4+ selection - help me understand

[SchoolsNovice]

We’re thinking of entering DD for two 4+ assessments this coming autumn. DD is bright, musical and we think the environments in those particular schools would suit her well.

DH and I did not take this educational route ourselves and it’s sometimes hard to know if we fully understand it.

I would be grateful for a sense check from anyone who’s done 4+ with their DC please. Is the below basically right?

1. Child - play-based assessments focus on potential and being able to get on as part of a group, no formal preparation needed, just routine parent things like reading, puzzles, colouring, talking things through. Are there other activities that are particularly helpful here? And where the assessments are in two parts, i.e. parts 1 and 2 on two different days, why?

1. Parents - where the school interviews parents, what are they looking for? Are they looking for people who won’t cause them a lot of hassle? Or people who show they are dedicated to learning? Something else?

If relevant, we are in London (though not in the North London patch where 4+ sounds to be particularly intense).

[Usernamehell]

DD is in a selective school in London in Reception although we didn't have a formal parent interview so I cannot comment on this.

In terms of her assessment, the information I got from her was she did colouring, drawing (she drew herself and her house), cutting, threading, patterns, grouping objects together and a puzzle. There was no reading and no requirement to be able to write. The second stage is for those who they call back from the first stage. At this point she was talking more about herself, they read a book and talked about it together, numbers were written down but some muddled up and she was asked if anything was wrong. One of the two rounds also had some physical activities (sorry cant remember which)

Having visited multiple selective schools, they have all said they are looking at their thinking and development - they don't need to get answers correct but just be able to explain why they say what they do. They want children who are aware of the basics ie what animals you find on a farm, can describe their own house, bedroom etc and children who can understand and follow instructions.

Main thing you can do with her is talk lots, play and just experience things. We have always let both ours use knives and scissors from a young age (supervised) so they could cut straight and wavy lines at ease. We have always done puzzles etc, drawn pictures, used shapes to make pictures and when reading always talk about the book, story, what can see in picture etc.

[tryandcountsheep]

Great answer @Usernamehell

For the parents interview, its just to ensure the parents know what the school's ethos is - that they have read the blurb on the schools website, and they are onboard with that ethos. They also want to frame the child they are assessing, I think there's also a bit of weeding out if the parents are complete lunatics.

[ConfusedaboutSchool]

They are trying to assess potential.

I'd focus on reading and discussing a stories / building vocabulary. Besides that a high quality preschool that focuses on developing fine and gross motor skills, sharing, listening skills, and appropriate preschool numeracy and literacy skills.

[Coronateachingagain]

Basically your child needs to be 1) fairly bright at this age (note key words "at this age") and 2) easy to teach. 1) has been covered above. 2) means able to follow instruction, not too active / in need of breaks too often to do stuff, basically able to follow on with the crowd and to have developed enough attention and focus at this young age. The latter is nothing to do with intelligence, some kids get there later and achieve a lot more. So don't worry too much if your child does not pass 4+, it does not mean much tbh.

[SchoolsNovice]

Thank you so much for the thorough and thoughtful responses. All feels a lot less daunting in light of your comments.