Preparing Your Child for the Senior School Admissions Process
Applying to a private school can be a daunting experience for children and parents alike. Attempting to balance everything from nervous emotions to entrance assessments can prove difficult.
Below, we’ve compiled some helpful information to support you and your child through the private school admissions process for Senior School applicants.
What to Expect
Any change can be daunting for a child, however, through extensive research and information gathering about the new school surroundings, you can provide your child with the tools they’ll need to feel more comfortable.
There can be a great deal of apprehension when children think about starting a new school, especially if they’re moving from one to another. Sitting down and detailing the steps they’ll go through can help ease any nerves or doubts they may have - the unknown is often the scariest part.
Touring the School
At The High School of Glasgow, we offer personalised tours all year round for prospective parents and pupils. This is the perfect way to get a real flavour of the School and its ethos, a chance to see the campus first-hand and meet with current teachers and pupils.
From our experience, we’ve witnessed children’s uncertainty become elation after only one visit. Providing the opportunity for children to observe activities within their proposed new school can be exceptionally helpful in dispelling any fears and nerves.
We would highly recommend organising a tour of the campus.
Addressing Any Concerns
When talking to your child about any concerns they may have, you can directly address them through your own experience, conducting further research, or contacting the school directly.
Understanding exactly what’s troubling your child about a potential move removes any guesswork for you or the school. Admissions staff will be more than happy to answer any questions your child has about the admissions process or school life. This can help dispel any concerns that your child may have.
How to Prepare for the Entrance Assessment and Discussion
Most independent schools will require a receipt of a satisfactory school report and the successful completion of an entrance assessment and discussion before a place is offered to pupils joining in Transitus through to Senior 4. This is to ensure all pupils have the cognitive ability to understand core subjects, such as English and Maths.
We understand that the concept of entrance assessments and discussions is unknown to many. To help, we’ve compiled some helpful information on how to prepare for both.
Please note, Senior 5 and Senior 6 applicants do not need to sit an Entrance Assessment as the School will look at previous exam results and prelim results. They will however have a discussion with a member of the Senior Leadership Team.
Preparing Your Child for the Entrance Assessment
What are Private School Entrance Tests?
Entrance Assessments allow us to take a holistic approach towards assessing your child’s readiness to benefit from our curriculum. They are designed to evaluate a prospective pupil’s all-round ability and provides us with the confidence that we can support all the needs of a particular child before an offer is made. As mentioned previously, these tend to focus on core subjects such as Maths and English, as well as verbal and non-verbal reasoning. However, it’s important to note that entrance assessments can vary.
When Will Your Child Sit the Assessments?
We hold an annual Entrance Test day in January each year which is part of our main Admissions intake. However, subject to space in the proposed year group, we offer entrance assessments year-round.
Tips for Exam Preparation
Prioritise Maths and English
As mentioned previously, Entrance Assessments focus on a child’s ability to answer questions regarding Maths and English. During revision, ensure you prioritise your child’s efforts towards these two core subjects by studying a wide range of vocabulary, spelling practice, and revisiting their Maths.
Create a Study Plan
Once you have an Entrance Assessment date confirmed, we recommend creating a study plan for your child to follow. Structuring your child’s revision can remove a significant amount of stress.
If left too late, your child could become overwhelmed so the earlier you prepare, the better!
Preparing Your Child for the Entrance Discussion
Calm Their Nerves
Interview-style situations are a stressful time for anyone, regardless of age. This is likely to be your child’s first experience of such a thing, so they’ll presumably be nervous. However, there is nothing to fear, it is simply a relaxed discussion around their hobbies and interests to get an overall picture of the child.
Conducting mock interviews, in a fun and engaging manner can help reduce anxiety and improve your child’s outlook on the admissions process.
We also recommend that you, as a parent, work towards calming your own nerves. It’s common for parents to feel anxious for their child, often associating it with their own experiences.
Transitus and Senior 1 pupils who perform well in entrance assessments will be asked to come in for a discussion with a member of the Senior Leadership Team, while their parents will be invited to meet the Rector or Head of Senior School.
Senior 2, Senior 3 and Senior 4 applicants will meet the Rector or Head of Senior School and will be interviewed by a member of the Senior Leadership Team, with their parents invited to meet the Rector or Head of Senior School.
Contact Admissions
If you require any further guidance on how the admissions process works at The High School of Glasgow, consult our Admissions Team directly or book a tour of the campus.