Do Nursery reports matter in the 4+ Assessment process?

Of course they do.

Why else would these schools ask for them?

Now it’s important to understand that not all schools at 4+ will ask for a report from your child’s nursery but some will. A quick phone call to the school to ask them will answer your question about whether or not they will ask for a report.

Some schools will ask for a report if they are unsure about something or need further clarification.

Nursery reports are important and here is why.

Let’s picture a top school like Westminster as an example. Westminster will most likely request a report from your child’s nursery for the 4+ Assessment process. Imagine three or four assessors sitting down with all of the applicant’s reports. Which reports will stand out to them?

Will it be children who are mostly working towards age related expectations?

Will it be children who are mostly meeting age related expectations?

Will it be children who are above age related expectations?

Will it be children who are significantly above age related expectations?

Think about it carefully.

It’s obvious isn’t it?

Your child’s form tutor/key worker comments will also be important. How they write about your child will be important. Their targets will also be important.

Here is what most reports will be assessing:

Literacy

Mathematics

Communication and Language Development

Art and Design

Physical Development

PSED (Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Understanding of the World

Obviously the actual Assessment will be far more important than the Nursery report but the Nursery report does and will matter in your child’s 4+ Assessment.

It is at your child’s Nursery’s discretion if they will share the report with you or not. They do not have to share the report with you. You can of course ask but they can say no to showing you.

Nursery practitioners are excellent at writing these reports and their scoring will be factual and accurate. They will know your child very well and be able to paint a clear picture about their current levels and abilities.

Don’t just leave it to them. Help them by ensuring your child is prepared to the highest possible standards by you as their parents. Remember that is is not the nursery’s responsibility that your child does well in their 4+ Assessment. That is your responsibility.

What I look for in a Nursery compared to what you might look for.

As parents, we all value different things. As parents, we all have different expectations when it comes to the nurseries that we choose for our children. I speak to so many parents therefore I have heard so many different comments about what parents are looking for when they are looking for nurseries for their children to attend.

First of all, it’s vital that you understand that there is no right or wrong here. There is only ever what is ‘right’ for your child. Who decides that? You do.

I thought it would be interesting to share with you what I personally look for in a Nursery. Because I personally worked in Nursery settings since I was 18, I have an excellent inside knowledge and understanding about how nurseries work and what goes on inside a nursery.

When I was choosing the Nursery for my son (when he was 9 months old), I chose three nurseries to look at. For me personally, location was key. I did not want to spend more than 15 minutes reaching my son’s Nursery. I wanted a Nursery that was close to my home. Mainly just in case anything happened and I needed to collect him but also because I would need to be home to work on my businesses for as many hours as I could.

Next, I was looking at pricing. I do not equate a higher priced nursery to better quality care as I know a lot of you do. I wanted pricing to be fair and to reflect the care that my son would be receiving. Let me give you an example of the pricing points that I looked at.

Nursery 1 Twisty Tails Colindale - (my son’s current Nursery) £55 per half day.

Nursery 2 - Bright Horizons Colindale £214.80 per full day (they do not offer half day options)

Nursery 3 - Fountain Montessori Colindale I don’t have these to hand but it was similar pricing to Nursery 2.

So there was a huge pricing difference. We are not eligible for any childcare support at age 2 and I will need to see what we are eligible from age 3.

Twisty Tails seemed a fair price to me. I also liked that they offered half days which is what I was looking for personally.

Please note that I never look at pricing for the sak

e of saving money. I look at pricing that I believe to be fair for the service that I am receiving. My son deserves the best of the best and I will always provide the best of the best for him.

The most important factor in my decision was the quality of care provided. When I visited the three nurseries, I was looking very closely at how the teachers interacted with their students. I wasn’t that interested in the facilities as I know many of you are. A nice garden is lovely to look at sure but I’d rather have a less nicer garden and a higher quality of interaction between the practitioners and my son.

Twisty Tails was the nursery that I believe showed me the highest quality of care. I loved the way the teachers interacted with their students. I loved their energy and enthusiasm. I loved that they were on the floor fully engaged with all of their students. I loved that when I saw one of the children crying that one of the teachers was over immediately to care for him.

Many of you tell me that you value cleanliness but at the end of the day we are sending our children into small rooms filled with a lot of other children! How clean do you expect it to be?

And just because you are paying a higher price point, does not mean that the nursery will be cleaner than one with a lower price point. That all depends on the time allocated for staff to clean the Nursery. Germs are germs and they will spread in any setting!

I do look at the curriculum but it’s not that important to me because I cover the curriculum with my son. What I want is the highest quality of care whilst he is there. What I want is to collect a happy boy who wants to tell me all about his day. What I want is no tears when I drop him off or collect him. This is a huge red flag flag for me. If he doesn’t want to go in, I want to know why.

