"I barely survived the 4+ Assessments" - A true story

I spoke to a potential new client the other day who was asking me for further information about the 7+. He said something that really struck me.

He said - “You know, I do wish I had found you sooner, I barely survived the 4+ Assessments.”

I asked him what he meant.

He told me that he had no idea what it would involve. He told me that it was like sending his child into the wolves’ den. “There was no way he would come out of there in one piece!”

Those were his exact words to me.

He felt deeply frustrated by the whole process,

“Why do these schools tell parents not to prepare their children? It is complete and utter nonsense!”

He told me that compared to the other children in the Assessment (at a top boys’ school), his son really stood out. First of all he was nervous and went in upset. Second of all, he didn’t want to engage in conversation with the assessors and finally he didn’t want to do certain activities.

This is why I speak very openly and honestly about the 4+ Assessments. I want all parents to be prepared. To send their children in prepared. To have the best possible chances for success.

What I want is for parents to thrive and not ‘barely survive’.

Book your Sample Lesson today.

Thriving or Surviving the 4+ Assessments. Real life stories.

Surviving the 4+ Assessments or thriving in the 4+ Assessments?

I hear so many different stories everyday.

 And they all come down to these two concepts.

 1.     Parents who experienced great success in the 4+ Assessments and truly thrived.

2.     Parents who struggled in the 4+ Assessments and experienced great difficultly.

 Let me give you some examples for both of these concepts.

 1.     Parents who experienced great success in the 4+ Assessments and truly thrived. I have changed students/clients names for privacy and confidentiality.

 Sam

 Sam began tuition with me when he was 2 years and 6 months. July born, his parents were concerned that he was too ‘young’ and that he would never ‘catch up’ to his peers who were ‘much further along than him’. These were the stories that his parents told me and I would always tell them the same this – none of this was true.

Yes, Sam might be nearly a whole year younger than some of his peers in the 4+ Assessment but this definitely didn’t mean that he would be ‘behind’.

 His parents sat him for the following schools (in order or preference)

 Habs

Merchant Taylors

The Hall

UCS

Highgate

Manor Lodge

Lockinver

Sam received nearly a full year of tuition and for the most part was consistent at joining me each week for his 30 minute lesson. Each week, he received bespoke home learning targeting specifically what he would encounter in the Assessments at the schools his parents had applied to.

 Sam struggled with writing up until 2 months before the Assessments. Keep in mind that from the list above, some assessments happened a lot earlier than others (October v January)

 We persevered and before his Assessments he became obsessed with writing (to our delight!)

 Sam was successful at being offered a place at Habs, The Hall, UCS, Manor Lodge and Lockinver. His parents have decided to send him to Habs. We had the best call ever a few weeks ago. The ‘I don’t know which school to choose call!’

2.     Parents who struggled in the 4+ Assessments and experienced great difficultly.

 Tobias

 Tobias started tuition with one of our Senior Tutors in July of the year he was sitting his Assessments. His mother wanted him to get into either Highgate or UCS and decided to start preparing him for the 4+ Assessments. She told me that she started late because she had been ‘preparing him herself.’ Tobias was one of our youngest students (August born).

He lacked focus and concentration and wouldn’t engage for more than 2 minutes at a time. Had he started earlier, this wouldn’t have been an issue. It was an issue because we had too much to cover and we didn’t have enough time to cover it.

 I also advised his mother that two schools is not enough and that she really should choose at least another four schools. With a lot of persuasion,  his mother chose a back up school (a non selective school)

 Tobias also was unable to hold his pencil and he was very reluctant to write. Both UCS and Highgate require students to write in one way or another in their 4+ Assessments.

He improved a lot on his cutting and he was strong with his mathematical skills. Unfortunately, without the writing ability, I told his mother that it was unlikely that he would pass. Without the focus, it was unlikely that he would pass. Without being able to colour in with accuracy and precision, it was unlikely that he would pass. He did not pass Highgate or UCS at 4+.

I know the calibre of students that both UCS and Highgate are looking for and I will always be very honest with all of my clients. After all, this is a huge investment for my clients. It is an investment in terms of money and in terms of time.

Tobias did gain entry to the non-selective school that his mother was advised to apply to and will be trying again at 7+.

So, do you want to thrive in the 4+ Assessments or do you want to thrive?

 I know the one I would choose.

 Book your Sample Lesson today.

Do you want your child to thrive in the 4+ Assessments?

Here is what thriving in the 4+ Assessments look like.

