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The Glittering Prizes: Eton King's Scholars, Radley, CLC, Wycombe scholarships

We had some wonderful news today: one of our Brandon boys has won an Eton College King's Scholarship award. This has been a particularly good year for our students who seem to be scooping up scholarships and exhibitions in a multitude of schools. The girls have won scholarships at: CLC, Wycombe and exhibitions at Benenden. The boys have aced: Eton, Radley, and Oundle. Brandon has been preparing students for scholarships for over 13 years now.  If you are considering the scholarship route for your son or daughter, the following will help: 1: Understand your child; are they a natural scholar? Some children thrive in academic competitions, others less so. Be honest! 2: Consider a reading list; most prep schools will have a decent list tucked away or the school library is a good place to start. Incorporate fiction, non-fiction and even (gasp) poetry! 3: Be aware of the requirements; do you need to do languages? Cover science? Humanities? What on earth is a General paper? 4:

Choosing a school: what are the co-ed options?

Times are changing and boarding schools are alive to the need to offer options. The traditional single-sex or co-ed division has changed. The diamond structure of schooling (mixed until 11 - single sex until 16 - mixed sixth form)  is possible when single-sex schools are in close proximity. Students benefit from having time to develop at their own pace but can take advantage of a greater range of facilities. Examples include: Berkhamsted School with more to follow (for more information, look at this article from the Spectator:   Insight into diamond schools) Mixed Sixth forms allow schools to offer a breadth of subjects and to introduce a new cohort at 16+. Successful examples include: Westminster and Charterhouse (who recently announced that they will be going fully co-ed!) Schools which remain single-sex but take advantage of geographical proximity to offer joint activities  throughout the school include: Sherborne Girls partnering with Sherborne Boys and St Mary's Ascot wi

Thought for the day - giving children the gift of freedom

The first part of a poem by Vachel Lindsay: The Leaden-Eyed Let not young souls be smothered out before They do quaint deeds and fully flaunt their pride. It is the world's one crime its babes grow dull Its poor are ox-like, limp and leaden-eyed. How will your child do quaint deeds and flaunt their pride this week?

What schools are looking for - Winchester College

This post is part of an occasional series based on meetings with school registrars. Brandon had a visit from Mr Andrew Shedden, Registrar of Winchester College this week. Winchester is an extraordinary institution and, for a wonderful month a year over five years, I was blessed to be a part of it. To summarise some of Mr Shedden's points: Who thrives at Winchester? Academically curious, engaged boys who are willing to think beyond the classroom. How does the school identify suitable students? The first stage is the ISEB pre-test. Should your son do well in the pre-test, he will be invited to an interview during which he may be given a verbal, non-verbal and logic test and school reference will be requested. What is a Winchester interview like? Unexpected! The purpose of the interview is to try to see what makes the boys 'tick'. Wise words? Boys need to be guided to develop resilience and independence. They should be willing to take risks and to learn how to

Planning a UK school visit for Chinese New Year?

Many of our parents will take advantage of the CNY school holidays to visit UK boarding schools. Our schools are strict about children taking taking off but February in Britain can be a bleak time and schools really don’t appeal to children when they are seeing through a veil of rain. Here are a few tips to prepare your children so you avoid the experience of one Brandon parent who told me: “Tim came back from our school visits determined never to go to boarding school!” Preparations: 1: You will need coats. And umbrellas! 2: Wear flat and comfortable shoes. Visiting schools requires a lot of walking: Oundle is a sprawling campus as is Millfield and you don’t want to miss seeing some of the facilities. If you are going to an older school like Winchester College, King’s Canterbury, you will be dealing with cobbles. 3: Talk to your daughter or son about what they will be seeing. Check the forecast together so they are ready for anything that the British weather can throw at them.