Choosing a nursery for our children is a very important decision. We only want the best of the best for our children. Think about what is important to you and look for that. Don’t take notice of what others tell you. This is your child.

Why was her child able to pass without preparation?

She’s lying to your face.

Sorry to be so blunt but it is true.

If somebody tells you that their child passed their 4+ Assessment at a top school like Haberdashers and NLCS and they tell you that they did zero preparation for it – they are lying to you.

 I spoke to a parent yesterday who told me that she did not believe me when I say that all children who passed a 4+ Assessment were prepared. She told me that her friend’s son was able to pass the Habs’ Boys’ 4+ Assessment without any preparation.

 I asked her what she meant by this?

She told me that his mother did nothing with him to prepare him for his 4+, she just sent him to a Clowns Nursery. She seemed to be very proud of this. 

I asked her if this mother never did any phonics, maths or puzzles with her son and she said that this parent literally told her that she did nothing. She ‘left it to the Nursery!’

 Absolute lies.

 And people who spread these lies do not have your best interests at heart. People who spread these lies do not want your child to pass their 4+ Assessments. And that’s just sad.

And to end – why would you be so proud to tell others that you’ve done nothing with your child for the first nearly 4 years of their lives?

 I personally don’t think that’s anything to shout about.

Parents who want to leave their child’s 4+ Assessment success in the hands of others rather than take full ownership for the success that their child will ultimately have are not the parents that we work with. We work with parents who are hands on, who take the time, energy and effort that it takes to prepare their children, with the support of my amazing team, to have incredible success. We work with parents who fully understand the complexity of this 4+ Assessment process and who take hours and hours of their own time each and every day to support their children with with their learning.

 Prepare your child for their 4+ Assessment and prepare them well.

 That is all I have to say.

And if you choose to listen to the opinions of others, do so with caution.  

My child is only 3 – will they REALLY be expected to read and write?

Yes.

Why is that so hard to believe?

My son is nearly 32 months old. He will be 3 in July. Developmentally, he isn’t reading his phase 2 phonics sounds and he is able to currently only write the number 1 independently. Would he be able to sit a 4+ Assessment in the next 7-11 months? Probably. With consistent focus and daily practise of what will be expected of him. Without that – then absolutely not. And I would never, ever send him into any 4+ Assessment without being ready to do so. Why would I? Of what benefit would that be to him? Of what benefit would it be to me? To spend £150 on a registration fee to just be told no. I can invest that £150 into something else for my son thank you very much. Why would I put my son through a 4+ Assessment only to be told that he hasn’t been successful?

And it’s not just £150 because if I do decide to sit my son for his 4+ Assessments, he will be attending at least 6-7 Assessments. You do the maths!

So if your target schools tell you that they will not be assessing reading and maths, please just smile and move on. A top inner London school for example tells parents that they do not assess reading and maths. Every year they do. And every year they place a huge importance on the children having very strong phonic knowledge and awareness.

 Why would you send your child into a 4+ Assessment if you are not willing to put in the work?

 You do realise that your child is being assessed right? You do realise that the schools will have their own Assessment criteria and you do realise that your child will be graded (given a percentage)?

How will your child do if they are asked to read several different sounds off a page and they can’t read any of them?

How will your child do if they are asked to write their name and they are unable to do it?

 How will your child do if they are asked to write their numbers and they cannot do this?

Question everything when it comes to your child’s 4+ Assessment success. It is far too important to take lightly. This is the future of your child that we are talking about? This is the highest quality learning and education possible for your child that we are talking about.

Book your Assessment Consultation Discovery Call to ask me anything at all about your child’s Assessment preparation.

Don't just look at exit results when choosing your schools.

Many parents I speak to are drawn to the exit results of a school like a moth to the flame. This is important of course, however I encourage you to examine other factors more closely.

Of course if you are reading this blog it is because you want your child to go to the best school for them. You are looking for academic excellence and you want a school that will challenge your child and provide them with a broad curriculum. You are willing and able to invest a lot of money into your child’s education because an excellent education is something that is incredibly important to you.

Many of my own clients are applying to the best schools out there. However, they always have to choose 2 or 3 back ups. And when they are looking at the back up schools, they often tell me about the exit results (where the year 6 pupils end up going for their Secondary education). This is great and of course you must do your research. However this is not the only thing that you should look at.

This is because all of these children will have received external support to help them to gain entry into these top schools. And if you don’t believe me, that’s fine. And if you think I’m not being honest, this is not the blog for you. And if you think it’s the schools responsibility to prepare your child because you are paying them thousands and thousands of pounds, you are wrong.

