4+ assessments - practical questions

[ChelseaLDN]

Hi all
just a separate thread, as I have some questions not related to preparation or school specific. Just some practical questions

• if the assessment is in the afternoon, did you send your child to nursery as usual in the morning?
• anyone have experience of assessments happening back to back (eg one school on Tuesday, another on Wednesday)? Any tips on how to manage potential exhaustion or refusal to go
• lastly, any tips you have that helped your child get through - am seriously considering bribery.

what a crazy situation to have your child assessed at age 4, but hey ho - seems to be the way here in London. thank you so much!

Agree, such a crazy process..

We sent our son to nursery for a few hours, but we were always aware of the risks that he could have an accident, drink too much water etc. Usually, we just changed his clothes into clean ones right at the nursery before heading to assessments.

Back-to-back assessments were fine for us, but definitely not in one day. We had two scheduled for one day, but we asked to change the date of one, and they agreed.

We were super worried about separation and thought we’d be that family whose child wouldn’t leave their parents. But he surprised us by going to every single assessment and being really happy at the end of it. We had prepared him by saying we were going to the school to play. By the second assessment, he was even asking, “Are we going to the school to play?”

We also did a “practice” assessment at a very backup choice of school, just to see how the process works. School by school experiences can still vary so much, but it gave us some comfort.

@ChelseaLDN some good questions. My top tips would be:

Many children come from school/nursery to the assessment and then back. Others like to take the day off and organise something to do after it - something to aim for such a a meal out or soft play.

If at all possible, ask to swap it to a morning session - you don't want to rock the boat too much but the children are fresher in the mornings, particularly summer born children.

Some school encourage you to bring a toy/photo with you as it's something familiar and helps break the ice with the adults assessing.

Visit the school on their open day to help make the school familiar to your child. Explain that is a play date and that they are going to be showing off all the things the have been learning at nursery.

Good luck!