Parent

Calm

Relaxed

Serene

Prepared

Organised

Informed

Child

Confident

Ready

Prepared

Reading

Writing

Knowledgeable

Polite

Attentive

Focused

I could of course add many more but these are the main ones that you and your child will need in order to thrive in the 4+ Assessments.

We prepare our students specifically for the schools they are sitting Assessment at. No two lesson plans will ever be the same. No generic tuition. Only the highest quality, bespoke tuition. Your child will be prepared for each school that they will be sitting Assessment at.

All of our tutors have over 10 years of experience actually preparing children for these top schools. We know exactly what they are looking for and we will guide you to have incredible success and to actually thrive throughout the process,

Book your Sample Lesson Today.

Is your child resistant when it comes to completing certain tasks? It's not a problem!

I hear this repeatedly from my clients.

My child doesn’t want to do:

writing

reading

phonics

puzzles

lego

My child won’t:

Answer questions

complete their home learning

hold their pencil

follow my instructions

None of this is a problem and let me tell you why.

My students who are currently preparing for their 4+ Assessments are between the ages of 2.5 and 3. Let’s not forget this. These students are still very young. If they don’t want to do something, it’s just not a problem. They decide. Always go with their flow. Your child doesn’t want to hold a pencil - no problem. You hold it and show them how you do it and how much you love to hold a pencil. Your child doesn’t want to read a book with you - no problem. You continue to read it anyway. Your child will be observing your learning behaviours and with their own time, they will naturally want to try to do what you are doing.

A child being resistant towards a problem is never a problem to me. What is a problem, is making a big deal about it, reacting in a negative way about it and telling them that there is something wrong with them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them!

In my lessons, when one of my students doesn’t want to do something - let’s say for example, count the objects on the screen. I move on immediately to another task. I usually come back to the task that they were resistant towards doing and most often, they will complete it.

Let your child take the lead with their learning. Give them the opportunity to decide what they want to do. I guarantee, the results will follow. Be consistent with it and keep going.

Preparing for the 4+ Assessments for 2025 entry? Book your Sample Lesson today.

What you want is for your child to go into their 4+ Assessment CALMLY and CONFIDENTLY.

I’ve been talking to a lot of parents today about 4+ Assessment preparation. What I’m noticing is that a lot of the parents that I talk to seem to focus a lot on the academic aspect of the 4+ Assessments which of course is very important. However, it is by no means the most important part of 4+ Assessment preparation.

In my opinion, the most important part of 4+ Assessment preparation is going into the Assessment calmly and confidently.

If your child doesn’t go into their Assessment/s calmly, they are unlikely to be successful.

If your child doesn’t show confidence in their Assessment/s, they are unlikely to be successful.

Let me give you some examples by sharing some real life stories that happened this year in the 4+ Assessments.

CALM

To me going into the Assessment calmly means walking in happily. I imagine a child just soaring into the room as though they are walking on clouds and into something that they actually want to do. They actually want to be in that room.

Not being calm means going into the Assessment crying, screaming, not letting go of mum or dad (or whoever has dropped your child off). Not actually wanting to be in the room and doing anything within their power to leave the room indicates to me that a child is not calm.

Please don’t be surprised… these things do happen.

This year, many of my clients told me that they saw children crying and screaming and refusing to go with the assessors into their Assessments. Many of my clients told me that they heard from their friends that they were called to come and collect their children because they wouldn’t calm down.

CONFIDENCE

Having confidence has nothing to do with being shy or not. You can be shy and still have confidence. You can be loud and have very little confidence.

To me, going into the Assessment/s with confidence means being able to communicate well with adults and with children. Confidence was another very important aspect of 4+ Assessment success. Children who were not able to articulate themselves with confidence were not successful. Children who were unable to answer questions with confidence were not successful. Children who didn’t interact well with other children were not successful.

So yes, prepare for the academic aspects of the 4+ Assessments but please don’t neglect these two very important parts of 4+ Assessment success.

Book your Sample Lesson Today.

If your child is unsuccessful in the 4+ Assessments, what are your options?

If you choose tuition with us it is highly unlikely that this will happen. It never has happened.

Children who have at least 9 months of tuition (4+), 12 months tuition (7+) and 24 month tuition (11+) have been successful at gaining entry to at least one school of choice. When I say ‘at least’ what I mean is ‘at a minimum’. The majority of our students are successful at gaining entry to 3 or more schools of choice in all of the Assessments that we provide support with.

We advise all of our clients to choose at least 6 schools (all Assessments) 7 schools is optimum.

Less than this I wouldn’t advise.