I am being very honest. I teach children all over the country who go to top schools like Manor Lodge, Haberdashers, Glendower, Faulkner House and Radlett Prep (to name just a few for you) and I support them to be very successful to be offered a place at their schools of choice at 11+.

Of course, the schools support my students. I am absolutely not taking that away from them. But you cannot just count on the school to be responsible for the success of your child. That’s up to you. Remember that they have 20-25+ children to teach.

So look at the exit results but also look at the school as a whole. What do you personally like about the school? Is it the quality of the teaching? Is it the pastoral care? Is it the extra curricular activities the school offers? Is it the small class sizes? Is it the warmth and ambience that you loved when you went on your tour of the school.

Look at these more closely than you look at the exit results.

Be aware of the schools that have a sibling policy and those that do not.

This is important because if you are unaware, you won’t fully understand the entrance process.

I have spoken to several parents who have had a deep misunderstanding of the sibling policies at the schools that they applied to send their children to at 4+ and this led to them being deeply surprised when their child was then unsuccessful to their school/s of choice.

Don’t let this catch you out. Make sure that you are fully aware about the sibling policies at all of the schools that you are applying to send you child to.

Let me give you a few real examples of parents that I have spoken to previously.

I spoke to one father who was applying to Habs’ Boys’ School for 2025 entry. He called me and told me that he wasn’t worried because he was alumni at Haberdashers. I told him that literally meant nothing and he did not believe me. Another parent called me and told me that his older son was already at Habs’ Boys’ school and therefore it would be easier for his younger son to be offered a place. I told him this was absolutely not the case. Again, he did not believe me and he did not prepare his son. His son did pass the first round (as most boys I know did this year) but he did not pass the second round. Another one of my students passed his 7+ Assessments at Habs’ Boys’ School and I also prepared his sister for the 4+. She did not pass her 4+ and her 7+ Assessments. But she did pass her 11+ !

Other schools such as Faulkner House have a very strong sibling policy. Therefore it is important to know that it will be very difficult to pass the 4+ at this school as the majority of the places are offered to siblings.

Knowledge is absolute power when it comes to the 4+ Assessments.

If you would like to empower yourself, book an Additional Consultation with me and I will answer all of your questions. We have been preparing children to be very successful at all top inner and outer London schools for over 15 years now. Let us help you too.

'Don't tutor your child for the 4+ Assessments!'

The schools you visit WILL tell you to not prepare your child for their 4+ Assessments.

The schools WILL tell you that tuition is not necessary for the 4+ Assessments.

Expect them to tell you this.

Perhaps you should turn around and ask them why this is.

They will tell you that they will be able to tell who has been ‘tutored’. And you will probably believe this too. You will trust what they say to be the truth.

If they tell you this, perhaps you should ask them how they know.

Remember, you are the one who wants your child to pass their 4+ Assessments at the school.

It really saddens me that a parent would send their precious child into a 4+ Assessment with zero preparation. How do you expect that child will do?

I would never send my son to a 4+ Assessment unprepared. It’s obviously up to you what you choose to do.

How do you expect that they will do compared to hundreds of children who have received formal preparation for their 4+ Assessment? How will they compare to children who have spent nearly 12 months working hard preparing for their 4+ Assessment?

They will not do well and they will most likely not pass. This is not just my opinion. This is actually what I’ve seen happen year after year after year.

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?

Will it be the child who knows how to write their name or the child who doesn’t?

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

These are just a few of the skills that need to be taught!

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 your child is as ready as they can be to really shine!

Sending your child to a top school like Haberdashers for example will cost you around 23k per year (pre-prep - Year 2)

If you prepare your child for 6 months with Creative Minds Tutors for their 4+ Assessments, you are investing around £1500. If you prepare them for 9 months, you are investing around £2,250. I think that’s an investment worth spending to ensure the best possible chances of success for your child at your dream school of choice.

You choose if you want to listen to what you are told. Or you can join hundreds of my clients who have chosen to take assessment preparation into their own hands and ensure that their children are prepared to the highest possible standards to even have a chance of passing their 4+ Assessments.

The MAIN problem when you listen to what other people tell you about the 4+ Assessments.

Do you know the only person you should be listening to and paying attention to?

Your child.

If you focused purely on your child for 12 months, I guarantee you will have far higher chances for success in their 4+ Assessments.

Here is the main problem when listening to what other people say when it comes to the 4+ Assessment.

You are playing a comparison game that you will NEVER win.

Comparing your child to other children is the most frustrating thing that you could ever do as a parent.

Just expect that as soon as you start to prepare for the 4+, everyone around you will seem to have an opinion.

Expect people to say things like…

‘Your child is two what is wrong with you?’

