3+ 4+ 5+ 7+ Support thread 2019

[mumteacher]

In previous years I have started these threads to help and support all those involved in the independent school admissions process.

I wasn't going to start one this year as I know I would not be able to check back on it as regularly as I would like, which then defeats the purpose of the thread.

However, after numerous positive PM's about the threads I think it would be a shame not to start one where at least the hand holding can continue. 🤝

There are many many people who have been through the process and 'live to tell the tale' . There are also other tutors I know who read this thread and it would be great if you all could help and support and share your ideas👏🏼

(Roll on 2019!) 😉


www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/3073499-3-4-5-7-support-thread-2018

[mumteacher]

Here it is! Apologies in the delay. Hope you’re all hanging in there.

[Jifey]

hello, would appreciate any advice on ucs first round coming up. what do they expect of parents?

[Kyanspie]

Jifey, i would also be interested in what these schools are looking for from parents if they have parent conversations as part of the process.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Thank you.

[RunRunMum]

Do you think politics plays a part in who gets in and through the second rounds of these processes.

By politics i mean... winter born versus summer born/ whether a parent previously attended the school in question/ financial status of the parents/ do governors have influence in who gets in?

I am just not sure it is purely down to the child.....food for thought

[cantwaitforspring]

Jifey, nothing expected of parents at UCS. The first round seemed to be more focused on how the child interacts with other children (seems to me they largely played games) whereas the second was more of an individual assessment (e.g. I remember they asked my DS to make a pattern). Good luck!

[mumteacher]

Some schools will have a bias towards the older child (winter born)
Some will also be more interested in parents than others.
Some like Habs have a parent ‘interview’ where parents spend around 15 minutes chatting with a senior member of staff.
It should be easy to find out if a school has a such a process, if it does please make sure you have a few questions ready to ask. Do not go into the meeting expecting the teacher to do the talking.

[mumteacher]

What age ucs entry?

[Jifey]

Thanks. It’s 7+.

[cantwaitforspring]

You probably figured out already that I was talking about 4+!

[Jifey]

Thanks @catwaitforspring. Did you child get in at 4+? What’s the environment like?

[cantwaitforspring]

He did but in the end we chose another school. For what it's worth though it was his top choice after the assessments and I heard from other parents that the pre-prep is very nurturing and encourages creativity in the children. Worth getting feedback from Junior branch parents though!

[Timeofyear]

Any advice for a late summer born for SHHS for 4+? Though not high hopes given when we did the tour it was heavily skewed towards autumn/winter borns).

[CB2009]

Timeofyear - we are not girl parents but know lots of friends with girls at SH. As you suspect heavy skew towards Autumn birthdays. Parties every weekend at this time of year! We do know 1 June born girl but she is a younger sibling. Not wanting to rule it out but just being honest! If you don’t try then you don’t know! Visit is a teddy bears picnic. If the format is unaltered. Expected to know name. Sit down. Play games. May be cutting with scissors. Cannot recall feedback from friends beyond that other than they look for polite, easy to teach, little ladies!!!

[CB2009]

Jifey - if format unaltered from few years ago then they first stage used to hear the boys read & then a listening test. Teacher reads from a sheet. The boys have a sheet in front of them of words/symbols/shapes etc. Might say tick all the circles. Underline words starting & ending with s. Hard to teach for & basically tests reasoning skills & listening. All boys carry forward to sit the actual exams unless things have moved on/changed. No boys filtered out at this early stage. Fingers crossed. DM me if you want to know more. Work busy. I frequent visitor!

[NL778345]

Hello, are there any parents who have children in both Highgate and NLCS. If so, how do they compare? Still debating whether unisex or coed environment would be best for our daughter. Thanks.

[Timeofyear]

Thanks for the insight CB2009. As you said if you don't try you don't know, so we shall see how it goes.

[RoccoW14]

Any advice / guidance for the Bute House 7+ assessment?
Thanks!!

[mumteacher]

For 7+ there’s usually a maths paper, mental maths, comprehension, story writing, some VR and NVR.
Not all boys schools will have story writing element.
For maths bond books age band 8-9 is the levels you would be looking for- does depend on age (month) of the child and which school.

English comprehension -the last couple of questions may be inference based so make sure your child has an idea of how to use the information in the passage to make judgments.
Also make sure your child underlines importnat parts of the question - “what 2 things did the character do wrong and explain why?” Make sure your child underlines why and what so they remember to answer both parts of the question.

For story writing use the story hill as a guide.

[mumteacher]

Did anyone sit shhs today?

Hope it went well.

[pollyname]

Any advice what I can do with my 3.5 year old boy to prepare? Does he need to be able to write his name? He is quite good with pens but definitely needs direction to do a drawing.

[mumteacher]

Is he sitting 4+?
Which school?

Many 4+ will have a writing element. Some schools will ask for name, some schools to draw a person, others to colour. I can be more specific if you’re able to share which schools.

[pollyname]

Thanks mum teacher - it's Alleyns

[RaspberryCake]

Any boys doing 7+ at St Paul's? It is coming up soon. Any tips on what to do for the next 2 weeks before the exam? DS has been working hard. What is the best way to consolidate before the exam? Practice papers - will they get burnt out and disengage if doing too many?

[bluefolder]

Not doing St. Pauls @RaspberryCake but my daughter did Belmont this week and I did no extra work with her for several days beforehand. If they don't know their stuff a week or two before the exam, I think last minute cramming is more likely to do harm. The only thing I did was a little bit of revision on one subject where I thought she was very nearly there but tended to make silly mistakes, but that was literally 5 minutes x2 in the week before the exam and nothing else.

[Omasa]

We are doing St. Paul’s too - only 2 weeks from Saturday! I actually can’t wait for it to come and be over with as it’s been hanging over our heads since the beginning of term. Anyone who has done St. Paul’s - any tips would be appreciated!

In response to your question raspberrycakes - we are also worried about burning out ( not that we have done that much beforehand!) but we are doing about 1 bond paper a day (either English, maths or reasoning) in the car on the way to school. My DS is in a preprep so they’ve been overloaded at school I think