My summer born child doesn't stand a chance in their 4+ assessments!

What a load of nonsense.

 Why wouldn’t they?

 Because of their birthday?

 Pure and utter nonsense.

We currently have August born children who are truly thriving with their curriculum programmes and making extraordinary progress. I can practically guarantee that our summer born children will have just as much success in their 4+ assessments as their autumn born peers.

 If you’re so concerned about your summer born child and their 4+ assessments, start earlier preparing them. Do you know what tends to happen? Parents of summer born children actually tend to start later. Which actually makes no sense. 

They say things like this…

‘They will grasp things better when they are older…’

‘I just need to give them more time …’

‘They are too young to know how to do phonics/counting/cutting/insert whatever here…’

Let’s look at each of these and analyse their thinking patterns.

‘They will grasp things better when they are older…’

When your child is ‘older’ they will still be one of the youngest in their cohort. So this sort of login actually makes zero sense. Your child will not ‘grasp things better when they are older’ if they’ve never been exposed to the thing when they were younger. For example, my son is no an expert at holding scissors at the age of 3 and 4 months. Why is that? Is it perhaps because we practised cutting skills since he was 17 months old?

‘I just need to give them more time …’

Sadly for you, if you’ve chosen to send your child to a 4+ assessment, you do not have this illusive ‘more time’. I have ‘more time’ for my son to learn his phonics, you do not. I have more time for my son to identify his numbers to 10 - you do not. I have more time to teach my son to write his name etc etc. You see, if you know what is expected in a 4+ assessment then that is what you have to prepare your child to be able to do regardless of their DOB.

‘They are too young to know how to do phonics/counting/cutting/insert whatever here…’

It’s just not true. We currently are teaching 5 August born children who can blend and write cvc words beautifully,

Your summer born child has as much of a chance as anyone else. Stop using their DOB as an excuse. Use it to empower you to take massive action and prepare your child to be incredibly successful in all of their 4+ assessments.

The final programme that we are offering for 2026 entry is our Ultimate Emerald Curriculum. Join before 30th November to secure the best support possible in your child’s 4+ assessments. 

My child just went in and 'played with lego' and 'messed around with play doh'.

First of all - you are so wrong in what you are saying.

Second of all - you haven’t understood what is being assessed when these top schools ask your child to ‘play with lego’ and ‘mess around with play doh’.

And finally - just be quiet.

When your child is asked to ‘play with lego’, here is what is truly being assessed - if you wish to understand it in the slightest.

1. Fine motor skills and fine motor control - Not every single 3 year old can hold the small bricks in their hands and have the strength needed to click them in place. Not every 3 year old knows how to hold one small brick in their hands whilst supporting the other little brick with their other hand.

2. Cognitive abilities - As they connect and manipulate the small bricks, they need to use high levels of cognition.

3. Problem solving - Lego ‘play’ is supporting children with their problem solving skills. If one brick falls down, they need to think about what they need to do next, if one small brick doesn’t match the one in the picture, they need to find the correct one and they need to think about how many gaps are missing in between pieces.

4. Creativity - When children ‘play’ with lego, they are being very creative. They can be asked to create a rocket out of lego for example without any image of a rocket.

5. Social - emotional skills- lego ‘play’ involves collaborating with others and also ‘playing’ independently with the little bricks.

6. Language and narrative abilities as the children explain exactly what they have created.

When your child is asked to ‘mess around with play doh’, the schools are actually observing your child’s fine motor skills, their muscle strength, their sensory exploration, their creativity and imagination, their problem solving, their concentration and their resilience.

So careful what you go around telling people and stop undermining your child’s hard work and effort.

All the best to all of our children across the country currently attending their 4+ assessments. You are all amazing.

How do schools choose which children they want at their schools (4+) ?

It’s actually very easy. 

I picture the times I used to take my son to Little Kickers. I would at times be able to sit down and just observe the children. I imagined that if this were a real 4+ assessment, it would be so easy to pick the children that would pass it and those who would not (harsh but true). I have been in actual 4+ assessments before and I have seen exactly what the assessors see. It is very easy to choose the children who they know will simply be a delight to teach.  

Let’s go back to Little Kickers. If I were in a real 4+ assessment who would I want to have in my classroom? 

Would it be the child who was having a meltdown because the other little boy didn’t kick the football to him or would it be the child engaged in conversation with the football coach? 

Would it be the child screaming and crying because he didn’t want to play with the other children or would it be the child who was playing beautifully with everyone? 

Would it be the child who snatched the ball from another child or would it be the child who asked politely if he could have his turn? 

So easy. 

Now obviously, we are throwing academics in the mix too so let’s have a look at this. 

Let’s go back to the times when my son was attending Stage Coach. If I were in a real 4+ assessment who would I want to have in my classroom? 

Would it be the child listening attentively to the story or would it be the child who was throwing himself on the floor because he was bored of the story? 

Would it be the child who raised his hand and tried his best to answer the teacher’s questions or would it be the child who refused to answer her questions and didn’t say anything? 

