References from primary schools

Independent Schools as an alternative to Grammar

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Middlesexmum
Posts: 1008
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:54 am

References from primary schools

Post by Middlesexmum »

At what point do schools approach primary schools for references? Do they ask for references for all applicants, or at interview stage or offer stage?

How much weight does the reference hold?
Bazelle
Posts: 199
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:14 pm
Location: London

Re: References from primary schools

Post by Bazelle »

They do so quite early after registration. I have in mind a boy that CLS decided not to interview based on such letter from a prep school despite fantastic results in their written exam (CLS give the results of the written exam to those not invited to interview). The boy in question nearly got expelled a couple of times from our prep, the parents pleaded with the school to keep him but were warned that they would not be able to provide a good recommendation letter. A very clever boy but unmanageable and disruptive.
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: References from primary schools

Post by kenyancowgirl »

No primary school child is unmanageable. The teachers at that school may not be able to cope but that is their issue, not the childs.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: References from primary schools

Post by Guest55 »

kenyancowgirl wrote:No primary school child is unmanageable. The teachers at that school may not be able to cope but that is their issue, not the childs.
+1 What a terrible thing to say about any student!

Most of the time bad behaviour is down to poor teaching.
LolaD
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:06 am

Re: References from primary schools

Post by LolaD »

Middlesexmum wrote:At what point do schools approach primary schools for references? Do they ask for references for all applicants, or at interview stage or offer stage?

How much weight does the reference hold?

I understand KEHS Birmingham requested references for all applicants before the exam in October 2017. As for how much weighting the reference accounts for; Sorry, I have no idea!
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: References from primary schools

Post by yoyo123 »

Guest55 wrote:
kenyancowgirl wrote:No primary school child is unmanageable. The teachers at that school may not be able to cope but that is their issue, not the childs.
+1 What a terrible thing to say about any student!

Most of the time bad behaviour is down to poor teaching.
I agree that it is a terrible thing to say about a child, but cannot agree that bad behaviour is down to poor teaching. There is fa4 more to it than that, especially if we are talking about primary school age children
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: References from primary schools

Post by Guest55 »

yoyo123 wrote:I agree that it is a terrible thing to say about a child, but cannot agree that bad behaviour is down to poor teaching. There is far more to it than that, especially if we are talking about primary school age children
I did say 'most' and not 'all' - undiagnosed SEN can also account for it and family issues and ....

Given what was said I would guess part of the reason was boredom if he scored highly in the exams.
Bazelle
Posts: 199
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:14 pm
Location: London

Re: References from primary schools

Post by Bazelle »

There are plenty of bored children who behave themselves. This is one advantage of the independent school system, they can and they will ask references and interview children and parents.
streathammum
Posts: 1252
Joined: Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:02 pm

Re: References from primary schools

Post by streathammum »

I guess they do have to weed out the more difficult children if their staff aren't capable of teaching them...
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: References from primary schools

Post by Guest55 »

Too true! :)

I never found an 'expelled' student from a Private school that was a problem in class.
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