‘You’re tutoring your 2/3 year old?’

‘Your child is 3/4, what on earth could they even be asked to do?’

‘It’s ridiculous to tutor a 2 year old.’

‘My child could already read/write count to 20 by that age!’

‘Do not tutor your child for this and that school.’

If you expect it, it will be easier to prepare yourself to gently smile and stay in your own lane.

My son is not preparing formally for a 4+ Assessment (he is 31 months old) but I have had a bespoke, tailored learning plan in place for him since he was 18 months old. Many people have opinions about my learning path that I have in place for my son and it’s all just noise. I know what I want for my son and that’s what matters.

And the same goes for you.

Never compare your child to any other child. I was compared as a child and I remember how detrimental it was. Do not do it. Please.

Your child is the most unique, special individual on this planet. You prepare them to the highest possible standard possible for them. And when other people seem to have ‘well meaning’ things to tell you about their education, simply smile and move along.

The best 4+ Assessment Tip I've Ever Heard

I speak to hundreds of parents now every single month who are preparing their children for their 4+ Assessments.

Yesterday I heard the best 4+ Assessment tip and I wanted to share it with you.

You see what I’m hearing lately is that many of you want to hand over 4+ Assessment preparation to someone else. As in, you want your child’s nursery or pre-prep to prepare them or you want your child’s tuition centre to prepare them. After all, you’re paying good money as it is for these places, isn’t that what they should be doing?

I see it very differently.

I pay a lot of money for my son’s nursery too but guess what? I’ve never once had the thought that it is up to them to educate him. It isn’t. It is up to me. What’s their job then? Their job is to provide my son with the highest quality of care whilst he is there. That is all.

My son isn’t currently preparing for his 4+ Assessments but I educate him to the highest possible standard myself.

If your child is preparing for their 4+ Assessment, let me share with you this incredible tip that I heard yesterday from one of my clients. He top tip is this.

Don’t rely on anyone else to prepare your child for their 4+ Assessments.

And it got me thinking. The clients who have the most success in the 4+ Assessments are those that take full ownership of their child’s 4+ Assessment preparations. They are the clients who show up every single day to do even just 10 minutes of learning consistently with their children. They are the clients who take the time to ask me thousands of questions to support them to understand the 4+ Assessment process just that little bit better.

Nobody will ever care about the success of your child more than you do (no matter how good their advertising is at telling you how much they care!)

5 reasons you should attend the 4+ VIP morning at 3pm today.

Grab a coffee or a tea and join me for 60 minutes of pure knowledge and insights into the 4+ Assessments.

Knowledge is key when it comes to the 4+ Assessments.

I had originally only opened this up to current clients but as most of my current clients are only able to watch the replay, I have a few spaces remaining so I have decided to open it up to everyone.

You have 7 hours only to book your place on this incredible 4+ VIP event.

It is happening TODAY Sunday 16th February @15:00 (60 minute VIP morning)

Reason #1

I will give you my honest opinions about the 4+ Assessments with a focus on everything that I have learnt from this year’s 4+ Assessments at all of the top inner and outer London schools.

Reason #2

I will share with you real stories of parents who were unsuccessful at their target schools at 4+ and I will tell you my reasons why I think their children did not pass.

Reason #3

I will tell you exactly what came up in the 4+ Assessments that caught out a few children with the hope that these won’t catch out your children in their 4+ Assessments.

Reason #4

I will tell you what your child must not do in a 4+ Assessment if they want to pass it.

Reason #5

I will share with you a real Assessment criteria sheet from a top school and the reason why percentage points matter even at 4+.

Everyone who joins (live or watches the replay) will be in with a chance to win a FREE Additional consultation (worth £120)

Special Bonus

I will provide every single parent who attends with the top 3 Assessment Tips that supported my students to PASS their Assessment at the schools that your child will be sitting Assessment at (I just cannot provide this for Westminster this year!)

I have only 3 places remaining so book your place today.

This VIP morning is worth thousands of pounds in my opinion. After all, if your child passes their 4+ Assessments, you won’t need to worry about the 7+ or the 11+!

Top 3 Client 4+ Frustrations.

I have been personally preparing children for the 4+ Assessments for over 16 years! That’s a very long time!

I adore teaching children at all ages but this age group is currently particularly fascinating to me as my own child is 30 months old right now.

At the age of two and three, students often start off with their guard up initially. They don’t know me. In the first few lessons, it’s all about warming up. After a few lessons, they transform and the relationship that we develop is something that I cherish long after our lessons are complete and they go to their ‘big’ schools. In fact, I keep in touch with most of my clients long after the lessons have completed and in fact most of my clients continue with tuition long after the assessments.

