Did you know that the selective school tests can be quite different for different states?
Victoria and South Australia students are tested on a persuasive or narrative genre with time limit of 30 minutes whereas the writing test of New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia allows students to present their writing in any genre with a time limit of 20 min for the former and 25 min each for the latter two states.
Unlike multiple-choice questions, a writing test has no right or wrong answer but weaknesses are easily evident in the writing task. It would be a shame if this is the paper that pulls down your child’s overall score.
Writing is always a bit trickier than the other parts of the selective entry test. Students may find it difficult because of the following reasons –
Difficulty in Time Management
Many students struggle to keep track of their allocated time which eventually curbs them to produce high-scoring qualitative content in a limited period. Often times, students find that their time is up when their writing is not even half done and as such, they fail to demonstrate their understanding of the statement or image tested. To combat this situation, students should have lots of practice writing under timed conditions.
Anxiety and Nervousness
Students must keep their nerves in check to produce a qualitative piece of writing. The environment of the exam, the pressure to score high, and the fear of failure meddle with the brains of your children. If you want your child to avoid such agony, encourage them to practise more as exposing them to a simulated exam environment under timed conditions will accustom them to the exam conditions and help them perform better.
Understanding of the Genre
The persuasive and narrative genres are specific to some writing section of the selective school test in some states. Some students get confused as to which argument to make for persuasive genre. They misinterpret the question and thus, do badly. It can also happen that the students have written a wonderful piece of writing, but misinterpreted the requirements of the tasks, which can cause them to falter in the writing test.
Short of Ideas/Thoughts
With so much pressure on the mind, limited time and nerves, it is natural that students may lose the trail of their ideas to express on paper. This situation can only be dealt with practising more under exam conditions, which helps to boost confidence in your child and enables him or her to stay calm during the exam.
To secure a spot, your child needs to be able to present creative ideas in an eloquent style that demonstrates maturity, creativity and language competence. More importantly, students must write according to the stimulus given to them.
Practice and more practice can be the pivotal puzzle that propels your child to leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. All writing tests at Test Champs not only give your child a score but also provides constructive feedback that can help your child score better in the Writing test.