The Senior School: Entrance Procedures

Assessments for girls entering year 7

All those wishing to enter Year 7 are required to take our own entrance assesssment. This will be held on Saturday 14 January 2012.  For those boarding candidates who are unable to come to the School on this date, we are happy to arrange for papers to be taken at your daughter’s present school. Should your application to the school be made after our entrance assessment date, we will arrange an individual sitting for your daughter on a convenient date, as long as places are still available.

Registering your daughter to sit the entrance assessment to the senior school

In order for your daughter to sit our entrance assesssment, we must receive your application for registration form by Friday 25 November 2011 at the latest. You will find the form in the back of the prospectus, or you can print one here. This should be sent with your non-refundable examination fee of £40 (£50 for overseas students) to our Admissions Secretary. Before the assessment date, your daughter will receive a letter confirming her attendance and enclosing a programme for the day. The School will also write to your daughter’s school for a report on her progress.

The interview

All girls who are taking the Entrance Examination will be invited for an interview before they sit any papers. Interviews  will take place from Monday 09 January 2012. We shall write to give you your appointment time. The interviews will give candidates an opportunity to demonstrate skills not revealed in written papers and also to ask questions of their own. They will meet the Head  and  Head of Year 7 and will probably be asked to give a prepared three-minute talk and to bring along something they are proud of. We aim to make the girls as comfortable as possible in order to allow them to shine.

The examination day for Year 7 entry

The entrance assessment for entry into Year 7 will be held on Saturday 14 January 2012.  All our existing Year 6 pupils will take our 11+ examination on Saturday 14 January as a transfer baseline assessment and this will give prospective new pupils an opportunity to mix with our current pupils.

English

• A comprehension exercise is set lasting half an hour, plus 10 minutes reading time. Questions test candidates’ comprehension of fictional or factual passages, their ability to deduce information and to express ideas succinctly and accurately, demonstrating relevant use of detailed information.
• Two writing exercises lasting 30 minutes each are set.  These are designed to demonstrate candidates’ ability to write in a lively, interesting and relevant way. Consideration is given to appropriateness of vocabulary, expression, paragraphing, spelling and punctuation.
• Candidates would be expected to demonstrate knowledge and skills appropriate to Key Stage 2, Level 4 and Level 5.

Mathematics

One paper of 45 minutes is set. All working and answers are to be shown on the paper. Candidates need a ruler, protractor, pen and pencil. Calculators are not needed. The following ideas and skills are likely to be tested:

• Handling of whole numbers
• Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division (though not long division)
• Understanding of simple fractions
• Fundamental ideas of shape, size and position and area
• The idea of a right angle
• Calculation of the area of a rectangle
• Ability to see and to continue a pattern
• Measurement of mass, length and time
• Solving of simple problems involving one or more steps of reasoning as well as computation

The level of knowledge assumed is approximately to National Curriculum Levels 4 and 5

Reasoning Test

A standardised test is used.  Once all candidates are confident in the type of exercise involved, the timed section starts. Since it is likely that candidates in each of the rooms used for the examination will complete the practice sections in different times, parents should anticipate that their daughters will not leave the examination rooms at precisely the same times.

The provisional timetable for the Entrance Assessment  will be:

• 09.15 - 09.25: Reading time
• 09.25 - 09.55: Reading & understanding exercise
• 10.00 - .11.00 Writing exercise
• 11.00 -  11.15: Break
• 11.15 -  12.00: Mathematics
• 12.00 -  12.05: Short Break
• 12.05 -  13.00: Reasoning Test (approximately)

Special Educational Needs

In line with National Key Stage testing policy, we allow extra time for girls who are dyslexic or have another Special Educational Need. If you feel your daughter could benefit from this extra time we will need a letter from her headteacher or from a recognised Dyslexic Centre confirming that she has been diagnosed and needs extra time. For girls in the Junior School, this will be done automatically.

Receiving the results and accepting an offer of a place

We try hard not to keep girls in suspense for too long and issue the results as quickly as we possibly can. You should receive a letter by 28 January  2012 at the latest. Following acceptance of a place you will naturally receive an abundance of information over the course of the rest of the school year including details of uniform, buses and many other issues. You will also be invited to our new parents’ Open Evening in July, which will give you a chance to meet our staff as well as other new parents. Your daughter will be invited to an Induction afternoon at the end of June or the beginning of July.

Entrance to years 8, 9 and 10, day and boarding pupils

Those wishing to enter Years 8, 9 and Year 10 will be required to sit examinations in English, Mathematics and Science. Candidates might also have an interview with the Head of Modern Languages to assess their language ability. There is no formal date for this and it will be arranged at your convenience. The examinations will give us an idea of your daughter’s abilities and an indication of how she will fit into the year-group and sets where applicable. We will also write to her school for a report on her progress. Please complete the registration form and send it to our Registrar with your cheque for £40 (or £50 for overseas students)  as soon as you are ready for us to arrange to assess your daughter. We would also be very happy to welcome her to come and spend a 'taster' day in the school with her equivalent year-group at any time convenient to you.