Would it be the child who joined in happily with all of the nursery rhymes or would it be the child who threw his toy down on the floor and told the teacher that he didn’t like the song? 

So easy. 

Always remember that this is a competition. Is it a fair competition? I firmly believe that at most schools it is - let’s just leave it at that. A competition for a place at one of the best schools in the country at the ages of 3 or 4. Remember that there will be hundreds and hundreds of children applying for very few places. 

Is your child truly ready? 

Does your child truly know what is expected of them?

Or does your child think that they are ‘just going on a playdate!’ 

The final programme that we are offering for 2026 entry is our Ultimate Emerald Curriculum. Join before 30th November to secure the best support possible in your child’s 4+ assessments. 

What’s the one thing I need to do to prepare my child for their 4+ assessment in 6 weeks' time?

Let me tell you the one thing you should have been doing for the last 12 months. 

You should have been preparing your child to be strong in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum. Full stop. That is the one thing you need to have done. And if you haven’t done that, do you really think there is just one thing you can do to ensure success in your child’s 4+ assessment in the next 4-6 weeks? 

Clearly, you’ve not understood this process very well at all. 

What’s the one thing our clients have been doing to prepare their child for their 4+ assessments (2026 entry)? 

The one thing that they’ve been doing is this. They have been laser focused on preparing their child for their 4+ assessments. That is all. 

So there really isn’t one thing that you should do. There are thousands of things that you should have done. 

And if you’ve not done them, I’m sorry but it’s highly likely that your child will not pass their 4+ assessment and you have gifted these schools with a nice registration fee. 

And sure, you can come at me and tell me that your child ‘passed and you did nothing!’ Well you would be lying. Because even if you did do ‘nothing’, your child did a great deal in order to be offered a place at a top school at 4+. 

It’s lazy mentality and one that I want nothing to do with. There are plenty of other agencies out there that will entertain this. I’m not here to get a bunch of failures - sorry if that is harsh but it’s the truth. I’m here for the results. I’m here for the success of my students. I’m here every step of the way to support my clients to provide their children with the best possible education because we all know how important that is. 

The final programme that we are offering for 2026 entry is our Ultimate Emerald Curriculum. Join before 30th November to secure the best support possible in your child’s 4+ assessments. 

‘My child is at the level they need to be to pass that 4+ assessment’

Are you really sure though?

I don’t ask this to scare you at all.

It’s a legitimate question.

Parents keep telling us this but when we meet their children, they are not at the level they need to be at to pass most of the 4+ assessment that they are going to be attending.

You see, we are currently preparing 40 children for their 4+ assessments (2026 entry) and we have a benchmark. We know the level that our students need to be at. How do we know? We know because we actually have data. We have nearly 2 decades worth of data actually. You see, we have prepared children for their 4+ assessments for nearly 2 decades and collectively we have nearly 60 years worth of experience (myself and my senior teachers).

So is your child truly at the level that they need to be in order to pass a 4+ assessment?

This is your final chance to book onto our Ultimate Emerald Curriculum and find out. This exceptional programme will close on November 30th.

My long term vision for my son.

I spend every single day supporting other parents to make very important decisions. Decisions about their children that will impact the rest of their lives (their lives and the lives of their children). I take what I do very seriously. It is of upmost importance to me to support parents all over the country to make the best choices possible for their children.

You see, I didn’t have the best education growing up. We were certainly not ‘wealthy’ and my parents did the best they could with the knowledge that they had at the time and the circumstances they experienced at the time. However, it is very factual for me to tell you that my education could have been far superior. And if it had been, perhaps I wouldn’t have had to have struggled as much as I did between the ages of 18-35. Perhaps I would have made better financial decisions between the ages of 18-35 and perhaps my life would have just been filled with far more choices than those that I had between the ages of 18-35.

The education that our children receive is very important to me.

Currently, I am creating a long term vision for my son.

Having been state educated myself from the age of 5 to the age of 18, I know with certainty that I do not want him in a state school. People will say to me that I shouldn’t let my experience cloud my vision for my son. I will let my experience be the shining light to guide me very carefully in making this decision. My experience matters.

Having worked in state education for over a decade and having taught in hundreds of schools (including private), I know that I do not want him in a state school. I’ve seen too much. It’s a straight and easy no.

Private schooling is an option, sure. But not in his very early years. I want to have the flexibility to take him out of school and travel with him, to visit family, to go to new places and to have new experiences with him. I cannot do that if he begins school full time from September 2026.

I know that I can provide him with a ‘world class’ education that the government tell me they are offering all of our children. My education was far from ‘world class’.

Socially, it will be up to me or organise activities where he can interact with other children. Not because I think children socialise in schools (I don’t), but because my son adores to be with other children. And what I’ve actually noticed is that he loves being with different children (not the same ones every day).

Long term, I do want him to be very, very academic. I want to follow his lead and see what he is drawn to and provide him with everything he needs to achieve what he wants. I do want him to achieve high grades at GCSE and A-level. Not because of the grades themselves but because they will open doors for his future endeavours. I would like him to go to university but this will be completely up to him when he is mature enough to make that decision (I do not think 18 is the age to make these choices personally).