Each year, I speak with parents and each year I hear the same things come up that cause many of my clients a lot of frustrations. And it’s understandable!

So here are the top three 4+ frustrations that I hear from many clients and many potential new clients.

1. My neighbour/ My aunty/ My cousin told me not to have my child tutored for the 4+

This is a common one!

Parents feeling very frustrated because they put so much effort into preparing their children for their 4+, investing in tuition and investing their time and energy into actually coming to the lessons with their children and then completing the home learning tasks. Then they are told ‘You don’t need to prepare your child.’

First of all, let me say this…

If a child is sitting the 4+ Assessments they will have been ‘tutored’.

Hear me out.

In one way or another a child sitting the 4+ needs to be prepared, So whether you pay for formal tuition or you ‘tutor’ your child yourself, they are still being ‘tutored. Being ‘tutored’ just means that your child is being taught.

2. I thought my child would automatically get in because of the school’s sibling policy and they didn’t get in.

Schools may tell you that they have a sibling policy but I personally wouldn’t pay attention to this. Regardless of if they have one or not, please assume that there isn’t one. Your child still needs to pass the Assessment! Several parents have made the mistake of thinking that because there is a sibling policy that they don’t need to prepare their child. The result of this will always be that a child who is not prepared will not be successful. I’ve seen it happen countless times.

3. I thought my child’s date of birth would be taken into consideration.

Again, even if the schools tell you that your child will be grouped with children of the same age group (and this may be the case), please don’t take this to mean that your child will be assessed any differently to their autumn/winter born peers. Whether your child is August born or your child is December born, they need to still pass the Assessment. The criteria will not be different for summer born children compared to autumn/winter born children. It will be the same. It will be age adjusted up (slightly) if your child is summer born but that is about it.

I have taught children who are July/ August born who surpassed their peers who were born in September/November. Ok, you can argue with me that nearly one year makes a difference. And perhaps it does. But rather than put your energy into worrying about this, put your energy into ensuring that your child is appropriately prepared to be able to pass any Assessment!

So many parents that I speak to on a daily basis use their child’s age as an excuse for their progress (or lack of progress). My son is July born and I never factor in his date of birth. I’ve never uttered the words, ‘Oh but he’s July born.’ to anyone and I promise you that I never will.

Our results are out of this world yet again this year. I will be publishing them on Monday!

Need further support with 4+ Assessment preparation?

Book your Sample Week today.

Why we only ever work with 3 students each for the 11+

Currently there are four of us who support our students with their 11+ Assessments.

We only every take on three students each for the 11+ Assessment preparations and there is a very important reason for this.

We absolutely couldn’t take on any more than this amount.

Preparing for the 11+ takes a lot of time, effort, focus and dedication from everyone involved in the process.

The amount of time that goes into one lesson each week goes far beyond the 30 minute lesson. First of all there is the lesson planning and preparation. Each lesson is thoroughly planned and prepared based on our students’ target schools. This usually takes me 15-30 minutes. Then there is the lesson itself - 30 minutes. Then I need to set the home learning tasks - 10-15 minutes. Once these are sent, my 11+ students are expected to send these back to me so that I can mark the learning and provide feedback - another 10-15 minutes (depending on the amount returned to me). My clients also have 24/7 email support from me as part of all my packages which means that I am available to them 24/7 for anything that they might need in relation to their child’s 11+.

So this is why we only ever work with 3 students for the preparation of the 11+. Currently I am working with 2 students who are both currently in Year 4. We are preparing for the likes of City, Latymer, UCS, Hampton, Reeds, RGS - Guildford, Epsom College, St Johns and City of London Freeman. My team of exceptional teachers are also preparing students for their 11+ Assessments.

I have the capacity for one more student preparing for their 11+ so if you’d like this spot, book your Sample Lesson today!

Tomorrow is results day! So excited to share with you our results!

Parents who are suited to working with myself and my team.

Parents who are 100% not suited to working with myself and my team and parents who think that other people will prepare their children for their 4+ for them. 

Listen carefully, no one will care more about your child passing their 4+ Assessments than you will. 

I've worked in several pre-prep nurseries and there is no way a pre-prep nursery alone could ever prepare your child for the likes of Notting Hill and Ealing, Habs boys or girls, NLCS or South Hampstead. Yes, they will market themselves as being able to do so and I have no doubt that the quality of the teaching received by your child will be exceptional... but... they alone will not prepare your child to have the success that you would like them to have in their 4+ Assessments. 

That is up to you. 

If pre - preps alone would be sufficient to prepare your child for their 4+ Assessments, then why do the Head teacher of these top pre-preps personally recommend me to their clients? 

Reflect on that. 