The Golden Rules for School Interview Preparation

Here are my top five rules for interviews, none of which are earth-shattering news to most parents but all of which are worth bearing in mind! 5: Understand the format of the interview: will your child be tested (Eton, Westminster) if so, what style is the test? Is there a group interview?  4: Do you have to bring anything to the interview ? A school exercise book? An item to discuss? If so, spend some time discussing the items with your child. Flick through the work book and ask your child to select the piece of work they are proudest of. Ask them why they chose their special item. Choose your own item and compare. Have fun finding out about your child!  3: Is there a dress code? Some schools (e.g. Downe House) ask girls to bring sports kit as part of the day includes a group exercise activity. If you are unsure, call the school. Wearing school uniform is always a safe bet and may help your son or daughter to put themselves into school-mode. If you opt to buy a suit or new

Hanford - a prep school which values childhood

During my conversation with a Brandon parent about prep schools, I was asked which I would choose for myself. Without hesitation, I replied: "Hanford"! Imagine a slightly crumbling manor house set amongst idyllic countryside, where groups of girls dressed in Cath Kitson florals, woolly jumpers and gum boots wander around chasing each other, playing games or just chatting, and ponies are part of the family. The dormitories are floral, friendly and very communal with lost of shared clothing and tuck kept in Daddy's old briefcase (I never worked out why...) Lessons are encouraging for the girls who need support and enriching for those who need stretching. Break times are spent roller skating or swarming up a large and very inviting tree. Harvest festival in the apple-decorated chapel is a genuine service of thanksgiving. Birthdays are celebrated with the birthday girl inviting her family to join her on a special birthday table but the whole school joins in the sugar-fest

Documenting your summer - the art of the journal

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, you will see a collection of mini-magazines and  journals created by the Bronte sisters and their brother. The isolated house is a treasure trove of creativity. Like the Bronte sisters, your child may well go on to be an inspirational writer but even if they only dip into writing as a distraction from their day job, the writing bug is worthwhile catching! One way of inspiring your child to write is to start a holiday journal which can be gifted to an older relative when the family returns from a trip. The journal itself doesn't have to be expensive, an exercise book will do. Decorate the cover - be creative! One of my students used a cheap copy book to describe her recent trip visiting schools (as far North as Fettes College in Edinburgh, and West as Canford!) and decorated the cover with train tickets from the various journeys she took. The journal itself should be a collection of observations, pictures

To improve exam grades... Get some sleep!

We have just had boys sitting Common Entrance for Marlborough College and Radley and ISEB Pre-tests for a whole host of schools. The students sometimes drag themselves in, bleary eyed, desperately trying to cram facts into their tired brains before the exams start. Every year, I give parents the same advice; the night before the exam, the best thing your child can do is to get an early night and try to relax. This year, I have been passing out a research report which backs up the suggestion! Researchers at the University of Ghent and of KU Leuven  have found that students who get between six to seven hours' sleep the night before an exam increase their scores by an average of 1.7 points on a scale of 20. That might not sound like much but as a percentage, it could make the difference between an A and B grade. Sitting down to an exam when your brain is exhausted leads to half-processed ideas and panic. A good night's sleep will allow your child to walk into the exam room b

What is the ISEB Pretest? The format explained

Entry to schools used to be relative easy: register, interview, get an offer, sit Common Entrance and start in September. All has changed. Why? Simple: the sheer numbers of students applying to UK schools has increased dramatically and schools have elected to use pre-tests in order to identify applicants who will be able to thrive in their classrooms. So what does the pre-test consist of? The test is taken online and there are four sections: Maths (50 mins) English (25 mins) Non-Verbal reasoning (32 mins) Verbal reasoning (36 mins) Students may take breaks between sections but, once started, the test cannot be paused. A timer at the top of the screen shows the student how much time remains and there is an indicator at the bottom of the screen showing which question number the student is on and how many he/she has left to answer. There are no prizes for finishing first! We recommend that our students pace themselves and aim for accuracy rather than racing though the quest

Time running away? Practising for the ISEB Pre-test

One of the challenges a number of our children appear to be encountering when they are taking the ISEB and other pretests is runnning out of time. The maths section in particular can present problems as students try to extract the problem from the test. Try this: Give you child a sheet of word-based maths problems (e.g. three boys bought a six litre bottle of orange squash which they divided equally amongst them, how much did each boy receive?) and ask your child to write out the resultant sum. As your child becomes faster, increase the complexity of the arithmatic. Include: fractions, percentages, measurements. Allocate time to completing the sheet. Use a large kitchen timer which rings when "time is up" so your child gets used to working to time constraints. Talk to them about how they are going to be dividing his time. You can use the timer technique are you practice verbal/non-verbal reasoning.