I don’t necessarily want him to work full time or have to work full time as an employee (unless he tells me that he wants to do this). I will steer him towards the entrepreneur route. I know that this will give him the freedom that I have been creating for myself and my family over the last 2 decades. I want him to feel positive and negative emotions in equal doses. I want him to develop the tools and skills to be able to handle both to the best of his ability. I want to be his main teacher. I want to be his guide. I want him to continue to have the hunger for learning that he currently has. I do not want this to be taken away from him by anyone.

I do not want anyone telling me what I should or should not be doing when it comes to my son. I do not want to follow rigid rules. I want freedom. It’s what I have always wanted - it’s just not what I was conditioned to want.

This is my long term vision for my son.

What is your long term vision for your child?

The South Hampstead 4+ assessment update (2026 entry)

The 90 minute ‘play date’ assessment is now over for our students.

The first round that is.

Our girls did so well. I know that they did.

All of our girls have worked very hard in preparation for the 4+ assessment at South Hampstead and they were all more than prepared to go in and truly shine.

Everything that I’ve heard from my clients has been very positive and we are all so proud of our girls.

Now, we wait. We wait to find out which of our girls are through to the second round. I believe that they will all be invited to the second round.

It’s very important for prospective new parents thinking of applying to this school for 2027 and beyond to truly understand that this is a very tough assessment.

They like to sugar coat it and make it sound delightfully pleasant but it really is a tough assessment in so many ways. Yes, the teachers are all lovely. Yes, they are experts at dealing with 3/4 year olds. Yes, the teachers present try their best to make it a pleasant experience but please don’t expect your daughter to go in and have a ‘play date’. It’s as far from a play date as you can get.

First of all, a play date does not involved being tested in the early years curriculum. Second of all a play date doesn’t generally happen with a group of children that your daughter does not know. And finally, a play date generally doesn’t happen in a school environment which is completely unknown to your daughter.

It is not a play date.

Stop calling me and telling me it is. I will not listen to you.

It is not.

Half of the girls who attended the first round will be invited to attend the second round and this will be even tougher. Basically, your daughter will have a 1:2 chance of being called back to the second round.

I do not write this to scare you. I write this to mentally prepare you. I write this so that you actually take the time, effort and energy to work with your daughter for the next 8-10 weeks that we have remaining until the second round (if your daughter is successful of course). And if you are 2027 entry, that you get started from now so that you have a full 12 months of 4+ assessment preparation. It really doesn’t bother me how you go about it - but please just start.

I have just launched my brand new South Hampstead Round 2 Success programme which will be a game changer to your round 2 assessment preparation. There are only 3 places available. If you know your daughter will pass, join now! If you want to wait and see, check in and see if I still have places remaining!

Glendower 4+ assessment update (2026 entry)

So you’re gearing up for the Glendower 4+ assessment in January 2026 but do you really know what to expect? Is your daughter truly ready to go in and shine? Do you think that your daughter has a chance of being offered a place to study at Glendower?

Last year, we prepared 2 girls and both got in (results were not updated and I heard much later about my second student). 2 girls prepared and 2 girls got in!

This year, we are preparing 5 girls for their Glendower 4+ assessment. All of them are bright, vibrant and highly intelligent little girls. I am so excited for them and I know that our results will be even better this year!

So here is a little update for you.

There is one round only at Glendower.

The girls are assessed in very small groups of 6.

The girls will be observed by 3-4 adults.

The assessors will be looking for girls who are able to socialise well with the group. The girls who can socialise well will be able to play beautifully, share, show kindness and be polite. They will be looking for girls who are ‘ready to learn.’ To show readiness for learning, the girls will show incredible maturity (for a 3 or 4 year old), they will show that they can listen and focus and they will show that they are hungry to learn. They will be looking for girls who are cooperative and who will do exactly what they are asked to do. They will be looking for girls who can be ‘flexible’. What this means is girls who can follow instructions perfectly. They are also looking for girls who truly want to learn. Girls who don’t need to be encouraged to do their learning. Girls who are ready and eager to get on with it. Finally, they will be looking for girls with a very high level of vocabulary and highly articulate girls who can answer their questions to a very high standard.

Maths and english will be assessed to a very high standard. If you don’t know what this standard is, work with an expert who does.

40 places will be offered. At least 200 will attend. So think a 1:5 chance of being offered a place.

Register your daughter within a couple of month of her birth. They only offer a limited number of slots for the 4+ assessment. If you don’t register at birth, it will be very unlikely (not impossible however) that your daughter will even be invited to an assessment at this school.

It is also an expectation that parents will have visited the school and met with the head of the school.

At nearly £31.5k per year, this is one of the more expensive girls’ schools in London. I highly recommend that you prepare your daughter for at least one year for this assessment (longer if she is summer born). Invest your time and effort into ensuring that your daughter will be ready to go in and truly shine in this 4+ assessment.

Join our waiting list today (2027 entry and beyond).

