Nursery reports for prep school admissions

[MNersanonymous]

Just curious about this - the school I'm considering for Ds asks nursery for a report on prospective pupils.
I believe it is quite a structured set of questions but I don't know what they are (I guess it'd be behavioural stuff such as does the child frequently act aggressively to other children or something but that's a total guess).
But surely this would be like a job reference - surely the nursery will only write nice things and the school won't put much sway on what is said?

Does anyone have any relevant experience of this?

It isn't like a job reference ime. It will relate to the Foundation Stage record, so they'll be able to ask questions as to how ds has been assessed so far on a range of areas (incl social intereaction). When ds moves up his record will move up with him too, so usually the report has to tally with the record.

Ok - is that quite a new thing though, the Foundation Stage Record?

DD's nursery sent a copy of DD's foundation record (or whatever it was called a couple of years ago) to her prep school. The class teacher also came to visit her at her nursery and talk to the nursery staff, and to intract and observe DD in her familiar nursery environment.

This all took place after DD had had her entrance "interview" a few months earlier, and after she had been offered, and we had accepted, her place there.

It's a transfer record, desigend to show the school whereyour child is on the bulding blocks/foundation stage.

Is this for a private school? We applied for a couple of selective private schools for dd2 (didn't take up places in the end) and they asked for references from the nursery.

But her lovely, creative and very shambolic nursery just looked at me blankly when I mentioned it, so I told the schools a reference might not be forthcoming. They said it was standard for state nurseries not to supply references, and that they wouldn't count it against the child (and they didn't -- she got places at both schools).

I think some nursery schools feed into specific schools and will have quite a clear idea what the schools are after by way of info -- others won't and will presumably write a few paragraphs to the effect that the child knows his colours, likes playing with water and doesn't have two heads.

Yes it's for a private school and the nursery is private too.

In that case I think the type of report will depend on whether the nursery regularly feeds into selective prep schools. I suspect that the pushy London prep schools and the nurseries that feed into them will have a code that they use to distinguish 'we think this child is really bright' from 'this child is averagely bright'.

Schools of all stripes will presumably like to know whether potential Reception intake are biters, hitters or can't sit still, so I guess there's behavioural stuff in there too.

It's not really officially a feeder nursery for anywhere in the way some of the London posh ones are. I think the kids leave to go to lots of different schools, state and prep although I know one or two have gone to the school I'm looking at for ds.

p.s Frogs - they definitely talked about behavioural stuff being of more interest to them in the assessment group than actual knowledge so yes I guess the report might major on that too.

Luckily (crossing fingers, touching wood) ds is never ever naughty at nursery (saves it all for me bless him) and concentrates well etc. He is a little slow to warm up to new situations so I'm worried that the assessment will overwhelm him (going in room with strange teacher etc) so hoping that they do actually listen to what the nursery says and that might make up for it.

Also he is a July bday and although they put Summer borns together for the assessment, I'm hoping they will take that into account if he gets all shy!