Independent school selection at 4+; What do they test/need to know?

[onesock]

DS has his entrance assessment on Tuesday for the school we'd love him to attend in September.

I've deliberately not posted this until now because I don't want to go down the route of prepping/tutoring a 4yr old. I'd just now like to know the sort of things they'll ask of him or expect him to do. We've had his name down for over a year though I only realised he'd be having this just before Christmas when they wrote with the date.

Any ideas on what the format of the day will be would be much appreciated.

BTW, he's a happy, bright 4yr old who's also quite shy. He's doesn't appear to struggle at nursery though he's by no means brilliant!

They just see how they interact with other kids and adults, Observe them playing ask them questions as they play. The questions were about colurs, numbers, how old they are, what colour is their room. If playing with animals ask them what animals they are.
Its nothing that a normal 4 year old wouldn't know

My DC's have just been through it and they were fine it was really relaxed, my youngest one thought it was playgroup

Thanks, doublehelp.
As long as it's play based then he should be ok. He does know all those sorts of things but if he's sat at a desk being asked them, he may clam up. Whereas, if he's just playing and being casually asked then he should be ok.

Any other experiences would be great. I'm trying not to worry myself silly between now and Tuesday. Good job I haven't know about it for 18mths!

My ds did play-based stuff too - a wooden puzzle, identifying colours and shapes, some colouring in. Then he sat with some children and listened to what the teacher was saying for five mins or so - Guess just to test his compliance, general behaviour and attention levels.

They might ask him to draw a picture of a face or person and to be able to point out eyes/ears etc.

All it is is a bit of structured play. Apparently my DD cut out her shapes in quite a revolutionary way. They chat a bit, s'all. No sweat.

Thanks you all. It seems like the content wouldn't be a problem for him. As DH says, 'If he can't cope with what they expect of him at 4, he's not going to cope at 7, 14 etc.'
I just want him to do himself justice.

My ds is attending a similar assessment next week. he's 4 years old exactly.
I've been told by the school it's definitely play based, in small groups, to see how they interact with each other and with staff. there will be a short story time at the end.

I haven't even told him he's going yet. planning to drive by the school the day before, point out how nice it looks. knowing him he'll then ask "can we go and see that nice school some day ?"

"OK. " I'll say. "How about Thursday ?"

I reckon they'll either think he's right for the school or they won't. i don't want my little boy stressed at all. Happy and relaxed definitely the way to go. mine's somewhere in the middle of the introvert/extrovert range so we'll have to see !

I would expect some free play and a bit of chatting one to one - can he interact with adults and children? Can he count 1-10, know a few colours, knows his own name etc. nothing too taxing, and more about looking for general abilities rather than specific i.e. will he sit on the carpet, respond to basic requests, can he toilet himself, feed himself at lunch time?

Thanks. Re the toilet thing. He still struggles a bit to wipe his bum when he poos although he's happy to attempt it!

He sits on the carpet and listens to story time every day at nursery so he's fine with that.

I'm hoping they have techniques for coaxing the info they need out of shy kids rather than just expecting them all to be full of confidence.

just bumping to catch any more experiences before tomorrow.

Agree with NoNickname's summary & I'd say compliance is definitely what's going to be looked at first. Motivation, tuned-in-ness, general fitting-in with others.

Actual skills achieved so far (writing name, etc. etc.) quite secondary - those will matter only if the school is deliberately trying to be "high achieving" & is over-subscribed - and will anyway be looked at after the compliance bit.

Within the play bit there may be a slight hidden test - some schools do tables with five children but only four toys, for instance, just to see how children deal with a destabiliser like that. But that's only the more stringently selective schools.

The other thing I'd say is that sometimes schools are also looking to create a mix of personalities. So although a child might do absolutely fine at an assessment the school might decide that they've got lots of (eg) sporty outgoing ones & that they need some more gentle quiet ones. So it can just be luck of draw at that point.

All the best!

I would bear in mind bink's reminder about possible academic skills. You will know what sort of school it is you have applied for etc, but there are some in-demand preps out there (eg London) where how much a child can read/write will be assessed at this age. They should have been honest about this in the prospectus/literature if they have specific attainments in mind
Good luck!

DD's was a one to one with the pre-prep teacher. They went off and did some play based activites - something to do with bboxes within boxes to find out wat was in the last box, drawing a picture which they talked about, and general chat - DD talked about our recent holidays for example. DD had a lovely time!

There was no group assessment before acceptance at DD's school.
I think mine and DH's time spent with the head was more intimidating than DD's assessemnt session

Eeek, yes, the no-pressure cup of tea and biscuits with a Member of Staff and all the other parents

And a good teacher should be able to bring a shy child out of their shell. There were definitely some incredibily quiet girls in DD's class and they all got in.

Indeed, the Meeting the Head.
Ours, with dd's current school, was fine, but in EXACTLY the way a good job interview goes - that dawning realisation that you've been sized up & your face fits. So get your firm handshake ready ...

DS went to one of these and they made him:

-draw a picture of himself
-count items up to 10
-write him name
-colour a picture
-describe what he saw in a book
-identify shapes

Thanks you, Bink, Marina and Hulababy!
Not London, Surrey, so not as crazy.

Sounds a bit scary but not for DS IYKWIM because he will have no idea that he's being observed. He's just 4 and I guess some of the kids have been 4 since sept which makes such a difference at this age, maturity wise. I'm sure he'll be fine esp if they haven't filled their quota of bright but quite and gentle ones! Doesn't stop me fretting! Sooo glad I didn't know about this enough to try some half-baked prepping.

onesock - don't worry about DS; it will be way more stressful for you, he will breeze through the whole experience I would imagine. DD seemed oblivious to any worry about it.

DD was only 3 and a half when hers took place.

Thanks,MG
There seems a similar theme and he can (in theory) do all those things although his pencil control isn't great.

We have the meeting Tue morning then DS goes off with the 'lady'.

Ours is pretty much the same as morning glory's plus some lego biulding (and tidying up!!). They are assessed in small groups so alos the dynamicsof how they interact. Shy children shouldn't be ignored though - you want a mix of types in the classroom i would think.

Agree with all of whats been said, and additionally in my experience DD was asked where she lived, to which she replied ' just next door to Alice....'

Hope it goes the way you want.

My DD had 20 mins talking/playing with the teacher - no other children present.

The teacher talked to DD a little bit, asking her questions about her, (how old, family, where she lived etc)

Then went off to play. She asked DD to copy her whilst drawing, then shape naming, colour testing, counting, size sorting etc.

She read DD a story then asked her questions on it, and finally did a few puzzles.

DD enjoyed it nothing stressful.

I was allowed to stay in the room (in fact DD was sat next to me at the start of the meeting, then they both moved off to the other side of the room for the rest of the testing (about 15 mins)

Good luck with it all.

My DD went for one of these and from what I gathered (I mainly have the word of DD to go by) he just played with some toys and then the teacher read a story (gruffalo) and then they asked some questions. He did not know he was being tested and just thinks he went for a play day at his new school.

I asked the head what they were looking for and they said it was to see how they interacted with other children, could they follow instructions, were they able to share, sit still and listen to a story etc.
They said if a child was aggressive or completely uncommunicative they probably would not get in. They also said if parents were worried they could come in with their DDs. A few parents opted for this.
I chose not too as I thought it might send a negative message about me or DD.
Good luck with it all tomorrow.

Bree - ds's prospective school said very similar - the child who is disruptive or sits totally withdrawn worries them.