We have nearly 2 decades of experience preparing our girls to have tremendous success at Glendower. We know the calibre of girl who passes. We know exactly what Glenower want in their prospective new students.

What your child will be asked to do isn't as important as how they should do it.

Parents keep asking me this question…

‘What will my child be asked to do in their 4+ assessment?’

It’s an okay question but it’s not the most important question. Also, I answer this question very well here for you.

‘What can my child do in their 4+ assessment that will give them a huge edge over the other applicants?’

That’s a much more interesting question for you to ask yourself.

Remember, this is a competition. And if you don’t like this - don’t send your child to a 4+ assessment.

Remember. your child will be up against 400-500 other children (on average) and if you don’t like this - don’t send your child to a 4+ assessment.

Remember that many children will be rejected and told no - and if you don’t like this - don’t send your child to a 4+ assessment.

No body wants to receive that letter or email that tells them that their child has not passed their 4+ assessment but it’s all part of the process.

We support our students to have full 4+ curriculum coverage so that they can go in and do everything that they are asked to do to a very high standard but ultimately what we do so exceptionally well is this…

We support our clients to understand what is expected of their children in their 4+ assessments so that they can be their child’s guide. And we support our students to know exactly what is expected of them so that they can go into any 4+ assessment and be able to demonstrate what the assessors are looking for in order to be able to pass.

Simple.

Join our Waiting List today.

The main similiarity between 4+ assessment preparation and weight loss!

I recently joined a 3 month weight loss coaching programme. I was so impressed by the owner of this business. She clearly is passionate about her work and she clearly wants to create long lasting relationships with her clients. Just like me.

After being in the programme for only one week, I decided to commit to a full year.

Her programme is priced pretty much the same way as my programme but for simplicity let’s just say that to work with us, our clients invest on average £250 per month. Last Friday, I sent across one full year’s worth of money to her account and I made the commitment to work with her for one full year. I locked in to one year of weight loss coaching.

Now, keep in mind that I am also a weight loss coach (I also coach women postpartum) when I’m not working on CMT. But what I really needed and what I really need is the accountability. I know exactly how to lose the weight that I want to lose. But why should I do it alone? I love her programme and I love paying for it.

Just like all of our clients love our programme and it’s a pleasure to pay for a service that helps their children to gain mastery of the curriculum programme that they are currently working on.

The main similiarity between 4+ assessment preparation and weight loss is this…

Weight loss doesn’t happen in 1-3 months.

Learning the 4+ curriculum doesn’t happen in 1-3 months.

It takes time, effort, dedication and commitment.

So it’s like when people tell me that they send their child to this or that nursery so they don’t need to do anything on the side. It’s like me telling them that I go to weight watchers so I don’t need to do anything on the side.

No.

Even if I were to go to weight watchers (I don’t but just an example), I would then need to do all of the tedious work that goes along side joining their programme.

The meal planning.

The meal prep.

The weighing of my food.

The tracking of my calories.

The monitoring of my weight.

The going to the gym 5x a week.

The making sure I get my 10-12k minimum steps in.

Just like my serious clients put in the work when they prep their children for their 4+ assessments…

The lesson planning.

The lesson prep.

The printing of the resources.

The effort to make it interesting and fun.

The monitoring of their child’s progress.

The practise every single day of the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum.

The making sure that their child is creating a deep love for learning.

So to those of you who are contacting me right now - 1-2 months before your child’s 4+ assessment and who are most likely contacting other agencies, I say this only with love. We will not be offering 1:1 support for the 4+ and the reason is that historically, we’ve not had much success doing this.

What I want is clients who stay with us for 1-10+ years. Do you know who are the clients who stay with us for 1-10+ years? They are the clients who get the results. Not the clients who don’t get the results. The clients who don’t get the results tend to blame us for it. When really they shouldn’t be blaming us at all.

Join our Waiting List today. (2027 entry and beyond)

'My child just doesn't enjoy lego/puzzle/play doh/cutting/writing/drawing...'

Yeah, and so what is your point?

So your child doesn’t like doing something - does that mean they shouldn’t do it?

I’ve written about this before so I won’t go on about it - search for my blog about this.

Last week, I spoke to at least 20 parents who called me enquiring about my learning programmes. Several parents are currently preparing their children for their 4+ assessments and quite frankly their voices seemed nervous, scared and frightened.

You see, with less than 1-2 months left until the assessments (2026 entry), right now really shouldn’t be the time that you ‘start’ teaching your child anything new. Right now should be the time that you are perfecting what they already know.

Teaching your child to hold scissors 1-2 months before their assessments will ultimately lead to frustration and ultimately disappointment. As I wrote yesterday, children are not robots. And some take far longer than others to grasp new and unfamiliar concepts.

Do you think my son was a pro at holding scissors and cutting when I started teaching him how to do it at the age of 17 months? No he wasn’t. Do you think he wanted to do it each and every time I would take the time to prepare an activity for him to practise his cutting skills? No he didn’t. Did I force him to do it? Of course I didn’t. Now, I put a pair of scissors in his hands and he really is ‘a pro’! I don’t have to tell him how to hold the scissors. I don’t have to tell him how to hold the paper with his other hand. He knows. It’s deeply engrained in his muscle memory.