However, if your child is unsuccessful in their 4+ Assessments, here are your options.

  1. Choose a great pre- prep school that will support you with your preparations for the 7+ Assessments. If you need further support with this, please email me (office@creativemindstutors.com). I would always recommend you continue with tuition even if you do choose this option.

  2. Continue with weekly tuition to support you with your preparations for the 7+ Assessments (the best time to begin is January of the year that your child is in Reception)

  3. Choose a great state school and prepare your child for the 7+ Assessments with tuition.

  4. Choose a great state school and prepare your child for the 11+ Assessments with tuition (the best time to start is January of the year that your child is in Year 3)

  5. Apply to Grammar schools at 11+ and prepare with tuition.

So, as you can see you have plenty of options!

Need further support? Book your Sample lesson today.

Why online tuition is the best option for you

Do you want your child to be successful in their 4+/7+/11+ Assessments?

If you’re reading this blog then the answer is of course - yes!

Do you know how stressful it can be to not have the correct support when preparing for the 4+/7+/11+ Assessments?

Perhaps you do not. Perhaps this is your first time going on this journey and you have no idea what to expect.

Do you want the BEST teacher to support your with this success?

If you are choosing to invest your money into tuition, then the answer is of course - yes!

Do you think that in person tuition is somehow ‘better’ than online tuition?

Tell me this then. Why am I hearing from so many parents who chose in person tuition over online tuition who were preparing for the 4+, who have now contacted us to help them to prepare for the 7+?

Why does this happen year after year after year?

Perhaps you have this idea in your head about what tuition looks like.

Your teacher shows up at your door and you greet her/him.

Your teacher sits at a table with your child and they spend an hour together.

You somehow think that this is better than logging into a lesson on Zoom.

Let me tell you why this is absolutely not the case.

Online tuition is the best option for you because you get access to the best teachers for the job.

The teachers who have actual experience with the schools that you are applying to.

The teachers with over 14 years of experience preparing children for their entrance examinations.

It really shouldn’t be your main criteria for choosing your teacher to support you with Assessment preparation.

After all, it is one of the biggest decisions of your life (and your child’s!) Where they go to school, will help to shape their entire lives.

And if you’re reading this blog, I know that this is very important to you.

See our incredible 2024 results here!

Book your Sample Lesson today.

It's all about you!

We continue to have tremendous success because of our client’s successes.

That’s why it’s all about you.

If your child isn’t successful, we won’t be successful.

One of my client’s told me that she felt I was really rooting for her. And her son was successful to 4 out of the 6 schools that she applied to. Even though we are no longer having lessons together, she continues to have ongoing contact to me. I am now supporting her with making her decision as to where he will go. What a privileged position to be in.

Your life will be better because you will never have to face this journey alone. We will be with you every step of the way. Whenever you feel lost or confused, you will know that you can come to us.

I’ve been having our end of lessons evaluation calls with our clients who have completed their Assessment preparations. I wanted to share some of their comments with you. I’ve changed their names and their children’s names.

Sarah

What you provided us with were more than just lessons. Having worked with several other tuition companies before finding you, I can tell you that what you offer is very different. With other companies Sam would just have her lessons once a week and that was it. With you Sam would have her lessons but I always knew that you would be there for me if I needed you. This is the biggest difference between what you offer and what others offer. That ongoing communication was fundamental to our success. If I every felt worried or vulnerable, you were always there for me whether on text or on the phone.

John

When we first started lessons with you, we were dubious. Could online really work? We had a few wobbles as you can remember. After all Shrivas was only 2 and a half when he started with you. There were times we wanted to stop and just not do the 4+ but you always assured us that things would improve. And they did. We are so grateful that we persevered and trusted your process. Your ability to introduce such tricky concepts to a two/three year old was something that really stood out. The way you engaged him. Shrivas would often ask when he would see you next. In fact, just the other day, he asked me if Maria was on holiday? And if he could see you again!

Clara

I can’t believe that we got into our top school of choice. I just can’t believe it. I am over the mood. Delighted! The fact that we have 5 schools to choose from is incredible! Of course Joan did so well but without you we wouldn’t be in this position. No way! Without a shadow of a doubt, you helped our little Joan to go into each and every Assessment with calm and confidence. With the desire to show them how much she knows! We are thrilled with the results.

You get so much value out of our Home Learning Support Packages. It is absolutely not just one lesson once a week. It is so much more than that. It is that ongoing communication between teacher and client that sets us apart from anything else available on the market. You can access your teacher at any time you need them. The home learning you get each week is bespoke to your child and to what they are working on that week. Our aftercare support after your lessons have completed is all included with each package.

