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For
many years teachers have found Bond invaluable to help
practise exam skills and to support classroom teaching.
The features that have been particularly valued are:
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Careful
grading and progression with each book and from
book to book. |
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A
variety of question types within each paper which
thoroughly test children and help them to cope with
the unexpected. |
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Plenty
of material within each test. There is always lots
of practice at the basics. |
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The
timed element in the papers which helps children
to develop exam skills. |
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The
Papers have a straightforward format. They are self-contained
and not too lengthy which makes them easy to set
and mark. |
Using Bond in the classroom
You will find that Bond's Papers can be used in a wide
range of classroom situations:
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for
homework
for
revision of skills already learned
for
exam practice
for
pupils who need to catch up - or for those who want
to get ahead. |
Teaching resources on the website
To help you make full use of Bond we have provided a range
of free extra resources on this website:
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contents
charts explaining the exact coverage of every paper
in every book
free
extra paper for each book
end
of book tests for each book in the English and Maths
series
record
sheets to record children's progress |
The new edition
We realise that there are many teachers and tutors who
have been using Bond for a long time and who may wonder
why we felt the need to change a much-loved favourite!
The
answer is that we found that the content of the books
no longer matched changes in the curriculum, and we
also felt that the format needed some updating. We have
tried to ensure that the new edition is easier and more
attractive to use, is more closely in line with modern
exams and will help your teaching by being even more
carefully graded. Part of the reason for this site is
to provide you with the support materials mentioned
above that will help you to use Bond in a planned way
as part of your teaching.
This
new edition has been based on considerable discussion
with teachers, tutors and parents and we hope that once
you have got used to 'new-look' Bond you will find it
meets your teaching needs even more successfully that
before.
The key principles of the new edition have been:
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to
preserve the essential ingredients that have stood
the test of time: careful grading, variety of content,
wide coverage, straightforward format |
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to
bring the papers in line with developments in the
curriculum particularly the National Curriculum
for Maths and English, and the two related documents,
the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies |
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where
possible to improve the careful grading of material
even further to ensure that there are no jumps or
gaps in learning. We have altered some of the suggested
timings and the number of questions per paper as
part of this improvement of progression. |
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To
provide you with more detailed information about
the coverage and curriculum development of the books
to enable you to use Bond's Papers in an increasingly
professional way. The content charts and the support
materials on this website are to help you do this. |
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To
update the format and look of the papers to make
them more contemporary. |
Two immediate changes to the old edition are:
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Answer
Book
We felt that we could no longer justify asking
customers to pay for a separate answer book. We
have therefore included this in the centre of
each book as a pull-out supplement.
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Further Fourth
Our initial research suggested that many teachers
felt that the fifth book in each series, 'Further
Fourth', was no longer as popular as it once was.
However since launching the new edition many teachers
have contacted us to request that we keep a higher
level book in print for their top groups and scholarship
classes. A new edition is in preparation for publication
next year. In the meantime we have left the old
edition Further Fourth books in print, and these
may be ordered off our website. |
The changes to each set of books are outlined below.
English
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Clear
and balanced coverage of the National Curriculum:
systematic coverage of the key features of the National
Curriculum and National Literacy Strategy that builds
up from book to book. |
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Modern
comprehension extracts: extracts updated to ensure
a wide range of fiction and non-fiction in line
with the demands of the National Literacy Strategy. |
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More
searching comprehension questions: a move away from
literal, multiple choice questions to include more
questions that involve inference and deduction in
line with the style of comprehension questions set
in the National Tests for English and other exams. |
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Systematic
coverage of grammar, punctuation, spelling and vocabulary
skills: greater emphasis on the systematic development
of these skills from paper to paper and book to
paper. |
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Careful
planning of each book to ensure a balanced coverage
of each element of English |
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Use
of the 'vocabulary of English': the books systematically
introduce the technical vocabulary of English (e.g.
'noun', 'adjective', 'sentence') in line with the
demands of National Curriculum. There is a short
glossary at the front of each book to help children. |
Maths
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Clear
and balanced coverage of the National Curriculum:
systematic coverage of the key features of the National
Curriculum and National Numeracy Strategy that builds
up from book to book. |
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Use
of the 'vocabulary of maths': the books systematically
introduce the technical vocabulary of maths (e.g.
'median', 'obtuse angle', 'factor') in line with
the demands of National Curriculum. There is a short
glossary at the front of each book to help children. |
Reasoning
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Systematic
coverage of reasoning skills: the new edition is
based on a systematic analysis of reasoning skills
and question types which are now built up progressively
from book to book. |
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Removal
of 'general knowledge questions': the last edition
contained a proportion of general knowledge questions
of a type no longer set in reasoning exams. |
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Updating
of question style: the question setting style has
been updated to reflect changes in reasoning tests.
Questions are less 'wordy' and usually provide an
example of the activity children have to carry out. |
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Focus
on verbal reasoning at Book 4: Books 1-3 cover both
verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Book 4 only covers
verbal reasoning. A new non-verbal book will be
produced at Book 4 level in 2002. |
Click
here to find out about:
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