Year 4 Bond 11+ Books: Ages 8-9

Bond is the top provider of Year 4 11+ practice books and helps millions of children pass certain entrance exams. These assessment papers for ages 8-9 practice topic-based questions that set the standard for success in SATs, common entrance or 11 Plus mock exams.

These Bond books suggest timings for each paper. These are only suggestions and please feel free to be flexible if your child is new to the series. Once your child is familiar with how the papers work, you can then begin to time them. The 11+ examination is sat using pen and paper under timed conditions. It is essential that your child works using pen and paper when practicing (computers have their place but your child will not be tested on them for this examination). Your child needs to build speed as well as accuracy and that is why the timings are so useful. When your child begins to gain good marks in the time allowed, you could take 5 minutes off the timing for future papers. This examination technique is one of many we use in class. Of course, if there is any extra time your child should be encouraged to go back over their work and check for mistakes.

ENGLISH

Year 4 11+ English Assessment Papers Ages 8-9 by Bond

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This is a really good book that I highly recommend for Year 4 11+ students. Each paper has a mixture of comprehension, grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary building. The mark scheme is attached so you can help your child at home. The comprehension questions each clearly have the number of marks for the correct answer so that you can guide your child towards adding more detail when appropriate. The comprehensions become more difficult as you move through the books, so it is always wise to start with the earlier books in the series to build confidence and skills. This book is good value for money as you also get spelling rules and lots of grammar practice.

It is worth noting that these are assessment tests and as such your child might not know the answers. (Their English is being tested. Their ability will depend on what they have been taught). As they are assessment tests, the best way for your child to do each paper is with you close by and if your child’s attention seems to wonder, they are probably stuck and need your support. This is where the mark schemes come in. You can look at what the answers are and work with your child to discuss how they should come to those results. This is definitely not cheating; it is logical, self-empowering problem solving. Please remember, leaving a child alone with these tests will not get the best results, instead you should work with your child where possible.

This book has 20 papers with each test containing 40 questions. This provides regular small chunks of topics, and it is easy to identify strengths and weaknesses in English because of the structure of the tests. Allow 30 minutes for each test and work through the papers in order, completing a full paper then marking it, going through any mistakes together before moving on. Your child can always bring their book to class and we will go through mistakes with them if you prefer.

I highly recommend this book and your child can move up the series when appropriate. These books are in addition to our weekly packs of work. It is worth noting that these books cover entrance examinations all over the country, and as Essex has a specific exam written especially for it, our work is tailor made for the Essex schools which is why we have such great success. The books are a valuable tool but nothing will replace our weekly packs of work.

MATHS

Year 4 11+ Maths Assessment Papers Ages 8-9 by Bond

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The bond 11+ series are what all good tutors and independent preparatory schools use to help prepare students for the 11+ examination. This examination in Essex, is traditionally in the third or fourth week of September as your child enters Year 6. So, Years 4 and 5 are absolutely crucial preparation time.

The book contains assessment papers in examination style. There are 24 papers each containing 40 mixed questions which encourages students’ mental dexterity. The best way to work with this book is to let you child sit a full paper under timed conditions as suggested at the front of the book.

For this book, students should be given about 30 minutes for each paper. When they have sat the paper, you can mark it together as the answers are provided. There are score boxes in the margins and a progress chart which is visually motivating; your child will be able to see their improvements. Encouraging your child to colour in the chart as they go along will help build self-esteem.  You can then work together on any difficult areas and let us know which areas you want extra work in so that we can provide it for your child and teach it in class to them. When they sit the next paper, they should be much better as they will have done several worksheets with us.

Bond also offer a free website with practice papers which are available when you buy the book.

I highly recommend this book and your child can move up the series when appropriate. These books are in addition to our weekly packs of work. It is worth noting that these books cover entrance examinations all over the country, and as Essex has a specific exam written especially for it, our work is tailor made for the Essex schools which is why we have such great success. The books are a valuable tool, but nothing will replace our weekly packs of work.

