What is selective school entry?
Earning a spot at a selective high school is one of the most hotly contested and widely debated topics in education. Some argue academically gifted and talented children should be able to learn in a fast-paced environment with like-minded students, while others believe that current entry criteria doesn’t cater for creativity or maturity.Results matterThere can be no denying that students attending selective high schools achieve results beyond many of their peers attending private or mainstream schools. James Ruse Agricultural School at Carlingford has topped the Higher School Certificate results for almost two decades. It is followed closely by Baulkham Hills High, Hornsby Girls, North Sydney Boys and Sydney Girls.For those unable to afford private school fees, a place at a selective school is seen as the ultimate achievement for many Year Six students. It is little wonder competition for a place is tough. There are currently 17 fully selective schools, 25 partially selective and four agricultural schools around NSW.For Year Seven entry in 2016, there were 13,070 applicants for just 4214 places. According to the Department of Education, the number of candidates sitting the academic entrance exams has remained steady. Students answer questions designed to measure inferential comprehension, mathematics and general ability.The Department does not endorse coaching and private tutoring for the Selective High School Tests and the also equally contested Opportunity Class Placement Tests. They believe it is not possible to determine which students are coached and which are not.“This information cannot be mapped against either successful or unsuccessful students,’’ a Department of Education spokesman said. The questions for the selective high schools test are not designed to see how well students have learnt the curriculum content and skills they have been taught.“Instead the questions are designed to measure the ability of students in the areas of inferential comprehension, mathematics and general ability. This sort of testing does not readily lend itself to coaching.’’
Selective Entry High School Test Tips (Nossal, MHS)?
HEY. :D Sorry, but other than the Gov. website, i don't think there are any other online sites that provide free tests. xD OMG. I went to Lyndale, another **** school... and was also in accelerated. :D James Ann is really good. I didn't go, but a few of my friends did. If you do them properly and actually revise on what parts you didn't understand, you should do okay on the exam. For english... You need to be able to read quickly and and scan for the right info, after checking what the q's are. Spelling is needed, but there's a lot of vocab stuff. so i recommend you learn some new words each day. For maths (i'mma typical asian xD, i like maths :P)... There were 2-3 questions on Trigonometry. Most of the questions are simple number equations or problem solving. And you have to work quick, 30 secs per question. just skip the ones you don't know and get back to it (if you have time), if you don't just colour in a random letter (good to stick with just ONE letter. eg: c) Btw. writing is really important. recommend you practice regularlu... this is where i stuffed up D: 15 mins to write a decent essay... plan in like 30 secs. write in 13 mins. and 1.5 mins to check. The test on the website is sorta like the actual one... as in, the verbal thing, is kind of a like. I think some of the questions were the same in the exam. :D Maths is mostly year 9-10. But simple stuuff, that you should be able to answer quickly, except for a few. if you don't answer all the q's, dw, cause it's meant to be like that. I had 5ish q's on the sections which i didn't answer. Seriously, don't stress now, I mean, it's so far away. I was a little get weary about whether i would be able to get in, since my entire family (cousins included) has gotten into mhs or macrob. But practice does pay off. PS: mhs, is the better school of the two, but you have to be commited if you wanna go there. you'll have to wake up early each day, since you live soo far away. I wake at 6 each day... D: but you guys start school later... lucky :D Anyway, good luck! we can be fwiends if you get it in :D (arghh, that was long :P)
Why are selective schools good?
Speaking as a student at a selective school in Australia:Selective schools are good for students because we basically get to be with people who share similar interests and motivations. I don’t know if this is true for all selective schools, but at my school there is a really strong sense of community. I think that most of us would seem pretty weird at a non-selective school, but our school environment is very non-judgemental and accepting.It helps students’ academic performances when they are grouped with other high-achievers. While in mainstream schools, bright kids might get complacent at the top of the class or they might avoid really studying to seem cool (is that actually a thing? idk). But at selective schools, when everyone does well and everyone wants to do well, it definitely pushes you to try to excel.Selective schools also provide a very stimulating environment. I remember that in primary school, I was often very bored because the classwork was very easy and the teachers had to go very slow for students who were struggling. Obviously, some classes at selective schools are still boring (I don’t think exciting geography exists), but the range of ability is much smaller, meaning that we move faster in class and sometimes discuss things in greater depth.It’s much easier for teachers, which means that they can teach better. A lot of teachers at my school have remarked that the students here are much easier to teach than is normal. It’s not that we have greater discipline, like private schools, but hardly any discipline is necessary - I don’t think any student has ever been suspended or expelled during my time here, and detentions are very rare.So yeah, that’s pretty much my argument for selective schools’ existence. Hope it helps :)
How hard are the Melbourne High School entrance exams?
So a mate of mine went to Melbourne High in year 10 - he said the entrance exams were doable questions with a blisteringly short time period, and that he didn't finish any of them. Yet he made it in. Now he's very intelligent, and finished year 12 last year with an ATAR of 98.5. Those tests are exceptionally difficult to complete (at least for year 10 entry) - not designed to be finished. It's what you do manage to get done and how you deal with the pressure that counts.Quick tip - do what I did and go in year 11. If you're getting great grades at your current school - and chances are, if you want to go to Melbourne High, you are - send in that report, turn up for the interview, and try to describe to the interviewers exactly how much you can give to the school community - they know your marks, they'll judge your usefulness, If you sell yourself with that in mind, chances are you'll get in.This is likely something to do after you don't pass the entrance exams, if indeed you don't pass them - a last resort, not a first choice practice. You have three chances to get in to Melbourne High. Don't waste them.
