Independent Interview: Filter-Out or Filter-In?

[Jean.Brodie]

It’s worth remembering that there is a lot of research evidence that interviews are a really ineffective way of selecting people for most positions. This applies to adults and even more to kids, kids who are very, very young at 11 plus entry into private schools.

My understanding now is that the entrance exams count for a lot more and the interview a lot less than we might imagine. The school will also have the Primary School Reference when it decides its interview list.
I’m pretty sure now that a private school has a very good idea of its Offer List before it interviews. So the interview stage is a major sales push, probably the most important part of the school’s overall sales process. … We certainly felt more strongly in favour of each school after each interview.

A private school, more than any other, needs to deliver exceptional A Level and University Entrance results. A lot of this is based on written exams. Most parents need to feel that, at the very least, their money bought better results in this regard than their child may have gained at the local selective state school. And for the school the least risky, and easiest, approach to delivering this is to recruit those who show the most potential, in writing, in Year 6 entrance exams.

[shootmenow]

I can only comment on DDs' school. The interview is very important there.
If they have 140-160 who have passed the exam (approx. 600-700 sitting) and only 60 places ( and don't over offer by more than a handful in the knowledge that they will be 1st choice for most sitting), the interview is key.
They don't want over-tutored girls who will crash and burn when they join the school. They don't want girls who can't think independently or creatively. They ask questions at interview which are designed to see if girls can take unfamiliar concepts and apply them to new situations.The mental maths is designed to be nearly impossible and other elements are supposed to be subjective. They want to see if a girl can fail to get an answer and change tack based on new information and hints. This is the sort of girl who will cope intellectually. It isn't just about A/A* potential because, quite frankly, that's about the minimum. It's about finding girls who will be a joy to teach.

[Guest55]

It's about finding girls who will be a joy to teach.

Every child is a joy to teach ... the ones that have to work hard to get that grade C, even more so!

[shootmenow]

That child won't be at the schools Jean Brodie and I are commenting on. Nor OP, I suspect.
My mum taught Special Ed(old style SENCO) and came home euphoric when her students did well. It was really rewarding for her to help them achieve.

[Guest55]

I was just commenting that 'being a joy to teach' is something ALL children have so how can it be a sensible criterion? It cannot be measured and can't be objective.

[Catseye]

I was just commenting that 'being a joy to teach' is something ALL children have so how can it be a sensible criterion? It cannot be measured and can't be objective.

Well said

one could argue that for a child to enter a very selective school where that child may struggle and be miserable would not be his/her best interest

"being a joy to teach" if that's their criterion , what kind of teachers are they??

I do not pay my taxes or private fees for teachers to choose in a 15min interview who are going to be their pet pupils

[kenyancowgirl]

Agreed...any teacher who does not see some sort of joy in teaching every child should be thinking about moving on - even the most difficult child can surely give eureka moments? Perhaps what these "joy to teach" seeking interviews are really about are looking for the "easy to teach" children that are the least effort....

[Amber]

The greatest pleasure I ever got from teaching was always with the children who for one reason or another had struggled. It is why I ended up working in special needs, or with sick or troubled children. I kind of have a feeling that this isn't what the top independent schools mean by the term - but where is the challenge in teaching the kind of child who could do it all for themselves anyway? I agree KCG - 'easy to teach' is probably what they are after!

[shootmenow]

What a strange way to twist what I wrote.
In the context of a very high achieving indie, girls who actually enjoy an intellectual challenge will be the ones that they are happy to teach because that is what is on offer at the school. Nobody who will have to work hard for a C will even make it through the exam. A child who will struggle would never be happy in a selective school and the interview is about finding who will be happy.
I'll remind you of the title of the thread .

[Catseye]

girls who actually enjoy an intellectual challenge

do they really? or has it been drummed into them at the age of 4 that they must succeed, only to get burnt out at degree level where they may come across some even more super-bright competition form the State sector , and quite often fall flat on their faces.

I know all about theses so called super-smart Indie children , maxed out at 18 with the intense pressure of Top Tier Private schools-they have nothing more give when it counts. The old days of just because one went to Eton got the top jobs are fading it's more of a albatross around their necks than any real advantage.

The times are a changing.