VERBAL REASONING

While the Essex exam no longer contains a separate verbal reasoning paper, verbal reasoning is included, hidden within the Maths and English papers. Verbal reasoning is logic and needs a student to understand what is being asked of them, look at the example to work out how to do it and then apply their previous knowledge to this new style of question. Verbal reasoning can be vastly improved with practice. It requires both Maths and English skills, careful reading of the instructions and patience when looking at the example to ensure that the task is fully understood before beginning. Verbal reasoning is widely used in common entrance exams for private schools.

A word of warning

The verbal reasoning books are often the most popular with students. While praise of course should be given for completing a paper, a balance needs to be reached to ensure your child is doing plenty of work on their least favourite subject. The 11+ in Essex requires students to be equally good at both Maths and English whilst having the mental dexterity to apply their knowledge to reasoning questions. So please don’t let your child focus too much on the verbal reasoning.

Year 4 Verbal Reasoning Assessment Papers Ages 8-9 by Bond

This is a really good book that I highly recommend for Year 4 11+ students. This book is good value for money as each paper includes a wide variety of skills and question types in Maths and English so your child will be constantly challenged to think quickly and jump from topic to topic. The mark scheme is attached so you can help your child at home.

It is worth noting that these are assessment tests and as such your child might not know the answers. As they are assessment tests, the best way for your child to do each paper is with you close by and if your child’s attention seems to wonder, they are probably stuck and need your support. This is where the mark schemes come in. You can look at what the answers are and work with your child to discuss how they should come to those results. This is definitely not cheating; it is logical, self-empowering problem solving. Please remember, leaving a child alone with these tests will not get the best results, instead you should work with your child where possible.

This book has 20 papers with each test containing 45 questions. Allow 30 minutes for each test and work through the papers in order, completing a full paper then marking it, going through any mistakes together before moving on. Your child can always bring their book to class, and we will go through mistakes with them if you prefer.

What next after these books?

These are a series of books so that you can keep progressing through them. For example: after completing the 8-9 verbal reasoning papers your child can then move on to the 9-10 book in the same series.

A word of warning

Please don’t present your child with a set of books all at once. Rather drip feed books in as a present or reward, with a celebration on the successful completion of the previous book. This will help to motivate and build self-esteem both of which are vital to happy, confident, well-educated children.

Our Tuition For Year 4 Students

Here at the Jacqui Robinson Education Centre, we make learning fun, interactive and exciting. Our classes are teacher led with students using pen and paper not computers. The 11+ examination is sat in a traditional manner using pen and paper. So we prepare our children, very successfully, in the appropriate way. We offer traditional teaching with outstanding results. The Jacqui Robinson Education Centre is a calm, peaceful, happy, secure working environment for our students. Our ethos is linked to kindness, respect and hard work and we do not have disruptive students here. No one shouts out and everyone wants to do well. Our aim is to build a love of learning right from the beginning of school.

In Year 4 we begin to take the 11+ very seriously. This is the year we get our students well above their peers in school. Our extension programme is designed to introduce more complex Maths and English skills. It is in Year 4 that we extend the use of the Maths and English rule books which are an invaluable revision guide that the students make themselves under our direction. An initial assessment enables us to clearly show you what level your child is starting with us at and for us to write a detailed learning plan which we share with you so that we can all work together. We respect our parents and aim to empower you to help you help your children at home.

We have a teacher with two teaching assistants working with a maximum of 12 students between them. No school offers this 1:4 student teacher ratio. The joy of working with their peers makes our students want to come back. Of course our prizes, certificates and praise also lead to confident and happy students. 

Unlike school, our students are allowed to progress at their own pace. The work is specially written for them each week and we can progress children to ensure they come top of their class. If a students finds anything tricky, we have the time, patience, skills and the resources to ensure they learn successfully. For more information on our bespoke Year 4 classes, please contact us and we will be happy to answers any of our questions and get your child started on the road to success.