Helping Transition to Secondary School
At Sherborne House, we place great importance on helping to prepare your child for the move to senior school.
As children progress up the school, they are given increasing amounts of responsibility and encouraged to develop their self-confidence in order to ensure a smooth transition to senior schools. We sustain our emphasis on breadth and balance, ensuring that children enjoy their learning, whilst being mindful of the necessity to prepare them for the important senior school entrance exams they take in Year 6.
11+ Exams
The preparation towards 11+ is gradual and supportive, placing our knowledge of the individual child at the heart of the process. It does not involve non-stop cramming and coaching; instead, children are taught the ability to use and apply knowledge and to have well-honed exam technique through exposure to a variety of practice papers. We aim to develop happy young people who have the confidence and learning skills to cope with the demands of whichever senior school they move on to.
Part of our preparation for Senior School includes preparing our pupils for interviews. This will include doing mock interviews with pupils as well as helping pupils prepare answers and questions. In order to further help pupils and parents at home, we have put together a short document for parents to use to help prepare their children for interviews.
Choosing a Senior School
The choice of senior school is taken very seriously by Sherborne House, and teachers will meet with parents personally to discuss this important next step, considering all aspects of potential schools from academic achievement to size, location and culture.
We hold a Senior Schools Information Evening where local senior schools come to Sherborne House and present to parents, and we have developed close relationships with all local schools. We also offer further guidance and support to parents of children in Years 4 to 6 about choosing and transferring to secondary schools, via information sessions and individual meetings with parents on request.
