North London Prep and Private school 4+

[NCMum2]

Hi there,

Our little girl will be starting reception in September 2025.

I wanted to seek advice about people’s experiences of Radlett Prep, Orlee Farm, Holland House and also Habs, NCLS and Channing. Anyone who’s viewed multiple of these or have children who attend here currently have insight into their experiences there - both academic and general.

Additionally any advice about what the group and one on one assessments are like at 4+? What kinds of activities do these assessments usually include? Did you do anything to prepare your children for them? The websites and forums frequently say teachability, what does this mean exactly?

If you do a search on 4+ assessments on here you’ll find lots of info 👍.

teachability means an ability to learn quickly and follow instructions. this is not something you can tutor for, its rather a natural skill some 3 years old have, and others will develop later. as PP said there are a lot of threads on 4+ prep, the tasks may vary from school to school and also the pass mark to get in will vary depending how oversubscribed the particular school is

IME, teachability means the ability to sit quietly with a group of other DC, listen to the teacher, and follow instructions. Some of the schools mentioned in the OP used to ask the DC in the group assessments to stand on one leg, hop, or touch their heads. They weren't evaluating the DC's physical dexterity; they were checking to see who was paying attention and would follow instructions. I think these sorts of things can be improved if a DC goes to a nursery where they're asked to do them every day and also see other 3 year olds doing them, and getting praised for doing them.

Agree with @Tiredmumofthreekids I don’t think 4+ is something you can really prepare for, sure there are lots of threads on mumsnet saying the child need to know eg 20 flags of the world or recognise 15 birds etc but they aren’t really looking for taught knowledge.

We know a couple of people with kids who went to top nurseries + tutoring (@ £70/hour!!) on top + parents working with them at home but didn’t get into anything so it’s definitely not all about preparation but the child’s natural ability.

of Radlett Prep, Orlee Farm, Holland House and also Habs, NCLS and Channing.

So Habs has an open day this weekend, NLCS has theirs a few weeks ago. I understand both are very competitive and assessments are tough, so I've been told.

Radlett Prep assessment day is same as Manor Lodge and St Margarets.

A friend's boy sat the Holland House assessment- its two stages and he said they were asked to perform numerous activities and tasks for period of 1 hour. The second stage is apparently an interview?

I highly recommend you view the schools as everyone has different opinions and it really does depend on your parenting style/choice but also your child's personality- are they suited to more smaller intimate environment like Holland House or larger school like Habs or NLCS