Parents who are suited to working with myself and my team are those who are willing to put in the work. Who don't tell me they are too busy because of this, that or the other. Parents who every day will follow my guidance and prepare their children to have incredible success in their 4+ Assessments. Those are the parents that we work with. 

Many of you seem to want instant results and it doesn’t work like that when it comes to 4+ Assessment success.

How do you justify your tutoring being online?

I was asked this question yesterday and I found it fascinating.

I asked the parent I was talking to what she meant by this question.

She said, ‘What I mean is why is all of your tutoring done online?’

Justification means to show or prove to be right.

I don’t think online tuition is right or wrong therefore there is no justification needed. What I know for a fact is that our results speak for themselves. The fact that so many of our students are so successful in their Assessments is the proof that what we do is incredibly effective.

The parent I was talking to yesterday is currently preparing her daughter for the 11+ at several grammar schools and several private schools.

I asked her to explain to me why she thought in person tuition would have a bigger impact on her daughter’s success than online tuition.

She told me that she felt in person tuition was more nurturing than online tuition.

Not true.

We have beautiful, nurturing relationships with all of our students. We look forward to seeing each other each and every single week.

She told me that her daughter would focus more in person than online.

Not true.

And in fact I told her that in person tuition can actually become a crutch. A crutch where too much support is given. In the Assessment her daughter would be completely alone.

She told me that her daughter goes for 3 hours of tutoring a week and she couldn’t understand how I could support her in only 30 minutes.

Well, that’s the beauty of working with experienced teachers. We do not need to have your child for 3 hours each week to have results.

Online tuition is amazing. You can access the best teachers from wherever you are in the country. If you want to have the best results, you need to work with the best teachers. The teachers who know the schools that you are applying to like the back of their hands and who know exactly what will be expected of your child in their Assessments.

I know how important Assessment preparation is. I take it very seriously. We prepare children to the highest possible calibre to go in and be successful in any assessment.

Book your Sample Week today.

How perfectionism is holding you back from 4+ Assessment Success.

As parents, we want to do things perfectly for our children. As a society, we are deeply conditioned to be be perfectionists.

However, when it comes to 4+ Assessment preparation, perfectionism is the thief of 4+ Assessment success.

As parents, we want to do it all ‘correctly’.

You plan your week and you have it all picture perfect on paper. You’re going to cover all 7 areas of the EYFS in depth with your child and every single day, you’re going to spend 30 minutes doing some learning. Then before you know it, it’s Wednesday and you haven’t once shown your child their phonics. So what do most of us do? Most of us will say things like…

‘Oh, well. We’ve blown it for this week so let’s just start again next week.’

Perfectionism makes you think that it is all or nothing. Perfectionism is a liar.

You could also think something like…

‘I’ve had a hard week and I will plan at least 2 minutes to sit with my child and at the very least show them their phonics.’

Do you see the difference?

When it comes to 4+ Assessment success, consistency is the key. Isn’t it far better to do at least 10 minutes of learning every day with your child than to plan 30 minutes a day and do nothing at all?

I see this everyday with the parents who contact me and tell me things like…

‘I didn’t do enough.’

‘I should have done more.’

‘I didn’t prepare her well enough.’

This all just makes me feel very sad.

Your child’s education is one of the most important decisions that you will ever make for your child. The quality of their education will determine the quality of their future. I take this very seriously.

You do not need to be perfect to support your child to pass their 4+ Assessments. What you do need though is consistency. A little every single day goes a lot further then planning a lot and doing none of it.

My public reply to a message I received last week from an ex client

Last week I received what I would call a horrible message from an ex client.

This client had only three lessons with me.

She contacted me in October (end of October) for 4+ Assessment preparation support. I told her that this was far too late. She was preparing for a top boys’ school for the 4+.

I dedicated a lot of my time to her and answered all of her questions with honesty and sincerity.

She booked a package of lessons with me and we did three lessons.

I was raised to be a kind and caring human being and I am proud of the person that I am today. I was also always raised to keep quiet. To not speak up. Well, this time I will speak out.

The purpose of writing this is because this client now seems to think it’s okay to go around saying things about me that are just not true. So this message is for you. You can continue saying what you feel like, this is a free country of course.

Dear client,

My lessons are online. So for you to tell me ‘The zoom thing doesn’t work’ doesn’t make any sense. Let me remind you that you came to me. Nobody forced you to have lessons with me. ‘The zoom thing’ as you so respectfully put it does work and it works exceptionally well. My results speak for themselves. I have never been rude to anyone let alone to a 3 year old child. So perhaps this is a reflection of you rather than of me. To tell me that I was ‘rude’ to your child is completely incorrect. I dedicate my time, love and energy to provide the highest quality service to all of my clients and students.

