I will prepare my child in the same way for each school (4+) Please don't do this!
/I have spoken to several parents this week who have called me to ask me about 4+ Assessment preparation. A few of these parents have been surprised that we prepare for each school in a different way. Some even told me, ‘I will just prepare them in the same way for each school.’
I’m definitely not here to correct anyone and of course, feel free to prepare your child as you wish.
I am here to share my own experience, having done this for over 14 years! I can definitely tell you that you will not be preparing your child in the same way for each school. And if you do, I can probably guess that your child will not be successful. At least not to all of their target schools anyway.
How can I be so sure?
Because I have seen it year after year after year.
You need to know how to prepare your child for each school and if you don’t know, you need to seek the help of a professional who does.
The teacher who you choose to help you with the 4+ Assessment process must know each individual school very well. They need to know what happens at each round, whether it will be 1:1 or group, what sorts of activities will be done and what the expectations of your child will be.
A big factor this year as to whether a child was successful or not in their 4+ Assessment was relating to behavioural expectations. Some parents that I spoke to did not prepare for this aspect.
A child needs to be taught how they need to behave in these assessments. They will not just know.
Each child will have their own criteria in terms of behavioural expectations and you must be aware of these so that you can prepare your child accordingly.
For example, one school expects students to:
Be compliant
Follow instructions
Share well with others
Show excellent team working skills
Speak with confidence and clarity
Show maturity
If his assessment, one student (not mine) did not follow instructions and when asked to go to the writing table simply turned to the teacher and said ‘No!’ I am building a tower.’
He was not successful.
Another student (not mine) was asked to line up and rather than lining up, he ran to the other side of the room.
He was not successful.
These little things must be prepared for and need to have just as much importance placed on them as the academic side of preparing for the 4+ Assessments.
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