Your child won’t enjoy doing everything! This is obvious no?

My 3 year old doesn’t enjoy phonics currently. And even though Ive been teaching him phonics since he was 17 months of age - he currently can identify only 5-7 sounds consistently. So even though ‘he just doesn’t enjoy phonics!’ does it mean that I don’t do them with him daily? No it does not.

I expose him to phonics every single day - in one way or another. I trust that he is absorbing my teaching. I trust that in the next few months, he will know all of his single sounds and will be blending way before the age of 4. I know that to be true for him and I know that to be true for all of our students here at CMT. You see, this is a non negotiable for me. I’ve never ever had a child reach 4 years of age and not be able to blend.

At the end of the day, if you have chosen to send your child to a 4+ assessment, you surely know that your child will be up against hundreds and hundreds of other children. Many of them prepared by myself and my senior teachers. Who will pass? Will it be the child who knows their phonics or the one who doesn’t? Will it be the child who can count to 10 or the one who can’t? Will it be the child who can hold their pencil or the one who can’t? etc, etc …

Your child not enjoying something is not a reason not to expose them to it anyway. Gently encouraging them to try it. Never forcing, never being negative. We are building a love for learning that will go on and on into their older years. We are not building a hate for it!

Start early (at least 12 months before) and enjoy the process. Have a bespoke learning plan in place just for your child and ride the waves slowly and calmly. Do not leave assessment preparation to the last 2-3 months. Simple.

Join our Waiting List today.

The main reason I didn't last more than 13 years teaching in the UK school system.

I wasn’t compliant.

I didn’t follow the rules of my senior leaders very well because most often I simply did not agree with them.

I started my career as a qualified teacher at the age of 25. But I was teaching from the age of 18. As soon as I turned 18, I was teaching in my gym creche. I then worked as a nanny for several years to several beautiful children. I taught Spanish at Primary/GCSE/A level and then I became qualified as a teacher.

The first 3 years in teaching were a messy blur. I was young. I followed the rules - but I really struggled. You see - straight away, I didn’t agree with many things.

After about 8 years teaching, that’s when things got really messy for me and I woke up.

I was at the top of my career (UPS 3) and there was no where else for me to go. I had no desire to become a senior leader. Even less of a desire to become deputy head or head teacher. If I stayed in teaching, I would have simply just stayed at UPS 3 (I doubt I would have lasted much longer anyway).

Once you become ‘expensive’, they want you out! That’s the truth no one wants new teachers to know. You will be replaced in a heart beat by a teacher who costs far less than you do!

The main issue was that I just didn’t follow their rules and they detested me for it.

One cold December morning, the heating wasn’t working at school and I asked my students to keep their coats and scarves on. I did too. We were just sitting doing story writing and the deputy head stormed into my year 4 classroom - she was furious. She yelled at my students and told them all to remove their coats. All 30 of them stared at me. I shook my head from side to side. No one moved. ‘Miss Mazarese, to my office now,’ were the exact words of my deputy head. I liked her very much by the way (as a person). As a Deputy Head, all she wanted was control. I did not like that.

The Deputy Head proceeded to tell me ‘the rules’. I listened. Then I told her this. ‘You tell my students to take their coats off again and I will walk out of this building.’

Let’s just say that I didn’t walk out of the building but she was not impressed!

That’s just one example for you!

So, I write this for those of you aspiring to become teachers. Not to put you off but to inform you as I wish I had been informed. I write this to let you, my current clients to let you know more about my background and experience in teaching. I write this to let you, my prospective new clients know more about me and my experience of teaching. I have a lot to write about teaching in schools and I will. I have nothing to hide and I’m not afraid to speak openly anymore.

2/3 year olds are not robots...

Hear me out.

All of us who are parents have the perfect vision of what a ‘perfect’ child is like. And when our children don’t align to that vision, we are deeply disappointed.

When my son was born, I had visions of a little boy who would grow up to be very calm, very mellow, very obedient and compliant, very quiet and very enthusiastic about all of his learning. My son was definitely never calm, he definitely was never mellow, he’s never been one to obey me or to comply and he isn’t always very enthusiastic about his learning!

There is nothing wrong with him! He is exactly who is supposed to be. My beautiful son.

I wouldn’t change him. Not one bit.

He is highly energetic, he is hilarious, he doesn’t stop for one moment. He is very opinionated and will tell me that I’m wrong many times! I love this - by the way.

He has had his own bespoke curriculum since he was 17 months old and let me tell you that there have been countless times where I’ve set out all of his learning and he’s wanted to do only one thing.

Construction.

You see, that’s what he has always loved. Anything to do with building - that’s him all over.

But I persevered. I stuck to my process I trusted in my process. I trust in it deeply you see. Because I know that it works!

But hear me when I tell you this.

2/3 year olds are not robots (this applies to all ages fyi) but I’m talking about 2/3 year olds right now.

