How is perseverance assessed in a 4+ assessment?

I was asked this question last week and I thought it was a brilliant one.

I often speak about perseverance with my clients who are sending their children to a 4+ assessment.

Perseverance to me means trying your best. Perseverance means not giving up. Perseverance means having a go even when it is ‘too hard’.

I hear many of you right now!

‘But my kid is 2/3/4!’

Yeh, and what?

Perseverance will be assessed in your child’s 4+ assessment.

Your child will be given a task or tasks that are simply too challenging for them to complete.

Will your child have a go or will your child simply say no?

Will your child have a go or will your child say ‘I don’t know!’

Will your child have a go or will your child walk away to an activity that they prefer?’

Think about it carefully.

Which child will they choose?

They will 100% choose the child who gives it a go.

And if they get it wrong I hear you say?

It doesn’t matter. They’ve given it a go.

No on is looking for a robot who gets everything right.

What these top schools are looking for is for children who have a natural curiosity for learning. They are looking for children who actually want to learn and who they do not need to persuade to learn. They are looking for children who will persevere.

The way it will be assessed is super simple.

The assessor/s will provide your child with a task that your child will deem too hard. This could be a larger puzzle than they are used to, this could be a tricky obstacle course that they need to navigate a car around, this could be a tricky lego creation that they are asked to build. It could be any activity that the assessors decide upon.

The child who perseveres will be the child who has a go.

The child who does not persevere will do the opposite.

Simple.