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HKSMSA Speech festival? Don't worry: Help is at Hand!

The best advice I ever received about competitions was from a racing driver! "Don't focus on winning, focus on developing your talent; treat every race like another practice session. If you win, great! If you don't, you learn from your mistakes." Brilliant advice and something that parents can keep in mind when helping their student prepare for the speech festivals. Remember: there is only one winner but every participant can learn from the experience. When you first get the poem, read it through together and work out what the story of your piece is. Have your child retell the story to you, using their own words, so you can help them to really understand what tone the poem needs. The most important step in your preparation is helping your child to memorise their poem. Once they know it upside down and back to front, now you can start to add colour. Think of adding variation in volume, pitch, pace and don't forget facial expressions. If the latter are elusive

Testing for a test! The world of the ISEB Pre-Tests (and others!)

School entry used to be relatively straightforward: apply, interview, take a couple of exams and join. No longer... welcome to the world of the pre-test. Why have pre-tests become so prevalent? A couple of reasons: firstly, the increase in applications to UK schools has put already over-worked admissions departments under incredible strain and pre-tests represent a way of filtering students and reducing the number to a manageable size. More importantly though, schools say that they do not want candidates who have no chance of gaining a place going through the stress of an application. Sounds fair enough... There are a number of pre-tests but I am going to focus on the ISEB pre-test as has been adopted by a number of big schools (Eton, Radley, Wellington, Westminster amongst others) and is therefore a hot topic amongst our parents. What is the ISEB Pre-test? The test consists of four sections: English (25 minutes) Maths (50 minutes) Verbal (36 minutes) Non-Verbal reasoning

Testing for a test! The world of the ISEB (and other) pre-tests

School entry used to be relatively straightforward: apply, interview, take a couple of exams and join. No longer... welcome to the world of the pre-test. Why have pre-tests become so prevalent? A couple of reasons: firstly, the increase in applications to UK schools has put already over-worked admissions departments under incredible strain and pre-tests represent a way of filtering students and reducing the number to a manageable size. More importantly though, schools say that they do not want candidates who have no chance of gaining a place going through the stress of an application. Sounds fair enough... There are a number of pre-tests but I am going to focus on the ISEB pre-test as has been adopted by a number of big schools (Eton, Radley, Wellington, Westminster amongst others) and is therefore a hot topic amongst our parents. What is the ISEB Pre-test? The test consists of four sections: English (25 minutes) Maths (50 minutes) Verbal (36 minutes) Non-Verbal reasoning

Duke TIP - An incredible way to spend the summer for gifted students

Imagine 70 students between the ages of 13 - 18 coming together to study, make friends and, maybe for the first time in their lives, share an environment where they are appreciated and engineering, Imagine no more, I gave just returned from  a month in Kunshan this July as Academic Coordinator for the Duke University TIP programme where I witnessed an incredible transformation in our students as they studied cryptology, writing, entrepreneurship, biotechnology, international relations and engineering. The course is aimed at gifted students and it was Duke's research in this area which first led me to want to be involved in the programme. Teaching was inspirational; experiential and thoughtful. Over and above the learning which took place within the classroom, it was fascinating and inspiring to watch the way that students engaged with and respected each other. Gifted learners are often very isolated in their academic settings and being able to find a peer group with shared abil

Common Entrance - don't panic, start decorating!

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The countdown to Common Entrance is well and truly on. Can't remember any of your formulae? Irregular verbs driving you insane?  Don't worry, there is a simple solution... decorate! 1: Choose your topic: science, maths, French, Latin, history? Focus in on the key points, facts and formulae. 3: Create a mind map or a diagram from your notes. Use colours, pictures, different types of lines, anything you like! Be creative... 4: Stick the picture on the bathroom mirror and read it whilst brushing your teeth! Here is an example of a diagram we created for French to help us remember the passe compose. Good luck

Top top for success at Common Entrance: Become a teacher!

