BOFA News
Moyra Bond
BOFA News - 2 Mar 2011
Moyra Bond, who died on February 9 aged 95, was the founding author of the Bond Assessment Papers, some of which Andrew Baines, founder of BOFA has updated and extended.
The books have sold millions of copies worldwide since first being published in 1964, but until recently readers knew their author only as JM Bond, unaware even that she was a woman.
An article in The Times in 2001 about how to write a bestseller mentioned Bond alongside JK Rowling and Joanna Trollope: “JM Bond is the creator of such titles as 3rd Year Mathematics Assessment Papers, a sequel to the equally gripping 2nd Year Mathematics Assessment Papers. He [sic] is the living proof that there are many ways to achieve bookshop stardom.”
Jean Moyra Bell was born in Norfolk on July 21 1915, the daughter of a laundry manager, and educated locally. She did not attend university, and her first employment was a clerical job in Barclays Bank. Her main claim to fame in those days was swimming, in which she represented both Barclays and the county of Norfolk.
In 1938 she married Raymond Bond, also a Barclays employee, with whom she had two sons. They moved to Swanage, Dorset, in 1946 and Moyra decided to train as a teacher, qualifying at Weymouth College.
Her husband died in 1956 and, two years later, after several jobs teaching Mathematics, she raised the money to buy Avalon, a girls’ preparatory school at West Kirby on the Wirrall. She soon developed this into one of the most successful schools in the north-west.
While the whole country had to contend with the unpopular 11-plus examination, her own local authority also operated an additional 10-plus exam so that pupils’ progress over their final two years in junior school could be assessed. As this extra test was unique to Cheshire, however, there were no books of sample questions to help teachers and pupils prepare for it.
Moyra Bond made up her own questions, writing them on slips of paper and reading them out to her classes. She developed these into a series of test papers and sent them off to Nelson’s (now Nelson Thorne), the educational publisher. Nelson’s not only decided to publish them but also asked her to develop a comprehensive range of books for pupils aged eight to 11. English and Verbal Reasoning were included as well as the original Mathematics.
The first books were published in 1964. At that time, the publishers felt that a female author of a school textbook might deter possible buyers; her name was given as the genderless JM Bond, and the title page described her as “Principal” rather than “Headmistress” of Avalon School. It was not until 2007 that she was “outed” as female.
The books have been through several editions as Moyra Bond revised them to keep them relevant to successive generations of students. More recently, the books have been thoroughly updated and extended (in some cases, by other writers including the BOFA founder) to conform with today’s National Curriculum. The books are now known as Bond Assessment Papers and have sold as far afield as Australia, Canada, Indonesia and South Africa .
“What with developing new titles and constantly updating existing ones, they have taken over a large part of my life,” Moyra Bond said in 1974. “But it has all been worthwhile.” By the end of her life the books were earning her around £100,000 a year.
She found her inspiration for her questions almost everywhere: calculating the change when buying things in shops; small “adventures” such as her car breaking down; and listening to typical conversations among her pupils. Friends and family members found their names appearing in her questions.
She was headmistress of Avalon from 1958 until 1981, when she retired from teaching. In retirement she was able to spend more time on another of her passions, photography. She settled first at Heswall in the Wirral, then moved to Surrey to be near her family.
Moyra Bond is survived by her two sons.
Royal Engagement Offer!
BOFA News - 17 November 2010
To celebrate the Engagement between Prince William and Kate Middleton BOFA are giving away 2010 BOFA 11+ Mix products to the first 2010 parents who sign up to BOFA from today.
Hurry because last time we ran a similar offer they were all gone in a very short time!!! THIS OFFER HAS NOW ENDED
Happy SECOND birthday BOFA! This offer has now expired.
BOFA News - 26 July 2010
Two years old today!
"Over 2 million tests have been done in our first two years. To celebrate we are giving away 200 products to the next 200 people who register. In order to claim you free 11+ papers you need to enter the promotional code: HappyBirthday when you register here.
What are the 7 steps, from now, to using BOFA?
Step 1 Register as a BOFA parent or School on the my BOFA page
(ensure all fields have been completed) (promotional code: HappyBirthday)
Step 2 Confirm your registration
Follow the link in the email sent to your email address
Step 3 Add at least one pupil to your account on the my BOFA page
Step 4 Go to your account on the my BOFA page
(you will see your BOFA 11+ Mix in the "unassigned products" section)
These products are not sent in the post
Step 5 Assign the product to a pupils, (if you have not added a pupil do step 3)
Step 6 Tell the pupil to log on and start their first test
Step 7 View their progress on the my BOFA page
Onwards and upwards!"
