reception class admission assessments help!

[bakingcakes]

DD is at school in the Middle East has been at nursery here and will start reception at the British School. We will move home so are looking at the 2012 applications, ALL of which pretty much seem to involve an assessment of some kind. What are these all about ? She will not have been in any UK system ( they call it British, but clearly it is nothing like the schools at home).
Any experiences to share ?

dd went along for one, having been to a tiny playgroup and IB based preschool abroad. She just joined in with her peers for a morning and did some activtiies one to one and with another child, observed by TA. They were looking more for her to join in , socialise, communicate well, be able to listen and follow instructions than specific literacy and numeracy skills, althoguh I know of other schools putting more emphasis on this. How old is your dd. because if she's 5 before Sept 2012 it would be for Year 1 entry then.