Avoid this unless you want your child to fail their school interviews!

 For the last twenty years, I have been working with students who are hoping to get into selective schools. Our parents are successful, motivated people and they want to help their children as much as they can. Which leads us to one of the biggest errors in interview preparation.... memorisation. 

 It is always so disheartening to try to interview a child and be bet with a barrage of pre-prepared answers. At best, these are unengaging, at worst they are garbled, rotobotic and express ideas unlikely to be natural for a ten year old. 

Is your child REALLY reading Great Expectations? Really? Or do they gravitate towards Harry Potter and the Wings of Fire series?  An interviewer wants to know what makes your child tick, not how well they can memorise Wikipedia...

 Do you remember how you used to talk about picture books when your child was young? Try to re-tap into their natural curiosity. A heartfelt discussion about whether Ron or Hermione would be a better friend if you had to choose one is a hundred times more likely to impress than a pre-recorded synopsis of a plot.

I'm not suggesting that you don't practise or talk to your child about their interests. However, please, please, please avoid getting your child to memorise ''good answers''! 

 Want to have more ideas about school interview prep? See my new book!