When children come to the school for the Assessment Morning it is often their first experience of being assessed.  The staff are very aware of this and will do all they can to make the morning a positive experience.  All entrants are grouped according to the month of their birthday and some of the papers are standardised to take account of the difference between the achievements of those with autumn birthdays and those with a birthday in the summer term.  There will be approximately 8 to 10 children in each group.  They will have a break for a drink and biscuit away from the classroom and the chance to get some fresh air.

During the morning they will be taken through four different subject areas.  English, Maths, Reading and Non-Verbal Reasoning.  Each subject lasts approximately 40 minutes with 20 minutes allowed to write a story.  The teacher will read all of the questions relating to English and Maths to the group as a whole.  The Non-Verbal Reasoning paper is picture based.

Every effort is made to ensure that each child understands what is expected of them and that they give an accurate picture of their abilities.

The English assessment includes a comprehension, spelling and exercises on the formation of sentences.

The children will be asked to write a short story using a picture to base their ideas on.  The teacher will discuss possible story lines with the group before they begin.  Twenty minutes is allowed for this exercise.

The child will be asked to fill in gaps in sentences from a choice of four or five alternatives.  The level of difficulty increases through the paper.

This tests the knowledge of the following:

• Simple addition and subtraction.
• Two, three and five ‘times tables’.
• Understanding of place value, (tens and units).
• Understanding of number order (1^st, 2^nd, 3rd etc).
• Understanding of number words.
• Number sequences (eg 9, 10, 11, 12, write the next three numbers).
• Measuring – concepts of ‘longer’ and ‘shorter’, ‘heavier’ and ‘lighter’.
• Naming 2-D and 3-D shapes.
• Simple fractions, understanding ½ s and ¼ s.
• Money ( eg John has 5p and Mary had 7p more.  How much has Mary?).
• Time, ability to read the clock at the o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to the hour.
• Odd/even numbers.
• Data handling – reading simple graphs, charts, tables and sorting diagrams.
• Rotation of simple shapes.

This is a picture/diagram based reasoning test, designed to assess innate ability and not developed ability.  This provides an opportunity to highlight children whose potential has yet to be tapped.