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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

4+ assessment over today now 2 weeks wait for result

31 replies

Blossom8 · 04/10/2012 19:59

2 years in the waiting and cannot believe it's done and dusted today. Now the anxious wait to see if DD has got in. Am fairly confident she did well.

Apparently she was asked to name shapes such as rectangle, right triangle, circle and ...... paralleogram (yes for a 3 year old! and I don't think I can even spell it!). Listened to 2 stories, did some drawings and she managed to write her name on her piece of work. I'm proud of her.

OP posts:

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givemeaclue · 04/10/2012 20:12

What is it that she is being assessed for -is it a special needs assessment that you have been waiting a long time for?

Original poster

Blossom8 · 04/10/2012 20:15

no assessment for entry into a private prep school. Over 100 applicants for 32 places.

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wandymum · 06/10/2012 00:00

A parallelogram (checks spelling) for a 4 year old? Which prep is it? Made my 4 year old suffer through 5 or 6 pre-prep assessments and the most they had to do was play with some woooden animals and sing songs ina group with other kids without biting each other

Seriously though - good luck and try not to stress about it too much.

Original poster

Blossom8 · 06/10/2012 15:54

A prep in East London. I don't think they had to play with each other, just listened to stories and do some drawings, pointing to certain numbers, naming or pointing at shapes etc when asked by the teacher. I'm surprised they asked about paralleogram but my DD said it quite a few times when I asked her what shapes she was asked.

I'm just pleased with DD that she went off with the teacher and not cried or had to be returned back to the parent due to the continous crying.

This is the only prep assessment she is doing, the other 2 are non-selective and we are waiting to hear from them.

OP posts:

mumteacher · 08/10/2012 15:09

Good luck - waiting is the hardest part!! X

seeker · 08/10/2012 15:11

And just think- if she doesn't get in you wouldn't want her to go to a school that makes demands like that of a 3 year old anyway, would you?!

kilmuir · 08/10/2012 15:36

well said seeker

Original poster

Blossom8 · 14/10/2012 21:13

my DD did not get in which I am somewhat disappointed and surprised. Only because I think she is bright. She is able to write her name from memory, knows here shapes, read around 80 words, count with a few errors to 100 but she did not passed. :( The kids who did pass well done to them, they must have been really impressive.

OP posts:

Jigsawmadness · 14/10/2012 21:32

So sorry to hear that. The 4+ assessments for my DD are next month. I'm not overly confident TBH and my DD cannot read at all, let alone know 80 words!

ReallyTired · 14/10/2012 21:44

I'm sorry to hear that your three year old did not get into the selective school Blossom8. It really makes you wonder what the school was looking for. I agree with seeker, that its wrong to put such demands on a three year old.

Anyway I hope your little one is happy whatever school she ends up going to. Its stressful not knowing which school your little one will end up. We are just hoping that dd gets into the local state primary run the corner. I feel relieved that the only thing that affects whether dd gets into her local state primary is distance and the number of siblings in her year.

The children who were high fliers when ds was three aren't the same children who are high fliers at ten. Assessment at three years old is completely ridicoulous.

Original poster

Blossom8 · 15/10/2012 09:14

thank you Jigsawmadness and ReallyTired. I'm not disappointed with my DD as I know she did well but just surprised that she did not get in. I might ask for some feedback. Without sounding like sour grapes I just hoped they did not base their selection on siblings or other connections with the school. Oh well, I guess we will have to try again at 7 or 11+. At least I'll be saving myself £10K a year.

Good luck with your children with their school choices. I did not think it would get me as nervous as it has. I guess we all just want the best for our little angels.

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difficultpickle · 15/10/2012 12:45

What about the non-selective options? I'm rather at assessments at 3 but we aren't in London so are spared all that.

Original poster

Blossom8 · 15/10/2012 14:03

We are waiting to see if we can get into a Roman Catholic prep school but that is very slim as we are not catholics. Actually I do prefer the catholic school over the selective prep as it is far cheaper and has a caring but disciplined environment. State schools nearby are okay but I feel she would be more suited to a prep school.