Here is a brilliant tip for anyone who is about to sit Common Entrance (or any other exam for that matter!) Reading and making notes will help your remember your information but teaching and explaining your topics will help you even more. In stages... 1: Revise one of your topics (e.g. life processes) and make your notes, 2: Try to teach the topic back to a member of your family. Plan your lesson around providing the information needed to answer typical Common Entrance questions. Refer to the marking scheme when you are thinking of how much information to include. Your aim is to teach the materials and for your student (victim?) to be able to reply to your questions. 3: As you are teaching, remember to repeat key points or share mnemonics (MRS GREN?!) Through teaching your student, you are ensuring that the topic will stick in your mind. 3: At the end of your lesson, if you have explained everything clearly, your students should be able to give you complete answers. You are

13+ Common Entrance or Winchester College Revision Planning

Common Entrance and Scholarship exams are almost upon us... Easter is a brilliant time to consolidate all your hard work and make a final push before the Common Entrance or scholarship exams. Try these steps. Get a copy of the Common Entrance syllabus from iseb.co.uk. Print out each subject. Choose three coloured pens. Go through the syllabus and use a different colour to mark each topic depending on your knowledge level (e.g. red - 'I am confident with this topic', green - 'I need to revise', yellow- 'I have no idea!') Plan your revision based on your findings. If you have identified big topics which are confusing (e.g. tectonic plates) start with those. In the next update, I will give you some ideas for planning each study session. In the meantime, and importantly, don't panic! I have had students whose grades have gone from Ds to As after Easter revision sessions. There is still time, you just need to use it wisely.

Terrific video directed by Emilie, our of our favourite students!

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How can I help my child to prepare for the Speech Festival?

The HKSMSA festival dates have just been announced. Students will have had their poems for a few weeks now. A common question from parents is 'how can we help?' Brandon has a few suggestions: 1: Come to one of our Speech Festival Prep classes (of course!) 2: Read the poem through with your child and get them to retell the story to you. Do they understand all the language? If not, look up the words together. 3: Mark up the poem with the relevant emotions. Play with the voices and add in facial expressions. 4: Practice whenever you can in front of family members. Most importantly.... The Speech Festival is a brilliant way to build confidence, encourage your child irrespective of their final result!

What is the difference between Common Entrance and Schools' own papers?

If I had a pound for every time parents had asked me to explain the difference between Common Entrance (11+/13+) and schools' own papers, I would have a nice little pot of savings! So here we go: 1: Common Entrance is an examination created by the ISEB (Independent Schools' Examination Board). The exam is available for a board range of subjects and different levels are available (maths has three for example). Individual schools decide: which papers candidates should sit and, the level required. You need to check requirements with the school (ask for subjects/levels). Registration is done through the ISEB website. Schools are provided with a suggested marking scheme but some adapt to suit their needs (e.g. rewards for correct spelling/forgiveness of incorrect spelling) Depending on the selectivity of the school, Common Entrance could be used to confirm an offer or just for setting purposes. Common Entrance can be sent to ONE school. The only way that it can be used fo

Coping with homesickness - preparing for life in a boarding school.

Leaving home at any age is a shock to the system but leaving home as a young child can be traumatic. Post 13+ or 11+, students tend to be euphoric as they realise that their hard work has paid off and their thoughts turn to summer rather than the new term. Missing home is inevitable and, as parents, there are a few ways you might want to consider to help your child cope: 1: Prepare for the new school, visit at least once (amazingly, the first exposure some students get to their new home for five years is when they arrive on the first day) 2: Talk about similarities and differences before your child goes - be attentive to cultural differences. 3: Identify ways of smoothing the transition - does your child have a favourite snack you can send? 4: Speak to the new housemistress/master and matron and work out when your child can call home, how you can contact him/her and what support can be provided. 5: Listen to your child. Don't dismiss their fears or worries, small probl