Thanks so much PettswoodFiona. She isn't doing Bexley (not practical to get to), but she is doing Kent. There is creative writing (or rather, writing - it isn't necessarily fiction) in the sutton second round. But ultimately, it doesn't matter because she loves the writing. How many mocks did your DD do?
My DD is generally very fast with less attention to detail, so we have been working on slowing her down and trying to get her to pay attention to the detail - that is how we are 'tutoring' for the NVR (and indeed everything). I worry there are techniques to teach her, but I think she is doing okay simply going slower. We will just need to get her to go faster with her slower, more attentive, technique. She has always been an avid reader, but she has gotten more particular so it has become harder to get her to read widely. But she reads her favourites over and over again. Again, she is so incredibly fast, it is hard to get her to slow down to make note of words she doesn't understand. However, she re-reads them many times, and I think for that reason her vocabulary is good.
Did you do any mocks for Newstead in particular? The one I have just booked is for Kent, and I thought that might be good at seeing overall what her strengths and weaknesses are.
In terms of who the school suits - what I'm looking for for her is a school where it is okay to be very academic, and where she doesn't need to pretend to be less academic to feel like she fits in. She likes to fit in. She is competitive, but she doesn't like to stand out. I also want a school where she will learn to be challenged (but I hope within a supportive environment), and where she can learn to fail. I am hoping that is Newstead. I also would like a school where being 'cool' isn't the only acceptable way to be. I'm guessing in all secondary schools there are cool kids, but I'm hoping that there is more scope for girls to be more than that. My main concern with Newstead is that I believe they allow the girls to have mobile phones in schools. I really wish that they were banned! But still, that is a small thing
