be in a higher class which usually receive the better teachers (in my old school anyway) and more opportunity to do honours when junior and leaving cert come around.

Some things i remember from the maths section:

-simple interest
-compound interest
-LCM
-long division
-i think there were some quadrtic equations.

English:

-some essay

I'm afraid that this poster's experience is so out of date, it's pre-historic!

Novella · 12-01-2010 1:54pm

My advice would be to pop down to the local school and when you see the calibre of some of it's students, you will know that the secondary school entrance exam is most certainly not one of a taxing academic standard. :pac:

jiltloop · 12-01-2010 2:04pm

My advise would be to relax! My god I dread to think how worked up you'll get over the leaving cert exams. It's not something you are meant to study for its just to check your child's level of natural academic ability.

Pygmalion · 12-01-2010 2:05pm

It doesn't do anything.
They may get put into a slightly different group if they fail incredibly hard (keep in mind that only one or two freaked out kids with pushy parents ever study for this).

If they try and put her into an Ordinary level class all she has to say is "Could I try the Higher instead? I think I'm able for it.", the school can't make her do the Ordinary level, they want as much people in Higher as they think are able (showing interest is a big plus btw) and any teacher who wouldn't let her into the class is most likely a **** teacher anyway.

neil_hosey · 12-01-2010 2:13pm

pickarooney wrote: »

Heh, I wonder how many of use could do that stuff now.
I don't even know what LCM stands for and as for quadratic equations - either you're winding up the OP or your memory is fudged; there's no way a primary school kid in Ireland could do one of those (there's no way I could do one either, for that matter).

Your slagging me and you dnt know what LCM stands for?? :rolleyes: maybe you should be the one taking the test.

Im 23 years of age and went to St. Aidans in whitehall, the things i listed were definately on the test, i still remember... also stil remember the little bastard beside me trying to copy me! Im hardly that old that its changed that much? i was 12 starting secondary so thats 98! my school was graded though, A to D.. like one poster said thats gone now?

The only thing im not certain on is whether quadratic eqns came up, i could be confusing it with something else. There was certainly some basic number theory and arithmetics..

But if classes arent graded anymore, its probably pointless then no??

pickarooney · 12-01-2010 3:18pm

neil_hosey wrote: »

Your slagging me and you dnt know what LCM stands for?? :rolleyes: maybe you should be the one taking the test.

I'm assuming there was no reading comprehension on the syllabus at either your primary or secondary school?

neil_hosey · 12-01-2010 3:25pm

pickarooney wrote: »

I'm assuming there was no reading comprehension on the syllabus at either your primary or secondary school?

??????? riiiiight...

for future reference LCM is least common multiple, you generally learn it towards the end of primary school. I can read just fine, i think you need to brush up on your primary school mathematics..

this is ghey offtopic bullsh1t

toiletduck · 12-01-2010 4:06pm

adrieanne__x wrote: »

"The cat lives in the box - Where does the cat live?"

Was a question on my secondary schools entrance exam.

They were obviously looking for you to expand on that and discuss Schrödinger's cat.

bonerm · 12-01-2010 4:09pm

Hi OP. Very important to get your kid to see this exam beforehand so they can cheat their way to a high mark and get into a top class. It'll make all the difference and remember ... once you're in the 'D' class , you're there for life (or at least til you finish your Junior Cert).

antodeco · 12-01-2010 4:32pm

I did one about 15 years ago. They simply get you to them to show you are interested in the school.

Ollchailin · 12-01-2010 4:42pm

OP, do not be one bit worried about this exam- I'm a secondary school teacher (I know, boo, hiss!) and this exam is more than likely only to give the teachers an indication of what kind of level someone's at, not to place your child in a particular level.

Most schools have mixed ability classes now- I know after we do our entance exams we just keep the results on file in case any problems pop up so we can flag them in case a student might need particular help with something.

One thing I have noticed though, and I'm only teaching in my school 3 years, is that the standard is getting worse and worse every year which is extremely depressing- but that's neither here nor there. Just don't be worried about it!

implausible · 12-01-2010 5:52pm

neil_hosey wrote: »

.Im 23 years of age and went to St. Aidans in whitehall, the things i listed were definately on the test, i still remember

Im hardly that old that its changed that much? i was 12 starting secondary so thats 98!

That's 12 years ago!!! The entire primary school curriculum has changed!

neil_hosey · 12-01-2010 6:06pm

deemark wrote: »

That's 12 years ago!!! The entire primary school curriculum has changed!

oh right... makes me feel old. Remember like it was yesterday.

They can hardly change the fundamentals of maths though?

Secondry school entrance exam

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