Book your Sample Lesson today!

Your deepest desires

I’ve spoken to so many parents this week and the main theme in our conversations is this.

‘I want my child to go to x school’

There is a deep desire for their children to be successful in a particular school or schools that the parents have their hearts set upon them going to.

And this is exactly what we do.

We support our clients every step of the way to have tremendous success in supporting their children to be successful in their Assessments.

We know that your deepest desire is for your child to gain entry into your schools of choice.

Your deepest desire is to have options.

We also know how challenging it is for children to be successful in their Assessments.

However, with over 14 years of experience preparing children for all top inner and outer London schools, we are here to support you every step of the way.

All of our clients who had at least 9-12 months of Assessment preparation (4+ ) were successful at gaining entry to at least 3 schools of choice.

All of our clients who had at least 12 - 18 months of Assessment preparation (7+) were successful at gaining entry to at least 4 schools of choice.

All of our clients who had at least 2 years of Assessment preparation (11+) were successful at gaining entry to at least 3 schools of their choice.

We are deeply invested into all of our children. After all, we become more successful the more successful they are!

Book your Sample Lesson today!

The 7 plus Assessment Audit- mastering Maths, Comprehension, Composition and Reasoning.

In this blog, I would like you to audit what your child does and doesn’t know… yet! It is important to do this audit frequently throughout the year to ensure that your child stays on track.

Once you have established the schools that you will be applying to for the 7+ Assessments, you can then begin the audit. This is of course a generic audit. However, when I work with my clients, the audit will be specific to each school that they are applying to (remember that all assessments will be different!)

Ensure your child knows their number bonds to 10.

Seems simple. But this one is often overlooked. Your child needs to have a strong understanding and knowledge of the their number bonds to 10 in order to become masters of the maths curriculum. If your child doesn’t know (and understand!) that 2+7 = 9 how will they know what 20+ 70 is? or 200 + 700?

Spend quite a bit of time teaching your child their number bonds to 10. Complete different activities to embed this knowledge and understanding. Have fun with it! I love to play ping pong with my students. We both pretend to be holding a ping pong bat and we ping each other a number and then we pong each other the answer. This is a great game because we play together and my student can also ask me. In this way the pressure isn’t all on them and they can learn from me and my answers too. Sometimes, I will purposely get it wrong and they love correcting me!

Ensure that your child knows a variety of addition and subtractions strategies

When I first start working with children preparing them for their 7+ Assessments, they are usually 4 or 5 (In Reception or Year 1). Usually, they will know two strategies for addition and subtraction - the column method and using their fingers. Whilst these are great, they are so many other strategies that they can use. Here are just a few of them.

  • Bonds to 10/20/30/50/100/1000

  • Fact families

  • Using bar models

  • Related facts eg. 7+2=20 so 70+20 =

  • Using part whole models

  • Using the number line to add and subtract

  • Add and subtract numbers crossing the tens barrier

  • Calculating missing digits


    Let’s look at at one of these in detail:

  • Using the number line to add and subtract

When I work with my students, early on I teach them the empty numberline strategy. They simply use their ruler to draw a line on their page. We then input the relevant numbers in order to work out the calculation. Eg. Let’s say we are working out 43 - 27 = ?

I ask them to write 27 on the left hand side of their numberline and I will teach them to count up. We count up to the nearest ten (30) and then count up to 43. I then teach them to add up the jumps and this will give them the answer.

What would most children do here?

Without knowing this strategy, most children would count back in ones from 43. Not effective or efficient.

Ensure your child is confident with the most challenging part of Comprehension in the 7 plus Assessments.

In my opinion, the most challenging aspect of comprehension in the 7+ Assessments is the vocabulary. After all if your child doesn’t understand at least 80% of the words in the text, how will they be able to answer the questions? Notice that I didn’t say that your child needs to know 80% of the words. Rather they need to understand them. They need to be able to infer their meaning given the context of the sentence. We work on this together in our lessons and in the Home Learning tasks that I set my students. The comprehension texts in the 7+ Assessments will be challenging. In order to score 80%-85% (which is what your child will need to score to be successful!) they must develop this skill.

Check out our FREE 7+ Comprehension papers to see the level of difficulty that I’m talking about.

Comprehension in the 7+ Assessments has evolved over the years.

First of all, it has become more challenging. The level of the texts provided is more and more challenging each year. Secondly, the types of genres used in unpredictable. We used to be able to guess that it would most likely be a fiction comprehension but this isn’t always the case. Classics have also been used previously. Newspaper reports have been used. Playscripts have been used.

