11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi all,

'Im a bit anxious about independent school interviews. My daughter goes to a comp and has not done any form of project work and after asking her teacher if she has done any particular piece of work she could take to an interview, the teacher replied no!
Please could other parents with past experience let me know what there children took to their interviews?

Many Thanks

What have the school asked her to take to the interview ?

if there is a problem with a particular school then might be worth having a word with them - they may like her to take something done at home - suspect it is only as a starting point for chatting about a topic.

I am surprised that the indie would have asked her to take a piece of work in the first place. It certainly would not be for assessment purpose - if she has written a story at home or done something different she might want to take that. On the whole interviews at independent schools follow their own format and will have clear ideas of what they want to find out.

If you let us know the school or what the letter said, we might be able to give a bit more advice.

The school has asked her to take a piece of work she is proud of and able to discuss.

Her own school work it not worthy of taking to an interview.

She has won book week comp before at school but i feel her poem will not compete with other childrens achievements.

I doubt if the indie will be comparing work between kids - it will be more of a starter in the interview.

Also suspect that good indie will recognise that kids from some preps will be helped in what they take with them and will have discussed it before hand. Also they may have experience of other kids going to the interview before.

I would think that the poem would be fine, provided she can chat about her thoughts behind it etc

The poem sounds lovely. Don't worry about what other students bring or how they compare; what the school is interested in is how she converses about her work, rather than the quality of her writing. They will have other ways of assessing that.

Thanks everyone!

Yes bring something she is pleased with that she worked on, that will be a conversation starter.

DS took a portfolio of drawings he did at home - completely separate from school. This was definitely a subject for conversation, as DS was very shy at the interview and seemed to only relax when asked about the drawings etc etc.

The poem sounds like a great idea to me - she can definitely talk about it and feel confident.

Thanks always so helpful.