Preparing child for selective independent secondary entry- Croydon area

[Gigisaffron]

How do parents of Yr 4,5,6 prepare their children in Primary/ Preparatory for admissions into independent school. I live in South Croydon and have been exploring schools like Reigate, Caterham, Croydon High, Sutton High, Trinity(assuming it'll become a mixed secondary soon). For context my DD isn't into sports or music. Academic excellence seems like her best route but would like to know what else does make children stand apart as from what I hear these schools are quite selective.

Private preparatory school as the name indicates prepares to the exams to Independent secondary school. It is a part of the preparatory school program .
Apart from that Atom Learning for self motivated and group or better 1:1 tutoring

Not sure of which year your DD is in or if you are in a prep or state. If you are in a prep, they will probably (and should) guide you and support. If not, I would say use Y5 to prep (see below) - most exams are early in Y6.

Most schools select on academics and, if you pass the exam and interview, there is no need as such to 'stand apart'. Of the schools that you mention, none is 'super selective' as such so would cater for a varying degree of abilities in terms of threshold for entry, with Sutton High being potentially the most accessible one. From South Croydon adding Woldingham to that list - an absolute gem of a school!

Worth having a look at the entry process and, depending on whether you want to use tutors or diy, purchase some materials. Atom can be good but it depends on the school - for instance, some schools use quite 'traditional' exams and Atom is very much multiple choice, that does not lend itself much to prepare for those type of exams, On the other hand, Atom can be brilliant if the school uses ISEB, which is both past-paced and adaptive like Atom. There are plenty of books on Amazon to practice - Bond, CGP are particularly good ones, with a focus on both accuracy and speed, across Maths, English, Verbal Reasoning and Non-Verbal Reasoning. And keep your DD engaged in her hobbies and interests - schools are not necessarily looking for top performers (though they do like them) but definitely interested in children that, beyond the academics, will participate in the school life.

Good luck.