Always ensure that you cover ALL genres of writing when preparing your child for the comprehension aspect of the 7+ Assessments.

3 types of questions that your child will be asked in the 7 plus assessments

What do you think questions

These are challenging because your child needs to show exceptional understanding of the text in order to be able to answer these types of questions. My students often find these questions challenging because the answers are not specifically in the text and they need to give their own opinions. This is a skill that needs to be worked on, practised and perfected.

Predict what will happen next questions

Prediction questions are often challenging because sometimes my students do not give me answers relevant to the text that they have read. So even though they are predicting, it must be specific and in the context of what they have just read.

Summarise the text/part of the text questions

Summarising is something we love to do! Initially it is very challenging especially if my student has never been exposed to summarising but once they get the hang of it, it’s great! Some of my students think that summarising mean extracting different bits of the text and just copying it. This is not what summarising is. What summarising is is showing that they have truly understood the text by being able to extract the most important points and putting them into their own words. Summarising is giving a brief explanation of the main points of the text.

Some schools in their 7+ Assessments will have two comprehensions. This is why it is so important to know your schools very well. Stamina will be very important.

In order to be effective and efficient at calculating their sums, your child will need to know a variety of strategies for addition and subtraction. They need to know and understand the different strategies that can be used to solve a variety of calculations.

If you would like a bespoke audit created specifically for your child and relevant to each Assessment that they will be sitting, book your Sample Lesson Today.




Being confident doesn't mean being loud.

As a child I used to think that being confident meant being loud. I was a very timid girl but I always felt a sense of confidence within myself. I just used to think that I was not confident and that I would never be confident because I wasn’t the ‘loud one’, the ‘centre of attention’, the one ‘leading the crowd’. Now I realise that it was all nonsense.

As an adult, I am still a quieter person but I am also a very confident person.

I see people around me now who are very loud but not confident people.

So when clients tell me the following:

‘I’ve heard that children need to show confidence in their 4+ Assessments and my child is shy’

or

‘My child is so quiet, they will not be noticed’

or

‘My child will not answer questions with confidence because they are too quiet’

I tell them this:

A child can be quiet and eve shy and still demonstrate confidence.

Here is the definition of the word ‘confident’ -

Feeling or showing confidence in oneself or one's abilities or qualities.

Confidence to me is showing your abilities in a way that feels good to you.

If it feels good to you to be loud - great.

If it feels good to you to be quieter - great.

No where in the definition of the word ‘confident’ does it mention the word loud.

So, if your child is quieter, perhaps more introverted, perhaps more cautious in new environments, perhaps takes a little longer to warm to new and unfamiliar people to them, you can still teach them how to be confident in their Assessments. How to show confidence in their Assessments.

We work on this together in our lessons.

And our students have demonstrated incredible confidence this year. It is evident in our results!

Book your Sample Lesson Today.

Will a school know if my child has been tutored?

Schools will tell you this -

‘Don’t get your child tutored’

‘We do not want children that are tutored’

‘We will be able to tell if a child has been tutored’

‘There’s no need to have your child tutored’

Parents will often ask me this - ‘If I get my child tutored and the schools find out, will it go against them?’

This question fascinates me.

I’ve heard it thousands of time.

I just think of all the questions to ask me about 4+ Assessment preparation, why is this the most common?

As a parent, you will be embarking on a new journey (unless you’ve experienced it with an older child). As a parent, you will not know what to expect.

So let me tell you this. Your child WILL need to be prepared for their 4+ Assessment. Whether you receive formal tutoring or not. Whether you call it tutoring or not. If you are preparing your child yourself, you are, in essence, tutoring them!

Tutoring to me means preparing. Preparing a child to go in an be able to show their truest potential and show the schools exactly what they are looking for.

So let’s look again at what these schools will tell you.

‘Don’t get your child tutored’

Out of the hundreds of children applying to the same school that you will be applying to, how many of them will be tutored? Let me tell you - All of them!

‘We do not want children that are tutored’

Out of the hundred of children who apply for the same schools you will be applying to, who do you think the Assessors will choose? A child who can answer their question or a child who can’t. Let me tell you - A child who can!

‘We will be able to tell if a child has been tutored’

Ok, this is an interesting one. Having witnessed several 4+ Assessments, I can tell you that it can be obvious if a child has been tutored. If a child has been told what to say, it will be obvious. If a child has memorised more complex things and cannot answer the more simple questions, it will be obvious. This is not how we prepare our children for their 4+ Assessments.