OP posts:

Chestnutx3 · 15/10/2012 14:15

Phone up and ask for some feedback it may prove enlightening. Problem in London is that it is very competitive you need to go to at least 3 assessments even if you have a very bright girl. There are normally lots of very good non-selective preps that even though they appear to have long waiting lists there still a chance to get in at a late stage.

Tabya876 · 30/10/2012 14:22

Hello Blossom8. I'm sorry to hear that your DD did not get in. Our DD is sitting her 4+ assessments next week. She is confident, chatty and bright although she can only read a handful of words and only count to 30. We hope that she does get into our school of choice as we believe she would thrive there.

Family, friends and teaching staff at her current school say that they would be shocked if she were not to get in but who knows what the specific criteria they have are! I hope the charming sweet 3 year old that everyone loves will turn up on the day and not her arch rival :)

I really hope that your daughter will thrive wherever she ends up studying. It does appear surprising that she did not get in.

Farewelltoarms · 30/10/2012 15:26

But it must be a lottery surely? If it were possible to pick out high achievers at 3, then why do they weed out a quarter of them at 7 as they do at a school round here? Presumably they eliminate any obv badly behaved/potential special needs and then just take a rather random selection of boys/girls, old/young, blonde/brunette. Oh and here in n London there's a def bias towards celebrity offspring.
Your daughter not getting in does mean she's not bright. Equally had she got in that wouldn't have been a guarantee of the opposite...

Farewelltoarms · 30/10/2012 15:27

Sorry that should read 'doesn't mean she's not bright!' Too many negatives in that construction.

MissBetseyTrotwood · 30/10/2012 15:46

I'm sorry you have been disappointed.

My friend works at a 'non selective' prep in another part of London and she's been party to the 'let's advise them to continue their education elsewhere' meetings that begin to go on around now for the children who are not considered to be cutting it by 7. She assures me it's not pleasant.

Your DD sounds bright, confident and most of all, loved and happy. She'll be just fine.

Original poster

Blossom8 · 30/10/2012 16:52

Aww thanks. She's now able to read the Oxford Tree Level One books so hopefully she will do well at 7+ assuming she does not get into the Catholic prep school. Part of me thinks, she did not get in due to her shyness. She hates being the centre of attention. I took her to a dancing and gymnastics class with her friend to boost her confidence but she hated it, she much prefers the library and park.

One friend mentioned that private schools prefers to take on children who are confident and personable so that has worried me abit.

I suppose the good thing is instead of paying the hundred pounds as deposit, we are now off for a short weekend to Barcelona.

OP posts:

MissBetseyTrotwood · 30/10/2012 17:34

A gregarious child is not always a confident one; nor is a shy child who chooses to step out of the limelight necessarily unconfident.

Enjoy your weekend. You'll look back on this in a few years and wonder what you were worrying for!

Farewelltoarms · 30/10/2012 18:01

But you're still trying to find reasons to explain her not getting in. There probably is none other than numbers and someone having to be disappointed. This is why I didn't do this with my children at that age, they're far too young to be even associated with the words 'failed' or 'didn't succeed'. If your child is rejected (argh negative word again) then you can't help but look for reasons why this might be which is a horrible thing to do. Equally if your child had flown in you'd be congratulating yourself on what a stellar child you'd produced. Both is madness.
Fortunately the fact that my oldest couldn't speak at 3 meant I avoided the whole thing and ended up going to local state. Best decision we ever made (even if in a way he made it for us, thank you my darling boy).

Farewelltoarms · 30/10/2012 18:02

Sorry both are madness

MegBusset · 30/10/2012 18:15

4+ assessments? Being asked to read/count/write at the age of three?!

My DS1 couldn't read or write a word (apart from his name) before starting reception. Now in Y1 he is classed as "exceptionally bright" and reading/writing/counting far above expectations of his age. I am gobsmacked that schools think they can judge academic potential at such a young age, or that parents would play along.

MegBusset · 30/10/2012 18:17

Meaning no criticism of you OP, I know how tough it is to find school places in London, main reason why we moved away!

RiversideMum · 31/10/2012 07:51

I'm sure there are schools out there that celebrate the fact that the children are 3 and 4 and let them be 3 and 4 and do 3 and 4 year old things.

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