Children should not be ‘expected to sit still’. It’s just not natural for a 2/3 year old to sit still for prolonged periods of time.

Children should not be ‘expected to do exactly what you want them to do when you want them to do it’.

Children should not ‘want to always want to do the learning that you have prepared for them.’

Children will have their own ideas about what they want to do!

And I’m here to build a love for learning that will go on and on for years to come. I am not here to force anyone to do learning.

Children need to want to do learning. It must be intrinsic.

So remember, your child is not a robot. Let your child be who they are. Let your child tell you ‘no’. It’s all ok. It takes time. It takes effort. And above all else it takes trust. Deep trust that everything you are doing for your child will pay off dividends in the future.

Who are the girls that get into South Hampstead at 4+?

We have been preparing our girls for their South Hampstead 4+ assessments for nearly 2 decades. We know exactly how to prepare our girls to go into their 4+ assessment at South Hampstead and have the highest chances for success.

So who are the girls that get into this very competitive school at 4+?

The girls who get into SHHS are girls who are very academically able. What I mean by this is that they have covered all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum at great depth.

They are girls who can:

communicate beautifully

listen perfectly well to adults

follow instructions perfectly

articulate their answers very well and have a very high level of vocabulary

socially interact very well with the other girls in the assessment

emotionally regulate themselves

demonstrate strong gross and fine motor skills

read to a very high standard

write to a very high standard

demonstrate a very strong aptitude for maths (the full maths curriculum)

show their knowledge and understanding of the world by being able to express their own opinions to a very high standard

show their creativity in their drawings

genuinely a pleasure to be around

I can picture very clearly one of my girls from last year (2025 entry) who was offered a place after being initially waitlisted. She would show up to each lesson with a big smile on her face. Some days she was more interested in joining me than others (we are all human after all!) but for the most part, she was delighted to see me and she was thrilled to see the activities that I had planned and prepared for her. She would answer all of my questions to a very high standard and would demonstrate a very high level of vocabulary. She knew all of her phase 2 and phase 3 phonics, she could blend and at the time she was learning her digraphs and trigraphs.

I can picture another girl that I prepared the year before who was offered a place (2024 entry). She was highly articulate and would answer all of my questions in detail and depth. She would extend her answers without prompting. She was highly intelligent and genuinely a delight to be with. She was mature, courteous, kind and caring.

I could give you many more examples!

So if you are preparing your daughter for her 4+ assessment at South Hampstead, begin preparing her at least 12 months before the assessment. Whether you choose to have formal support or not, leave yourself one full year to cover a full curriculum with your daughter. Support her with her questioning skills throughout the year and ensure that she is at the right level to go in and be offered a place to study at SHHS.

Join our Waiting List today.

The 'Admissions Routes Into Haberdashers' Boys' and Girls' School - My HONEST views.

It’s all a distraction UNLESS…

Your child already has a guaranteed place at Haberdashers.

Don’t even waste a second of your time thinking that this is some sort of shortcut into the school. If you would like your son or daughter to go to Habs - put the work in. If these ‘Admissions Routes’ support your child in any way, see it as the cherry on top of the pie. But do not see it as your Holy Grail. Do you know what your Holy Grail is?

Preparing your child for their assessments. That is all.

160 boys are welcomed to Habs in Year 7.

120 girls are welcomed to Habs in Year 7.

60 boys already in the school will gain automatic entry into Year 7 and will not sit the 11+ assessment. This leaves 100 places for external candidates.

60 girls already in the school will gain automatic entry into Year 7 and will not sit the 11+ assessment. This leaves 60 places for external candidates.

For September 2026 entry the school have a new ‘Priority Pathway’ agreement for Lochinver House students (as the two schools have now merged). There are two ‘pathways’.

2a - PRIORITY UNCONDITIONAL PATHWAY

Habs and Lochinver will analyse student’s results and achievements from year 3 to year 5 and a small number of places will be offered to LH pupils.

Small is key here. That tells me it really won’t be many. It’s up to you to clarify with Habs what this means. I would want a specific and factual number.

LH students will still need to sit the 11+ for benchmarking purposes but the result in the assessment will not affect their unconditional pathway offer

This sounds shiny, bright and alluring for LH parents. However, your child still needs to be prepared very carefully from Year 3! You see, they have to be performing very highly academic to even be considered for this pathway into Habs.

2b -

Habs and Lochinver will analyse student’s results and achievements from year 3 to year 5 and a small number of places will be offered to LH pupils. These students will still have to sit the Habs 11+ assessment and their results will be taken into consideration but they are guaranteed an interview.

So this pathway doesn’t mean very much at all to me.

The final pathway is simply students applying from all over the country to sit their 11+.

Ultimately for all of the routes (apart from the route where your child already has a place at Habs), you will need to prepare your child to the highest of standards. Your child will need to be exceeding academically in all subjects and you will still need to put in the work to prepare your child for their 11+ assessment.

Simple.

To have the highest possible chances for success, join our Waiting List and we will get started from January/February 2026. Once joined, the fee you paid will cover your registration fee when we begin and you will be notified immediately about your start date.

