Independent School, assessment and the UK system for 7 year old/ year 3?

[returninghome]

We are British, currently living abroad. We are looking to return in 2013 and I have started to look at Independent schools for my children. My oldest child (who is 6 years old) currently attends an international school and follows the International Baccalaureate system. I have contacted a few schools in the UK and they say that prior to offering my child a place, they would want to assess them in English and Maths and expects them to be a strong reader.

Here's my (potential dilemma). I think my child is very bright. However, I am not too happy with the IB system at primary level and feel that there is little structure, little teaching and no syllabus! The children seem to play most of the time and mess around with the latest technology whilst the school seems to focus very little on the basics (reading, writing and maths). This is actually one of the reasons why we want to come home and put my children into a private UK school. I do think that my son is a good reader, however I attribute this to the fact that we have spent the past 2 years teaching him to read ourselves.

I have searched the archives here and found information that in an assessment, my then 7-8 year old will be asked to complete an English and Maths test. I am not so concerned about the English test, however my son will not (according to the school) have even looked at such things as times tables. I do think my son is bright, however upon doing such a test, he may not do so well, obviously having had no experience.

My questions are - what experience do MN's here, have of assessments for Year 3 in English and Maths?
Secondly, can anyone please direct me to any resources that can show me what the expectations of the UK Education system are at Year 3.

I am not looking to "coach" my child, however if I have a year before they are assessed then it may be in their interests for me to get them up to speed with what children at their age are doing in the UK.

P.S. My other children are a lot younger and will go into reception so not too concerned there!

Where in the UK?

If London, are you likely to get help with relocation? I can help to pay someone with up to date knowledge of the maze that is preps and pre-preps entry. Many, but not all schools, are oversubscribed and rely on competitive entry exams.

Each school will assess in a different way, and be looking for slightly different things.

You might want to get hold of the Bond Assessment Papers (which are published in age bands) and see how you DC gets on with them. Also other KS1 and KS2 workbooks (aiming for DC to be able to work confidently through KS1 and make decent inroads into KS2).

Are you looking for a more rigorous IB school now, or a general prep school, with the idea of moving back to IB system in the secondary years?

Just to be sure, your son has just turned 6 this term, so would be in year 1 now, if in the UK? (hence going in to year 3 in Sept 2013)?

If so, you have plenty of time, as he has until Jan 2013 to prepare, and this is only a really big issue if you want him to go to a very academic, probably London-based, prep school. There are, even in London, other options, eg less academic but still v good preps, which will also do the trad 8+ exam, but expect a lower standard, or one of the many schools which don't have a formal 8+ entry but which have occasional places in every year (there is so much movement in London that this true for the vast majority of schools) and which will still want to check out his english and maths, and possibly verbal reasoning, but in a much less formal way, and more alligned to the normal UK curriculum (the full-on 8+ curriculum is not very alligned and so requires candidates to do lots of extra work to cover the required material - really ridiculous, but don't get me started on that).

Do you know where you are looking to settle, and what sort of school you want (key decision for boys is whether you are intending them to sit 11+ and pass into senior school for year 7, or 13+ and move up for year 9 - the London system is particular is split right down the middle. Post more detail, and I can probably be more specific.

Meanwhile, where ever he goes, he will need to reading well by year 3 so work on this gently with him (he woudn't be the only year 1 boy to still be trudging through Biff and Chip - don't panic). When his general maths understanding seems up to it, start on his tables - there is no point having chanting them mindlessly if he doesn't have a firm grip on the basics. If he is doing full-on 8+ he needs to know them all securely by Christmas year 2. And when you think his reading and comprehension are up to it (perhaps late in year 1, but otherwise sept year 2) start doing Bond verbal reasoning papers, starting at the bottom, 6-7 band and working through.

Depends onthe school. One of ours moved schools at that age 7+. She had to know her times tables, read pretty well, write a little story, do a comprehension etc.

Here for example are English papers maths and English 7+ Haberdashers boys, Herts. That is a very academic school of the sort where my children went/go. I don't know what kind you are considering.
It may be worth your paying someone in the UK to do a bit of exam prep with him by web cam and certainly practise some papesr at home, learn the times tables etc.

habsboys.org.uk/prep/admissions/admissions7+.php

I think it is very hard on pupils coming from abroad who are trying to pass entrance examinations for English prep schools. English prep schools are by quite some way the quickest off the mark in teaching academic subjects and so children from any other country/system are going to be "behind" by virtue of not having had as much schooling.

Having said that, you could very easily employ a private tutor to work on the skills your son will require to pass those sorts of exams.

"some" schools assess UK educated children and internationally educated children differently, so you need to check with the school itself how your child would be categorised by them and what the expectations were for them as a result. Many good preps realise that your children will have had a very different education to locally educated ones and will accommodate accordingly. ASK.

curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/subjects/english/attainmenttargets/index.aspx

Here is a link to the government's website, showing National Curriculum schemes of work. The specific page I have linked to shows attainment levels for English, but you can search the other subjects. You might hope, from your description, that your child will be hitting Level three by the end of year 2/start of year three.

Private schools' curricula are based on the National Curriculum. This kind of Level will be in the ball park for quite selective schools, though a small number of very competitive London schools will be tougher. It depends where you are aiming. If you are back at that stage, there is plenty of time to catch up if necessary.

The quality of delivery the Primary Years Programme of the IB depends on the individual school and teacher to a greater degree than the more prescriptive Nat. curriculum: there is not actually a prescribed curriculum to follow, so in practice, the programme tends to be less structured than NC. and it is possible you are right to be thinking about a gap between your child's attainment and UK schools' requirements.

You might want to get some workbooks from educational publishers or from Amazon or Waterstones to ensure that the basics of handwriting, spelling, sentence structure, numeracy are beginning to become consistent in your child's work. A tutor might be helpful but good ones who actually know what they are doing can be hard to find overseas.

Unless you have reason to believe the school is inadequate, I wouldn't get too worried just yet. Many overseas schools are very good.

The easiest thing would be to contact a few schools you might be interested in and discuss things with them.

Thank you all so very much for the extremely helpful responses. First off, it is clear to me that I need to understand more about how the different systems work in the UK education system. FYI, my son has just turned 6.

I have been looking at schools around south Cambridgeshire and a couple I have looked at will want my son to undertake pre-entry assessments. I will contact the school and ask them about assessing overseas students. I think it would be more appropriate to have my son join a class for a day or have a teacher assess him on different things one-on-one to get an idea of his ability rather than what he has learnt so far. I think he would do very well in that type of situation.

I do think I have an issue now, having enrolled my son in the IB program. I am seriously NOT impressed with it at a primary level (although believe it is very effective in later years). However perhaps that is more to do with the school he is at, than the program itself. I am not looking to rejoin the IB program in the later years unless of course, the UK suddenly changes direction and adopts it on a wide scale.

ReturningHome - the IB PYP programme is open to an awful lot of interpretation, IMO. My sister's children got off to a flying start with the IB PYP, albeit in some of the most established IB schools. I wouldn't dismiss PYP out of hand (although I certainly wouldn't actively look for a PYP school in the UK).

Plenty of independent schools are not selective. But nearly all schools (state or private) would want to assess your child to best meet their needs going forward.

Returning home - is your DS in primary yet, or still in kindergarten? My DN, who is an Autumn child, did not start primary within the IB system until he was nearly 7. He therefore could not read very early. However, he has now moved school and has jumped a year ie is back in his normal UK year group, and is doing just fine.

DS's prep is non-selective so the level may not reflect a school that has an entrance test. He is in yr 3 and expected to know his 2,3,4,5,6,9 and 10 times tables by now.