Is your child 'emotionally ready' for school?

‘Emotional readiness’ will be assessed in the 4+ Assessments.

In fact, I believe that this is the most important deciding factor when considering the students that these top schools want to attend their schools.

So what does this even mean?

Being ‘emotionally ready’ means exactly what it says.

It means that your child is ready to go to school. It means that your child is ready to leave you for a good period of time. It means that your child is ready to go into their assessment independently. It means that you child is ready to complete tasks with enthusiasm and confidence. It means that you child is happy to be left alone in a new and unfamiliar environment.

All of these aspects will demonstrate to a school that your child is ‘emotionally ready’.

What will show a school that your child is not ‘emotionally ready’ for school in an assessment?

Not going in happily - If your child is upset to leave you when you get to the Assessment this will be an indication that they are not ‘emotionally ready’. I do think this is harsh because children are not robots and perhaps on that particular day, they are not feeling great or they’ve not had a good sleep or they’re just not in the mood. It doesn’t matter. On the day of the Assessment, if they don’t go in happily and calmly, it will show that they are not ‘emotionally ready’.

Not wanting to complete tasks independently - If your child doesn’t want to take part in the activities set up by the schools in will demonstrate to them that they are not ‘emotionally ready’. For example, if they say that it’s too hard or that they can’t do it, these will all be key indicators that they are not ‘emotionally ready’.

Being ‘emotionally ready’ is a huge ask at the ages of 3 and 4!

The main thing that I will tell you is to at least make sure that your child will leave you when you get to the Assessment. So many parents have received calls to come and collect their child from their 4+ Assessments because they just wouldn’t calm down. They wouldn’t have been successful.

You will know that your child will be happy to leave you when you’ve practised it enough times. This will be different for each child. Essentially, you want to be able to have left your child somewhere new and unfamiliar to them many times before they get to their Assessments.