Lochinver House merging with Haberdashers - My Honest Views.

Lochinver House has now merged with Habs (boys and girls). But what does this even mean and why is there so much confusion about it?

First of all, there is so much confusion about it because neither schools are really giving much away about it. Even after their meeting with our current clients, we haven’t really been told much about what this merge truly means for our students.

Second of all, there is a huge misunderstanding from parents that I speak with that if their child gets into Lochinver that they will somehow have an ‘easier’ shot at getting into Habs at 4+/7+ or 11+.

I do not believe this to be the case.

They talk about the join being as a means to ‘improve their financial stability’ but to be honest, I’ve seen no changes in the popularity of Habs (boys and girls) since the new VAT imposition on school fees. In fact, I’ve only seen it become more popular! Perhaps they are referring to the ‘financial stability’ of Lochinver.

I firmly believe that the merge is more of a benefit to the schools than it is of any benefit to the parents.

Lochinver House now has a ‘priority pathway’ into Habs for their current pupils. This will be very alluring and very appealing to prospective new parents of Lochinver House. I encourage you to not just assume that because the two schools have merged that your child will somehow have a massive advantage over other students who do not attend Lochinver. They will still need to pass the assessment - whichever one that may be. Let’s see how many more places truly will go to students currently studying at Lochinver in 2026/2027.

The CMT Manor Lodge 4+ assessment results (2026 entry)

Results from the Manor Lodge 4+ assessment were released last week.

We’ve had incredible results this year. Again!

I am not surprised. We prepared 8 children for the 4+ assessment at Manor Lodge (even split between boys and girls) 5 were offered a place. 2 were waitlisted. 1 hasn’t been offered a place.

I believe that they had fewer applicants based on the assessment day itself. The assessment was very well organised. Children were grouped into groups of 20 and each child was sent off with one teacher into the forest garden. ML is one of the more ‘affordable’ private schools in the area with fees at £17, 310 per year (not including lunches for the infants). Their deposit is pretty high however (£1,800) because they are clearly aware that some parents will accept and then decline (this happens every single year). Many of our students who have passed ML are still waiting to sit other 4+ assessments and the other schools would be their preferences.

Myself and my team have personally been preparing our youngest students for Manor Lodge for many, many years. Before sending their children into the ML 4+ assessments, my clients are very well aware of the expectations at ML. We tell them openly about all of them based on our extensive experience, knowledge and understanding of this school.

Our clients are so happy with the ML results this year. They are delighted. You see, they know exactly how hard it was to pass this assessment this year.

Myself and my team of teachers prepared 8 children for ML (for 2026 entry).

All eight children worked very hard in preparation for this assessment. For most of them, it was their first assessment. For all of them, it won’t be their last. All 8 children started at different times of this year. Some started in February, some started in the summer and some started a couple of months ago. We are so proud of each and every one of them.

1.Stats

5/8 children passed the ML 4+ assessment.

2/8 children have been waitlisted.

1 child did not pass.

Our clients are yet to confirm if they will accept the offer at ML.

All of our students are still preparing for assessments at several other schools.

2. Key reasons for success at ML.

• Children who perform highly across the board (in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum)

• Regular communication between parents and teacher during the week between the lessons.

• Consistent daily activity - Children completing all of the home learning sent every single day in preparation for this assessment.

• Super compliant children who would have followed instructions perfectly in the ML 4+ assessment.

• Amazingly behaved children who would have gone in and demonstrated the highest quality of behaviour to the teachers.

• Children who would have demonstrated that they would have been a delight to teach.

3. Key reasons for not being offered a place at ML.

• Less than 12 months of preparation time

• Children not fully demonstrating what was expected of them in the ML 4+ assessment in terms of their behaviour.

• Children not being fully compliant in the Manor Lodge 4+ assessment - eg. not following the instruction straight away or choosing to do their own thing.

All of our clients preparing for ML took the assessment process seriously. All of our clients preparing for ML were fully dedicated and committed to their children’s learning. All of our clients saw their children make accelerated progress in all 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum during their time with us preparing for ML.

Congratulations to our amazing students who have been incredibly successful at being offered a place at ML. Now onto the next one.

To those of you whose children haven’t been successful at being offered a place at ML, please try your best not to let this get you down. You have other important assessments to focus on.

Join our Ultimate Emerald Curriculum programme (one month minimum commitment) to accelerate your child’s learning and ensure that they fully understand what is expected from them in their upcoming 4+ assessments.

This is the ONE comment that I do not accept from my son's nursery.

I speak to many of you who tell me that you love this ONE comment.

I do not.

It is very vague.

It doesn’t give me any information.

I feel like I’m being fobbed off.

This is the ONE comment that I do not accept from my son's nursery.

‘He did sooooooooo well today.’

Usually my son is collected by his amazing grandmother so I don’t actually get this comment myself at pickup - she does frequently.

I usually get this comment at drop off.

‘He did sooooooooo well today.’

And the reality is this.

