High School of Glasgow Kindergarten

[itssunnybehindtheclouds]

We're thinking about this school for our DC but I've heard there's an (informal?) assessment for entry and that actually some kids are not granted a place based on how well they do.

I'm wondering what a three year old can 'fail' at and it makes me a bit uncomfortable. I'm all for playing and having fun at this age. Does anyone have any experience?

That's the downside of private education imo. I think most private schools do the same.

And even if they don't test explicitly, charging £££ does the job for them.

I've been made aware of children not being granted entry into private schools, even at that stage, due to not passing the initial assessment.
Private schools will only make money and take in pupils if they can prove that they get the desired results. Entrance requirements and assessments are a huge part of that, the children there aren't necessarily getting a better level of education (in fact you don't even need a teaching qualification to teach in a private school- I was once offered a management role in a Scottish private school when I had only 1 year of teaching experience because I would have been the only teacher in the school with an actual teaching qualification).

I think you are right to feel uncomfortable at the idea of a 3 year old 'failing'. It sets the tone of the approach taken in the years after. Many private schools and top-rated state schools will actually encourage pupils who are failing or not doing so well at school to leave before sitting their exams in order to ensure that the average grades achieved at the school stay high. This is common practice in many of these schools and leads to a fallacy that children receive a better level of education in these schools because the pupils there come out with higher grades (which also doesn't take into account the influence that coming from a middle-upper class background has on academic achievement).

I know children who have been to kindergarten at the High School and the interview is more observational.

I don't think at that stage it's about academic testing, they just want well-behaved kids who will sit on their arse when told to do so, can string a sentence together and respond to questions and follow basic instructions. I think they also do things like colour recognition and counting so "John, can you bring me three green bricks?" or similar.

OP - move to Bearsden or Milngavie. That's where the Junior School is anyway and the state provision is excellent.