Can I be doing anything to boost chances of scholarship? Yr2 DD6

[calici]

Hello

My DD is 6 years old, currently in year 2. In terms of extra curriculars, she does karate, swimming, rainbows, and art lessons (because she is passionate about art).

At school, her teacher says her reading and maths are at the expected level. We read daily before bed.

We would love for her to attend a local independent school from year 7, but I was wondering if there is anything we ought to be doing from now to increase our chances of admittance?

In terms of scholarships, we would aim for an art and academic scholarship to help with fee reduction.

My DD got a 25% Scholarship to Private school in Y7 and was well above her peers from even Reception, nothing we did really apart from read to her lot, talk to her and encourage her to question and explore. Some DC started to catch up to her by Y2 but she was still ahead, especially in English and was producing GCSE level work by Y6.
Not sure you can do much if the innate ability isn't there.
Tutouring will probably help them work at the highest level they are capable of but much more able DC may be getting tutoured as well

Thank you all for your comments, its been really thought provoking.

I would continue to encourage reading (it's hard to overstate the value of this) and intellectual curiosity, and model these yourself when possible.

Take her to museums and galleries - stop at a few things and have a conversation. In art galleries, good things to ask might include what she thinks is happening in the picture, how and why the artist has arranged the composition in this way, what colours are used and why, whether there is anything surprising/unusual/whether she thinks it is good art or not, and why. For historical/archaeological objects, ask what is interesting about the object, what it might tell us about who used it, perhaps how it changes how we might think about the Tudors/Victorians/history of home town (or whatever the object relates to). You might want to vary the questions a bit based on age.

If she shows intellectual curiosity in other ways, encourage that. We had a book of DIY science experiments at home - making universal indicator out of red cabbage and things like that.

Avoid things that give short-cuts or make things too easy, both in school work and stuff outside of school, e.g. prioritise art kits that encourage creativity rather than 'paint by numbers' type things. Generally anything that encourages problem-solving is good.

As scholarships are generally only about 5% off fees nowadays I think there is no point trying to engineer things at this age. Just support her passions and make sure she’s making good progress academically.