‘There’s no need to have your child tutored’

So many parents fall for this one! And they don’t prepare their child for their Assessments. Let me tell you this - It just isn’t a good idea to do this!

If you are going to prepare your child, prepare them with the best teachers available. We will support you every step of the way.

Book your Sample Lesson today.

2024 Results- Further Information

What you’ve all been waiting for!

Our exceptional 4+ and 7+ Assessment Results!

These are the results from our students who had at least 9 months of Assessment preparation.

They do not indicate the schools that our students will be attending but the schools that they were successful at passing and being offered a place at.

It is not ‘easy’ to pass the 4+ Assessments. It takes, time, effort and perseverance and we are so proud of our results.

If you are preparing for 2025 entry, book your Sample Lessons Today. Remember that our pricing increases at the end of this week! To secure your lessons at our current rate for the duration of your time with us, book your Sample Lesson before Friday 9th February 2024.

Creating a lifelong love for learning that goes beyond any Assessment.

That’s what we do.

View our incredible results here.

The 8 fundamentals needed to be successful in the 4+ Assessments

I speak to a lot of parents every single day. Parents who are thinking of preparing their child for their 4+ Assessment or have already started the process of preparing their child for their 4+ Assessments.

Many parents incorrectly believe that all that is needed to be successful in the 4+ Assessments is to be strong academically. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Being academically able is only a very small part of the pie. 1/8 of the pie to be precise.

In my opinion these are the 8 fundamentals that your child will need in order to be successful in their 4+ Assessments. A good mixture of all of these will guarantee success in any 4+ Assessments.

Here are the 8 fundamentals (in no particular order)

Behaviour - Your child will need to demonstrate exceptional behaviour. Their behaviour will need to be in line with the behavioural expectations of the school/s. In terms of behaviour, your child will be expected to be kind, caring, polite, patient and willing. Without a very high standard of behaviour, your child will never be successful in their 4+ Assessments.

Here is an example. A student was asked to complete a puzzle with another student and to help each other out. That student grabbed the puzzle from the Assessor and said, ‘ No, I will do it alone!’ They were not successful.

Academics - Academically, your child will need to be very strong. They will need to be above national expectations for their age. They will need to be able to answer most questions correctly in their 4+ Assessments. If your child is unable to answer most questions, they will not be successful in their 4+ Assessments. Each school will have their own criteria and your child will need to meet that criteria academically.

Perseverance - Most schools at 4+ will want to see your child show an ability to persevere. To be given a task to do and try their best to complete it.

Here is an example. A student was asked to complete a puzzle and she couldn’t fit together two of the pieces. She threw one of the pieces towards the door. She was not successful.

Resilience- These top schools will also want to see resilience. To be able to try even though the task is more challenging.

Here is an example. A student was asked to create a tower using lego and the instruction was that the tower had to look like the one that they had created. The student completed a few pieces and then couldn’t work out how to slot two of the pieces together in the way that the teacher had done it. He got frustrated and kicked the tower. He was not successful.

Confidence- Demonstrating confidence is a very important fundamental of 4+ Assessment success. Please don’t confuse confidence with being loud. This is not the case at all. I have taught hundreds of more introverted students who were quiet but had lots of confidence.

Here is an example. A student was asked a question about the sky in the image that she was shown. She looked at the assessor and froze. She didn’t answer the question. When she did answer questions, she answered using only one word answers. She was not successful.

Concentration - Concentrating for the duration of the assessment/s is a big ask at this age. Some of the Assessments this year were 90 minutes long! Your child will be expected to concentrate for big chunks of time.

Here is an example. A student was listening to a story being read to the group and began looking around and got distracted by the display of stars on the wall. He then began fidgeting and when the teacher asked him a question, he could'n’t answer it. He was not successful.

Compliance - Doing what is asked and following instructions perfectly is definitely expected of your child in their 4+ Assessments. Not doing what they are asked to do will mean that your child will not be successful in their 4+ Assessment/s.

Here is an example. A child was asked to go and line up and instead he ran to the other side of the room and lay on the floor. He was not successful.

Focus - Your child will be expected to focus and concentrate for the duration of their Assessment. Some Assessments are longer than others so please make sure that you prepare your child for this.

Here is an example. A child was completing a cutting task. He got distracted and looked towards another table of children who were completing a different task. He did not complete his cutting task and what he did complete wasn’t accurate and precise. He was not successful.

Preparing for your child’s 4+ Assessment for 2025 entry?