MacRob Selective Test!!!!?
haha calm down (: There's still 6 months i believe until the exam macrob is a good school, and the test is a little hard, especially with the time limit and heap of questions. However, I'm pretty sure everyone there has trouble answering all of them. You say you are reading a yer 9 textbook, and that should be about right, however there are some year 10 questions in the exam, so you can also practice some year 10 books if you want. A few of my friends did tutoring at James Ann (50-60 per week), they give you a practice paper each week on all 6 tests and mark it. Another one is Hendersons (tad bit more expensive), with them, they actually give you a result in the same sort of areas (average, high average, superior etc) as the actual exam does. With maths, all you can really do is practice along the lines of; - Trigonometry -surds -basic numeracy ( - , + , \ , x ) -Algebra -few worded problems -interest stuff (banking) ^ most of it is actually year 8, but there's a few year 9-10 questions to distinguish the smarter from the average. For english, you need to be able to read the questions and then find the appropriate info in the text quickly. since theres 50 questions and a whole heap of text. -.-" for verbal reasoning i suggest trying to learn a few 'difficult' words everyday, and the prac test on the actual gov. site.... some of the words were actually on the test. Numerical... this is just your problem solving skills and natural smartness. You need to be able to picture the question in your head really quickly as you only have 30 secs on each question essays... these were hard -.-" Since you only have 15 mins, you neeed to be able to plan in like 30 secs and write it in 13 mins so you have 1 and a half mins to check. You can't really improve on this and the only thing you can do is practice - you don't need anyone to check the essays. But you need to write a LOT (under time conditions) and also look at some example essays. (good ones) anywaysss...... don't stress now, there is like more than ages until the exam. But good luck (:
Easiest vet school to get into???helppp?
It doesn't matter where you do your pre-vet work. The easiest place to go is probably your local state school. They usually aren't very selective. However, once you move on to vet school is it very very difficult to get accepted at any one of them. In most cases, the easiest place to get in is your in-state school. If you don't have an in-state school, then you'll need to look out of state and it will be extremely difficult to get in.
Catholic School Entrance Exam for First Graders? Does this Seem Too Harsh?
Our kids all started out at the Catholic school in our area. We did it because we are Catholic and it is the norm for our family, others did it for the prestige of sending their kid to a private school so the school had to have an exam to see which would make the best quality of students and those that needed more help they were referred to the public schools. Many of the Catholic schools in our area are above average on the academic level but these kids also have a lot of independant study time. The teachers push them to do more on their own so that they learn better study habits. If a child can not act on their own and has to have their hand held then they are not learning the one lesson our school pushes the most and that is independance. Your son not going to kindergarten may not have held him back as far as knowing how to read but he doesnt have the social structure that many private schools require. Another point is most of the Catholic schools take parishoners first and then they fill the empty spots with the public. They may have 20 kids in a class but only 4 of them are from the community and the rest are parishoners so the ones that do not belong to the church have to score higher and the top four will be the ones that get the spots. This does not mean your son didnt do well it just means the others scored higher. This year we sent our kids to the public school because they were begging to get out of the Catholic school. Yes they learned and had a good education but the social aspect is better for kids in the public schools. There are more activities available for them, they no longer have to wear the uniforms attend mass everyday and they are happier. As a parent it is normal to be hurt when you feel your child has been wronged but in these cases it is just the way the school works, getting mad will not change the outcome at all and just builds resentment. Get your son in regular school and tell him that he didnt do wrong he just has to get better at math and that a lot of kids stuggle with that in the begining. Once he gets in school and starts a routine you will see a change in the behavoir of wanting to play. It is hard for a kid to go from being home and playing all day to sitting in a room and having to be still but they learn. As far as the school goes just chalk it up to an experiance learned and move on. We all have our plans changed and sometimes the new plan is better.
How easy is it to get selected into QASMT?
Hey dude. I am about to start Year 10 at QASMT in 2018. I can say that the entrance exams are really easy, but then again, it all comes down to personal opinions. There were some kids way smarter than me that didn’t make it in, and there were also borderline B kids that scraped through and made it in. One thing that i can say for sure is to be prepared for the workload. Some say that listening to others isn’t always the best option, but trust me, you will have to ask, which is probably why you asked this question. One mistake that a lot of people made was by doing the online practice tests. This is a big mistake, as many kids don’t realise that the test completed for entrance is completely different to the ones online (even though they are made by the same company: ACER). The tests are very different. When you go and ask a teacher if there is a way to practice for the test, they will say to go on to the ACER website and practice the online tests. Trust me. You do not want to do that. Instead, go onto forums, such as this one, or even Whirlpool, which is really helpful. But essentially, you should do fine. If you have the brains to attempt to get into QASMT, you should be fine during the test.