Past Year Exam Papers

[stpngks]

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Picture shows how many exam papers and assessment books the girl wrote in 3 years of high school in China.

What thought comes to your mind when you see the picture and caption. Seventeen options are given, not one of them is absolutely correct. Make your choice (1, 2, ……..16)

1) \tShe is very diligent
2)\tShe has determination
3)\tShe must have graduated as a scholar
4)\tShe must have done it regularly over the 3 academic years
5) Wow, it's an amazing feat!
6) She has broken the Guiness book of records.
7) How I wish my child has a fraction of her diligence
8)\tShe is kiasu
9)\tHer parents are kiasu
10)\tWork Smart! Study Smart!
11) \tWork life balance
12)\tStop cutting down trees
13)\tWhy not do the online interactive test version
14)\tDon't over stress your child. Intellectual slavery?
15)\tDo it in moderation
16)\t[ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ]
17)\tWhat do you think?

[schen]

Is it better to do top school past year papers or assessment book?

[Suz855]

schen:

Is it better to do top school past year papers or assessment book?

I prefer to let my dd works on past year papers, we use assessment book only to reinforce certain topics that dd is weak in

[stpngks]

Suz855:

schen:

Is it better to do top school past year papers or assessment book?

I prefer to let my dd works on past year papers, we use assessment book only to reinforce certain topics that dd is weak in

Past year exam papers are certainly better than assessment books.

First reason is that top school test questions are crafted by school teachers who are familiar with the latest MOE syllabus and SEAB Exam board’s policy.

Secondly, these teachers mark the students’ worksheets everyday and they know what type of questions are challenging and what are straightforward to the pupils. They can then adjust the degree of difficulty to exceed PSLE papers. Non MOE authors do not have bell curves, histograms to do such moderation.

Thirdly, the top schools have proven track records of helping students attain top PSLE scores.

Fourthly, most tutors and parents use top school papers for their students/child.

[zbear]

In the past, I only give top school past year papers a few weeks before exams becos by then, the whole syllabus will be covered. If its just starting of school or midway, then assessment books will be good to practise on those topics that have just been taught.

[stpngks]

Agree, assessment books are like worksheets to practise what was just learnt.


For parents whose children are doing last minute revision, prioritise the test papers, doing the top school in that subject first followed by the second if your child have time and work your way down the list, if your child has the stamina.

Superior in English and Science subjects (top school with strong English background)
Raffles Girls’ Primary – 2nd
Rosyth\t- 3rd - Superior in Math too
St Hilda’s Primary - 6th
Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary - 7th
Henry Park Primary - 8th\t

Superior in Math and Chinese (formerly Chinese stream top school)
Nanyang Primary – 1st
(Rosyth – 3rd )
Nan Hua Primary – 4th
Tao Nan – 5th
Rulang Primary - 9th\t
Catholic High - 10th

This is just a general observation. Do you agree?

[Maple leaf]

Hi, stpngks,


Thanks for the sharing.
BTW, are all answers provided reliable or the same for all sites?

[sembgal]

Following

[stpngks]

sembgal:

Following

As you know some top schools provide their own attached answers which are reliable. Most of the time the past year papers are done together with tutors or parents who will make minor corrections to the unofficial answers. The errors are few and far between. Most of the time primary school kids are supervised by parents or tutors who mark the papers and so it is ok.

For past year papers, look out for vendors that value add on to the papers. For example when they clean up the paper, re-enter the text again and check the answers. These papers are more reliable than those that just photocopy or scan wholesale.

Assessment books have answers that are reliable but parents need to check the year of publication, whether it is 2013 or 2008. This is important as MOE updates the syllabus frequently. Parents also need to gauge whether a certain publisher is top ten school standard or run of the mill type. Some of them are really good, but parents can't differentiate which are the good ones and which are the low quality ones. And they cannot judge a book by its cover or brand. I think some independent party should rank the assessment book titles, say top assessment book title is from publisher A, second is from publisher B and so on, then it will help parents to get value for money. However, parents are now quite confused with the myriad assessment book titles.

Assessment books can be used to target particular topics for students' improvement, while past year papers being broad based, can help students identify these weak areas.

So assessment books and top school test papers are complementary. Parents/tutors can mix and match both based on the student's needs.

I think this is a fair review. Don't you think so?

[stpngks]

I got sidetracked in previous post. Maybe I should come back to main topic of this thread, ie. Top School Test Papers.