Future schools preparation
All children in the Juniors and Middle School (Year 4-6) have a weekly Future Schools lesson. This lesson helps prepare them for their entrance assessments by familiarising and allowing them to practise the different types of questions they come across within the reasoning tests – Verbal Reasoning, Non Verbal Reasoning, Spatial and Quantitative. Each child has a school subscription to an online platform for this called Atom Learning and all pupils have a username and login which is stuck into their homework planner. They can use Atom Learning both at school and at home and complete work set by the teacher. This familiarisation and practice done in Future Schools lessons helps prepare them for the different types of tests that a school may use – ISEB, CAT4, GL, Quest…..
Parents approve the use of Atom Learning and that allows the child to use the platform outside of normal school hours. We also run an additional session on Saturdays for 3rd Form pupils taking the 11+ Warwickshire exam.
Preparation for English and Mathematics tests is done within the English and Mathematics lessons through learning the appropriate syllabus for that age group.
Pupils in Years 7-8 also have a subscription to Atom Learning which they can use in and out of school. For pupils who join us in Year 7 or 8 who have not had experience or exposure to the type of Verbal or Non Verbal testing, we run an option during the Advent Term to help familiarise them with the types of questions should they need this in order to prepare for Future Schools entrance assessments.
Interview preparation
The ability for BG pupils to develop their ‘own voice’ and be confident to communicate with others is an important aim.
All pupils in each year group are given an Interview Guidance Booklet by their Tutor. This guidance helps them to consider the potential questions they may be asked and to also think about what they may want to say. Most importantly the Tutors help the pupils to practise engaging in a conversation and become confident in being themselves in an interview.
The Senior Leadership Team will provide pupils in the 4th and 5th Form (plus new starters in the 6th Form) with an interview practice session prior to their interview date. This is normally scheduled early in the Advent Term as this is when most Future School selection processes take place. Feedback is given to the pupils to reflect upon regarding their interview and this is shared with the Tutor and parents.
The art of interviewing well is also touched on in Future Schools lessons and this is predominately done through the opportunity for pupils to contribute and share about themselves as well as collaborate and communicate well with others.
Taster days and collaboration activities
Our overall approach to education helps children to learn how to collaborate and communicate well with others and this forms one of our core learning dispositions. Our pupils should be confident to go to a taster day and conduct themselves in a normal manner, enjoying the experience and embracing the opportunity.
