Looking Guidance for prep schools in London (Boys)

[Gaunid]

Hi Moms, My kid is 2 year old. I need guidance in selecting independent prep schools that take 3+ in north west london (Some I researched on are- MTS pre prep, St martin, St John in northwood, st anthonys in Hampstead). As I have heard its relatively easier to get into, is it true? what do they really assess on? And secondly if I wait till 4+ there are more options and some through schools as well (Habs, Hall, Radlett, UCS prep etc) but I dont know how tough the assessment is and how do I prep my kid for that ?

@Gaunid the 4+ will be a step up from the 3+. Not all schools naturally progress the children from nursery (3+) to Reception (4+) so make sure you check this. 3+ are simpler as they are checking readiness for learning and independence e.g. toileting, changing, communication.

4+ assessments are roughly similar amongst selective schools and comprise of: Social interactions with the other children in the group
Interactions with the adults in the group – manners, conversation, following instructions
Drawing a picture and talking about it
Writing name (or recognising it depending on birth month)
Letter sounds (phonics)
Number recognition (some schools ask writing numbers too)
Counting (to 20 is usually enough without errors)
Shapes & colours
Fine motor grip – pencil, threading, puzzles
These are just a few of the things covered. Birth month does play an important role in the expectations for each of these things.

Interesting insights

may I ask as a former assessor how do you think these top through schools are able to identify from these tasks whether the potential student will meet the academic standards and ultimately results of the school down the line

did you track data of how 4+ cohorts performed at different stages including 16/18 vs 7/11+?

thank you

@FlakyShark interesting idea. No we didn't. There are too many variables to make an accurate comparison with children that joined at different stages. Also, in primary age, there are different teachers each year so that would be another factor that would influence children's achievement somewhat.

Anecdotally, there was a difference in 7+ children joining in Y3. They would sometimes perform really well in the assessments and then by the time they join us in Y3, the tutoring usually had stopped months before and they had fallen to their natural abilities again and so would not perform as well as the inhouse children. Or, during their time in Y3 they would plateau.

Quite often, all through schools can be almost like 2 separate schools on one site with little crossover between the prep school and the seniors. This is not always the case though. Again here, the children going from prep school to Y7 on the same site are not usually tutored. Whereas new Y7 are and so can sometimes do very well in Y7 academically compared to those that moved up.

Having said all that...... I did do some research on Montessori nursery children that applied for 4+ -- their success rates and performance in Pre-Prep (if they were offered a place). I had always been sceptical of Montessori nurseries as a place to prepare children that were going to sit the 4+ and had advised parents to think carefully about the nursery. I visited some of the feeder nurseries in our area (there were quite a few!) and was quite impressed! The research showed that we were offering more places to Montessori nursery children over recent years (10 children one year!) and they were performing well in Pre-Prep. The caveat to this was that the main nurseries where a hybrid Montessori approach so they were teaching phonics to the children on a regular basis rather than the full child lead approach that Montessori should be. Interesting nonetheless!

The 4+ I was responsible for evolved over the years as I would try to make it more rounded and more a reflection of 'potential for learning' (sometimes called developed ability), plus their imagination and creativity (which are hard to tutor or teach).
Hope that all was useful - sorry for the long post lol

No it’s fascinating thank you

we have a place at one of the v academic through schools mentioned above for reception but are not super local and so have weighed up if it is worth it when factoring in commute or better to have a more local (and far less frills) experience and revisit later given its tricky to my mind to really judge at 4 so was wondering how often schools get it right at this stage from their perspective

Haha cool. Congrats on the place!
It is not an accurate science at 4+ tbh, but I feel the test helps us select pupils that will cope with the fast pace that often comes with Pre-Preps compared to state school EYFS/KS1. It is very disheartening for a child to be in a class with children whose hands shoot up straight away and you're a few seconds (or more) behind. Which is why I only put my son in for the 4+ because I knew he would pass. If he had not shown aptitude leading up to it (obviously I was prepping him somewhat) then I wouldn't have put him in for it. When I have tutored children in the past I am always honest with parents if I don't think they will get there by the time they sit the test - then it's up to the parents.

Some children take longer to mature and are better prepared when it gets to 7+.

The big reason parents go for 4+ is often because it eliminates the need for the trials and tribulations of 11+ prep! They hedge their bets now rather than gamble later on. Everyone's situation is different so you have to choose the right path for you!