Prep school admission test for reception class

[Sue9]

Hello, my DS is to have an informal assessment in November, for a reception place in 2009.

Does anyone know what sort of tests they give to 3 year olds?

Since the prep school takes the vast majority of their students at reception, and most get the independent school places they want at 11+. I am assuming their testing at age 3 is accurately predicting future performance at 11+.

I just don?t know what tests they will give him on the day. I really would like to prepare him for it if possible.

Could someone please help?

And IMO and IME of both sectors there is far more tutoring to the test in the state sector than the independent. Y6s up and down the country spend most of their mornings from Feb onwards doings SATs practice papers.
I chose to put them forward at 4 because I thought it far less stressful than at 11.

I fear it is those schools and those parents. It has really put me off the whole thing - not that I was ever going to do 7+ anyway. I had this naive idea that these top schools would spot potential, but actually they don't need to bother because they've got so many 'finished' products turning up,so what does it matter if they miss a few with potential? Honestly, some of the pre-prep/prep stories I hear are extraordinary.

Quattro, the mother of the 'dead meat' little boy I mentioned did query why the nursery her daughter was at didn't do more preparation for 4+ assessments. To be fair, I know the parents and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have thrown his toys away. They said it to him though, and he didn't know that they wouldn't.

And I am now one of those parents in the state sector tutoring to the 11+ test. And I still think it's rubbish. It just seems a bit less rubbish with a 10 year old than with a 6 year old - not much, but a bit. I promise I've never told him I'll take anything away either....

You're not getting Abbey's point, no one on this thread has drilled their three year old true - but it obviously happens hence the existence of tutors like "Mabel" (hilarious thread btw squeaver)

Abbey isn't having a go at what you did with your dc, mrc, it's clear you didn't drill him and have a sensible attitude to these things. She's not happy that you've posted a list, so anxious mummies - who may not have posted but sure as hell will be lurking - can tick them off with their poor dcs.

At the assessment I found myself in on Sat, I could see some children had been drilled they were almost suspiciously robotic in their actions. I was, perhaps naively, shocked. But obviously it happens and mrc totally inadvertently admittedly may have contributed to it.

I flatly refuse to believe that any 3 year olds have been tutored for pre-prep entry. I know a lot of private school parents, not just in one location and no-one has tutored theirs.

There was a lot of outrage on this thread from Abbey&Co earlier on about how inhumane it was to put 3 year olds through this.

When we explained that it was not any kind of ordeal and the children mostly don't know they are being tested (unless the parents are dim) and it actually SAVES countless tests through primary school for your children, it became evident that there was no reason for outrage.

But just to try to build up a head of steam again, to try and justify your clearly obsessional feelings on this subject, you're now inventing that parents drill their children.

They simply don't.

Abbey, you have posted previously "I am against selection, I am anti grammar schools in the state system and so it follows that I would be anti selection in the private sector."

I understand that point of view and I'd enjoy debating it with you. But I would prefer it if you started another thread to do it, rather than spread COMPLETE MISINFORMATION on this one.

Honestly.

I am glad that you are getting my point juju! I am not saying that mrcardigan did any preparation, merely that she isn't doing any favours telling people what they need to know. I wouldn't mind betting that those who know their DC can't draw will want to sit down and say "copy mummy darling-you start with a circle". At 3 they should be given a pencil or crayon and do their own thing.
The whole point of all my posts, Quattrocento, has been in response to the OP. She has a 3 yr old and she wants to know what to expect and how to prepare her DS for the test. I am saying that she doesn't need to expect anything as hopefully she will never see what he did, she will be kept well away. The only preparation she needs is to tell her DC that he is going to have some fun playing some games. This only needs to be said at breakfast on the day of the test.
I have taken notice of people's posts and have been pleasantly surprised that schools seem to be sensible. Sadly all parents are not as shown by some of the horror stories on this thread e.g throwing away toys if DC failS!!

But that could apply to everything on here.

e.g A sensible parent posts that she's worried about her toddler's development and asks what the signs of autism are. Other parents list them. Lurking over anxious mum of 5mth old starts to 'see' these signs in her baby.

A poster asks a perfectly reasonable question. Other posters such as Abbey try to sway the OP by saying she feels this is too much too young. Fair enough, her opinion. All I did was answer her question so a little patronising to suggest it's my naughty little list.

