Hi all,
I initially planned to wait until we completed all our 4+ assessments before sharing our experience, but with so many seeking advice, I thought it might be helpful to share now...
We've recently been through the 4+ assessment process at schools in Hertfordshire, including Manor Lodge, Edge Grove, Radlett Prep, and Aldenham Prep. Having twins—a boy and a girl—played a role in our school selection.
Here are my insights and advice for families preparing for this process. While I'm not an expert, these are lessons drawn from our experience, school visits, and conversations with other parents and teachers.
I intend to update this post after my children complete their Habs assessment next month in December.
Choosing a School
- 3+ Entry Option: If a school offers entry at 3+, consider this route. It tends to be less competitive, with a more favorable ratio of applicants to spaces, and assessments are more play-based rather than academic.
- Feeder Nurseries: If you have a preferred school, check if it has feeder nurseries. While it doesn’t guarantee entry, it can increase your chances.
- Long-Term Commitment: If your plan is to stay at the school until 11+ or beyond, carefully consider the commute, factoring in peak traffic and logistics of drop-offs and pick-ups. Also, explore any wrap-around care options the school provides.
- School Visits: Visit all the schools you are considering on their open days to get a feel of the school and culture. Ask friends or family who attend the school but ultimately go with your gut as everyone’s child is different. A school for one child may not be a fit for a school for different child- we certainly felt that way with our twins. Also take peoples opinions with pinch of salt, we’ve had people that disliked a school but when we visited we loved it. Everyone has different opinions and different things which are important to them eg for some academics is more important for others it’s nurturing or pastoral care. ultimately you know your child and what will be best for them.
- Limit Applications: Try to only apply to the schools you are sure about. I have twins (boy and girl) so had numerous assessments and we were undecided between co-ed or single sex that we ended up applying to multiple schools. Whilst it’s good practice, assessments can be stressful process for the parent not for the child- but it can be overwhelming for the child and can put them off going to ‘big school play date’ don’t forget you have to pay to register for assessments so this can add up. In the end we wish we hadn’t applied to so many schools and really narrowed it down to 3. Easier said than done I guess!
- Financial Planning: Be mindful of the potential impact of VAT on school fees when budgeting.
The Assessment Process
- Age Consideration: Age is definitely taken into account. All the schools we applied to split the children up by age group or took into account the child’s age. Expectation is higher for the older kids than the summer younger kids. Some schools tailor the activity according to the age of the child, others keep the same activity but have different bench marks depending whether child is older or younger.
- Twins: If you have twins like us and applying to a co-ed school, expect them to be in separate groups for the assesement.
- Stages: Every school has a different process. Some have 1 stage assessment; others have two stages. Some schools do mixture of group activities to see how children interact with one another, and others do 1:1 assessment with a teacher. Again the types of activities done at these assessment varies across the different schools and we found that the assessments had changed from last year as things out friends told us that came up in their kids assessment didn’t come up for ours this year.
- Scheduling: You may be assigned an inconvenient time slot—only request changes if absolutely necessary. We were given a 1pm slot for one of our assessments but had to go through it despite it being nap time!
- Illness: Inform the school if your child is unwell on assessment day.
- Separation Anxiety: Don’t worry if your child cries during separation; many who do still receive offers. Teachers are experienced in handling these situations.
Preparing for 4+ Assessments
- Avoid Tutoring: yes as crazy as it sounds some parents tutor their kids for these assessments. Thats tutoring a child at 3 years old! All the schools I visited strongly advised against this. One teacher even told me that as trained teachers they can tell who’s been tutored and who hasn’t. Some children go to a certain well known tutor and all end up drawing the same picture and style and it’s clear and obvious to teachers. This may actually backfire.
- Play date: Tell your child they’re going to a “big school play date” or “exploring a new school,” not an assessment. If it’s within your parenting style, reward them after attending an assessment as it gets them excited for the next one. We bought little toys for them.
- Reading and writing: Your child is not expected to be able to read or write- even the top schools such as Habs said this is not an expectation, despite people telling us otherwise.
- Prep Activities: While it’s said you can’t prepare, activities like coloring, cutting, building with blocks, creating patterns, threading, counting to 10, and writing their name can be helpful. Incorporate these into play, not structured lessons, as they are still young.
- Physical Assessments: Some schools not only do academic assessment but also physical assessments to assess gross motor skills, fine motor skills etc. My kids were asked to hop, skip, jump in one of their assessments.
- Avoid Burnout: We started ‘prepping’ doing above activities a 2 months before first assessment. I had friends that started way earlier like 4 months and as it got close to assessments their children started to disengage in doing these activities/task and had reverse effect.
It’s not about getting the task or activity right- your child could get it wrong but it’s how they went about the task or activity. And academics is not everything, your child could know all their numbers, shapes, colours etc and still not get into the school. In general I found that they wanted a child who’s eager to learn, can follow instructions, is well behaved, has a personality!
Try not to compare your child- as hard as it is focus on your child. Your child will have different strengths and weaknesses not to forget different personality!
Lastly don’t be too disappointed if your child does not get an offer- some schools are very competitive and lots of different factors are taken into account when they make a decision. Never blame your child or even yourself! You could prep prep and prep and on the day your child just might not be feeling it after all we as adults have good and bad days!
Best of luck! I can't wait till this is all over.