Preparing for Accelerated Program at Box Hill/Balwyn High

[Einstein]

Hey Guys, my brother is going into year 6 this year, and i was interested in applying him for the SEAL/Accelerated classes at either Box Hill or Balwyn High. I hope to get him into some of the work earlier next week with some reading comprehension and some exercises in the year 7 maths book. However, I'm not sure what types of topics and the general layout of the test will be? what should i do to prepare him? especially in things such as math topics (algebra, simultaneous equations) and the types of things for reading comprehension etc?

Any help will be very much appreciated,
Thanks

[scribble]

Idk about balwyn, but box hill's seal test is not very competitive/difficult to get into, and i don't feel like its particularly something that needs to be studied for. He definitely doesn't need to be able to do year 7 math/any sort of simultaneous equation stuff. I didn't even know how to graph a linear equation when I took the test and i'm pretty sure the reason I got into the program was because i did 'well' in the math component. (because i literally left half the english section blank)

I'm not sure if it's changed, but when I took it, there were three seperate sections, one for math, one for english and i think(?) one for science (maybe, i dont remember. it might've been general knowledge or something).
Math was incredibly basic, there were definitely lots of multiple choice questions and i think there may have been a tiny bit of short answer. English was broken into reading comprehension and then a written component.
I dont even remember what the last section was, so no comment on that.
but yeah, It's very similar to the AIMs tests that he'll have done in primary school. Or if you know of the GAT, i'd liken it to that. And it's not competitive at all. I didn't study for the test, and I'm pretty sure most of the other students who made it into the program didn't either, so i wouldn't push him too hard.

[pi]

I sat and passed the UHS test back in the day, which is about as competitive as Balwyn. It's a tough test to do well in because there are a lot of students going for a place there and you really do need to have good scores to get in. I have no idea what the test is like these days but from memory I practiced with some Jim Coroneos books (the have cheap books for reading comprehension, maths, selective schools (ie. this accelerated program), etc.) and just by writing essays to time. My maths was probably at a Year 8 standard when I sat these tests in Grade 6, so I knew basic algebra, stats, prob and so forth.

Have a google of what company runs the test (back in my day it was something called "ITSA" which I don't think is around any more) and see if they have any prac questions, expect the actual exam to be harder than those questions if they are available. Also it's harder than AIMS/NAPLAN/whatever they're calling it now. Might help to do some ICAS exams (run by UNSW) as it's similarish to those plus you get some neat certificates and things.

There are also prep courses like Henderson's and James An (probs heaps more) that run programs for this, but they're pretty costly. Might be worth the investment, up to your family to decide that.

Gl to your brother!

[Einstein]

Idk about balwyn, but box hill's seal test is not very competitive/difficult to get into, and i don't feel like its particularly something that needs to be studied for. He definitely doesn't need to be able to do year 7 math/any sort of simultaneous equation stuff. I didn't even know how to graph a linear equation when I took the test and i'm pretty sure the reason I got into the program was because i did 'well' in the math component. (because i literally left half the english section blank)

I'm not sure if it's changed, but when I took it, there were three seperate sections, one for math, one for english and i think(?) one for science (maybe, i dont remember. it might've been general knowledge or something).
Math was incredibly basic, there were definitely lots of multiple choice questions and i think there may have been a tiny bit of short answer. English was broken into reading comprehension and then a written component.
I dont even remember what the last section was, so no comment on that.
but yeah, It's very similar to the AIMs tests that he'll have done in primary school. Or if you know of the GAT, i'd liken it to that. And it's not competitive at all. I didn't study for the test, and I'm pretty sure most of the other students who made it into the program didn't either, so i wouldn't push him too hard.

I sat and passed the UHS test back in the day, which is about as competitive as Balwyn. It's a tough test to do well in because there are a lot of students going for a place there and you really do need to have good scores to get in. I have no idea what the test is like these days but from memory I practiced with some Jim Coroneos books (the have cheap books for reading comprehension, maths, selective schools (ie. this accelerated program), etc.) and just by writing essays to time. My maths was probably at a Year 8 standard when I sat these tests in Grade 6, so I knew basic algebra, stats, prob and so forth.