You were annoyed that sometimes my son would need my attention during our lessons. And you said ‘if you’re working, you’re working’. My son will always come first. And yes, my work is of very high importance to me but if my son needs me, I will 100% be there for him.

To say that I am ‘disengaged’ is highly inaccurate. I am 100% engaged in all of my lessons.

If it was ‘off putting to you’ again that is a reflection of you and nothing to do with me.

You said that I would get to the 20 minute point and I would ask your son what he would like to do and you found this ‘as though I hadn’t planned my lesson.’ I often ask my students to pick an activity to do as it puts the ownership on them and supports them to develop independence and freedom of thought. I plan my lessons thoroughly. In fact, hours of my own personal time goes into planning my lessons.

You said you felt my approach was ‘patronising’ and ‘scaremongering’. Because I said to you to have a ‘word with your child’ before he went to his assessment. You asked ‘Does this go down well with parents?’

Yes, it does. Perhaps you even sat down with your child and told him exactly what to expect in his 4+ Assessment.

You said my Instagram is inappropriate and scaremongering. So please tell me why you spend time engaging with all of my content? If it isn’t for you, please do unfollow.

You said you’ve spoken to other parents who feel the same. That’s interesting as no one has ever spoken to me in this way before.

You said you found every single engagement with me ‘stressful’. Again, this is a reflection of you and not of me.

You say I should know for my future students.

You say ‘I claim to get children into these top schools’ but that I do it in a way that is ‘scaremongering and propaganda’. Absolutely not.

Your child got into your school of choice and ‘clearly the school saw something in him that I didn’t.’ Please remind yourself that I saw your son three times.

You say you’re being honest as a mum and that you don’t want me to take it in the wrong way.

Ok then.

You don’t need to recommend me but thank you for the kind offer to.

I do everything for this business. I care about it. I love it. I love my clients and I love teaching my students. This is the last I will think about this but I wanted to reply publicly because perhaps we should also reflect on how we talk to others.

5 important facts you must know if you are preparing for South Hampstead (4+)

Is South Hampstead a school you dream about for your child?

Would you love to send your daughter to South Hampstead at 4+?

Then do yourself a favour, sit back and relax and listen to what I have to say.

I have been preparing girls for this school for our 15 years. This means that for 15 years, I have seen what works and I have seen what doesn’t. This means that for 15 years, I have seen the calibre of girl that will pass this assessment and sadly I have seen and spoken to hundreds of parents of girls who have not passed.

I know exactly what is expected of the girls in their 4+ Assessments and so do my team of exceptional teachers.

1. There are only 24 places on offer at 4+.

Each year hundreds and hundreds of girls will sit their Assessment at this school.

This year at least 250 girls sat their Assessment at South Hampstead. Your daughter therefore will typically have a 1:10 chance of passing this assessment. Two of our girls this year have passed their Assessment at South Hampstead.

2. You should NOT consider it a ‘play date’

It is not a play date.

3. Special preparation IS necessary.

South Hampstead are looking for very strong phonics and reading skills and very strong mathematical skills in their girls. How will your daughter pass without ‘special preparation’?

4. Formal knowledge IS expected.

A lot will be expected of your daughter in her 4+ Assessment for South Hampstead. Prepare her to a very high standard.

5. To be offered a place at 4+ is something exceptional.

If you have been offered a place, you are in a very privileged position and I hope you are aware of that.

We have exceptional success with South Hampstead at 4+ every single year. This year both of our students have been offered a place to study at South Hampstead and will be starting from September 2025.

Trustpilot Review (South Hampstead 4+ Success)

Maria helped us with preparing our daughter for the 4+ assessment at SHHS. She is a summer baby and not in a nursery that formally prepares kids for the 4+. She comes to every lesson prepared but also flexible with content to suit the mood of our 3 year old. She is very patient and encouraging. The exercises she shares after the lessons are also useful to continue progress. All in all we are very happy especially after we got the offer from the school.

Book your Sample Week today.

Which school is the 'best' for my child?

If I had £1 for every time I was asked this question…

As a parent, we all want the ‘best’ for our children and we will do everything in our power to ensure that we do the best for our children. We always will.

Our children are our number one priority.

And this is probably why this is the most common question that I get asked each and every day. Sadly, you won’t like my answer and in my opinion if you are spending thousands of pounds on educational consultants to tell you the answer to this question - you could put your money to better use.

Hear me when I say this. No one can tell you which school is ‘best’ for your child.

I’ve worked full time in many schools. Private schools, nurseries, state school and academies. I worked full time in schools for 13 years. Please remember that schools are always changing. Schools are always evolving. Management changes. Children change. Parents change. Parent associations change. Funding changes. Head teachers change. Every single school comes with its own set of very individual problems (even the top private schools!).

