Children who passed the Round 1 in their 4+ Assessments were children who...
/Could focus on a specific task for 3-5 minutes
In Round 1 of the 4+ Assessments, your child will be expected to complete a variety of tasks. Usually, there will be different tables set up with activities. In most Assessments, your child will be invited to go and take part in the different activities and they will be observed by the EYFS team. It will be an expectation that your child will be able to focus on the task for a period of time. Each school will have their own criteria. However, as a benchmark, I would say that 3-5 minutes is a good timeframe to aim for. You want to aim for your child to be able to focus and concentrate on s particular activity for 3-5 minutes and then move onto the next one. In our lessons, we break up the focus into blocks of 3-5 minutes. For example, we might do phonics for 5 minutes and then move onto maths. We might to reading for 5 minutes and then move onto cutting. This is done intentionally to give our students practise and to know how long we expect them to concentrate for. Some students are able to do this very well and others need more practise.
2. Were able to show concentration and interest in different tasks
In the 4+ Assessments, your child will be observed engaging in a variety of different tasks. They will need to be able to show concentration and interest in the task/s that they are engaging in. A child who wouldn’t have passed their Round 1 Assessment would have been a child who perhaps didn’t show interest in a task and who didn’t engage in a way which would have demonstrated focus and concentration. For example, if your child is asked to do a puzzle, the assessors will be observing how they do the puzzle, do they focus on the edges first, do they look at the picture to help to guide them with where to place the puzzle pieces, do they try to place the pieces together and then try to manipulate them in a different way. Do they give up quickly or do they persevere? A child who for example gets frustrated with the activity wouldn’t do as well as a child who continues to try.
3. Were able to show a genuine interest in the tasks provided to them.
Genuine interest means truly wanting to engage in the task/s. Children who do not show genuine interest might only choose to engage in tasks that they like. When faced with tasks that they perhaps don’t like or aren’t as good at, they make either refuse to do it or simply say no. This will not be good in a Round 1 Assessment. For example, if your child is asked to do some cutting, a child who shows a genuine interest in this activity will be one who sits down calmly and really tries their best to ensure that their cutting is of the highest quality and precision. A child who is less interested in cutting, might sit down and quickly do the task so that they can move on to something they enjoy more. Rushed cutting will not be good in a 4+ Assessment.
