Preparing for a 7+ Assessment at a Top London School?
/Are your preparing your child for the 7+ Assessment/s this year? If you are, you will already know how important it is to know your school/s very well. To know what they are looking for in their prospective new students, to know what will happen during the Assessment, to know what your child needs to be able to do in order to be successful.
In this blog, I will be doing a case study of a Top London boy’s school at 7+. Their Assessment is this week on Friday.
I have several boys sitting Assessment at this school this week. Some I have been preparing for nearly two years. Others I have been preparing for 6 weeks. Of course, I strongly believe that it is vital to begin early. As early as possible. The best results that we’ve had are when we prepare children for their 7+ when they are just starting in Reception. This gives us a full two years (and a bit) to prepare.
There is too much to cover to leave it to the last minute. Effective story writing alone takes at least 4 months of intensive work. So whether you are preparing your child alone or you are getting support in the form of tuition, please do start early.
At this top London school, their Round 1 Assessment will be split in this way:
1 hour Reasoning paper
45 minute English paper
40 minute Maths paper
I really like the way that this school splits their papers up because they give their students short breaks between each paper. This gives them a chance to have a little rest and focus their minds to the paper that they will be completing next (rather than having 1.5 - 2 hours of continuous Assessment)
The Reasoning paper
Let’s take a deep dive into the Reasoning paper at this particular school. Reasoning will involve verbal and non verbal reasoning. I recommend the Bond Books to my clients. We want to be aiming to have completed the 7-8 Bond Books in Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning before the Assessments. We can also dip into the 8-9 papers. Some questions are not relevant so make sure that you know which questions to focus on and which are not needed. I personally use Schofield and Sims with my students. I also create my own questions to support any gaps that arise.
Your child needs to be very confident with all aspects of Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning to pass Round 1 at this school. You will see that 1 hour is allocated to this paper (longer than to the other papers) therefore this school clearly believes that reasoning is very important. I agree. Reasoning shows logic, strategic thinking, accuracy, precision and focused thinking. It is also not really something that can necessarily always be taught. Yes, we can teach the skills but a question could come up that your child many never have encountered before and they will need to have developed the problem solving skills necessary to be able to solve them.
The English paper
45 minutes is allocated to the English paper. Historically at this school, the children will have a comprehension and a story to write. As the paper is so short, we can predict that the children will not be given long to write their story (perhaps between 20 and 30 minutes)
The comprehension will involve a short text that will be challenging to read. It will be at a year 3/4 level so your child does need to be able to read very well. Not just read very well but also be able to infer meaning because there will be plenty of words that they will not know. Again this takes lots and lots of practise. Lots and lots of exposure to a variety of texts that immerses your child into a lot of vocabulary. Vocabulary is key at all schools in the 7+ Assessment. The only way to build vocabulary is through voracious reading. Not passively reading but actively reading. Not coming across a word and skimming past it but coming across a word and writing down it’s meaning. Being able to place that word into a sentence. Your child’s vocabulary must be amazing. It just must be.
After the comprehension, your child will have a story to write. This could be linked to the comprehension (it usually is). Most likely your child will be given one title (they could also be given an option to choose from). I prefer it when they are just given one title otherwise they tend to waste time choosing the one that they like best! We don’t have time to waste if the paper is only 45 minutes long!
The story will need to be exceptional.
Handwriting will need to be beautiful. Joined or unjoined it needs to be really good, legible handwriting.
Spellings will need to be near perfect. Key words and high frequency words must be spelled correctly.
There will need to be a clear introduction, middle and ending.
Their writer’s voice will need to shine through.
They will need to have used higher level language and vocabulary.
They will need to have used some figurative language (either a simile or personification)
The maths paper
The maths paper will be at a Year 3 level so aim to prepare your child up to this level.
Of course not all of the Year 3 curriculum so it is important to know which part of the curriculum to revise.
This school is well known for asking lots of problem solving and reasoning questions and they will want to see working out. There will be two and three step problems so prepare for these.
Ensure you have covered all of the Year 2 maths curriculum with your child (at a minimum) and that they are confident with all aspects of this curriculum.
What you need to be doing if your child is sitting Round 1 of their 7+ this week.
Ensure that your child is confident in all aspects of their 7+ Assessments.
Cover story writing a lot (if it will be assessed) Remember that not all schools have a story to write.
Fill any gaps that need filling.
Do past papers everyday.
Give them a break the day before if possible.
Talk to them about what to expect in the Assessment.
7+ Assessments Top Tips
Arrive earlier to the Assessment - Have a conversation with your child to ground them and centre them. Tell them exactly what will happen.
Wear a watch as long as it doesn’t distract them. The children need to pay close attention to the time available in their Assessment.
Have their pencil case ready so that your child isn’t searching for things.
Don’t bring a rubber if it will distract them. If you do want your child to bring a rubber, explain to them exactly how to use their rubber.