I worked in nurseries all across the country for nearly a decade. It’s just a generic comment that we used to say to all parents. All children ‘do so well’!

So when I speak to some of you and you tell me that your child’s nursery tell you that ‘they did soooooooo well,’ and that your child’s nursery are convinced that your child will pass any 4+ assessment, it leaves me quite concerned.

Are you questioning this comment at all? Or are you just accepting it?

You see, when one of his teachers tell me this my answer is this.

‘What did he do that was so good?’

And I expect specifics.

I also ask very specific questions and not generic ones.

For example, I ask his teachers, ‘Could you please tell me which phonics he is learning and how he is progressing with them?’ and ‘Could you please tell me which numbers you focused on today and if he is picking up on them?’ and ‘Could you please tell me about his pencil grip,’ and ‘Could you please tell me and show me how he is holding his scissors and how you supported him to be able to cut with accuracy and precision?’

You don’t have to accept everything that you are told. I question everything that I am told. Not because I am doubtful - I firmly believe his nursery to be exceptional but because they are looking after the most important person in my life and I want specifics. I am sacrificing three full days without seeing my precious boy. I want to know specifics. Generic comments are unacceptable to me.

If you don't fully understand the game, how do you expect to win?

I’ve had several calls this week from very angry parents. They are angry that I’m no longer offering my programme on a 1:1 basis. I don’t need to explain my decisions to anyone but let me share with you why I decided to do this.

Clients that start with 3 months or less preparation time are usually (most often), the clients who are the most frustrated, annoyed and generally surprised with the assessment process. It usually doesn’t end well. Not always- we do also have amazing results with clients who start with us later in the process of assessment preparation. However, that is the exception and not the rule.

I want happy clients in my business. I want delighted clients. I want clients who will shout from the rooftop how amazing my business is. That is what I want. What I don’t want is p**sed off clients. What I don’t want is frustrated clients. And what I definitely don’t want is clients who will go around bad mouthing my beautiful business.

You see - the clients who work with my business, work with my business for one reason and one reason only. They are after a result. And that result is to have options. Options of where THEY want to CHOOSE to send their child to school. I work with my clients for one reason only too. I also want results. You see, their results are my results.

So if I have clients going around telling other parents that their child didn’t pass and they worked with my company, what will that person think? You see, people rarely tell the full truth. And the truth is that they started too late.

Oh but it’s always easier to find someone to blame isn’t it?

So that’s my reasoning, just in case you wanted to hear it.

If you are starting late, don’t be hard on yourself but do understand this. This is a highly complex process. Assessment preparation takes hard work, effort and complete dedications from all sides. The parents, the children and the teachers.

You do still have time and you can still have the results you desire.

Join our Ultimate Emerald Curriculum Fast Track Programme and be ready to prepare your child to be extremely successful in all of their assessments.

Do not let this dent your confidence.

I see this year after year after year and it is the hardest thing for me as a teacher and as the owner of this business.

Parents feeling sad, angry, shocked, disappointed and deeply frustrated at the fact that their child hasn’t been offered a place at Manor Lodge.

Yesterday, I spent most of my day on the phone (after having taught my 8 lessons for the day).

We had mostly very positive results yesterday. I’m not sharing them just yet because I want to give my dear clients the time and space to process the results. But what I will share is that this year, we prepared 8 children for the Manor Lodge 4+ assessment.

You see, it’s very important to understand very clearly that children will be rejected in this process of assessment preparation.

And it’s important to understand even better that we, as parents do not take rejection well. Especially when it comes to our children. I am the same.

We take it very personally. We make it mean things that it simply doesn’t mean and we let rejection get us down. Naturally, it will get you down. These are our precious children that we are talking about.

So I invite you to take the time to mourn the results - if your result was a negative one. I invite you to take a couple of weeks to really digest what has happened and then I invite you to put it to one side and put your focus 100% onto the other assessments that your child has coming up. Because you see, there is nothing you can now do about a result. But there is everything you can do about future assessments.

If you received a positive result, I invite you to not tell others that you did nothing to prepare for this assessment. Speak honestly. You put in the work. Because it’s just mean and unkind to go around telling people that all you did was ‘send your child in to play in the forest’ when that is a complete lie.

What is done, can’t be undone. What is coming up in the future, is 100% in your control.

For some of you, this is a wake up call. A reality check. A deeper understanding of this 4+ process. Not all applicants will pass unfortunately. That’s the nature of an assessment.

You have 2-3 beautiful months to go all in and prepare your child for their upcoming assessments. You have 2-3 months to fully understand the assessment processes at the schools that you are applying to and to fully understand what exactly is expected of your child in order to be in with a chance of being offered a place at your dream schools.

Our Curriculum Programme will be launching today as you are out of time to join us for our programme with weekly tuition. There is far too much to cover and you have to understand that his cannot be done with 2-3 months. What can be done, however is that you can take full ownership of this process and ensure that you have covered as much of the curriculum as possible with your child so that they can go in to any upcoming assessment and have the highest possible chances for success.

I see you and I understand your frustration. I am here for you every step of the way.