Andy Baines
Become a BOFA Affiliate!
BOFA News - 13 June 2010
Message: THANK YOU. The site is fantastic and the explanations and self correction are the best I have seen. My daughter is very hard working but gets frustrated when software wants all children to go through all material as opposed to relevant bits. ...
... Also if on new registrations you captured a recommended by email account then you could reward people like myself who are telling all parents in a similar situation of this site with points for each product the other person purchased that could be used to purchase other products perhaps...
New 11+ Summer club launched using BOFA
BOFA News - 7 June 2010
The Holiday Learning Club, is a unique holiday club for boys and girls intending to sit the 11+ examinations for entry to grammar and selective independent schools...
BOFA has marked over 1,250,000 questions and still counting!
BOFA News - 18 May 2010
BOFA isn't two years old until 26th July and yet we have already marked over 1.25 million questions. How many will it be when we are two?
BOFA goes continental! BOFA now in 51 languages!
BOFA News - 21 Oct 2009
Following requests from users we have set up "Translate this Page".
Here you can click on a language to view BOFA if English is not your first language. This follows requests from users asking why their products have not yet arrived. We have placed many filters into the system to explain that the products are in your account immediately after purchase but we then discovered that the problem was not that it doesn't explain this on the site but that the users were struggling to understand the English. The new page directs you to the Google and Altavista translation services and is not directly part of BOFA.
We have not been able to set this up for every language but if you know of a similar service which can be used for say, Bengali or Punjabi then we would like to hear from you.
Royal Mail strike sends business to BOFA
BOFA News - 8 Oct 2009
The strike by Royal Mail has had a positive effect on new business for BOFA. Parents looking for resources to help their children prepare for the 11 plus exam are looking for Online 11+ tests. Because BOFA is completely online, there is zero postage unlike many of its competitors. This means that the children can do the tests:
- at home
- at their grandparents
- at after school club
- in fact anywhere they can get an internet connection
The advantages of being online means:
- Zero delivery time - products arrive in your account instantaneously
- No postage - no adding on £2.48 postage to a BOFA order
- No time spent wondering around book shops
- Friendly to the Environment - Very low carbon footprint
The fastest, most reliable hosting platform
BOFA News - 7 Oct 2009
With BOFA's dedicated server we are not competing for bandwidth or processing power with other clients' websites, leaving your tests to run at their full potential 24/7. Any online testing platform must get the questions to the user instantaneously, at BOFA we take this seriously. Check out the speed of BOFA compared to our competitors,we are often 10 times faster, try it and see. ...
BOFA Promotion
BOFA News - 9 September 2009
BOFA is giving away thousands of products for FREE! In order to attract new BOFA parents we are inviting new users to register this weekend and receive the BOFA 11 plus Mix worth £4.99 for free! If you have already registered and would like a FREE BOFA 11+ Mix then email BOFA telling BOFA your username and we will credit your account, provided you do it this weekend.
BOFA 11+ Mix
Bookmark this page and come back this weekend with the code!?! Get the promotion code here!?!
Kent on Saturday Promotion
BOFA News - 22 August 2009
BOFA has just successfully completed its first newspaper promotion in the 15th August's edition of "The Kent on Saturday". This was a great success and BOFA welcomes all the new pupils to BOFA 11+. You can see the promotion on page 8 as well as a lead in on the front cover.
Look out for future promotions in your local paper!
Happy first birthday BOFA!
BOFA News - 26 July 2009
One year old today!
"BOFA has come a long way in its first year and I am really proud of where we are now. I would like to thank all the BOFA users and visitors for their support and feedback over the past year. We have had a few teething problems along the way, but thanks to so much feedback we have made huge improvements. To show my appreciation to you, I will be emailing all of you who have independently registered during this past year, to tell you that I have given you a BOFA Mix for FREE!!! If you don't want to use this for any reason, then you can pass it on to a friend or relative. To pass it on just:
- Ask them to register at BOFA
- Get them to tell you their username
- Email BOFA from your username email account, telling us your BOFA friend's email address
- BOFA will then transfer over your FREE BOFA mix
Onwards and upwards!"
Andy Baines
