What to expect in assessments for reception?

[ricks]

Hi!

We have applied in Putney high for reception. They have a selection procedure through assessments and I want to know what they actually ask in these assessments? The open houses of some of these schools are misleading :( as i got this feedback from a friend who applied for Wimbledon high. Any information/help regarding verbal reasoning(what do they ask a preschooler in that), maths (what level they are expected to know). My (preschooler) DS is able to write her name but cant read much. Any suggestions how i can prepare her for the upcoming assessment next month. Also please let me know if i have missed any other important part of the assessment.
Any help is much appreciated.

But at the end of the day, your dc is either accepted or rejected. My horror is quite real - I would never want to be told that my 5 year old is not good enough for somewhere, and I can't understand why someone would offer their 4 year old child up to anyone to make that kind of judgement.

Agree with notrightnow.

Assessment at 3/4 is not a big deal if the parents don't make a big deal about it. If it is kept low key (I don't hear anybody advocating tuition), the child does not even know what is going on.

On the contrary , if they are assessed at a later age, say 7, they are more likely to have the maturity to suss out that something is a stake.

The good (independent) schools in my area are oversubscribed and are in fact bursting at the seams. Thankfully, they are diverse enough in ethos to suit different children. If you don't play the assessment game, they don't get into the popular schools, that's all.

Ricks - hate to stress you more but it's you who will be assessed, not the four year old.

Whether you believe in nature or nuture - it comes from the parents.

Shine your shoes and don't swear too much.

Popular schools are not always the best ones.

IME all the really academic schools do not do assessments until 7 as there is no point until that age.

At age 4 your DD does not need a super pushy academic school, she really doesn't.

I agree with Pinkelephant. Four is quite young to assess academic potential.

Putney High goes all the way to 18. If your dd doesn't turn out to be very academic, then at some point she will need to move schools.

I think 7+ is a better entry level. And a good pre-prep should ensure your dd is well prepared for 7+ entry to Putney High or another appropriate school.

Don't think Putney do 7+ now except for a few places.

Which I think is a big mistake and put them off my list as I would NOT put my DD through that craziness at age 4.

Also didn't want to choose a school for her right through to 18 at such a young age.

A local boys prep allocates places by lottery at age 4, then gets rid of any that don't make the academic grade at age 7. Pure madness.

Sorry - I hadn't realise that - is it still very academic? I've never understood how the more academic schools can operate with a main intake at 4. I suspect they have a few dc's struggling along, as well as those whose parents are advised to look elsewhere for them.

Yes as far as I know still very academic and can only maintain this by counselling out girls who cannot keep up the academic pace - the worst possible outcome for anyone's DD.

It is a big reason why I wanted to wait a few years to be sure I had more idea of what kind of school would suit DD before committing to a school which goes all the way to 18.

In my area, most places are filled up at 3+ (nursery) and the children escalator up by and large, if there is a senior school attached. f you could avoid a transfer and test at 7, wouldn't you?

Not all schools that select are highly academic. It depends on their criteria. As it turns out, my dcs do not go to the pushy prep, because I do not agree with their early academic pressure. That does not mean my dcs/we were free from selection, far from it.

As for not all popular schools not always being the best ones, I could not possibly disagree. But schools are usually popular for a reason - we are talking about a highly demanding and discerning set of fee-paying parents. If you eschew tests at 4, there are pretty slim pickings at a later age ... but that is your choice.

I think there is an intake of only about 15 girls at Putney High's 4+. Surely then their main intake is at 11+?

There are plenty of schools doing 7+ round here - including some of the most popular academic ones so I did not find it slim pickings at all.

And making the choice at 7+ gave me time to judge how DCs were developing and choose a school right for them.

If you don't do well at an independent school that cares about it's academic results - they ask you to leave.

I cannot imagine why anybody would want to send their child to a school like that - but plenty do.

I have to disagree with pinkelephants. When we were first considering things, we decided it was either 4+ entry or wait until they were 11. IMO (and it is only my opinion) 7+ is far more stressful for the child.

At 4, they have absolutely no idea what is going on. They go along and hear a nice story and draw a few pictures etc then Mummy comes back to collect them. If they don't get a place then so what? They never need to know or be bothered by it.

However, at 7, the children are far more aware of what is going on and can often sense their parents' tension. They know it's a test and they're always anxious to pass. They're also much more likely to ask about it afterwards. I have taught in an infant school where a significant propartion of children went on to prep at 7. I saw it first hand and it really put me off.

At 4, mine had no idea the significance. I did not prep and they took it in their stride. At 7, perhaps my confident, bright girls would have been fine but their very shy, sensitive brother would have crumbled.

Oh and many admission tutors who assess at 4 will tell you that they feel quite confident at assessing potential at that age. Although the assessment is very play based, it is carefully thought through.