I am very anti selection but I accept that schools are free to do it. I have nothing against the way the schools do it but everything against the way some of the parents interfere help. It is perfectly clear Quattrocento that not all parents have a laid back approach. Some unfortunate DCs are drilled to the eyeballs!

If OP asks a question they have to be prepared for answers that they don't like!

To be fair, Abbey, that was one horror story. I, like Quattro do not know any parent who prepped their 3/4yr old for entry.

I can barely entice him into getting dressed in the morning let alone encourage him to say what may or may not be expected at an informal assessment.

Abbey, you don't use the private system, you're posting at length on a subject you don't know anything about and deliberately spreading misinformation in the procecss. You should stop right now.

Parents do not drill their children for this assessment. It is not like the 11+. Anyone who says that people do it does not have a good knowledge of the system. They are basing this statement on "knowing" that people do it because their cat's playmate four doors down knows another cat four streets away whose parents made an unfortunate joke about taking toys away.

I agree but often on MN we expect at least one poster to answer our question, too!

That was to Abbey's last post!

I've recently written an article on preschool tutoring, believe me this absolutely does happen. It's not the norm by any stretch of the imagination but it absolutely does occur.

Quattro/RedC - sorry to butt in and I do actually agree with you in the main but I DO know parents who've tutored their 3 year olds. Not many, but some.

And they're stupid to do it for all the reasons already discussed here at length but I'm afraid it DOES happen.

What you do is yo talk to them from baby age. You look them in the eye. You give them security and comfort. You breastfeed them (improves IQ). Ensure they have exercise. Use your normal, middle class and very wide vocabulary with them, read them stories and poems, sing with them, make them interested in the world, bring them out of themselves so they are the best they are at all ages including at three. That's how they get to be good. That's why daughter 1 who couldn't read much at all until she was at least 6 (her sister read at 3 by choice) got into Haberdashers in those days a year young, no coaching, no pushing, just her normal self coming out and having had a reasonable home environment. That's the benefits you buy for them and ensuring you have a reasonably bright spouse so the children are likely to be fairly clever too.

I think you're stupid not to help a 7 or 11 year old to prepare for tests they will have to sit but you don';t make them something they aren't. If they're very thick no amount of coaching gets them anywhere near a place at these very competitive schools. They can see through it.

What they did at 4 in the tests all 4 of ours sat at that age in about 4 or 5 or even more different schools was the stuff on the list above someone posted which is exactly what these schools have done for 30 or more years - look at if they can concentrate, can they hold a pencil, do they seem bright in conversation, can they speak, do they thump everyone around them, can they follow a story, do they know books start at the front and end at the end, can they draw a circle, recognise the first letter of their name, perhaps kick a ball etc. None of that do you really need to tutor a child to do.

Also why all this anit tutoring stuff - surely it depends what you mean by tutoring. We all teach our children ourselves from a young age. It's what parents do - that's all tutoring really is. You count with them, sing nursery rhymes and teach them. What's wrong with that? It's not a sitting in a darkened room tied to a chair forced to learn Greek letters against your will.

Well all I can say is it must be very rare and perhaps concentrated around a few particular schools.

Satanic abuse happens (so they say) but that isn't widespread either

It's not quite as rare as you might think (although note I'm still not saying it's widespread), especially in some parts of London where there is lots of competition for certain schools at 4+.

The thing is most of the parents that do it are too embarrassed to tell others about it.

But I wouldn't even know where to begin?
I don't think you can judge the overall picture based on a few crazy London pre-preps where parents put names down at birth.

Clearly you have researched this if you've written about it but I refuse to believe this is common.

What I'm talking about and have had parents admit to me or even - would you believe? - boast about is: making sure they can cut straight lines with scissors; drawing faces; drilling them on sequencing (red block, blue block etc); learning to recognise their name; teaching them to write their name; teaching them to know that "bonjour" is hello in French (God knows where that comes in!) and all those sorts of things. These are children who have sometimes only just turned 3 trying for nursery or not yet turned 4 year trying for reception.

It IS wrong. The schools can spot it. But it does happen. Not often, of course, not often but it DOES happen.

But as I said myred, it isn't that common. It does however happen and indications are that it's happening more than it used to.

I'd like to read your article theauthor. Where can I find it?

Cringing at the thought of a child rolling into the assessment and greeting the teachers with a 'bonjour'.

It's going in one of the 'broadsheets' in mid-Oct. I'm not going to say which one given it hasn't actually been published yet. I will post a link on here when it is.