Which is why my answer to clients is always the same.

There is no ‘best’ school for your child. There is no school that will ‘suit’ your child better compared to another. There is no school that is the right ‘fit’ for your child.

Also, it’s so subjective.

I might think that a school is amazing and you might disagree.

You might think that a school is amazing and I might disagree.

So let me answer your question.

Which school is the 'best' for my child?

The ‘best’ school for your child is the school that you have chosen.

That’s it.

And one final point.

Be prepared to pivot. The school you choose which might have initially have been your ‘dream school’ might not be so dreamy after all. Be prepared to make changes along the path of your child’s educational journey. Be prepared for others to have hundreds of opinions about your opinions and be prepared to not care about any of them.

This is your child. This is the love of your life. You find the school that is the ‘best’ for them. Find the educational path that is the ‘best’ for them.

Go and visit.

See the learning environment.

Make a list of things you like and the things that you don’t.

And do this for 7-8 schools. Then choose the one you liked the best and just give it a go.

If your child loves their school, great. And if they don’t, pivot and make changes.

The secret to UCS 7+ Assessment Success.

UCS is one of our most popular boys’ schools that we prepare our boys for at 7+.

This is an exceptional school and very popular amongst our clients.

It is a tough school to get into.

With the correct preparation however, you will give your son the highest possible chances for success at this school. And at passing their 7+ Assessment.

In the Autumn term your son will be invited for a Reading Assessment and will do ‘listening and discussion’ exercises. This is just to make sure that your child can read well enough in order to actually be able read the questions asked in the Assessment. Do note that the score from this Assessment will be taken into consideration. 60 boys will pass their 7+ and be admitted into 3 classes in Year 3 at UCS. Keep in mind that about 30 of these boys will be coming up from their own Pre-prep. So really there are only about 30 places available at 7+!

Registration for 2026 is now open. Visit the UCS website to register your son.

A report is requested from your son’s current school and this report will be very important.

In January the boys’ sit their Assessment which consists of:

Maths

English

Social interaction observation

Behaviour observation

The Assessment is long and stamina will be important - It is a 3 hour Assessment (including a short break)

The UCS Assessment in 2025 was as usual a challenging one. The level of questions asked was high in both Maths and English.

The secret to UCS 7+ Assessment is to cover all of the Year 2 curriculum to greater depth. You must also dip into some of the Year 3 curriculum in both maths and english.

Invest in the highest quality 7+ Assessment preparation available. Book your Sample week today.

2 truths you'd prefer NOT to know about the 7+ Assessments

I’ve been having visions of a bear hiding in his cave.

This is how it seems some of you like to approach 7+ Assessment preparation.

Some of you don’t seem very open to hearing the truth about the 7+ and would rather stay comfortably in your cave. Well, I’m going to be very honest with you and if you don’t like it, that’s ok. You can always go back into your comfortable cave.

Truth 1

The 7+ is hard

Perhaps your ‘well meaning’ neighbour/family member/best friend told you that their child got into their school of choice with no prep at all. First of all, I highly doubt that and second of all they are the exception and not the rule. Perhaps their child was already at a very high academic capacity (which means they have already put in the work by the way!). Perhaps their child was already at mastery level and perhaps their child already had the skills that they needed to go in and actually be able to pass.

This is NOT how is happens in most cases.

The 7+ is hard.

The assessments are hard.

Covering all of the content needed to be covered is hard.

Ensuring your child is at the level that they need to be before sitting the Assessments is hard.

So come out of that cave and into the wild. If you want your child to pass their 7+ Assessments and to actually have a chance of passing, you must prepare them thoroughly.

My recommendation is starting from the Autumn term of their Reception year.

This is where we have had the most success as a company. Later than this and we might not have enough time to achieve mastery level in the vast curriculum that needs to be covered.

Truth 2

The 7+ is very complex to prepare for.

It is complex if you’ve never done it before.

For us it is very easy.

We know EXACTLY how to prepare each and every one of our students to go into any 7+ Assessment and have the highest possible chances of passing.

This is because we ensure that our students are at mastery level in the curriculum that they need to master for the 7+ at the schools that they are applying to (each school is different).

Because we have so much experience with each individual school, we know exactly what is expected.

That is why all of our children (100%) who have the recommended 2 years of prep time before their 7+ Assessments are offered a place to at least 1 of their target schools. Many times are students are offered places at ALL of their target schools!

We would be delighted to support you to have the success that you desire to have at the schools that you desire to send your child to.

Join us in the wild as we prepare our children for tremendous success in all of their 7+ Assessments!

Book your Sample Week Today!