When I taught Reception, you could pretty well tell who would get L5 in Y6. There would be some whom you knew would struggle and need extra support. Then there would be the vast majority who you needed to wait and see how they would develop. But there would always be 3 or 4 who you knew were going to be high achievers.

It is these kids that the highly selective schools are picking out at 4.

You are absolutely right Indigo - all these schools that apparently give "automatic" entry into senior school will in fact counsel out those who for whatever reason do not keep up the pace.

My DDs school does this at secondary entry level, having a guaranteed place system for junior school pupils so they do not any longer have to take the senior school entry exam, but they warn very clearly that the guaranteed place will only be offered to those who have made enough progress over their time in he junior school. I know of at least one in DDs year who has to sit the entrance exam.

I would not have sent DD to this school if I was not very sure that she had the ability to keep up with the pace without stress. It causes a lot of misey to those who got in as borerline cases.

Just to add that from that 'vast majority' that I mentioned, you would often get children who also went on to be high achievers but who, for whatever reason, were a little slower to mature.

This does mean that quite a few kids who are very bright and will go on to do very well academically are not offered a place. This is definitely a flaw in the 4+ system. However, those offered a place at 4 usually carry on at the same pace.

monty - have not done 11+ but from my experience I would consider 7+ a lot less stressful.

Though I know the 7+ at some schools is a lot more stressful, involving a lot more assessment of formal exams, which is why I avoided those schools.

11+ as far as I can tell involves a lot more formal exam assessment across the board.

It does, yes. Though the 7+ assessments local to me are usually 3 papers followed by an interview for those who reached the required level on the paper. Personally, I just see 4+ as the least stressful of the three. I think at 11 or 13 if you live in an area with CE, the extra maturity could help them cope better. Though, I have no personal experience of children going for the 11+ or CE.

Monty - sounds like those 7+ assessments are over the top and may be the ones I avoided.

DD had some formal sit down exam element in hers but only 3 1/2 hours spread through an assessment day. And they could ask the teacher for help.

DS did not even realise his was an assessment - as far as he was concerned it was just a day to try out the school to see if he liked it. The highlights were playing football and jelly for lunch!

As DD is going for a scholarship at the senior school she is going through the entrance exam, which consists of 3 one hour papers with an interview at a later date. She is only doing it because she asked to and I would never have dreamed of putting her in for such an assessment at 7.

In my experience: those academic preps which take in additional pupils at 7+, 8+ and even 11+ will be looking for pupils who are in the top 50% of their existing pupils ability range.

Of course it's harder for the dc to get into the school at 7+. But if they get in they should be able to cope comfortably with the work.

Hi Ricks

My dd did the assessment for Putney High. She wasn't very forthcoming about it but from what I can gather they had to draw a picture, write their name, point out some letters, do some interactive play. I'm sure there was more to it than that but not sure how it would be possible to prepare a child for it.

No assessment of the parents as far as I was aware - I literally dropped DD off at the door and walked away.

She was offered a place but we decided not to take it for various reasons.

Good luck

I wouldn't put my kids through them either which is why I sent them at 4!

monty - if the only 7+ available to me had been like those you describe I wouldn't have put my DCs through it either.

There must have been some other less pressured choices surely?

The thing about going for 4+ is that it is NOT a guarantee that your Dc will go through to 18. They just select out on a less formal basis and DCs are faced with having to leave all their friends at a later date.

So a child with dyspraxia wouldn't get in then. Nice.

I guess it depends on what you think is worse for your dc - sitting a 7+ and failing to get in, or spending their prep years struggling to keep up (or being asked to leave).

But I never understood those parents who get their dc's into very academic preps at 4 years - because "they might not get in at 7+."

Obviously, most dc's who get in at 4 years are fine - I just wasn't prepared to risk it. But we have lots of 7+ options. We also have good 'less selective' schools which take from 4 years, if you want to avoid 7+.

It's not guaranteed, no. My 3 will still need to sit the papers at 11. This has always been clear to us. But;

• Children all over the country go off to different schools at 11 so if a change was needed I wouldn't worry too much. I am paying for the experiences they have everyday at an excellent, forward-thinking independent junior school. I am not paying to ensure they pass the 11+

-Very, very few children from the junior department fail the test.

-The more detailed the assessment at 4, the less likely a child is to end up struggling.

Earwicga, a child with dyspraxia would not fail on that alone esp if there was a diagnosis at the time. If I had suspected dyspraxia in any of mine I would have mentioned that they may struggle with the pencil grip and any ball activities due to suspected dyspraxia. There is a very bright girl in DD1's class with dyslexia. She is very able but has one to one in class albeit paid for by her parents. DD1 was very chuffed to discover in Reception that their whiteboard was, in fact pale pink as this dramatically helps this other girl.