Have a google of what company runs the test (back in my day it was something called "ITSA" which I don't think is around any more) and see if they have any prac questions, expect the actual exam to be harder than those questions if they are available. Also it's harder than AIMS/NAPLAN/whatever they're calling it now. Might help to do some ICAS exams (run by UNSW) as it's similarish to those plus you get some neat certificates and things.

There are also prep courses like Henderson's and James An (probs heaps more) that run programs for this, but they're pretty costly. Might be worth the investment, up to your family to decide that.

Gl to your brother!

Thanks a lot guys for your advice, really appreciate it. I have asked a few of my friends who go to Box Hill and they mentioned that simultaneous equations was on the test, and that their was 2 components to the maths (1 the school made - easy, 1 ACER made - moderate/hard). Anyways, my brother doesn't know much algebra, only knows the basics like 3x=21 and thats about it. Is it worth investing time into this area, and if not any other areas (open to suggestions).

With the reading comprehension i have a few books like oxford which has about 50 stories and questions which are then given, i think i will give him a few to try. In regards to writing, he doesn't know much of TEEL etc, how can i get him into this? He scored quite high in the writing component of the NAPLAN if that helps.

Cheers

[pi]

Thanks a lot guys for your advice, really appreciate it. I have asked a few of my friends who go to Box Hill and they mentioned that simultaneous equations was on the test, and that their was 2 components to the maths (1 the school made - easy, 1 ACER made - moderate/hard). Anyways, my brother doesn't know much algebra, only knows the basics like 3x=21 and thats about it. Is it worth investing time into this area, and if not any other areas (open to suggestions).

With the reading comprehension i have a few books like oxford which has about 50 stories and questions which are then given, i think i will give him a few to try. In regards to writing, he doesn't know much of TEEL etc, how can i get him into this? He scored quite high in the writing component of the NAPLAN if that helps.

Cheers

Worth going over some more complicated maths with him then.

With writing you may have to teach him some basic structure. I wouldn't say NAPLAN results are a good basis simply because the NAPLAN cohort is *everyone* and hence is a much weaker cohort than that who sit these entrance exams. He should be able to write about an A4 page in the allocated time (15mins?) and should have some basic structure (into, body para or two, conclusion). I can't remember if there was a creative writing component, but if so then that is more free-flowing and is probably a skill he would have worked in throughout primary school. Either way, practice to time is key here.

[Robert243]

Hi Einstein ,I got into the accelerated program at my old school (Mckinnon) . Mostly ,all test for admission into accelerated programs are made by the same company called "Edutest" . I made a guide on to get admitted , doing these type of tests which you can check out here A guide on how to study for the selective schools test(MHS ,Mac.Rob, Nossal,Cory , although it targeted into a year 9 level . So i will chip in  few cents over here .

Preparation
There will be 6 exams consisting of Verbal Reasoning , Reading comprehension , Numerical Reasoning ,Mathematics  , Creative writing and Argumentative writing .

Verbal reasoning : Practice your vocabulary , because there will be a lot of questions regarding it .
Reading: Basically practice your reading  , grammar  , and spelling skills .
Numerical reasoning : Practice Number patterns and word problems .
Mathematics: Its good to do some chapter reviews and cylnic revision in your textbook.
Writing : Practice writing essays under a certain time limit . When i did it the creative topic was ,"the box" , and the argumentative one was, "should homework be compulsory " .

As Pi has mention there are some very good books to buy to prepare him for the exam , also kumon isn't a bad idea it will get him to learn the concepts which will be tested quickly and efficiently .

Competition: In terms of competition each exam is broken down into 6 results categories .
Superior=top 11%
Above average: top 12-23%
High average= top 24-40%
Average= top 41-60%
Low average=  top 61-80%
Below average = bottom 19%


In conclusion , i hope that helps . Sorry for the brief explanations , about what on each test , i've gone more in depth , in the guide i've linked you .
I hope i've helped if you have any more questions , you can always feel free to private message me or ask them here .
And good luck to your brother .