Book your Sample Lesson Today!

Our children must be prepared in the right way to have the highest chances for success in their 4+ Assessments.

Our children must be prepared in the right way to have the highest chances for success in their 4+ Assessments.

Hundreds of parents choose a tutor based on the fact that they can come to their home and teach their child face to face.

Personally, if I was preparing my son for his 4+ Assessment/s, I would want to choose the teacher with the best knowledge of each school, the teacher with the best understanding of each school and the teacher with the best results at the schools that I would be applying to.

Those would be the criteria that I would be basing my decisions on. Definitely not just based on the fact that the teacher could come physically into my home.

Our lessons are exclusively online and our results speak for themselves (I will be publishing them this week for 2023-2024). We have had incredible success year after year after year.

Online is 100% as effective as in person if not more so in my opinion.

Prepare your child in the right way and have the highest chances for success in your child’s 4+ Assessments. We will be there for you every step of the way. Guiding you and supporting you and your child throughout the whole process.

It’s not an easy process at all and if you haven’t been through it, you definitely won’t know what to expect. You need someone by your side who a. knows the schools you are applying to very well and b. has had incredible success with the schools that you are applying to.

You definitely don’t want to choose a teacher just on the basis that they can come into your home. That can be one of the factors but definitely not the only one. Here are some others to consider.

Do they know the schools that you are applying to?

Do they know what the schools are looking for?

Do they know why children were unsuccessful at gaining entry this year?

Do they have a proven track record of results for at least 5 years?

I will be publishing our 2023-2024 Results by the end of this week so watch this space.

Whoever you choose to prepare your child, please make sure that you choose the best teacher for your child!

Book your Sample Lesson Today!

The MAIN REASON why are these schools are 'upping their game'?

I can tell you with my hand on my heart that these schools are becoming harder and harder to get into.

10 years ago it was far easier to get children into these schools at 4+ than it is now.

So what exactly has changed?

Many things.

But the main reason is that there are more and more applications to these top schools.

So if you know how competitive these school are, please do prepare for them. They have upped their game. They are not just looking for the brightest children so you are definitely not just preparing your child academically. There are many other aspects to the Assessment/s that you will need to prepare for.

Need further support? Book your Sample Lesson Today!

4+ Assessment Behavioural expectations

There are hundreds of behavioural expectations. Here are seven of them for you to ponder on.

  1. Be compliant

  2. Follow instructions

  3. Share well with others

  4. Show excellent team working skills

  5. Speak with confidence and clarity

  6. Show maturity

Let’s go through each of these in a little more detail.

  1. Be compliant

To me, being compliant means doing what you are asked to do without complaining about it.

Being compliant in a 4+ Assessment looks like this.

Your child is asked to do something.

They do what they are asked to do.

SIMPLE.

This is what the Assessors do not want to see?

Your child is asked to do something.

They do not do what they are asked to do.

Your child is asked to do something.

They do something else.

Your child is asked to do something.

They tell the Assessor, ‘No!’

If your child does either of these, they will most likely not be successful in their 4+ Assessment/s.

2. Follow instructions

To me following instructions means listening really well to what you are told and doing exactly that. Following instructions in a 4+ Assessment looks like:

Being given an instruction and following it exactly.

For example- ‘I would like you build a tower using 6 blocks and only using green and blue blocks. A child who knows how to follow instructions will do exactly that. A child who ha not been taught how to follow instructions or who is not as good at following instructions might use more/less than 6 blocks and use other colours rather than the ones instructed to use.

A child who cannot follow instructions in a 4+ Assessment will most likely not be successful.

3. Share well with others

In their 4+ Assessments, children will observed sharing well (or not!) with others.

It will be an expectation that your child know how to share with others. They will be observed sharing. Again, I think that this is a skill that needs to be taught and practised. Your child also needs to know that it will be an expectation for them to share with others.

I spoke to a parent who told me that in their 4+ Assessment, their child snatched a piece of lego from another child and told him that is was his.

He was not successful at passing that 4+ Assessment.

4. Show excellent team working skills

In their 4+ Assessment/s your child will be observed in relation to how they work as a team. Good team working skills mean being an excellent leader in a team but also being able to listen to and include others.

I spoke to a parent before who told me that his child took the lead when asked to complete a puzzle with three other children but refused to include others and wouldn’t let the other children have a turn with the puzzle. He was not successful. There needs to be a good balance of both being a leader and being a great listener and including all of the other children within the team,

5. Speak with confidence and clarity

In their 4+ Assessment, it will be an expectation that your child speaks with confidence and clarity. In our 4+ Assessment lessons, we spend a lot of time working on Speaking and Listening. Our students answer lots of questions and different levels of questions. Because of this consistent practise, when they go to their Assessment, they are often excellent at speaking confidently and with clarity.

