what happens at an interview for P1 (age 4) into an indepedant/private school ???????

[nailpolish]

thanks!

I've no idea how ds1 got in.

He clung to me, cried throughout and wouldn't do anything with any of the other children and had to be brought back to me after 20 mins.

he got in though and is well settled.

oh its not heriots (phew)

god im so nervous...

i am worried dd1 will refuse to co-operate because she wants to go to the school she currently attends pre-school at...

but obv as we are moving to Ed she cant

(help)

Agree with tamum that this seems to be the pattern - almost random acceptance at one or two, not getting a place at another.
Which might account for the different experiences tamum
Good luck nailpolish

it definitely says its one to one and im surprised

oh well

any tips on what dd should wear?

she is longing to wear her long white gypsy skirt

Oh, I don't know sorry- the children I know who did it at P1 stage are all boys. Good luck

After the group my girls then had a one to one on another day. At that they talked at that age 4 ish, they had to kick a ball (helps with co-ordination checking), probably hold a pencil as you say. I imagine they look to see if it's a dull child or a bright spark with things to say. A lot of luck in it. Daughter 1 got into Habs girls at 4 and her cleverer younger sister didn't (who was more shy then) even though she had a sibling there. Daughter 2 then got into North London Collegiate at 7 which gets better A level results anyway and it worked out find apart from the inconvenience of 2 schools over 13 years. Both failed for each other's schools at 11+ too - they tried for fun. Both at university. In fact D2 didn't get into one university D1 applied for and got into. They got virtually identical A level results and both like the fact they were at separate schools yet at 4+ those tests felt so important to the parents.

dd1 went to an independant term for a while because we couldn't get her into our preferred state school (obviously we didn't tell the indi school that). She was seen by the Head and taken into the nursery and tested on her alphabet - she was 3 1/2 - luckily she was quite advanced. If it had been dd2 or ds we'd have had no chance.

One top tip, a friend of mine whose children go to a fab indi school was told that one of the things they look for is parents who go to interviews/open days etc together, rather than just the mother.

SarahJane's story reminds me of my brothers' (twins) assessment for Edin Academy (this was 37 years ago so things may have changed ...)

They were interviewed separately, & both asked the same question: "what's the difference between a block of wood and a block of glass?"

T1 (serious little boy) came out saying "I said you could see through one, but not the other, I'm not sure I got it right"

T2 (cheery sort) came out saying "I said I had no idea!! It was funny!"

Both were accepted.

they have requested dd1 brings a favourite soft toy - possibly they will ask her to talk about it? or am i reading too much into this

Yes, they will ask her to talk about it. So a child who says not a word is not likely to get in. One that says - this is a dog may not do so well and one who launches into something reasonably intelligent sounding or a funny story about who she got it and who bought it for her may do better. I think you just can't change how a child is though and they get in or they don't and over the years when they're in their 20s like mine now are you realise it didn't really matter that much and their genes, nature etc all play a big part in how they turn out too , never mind their parents of course.

ok thanks very much