4+ admissions interview

[justasmalltownmum]

Hi all

Just looking for some advice on the 4+.
(First DC, and we don't know anyone who has gone down the private route).

What sorts of activities would the children be asked to participate in? What are the teachers looking for? Are the kids expected to recognise shapes/numbers/ letters?

For parents that have done this, do you wish you would have just waited until 7+?

TIA

It will vary school to school but having gone down the 4+ route I was increasingly glad we did as we approached 7+ age as the competition is fairly strong around here. Depending on how many pre-preps there are in your area it might be easier to get in at 4+ than 7+ as some schools stop there, or go single sex, which can impact options and likelihood of getting in.

We ended up with an all through to 18 school so we didn’t have to worry past 4+…
Feel free to PM if you happen to be looking in SE London - happy to share more specifics if so!

What the process is like really depends on the school. However, I don't know anyone who has any regrets as its typically the most gentle entry process into a school. The kids have no idea what's going on and even for the most academic schools it is typically structured as a play based session even when they are looking for specific skills etc.

If you say which schools you are targeting people will be more able to let you know what to expect.

Ok thank you. The open day is tomorrow. Is there anything specific I should ask?

we did one 4+ - complete waste of time. They knew before they even took our registration fee that they were already full up with sibling preferences! It consisted of asking him to sort shapes, count toys, do some puzzles. I remember they also asked him the name of the Union flag which came a bit out of left field.

@thingaling

we did one 4+ - complete waste of time. They knew before they even took our registration fee that they were already full up with sibling preferences! It consisted of asking him to sort shapes, count toys, do some puzzles. I remember they also asked him the name of the Union flag which came a bit out of left field.

O no, was it a small in take?

Did you try anywhere else?

@justasmalltownmum, when are the assessments/interviews?

As above, if you can reveal which schools and when assessments are, we can give you better idea as they are all different

[quote LondonMum24]@justasmalltownmum, when are the assessments/interviews?[/quote]
They start from November and they said they will group children by birthday month to make it slightly fairer.

I did ask if the children need to know how to write and they said no, not even their name.

You really need to say which school it is for us to advise. Not all Indy schools are the same.

We applied to a couple of selective schools in SW London.
DS is summer born so will be just over 3yo at assessment time. He is 2 and a bit now. He already talks quite well, the nursery says his speech is at the level of 4 yo.
However, he is not good at drawing, coloring or coping patterns and despite doing quite a lot of painting and arty activities in the nursery.
Also I have noticed people talk about using scissors during assessments. I do not think they allow 2 yo to use scissors in nursery.
I wonder if I should buy some safe scissors now and introduce DS to cutting shapes etc. Or is it too early for 2yo?

@Lily7050 scissors featured in assessment for both schools DD applied for. I allowed her to use them with me from around 2. I also have allowed both my children to use knives in the kitchen and lots of other food prep from a similar age - all supervised of course. None of this is because I wanted to send them to a prep school, DD wanted to use them because she saw older children doing it in childcare so I let her. She was involved in food prep because she is a fussy eater so having her cut food meant she was more likely to try it. DS wants to do everything she does!

When they first start scissors, both mine would just snip a strip into small bits and then gradually started learning to cut lines and shapes. DS turned 3 this week and can cut simple shapes.

Thank you @usernamehell!

Re. other assignments at 4+ assessments would anyone know if schools use Collins Easy Learning or any other authors?

DD's assessments did not involve any authors/books from the information I could get out of her - they did cutting, colouring, puzzles, sequences with blocks/beads, some physical activities such as hopping, jumping. I think number recognition may have been there but not writing

Second stage was one to one with teacher/head - talking about themselves and answering general questions. Not recalling facts as such, the conversation was led by the child and the teacher would prompt them to talk more about the topic they initiated

Imo there was nothing scary or that needed to be prepared for, being an involved parent is what they are after. First stage was just like a morning at nursery for her and second was a chat with an adult there. I told her in advance that she was going to have fun with them and come back to tell me whether she liked the schools or not for when she finished nursery

Thank you @usernamehell!

There are a number of threads I have started over the last few years on this topic which contains some very useful information

Just in case anyone else opens this thread - we had the assessment.

There were 6 children in the room, all of the same birth month.

From what my child has said, they played a game, there was no dice. They had to take turns to play.

Then went to the library and sat on the floor. The teacher read them a story and asked them questions.

We hear back in December.

Which school is this?