Some parents confuse speaking with confidence as being loud. I disagree. You can be a very quiet person and still be able to speak with confidence.

Children who are often unsuccessful in Round 1 of the 4+ Assessments are children who are unable to speak with confidence and clarity. Perhaps they do no answer questions or are reluctant to answer them, perhaps they mumble when they speak, perhaps they haven’t yet developed their speech. This all needs to be worked on in the lead up to the 4+ Assessments.

6. Show maturity

You might think, ‘But my child is 3!’

Yes.

I’ve worked with many three year olds who demonstrate traits of maturity. They are polite, they are calm, they give eye contact when they are talking to you and they ask you questions too.

Preparing for 2025 entry?

Book your Sample Lesson Today!

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:

  1. Be compliant

  2. Follow instructions

  3. Share well with others

  4. Show excellent team working skills

  5. Speak with confidence and clarity

  6. 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.

Need further support preparing for the 4+ Assessments?

Book your Sample Lesson Today!

You don't need to prepare for the 4+! 3 reasons why you should NOT listen to this advice.

  1. All of the clients who stopped tuition with me because the schools told them ‘not to tutor’ were unsuccessful at gaining a place at their top school of choice. I’m talking about this year.

When a client tells me that they have been told not to tutor by the school they visited for the Open Day, it doesn’t surprise me in the least. I hear it year, after year, after year! This is what schools will tell you so be prepared to hear it. Please don’t ask me why? There are far more important questions to ask. I can’t actually tell you why.

By the way you will also hear this advice from well meaning family and friends. Be prepared for it and don’t get side tracked. Be laser focused on the task at hand - getting your child in to your top school of choice for them at 4+.

When parents tell me that they want to stop tuition because they have been ‘told’ they don’t need to prepare their child, it makes me sad. Not because they are stopping but I am sad for my student. I wouldn’t want my son (he’s 18 months now) to go into one of these Assessments unprepared!

2. Hundreds of children are applying for very few places. If your child isn’t prepared, please do tell me how they will pass their Assessments?

If there are hundreds of children applying for very few places, who do you think will be successful?

Will it be the child who knows how to answer questions or the child who doesn’t? This is a skill that needs to be taught!

Will it be the child who knows how to write their name or the child who doesn’t? This is a skill that needs to be taught!

Will it be the child who knows how to hold their pencil or the one who doesn’t?

I could go on and on and on but I think you get the picture!

3. Applying to even sit Assessments at these Top schools costs a lot of money, why risk being unsuccessful when you can go all in and ensure that they are as ready as they can be to really shine!

If you prepare your child for 6 months with Creative Minds Tutors for their 4+ Assessments, you are investing £1,250. If you prepare them for 9 months, you are investing £1,850. I think that’s an investment worth spending to ensure the best possible chances of success for your child.

Ready to get started? Book your Sample Lesson Today!

The 4+ Secret Society Unwrapped - 3 Reasons you should attend my Masterclass!

Let’s unwrap the 4 plus Secret Society and have a true and deep understanding about what EXACTLY the 4 plus is actually about.

There is so much inaccurate information out there and if you believe everything that you read, you will most likely NOT have the success that you want to have in the 4 plus Assessments.

As the 4+ Assessments come to an end for my 2024 entry Cohort of students, I am now reflecting and analysing my data. I want to share this all with you!

Isn’t it better to ask all of your questions now rather than after the 4+ Assessments?

So here are 3 Reasons that you should attend this incredible Masterclass:

  1. You will gain HONEST insights about the 4+ Assessments based on what has happened for my current cohort.

  2. You will have the opportunity to your questions and have them answered HONESTLY.

  3. You will leave empowered by knowing exactly what to expect from the 4+ Assessments.

There is far too much secrecy around the 4+ Assessments. It leaves my clients feeling unsure and unsettled. If this is how you feel, fear not! We are here to support you every step of the way with your 4+ Assessment preparations. We guarantee that your child will go into any Assessment with confidence and the ability to answer any question that they are asked.

To attend the Masterclass this Friday 26th January @8pm, click here. If you can’t attend, no problem! You will receive the replay straight after the Masterclass. If you have any questions that haven’t been answered, you can email them to office@creativemindstutors.com and have them answered immediately!