HOUSE SCHOOLLuckle

Joining LuckleyThe next steps

Choosing the right school for your child can be a momentous and daunting task. The staff at Luckley House feel we have a part to play by making sure that all children who are offered places will thrive, succeed and benefit from being at school with us. We are happy to discuss entry into the school at any stage during the year and into all year groups, subject to availability of places.

We are privileged to work with some wonderfully talented pupils and offer a range of scholarships including academic, sports, music, drama and art awards. If you wish to discuss bursaries and Forces discount, please contact the Bursar’s Department on 0118 974 3201 or by email to bursar@luckleyhouseschool.org

I hope that this booklet will guide you through the admissions process but please do contact me at any time if you require clarification or have further questions. We encourage pupils to experience a taster day with us and for parents to visit as many times as they feel necessary before making this important decision.

Mrs Claire Bell, Registrar

Important Dates for Year 7 and Year 9 Entry in 2016TASTER DAYS

Year 7 Taster Day Thursday 26 February 2015

Year 5 Taster Days Thursdays 18 and 25 June 2015

Deadline for Registration Monday 30 November 2015

Submission of Storyboard (Year 7 entry) Monday 4 January 2016

ENTRANCE EXAMS AND INTERVIEWS Wednesday 6 January 2016

SCHOLARSHIPS ASSESSMENTS

Art Scholarships Monday 11 January 2016

Music Scholarships Tuesday 12 January 2016

Drama Scholarships Tuesday 12 January 2016

Sports Scholarships Wednesday 13 January 2016

BURSARY APPLICATIONS

Applications for bursaries should be made no later than Monday 30 November 2015.

OFFERS

We will send offer letters out to all successful candidates within two weeks of the entrance examinations.

ACCEPTANCES

The deadline for accepting a place is Monday 29 February 2016.

THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS

Once you have decided to apply for a place for your child at Luckley House School, the next stage is to complete a registration form and submit the non-refundable registration fee of £75.

The Entrance ExaminationsWe admit students through our own entrance examination process, where both academic ability and all-round potential are assessed. Your child will spend the day with us, during which he/she will sit tests in mathematics, English and non-verbal reasoning. The candidates will then have lunch with some of our Year 7 pupils, before taking part in fun activities in the Sports Hall, which will give them a chance to relax and enjoy some valuable social interaction with their peers.

Although the entrance examinations are an important indicator of the candidate’s level of academic attainment, we do not make our decisons based purely on the results. We offer places to children who we feel will thrive within the Luckley environment, both academically and personally, and to whom we are confident that we can provide the right level of support to ensure that the child reaches his or her full potential.

We also consider a report from your child’s current Headteacher and all candidates will have an interview with our Head or senior member of staff.

Preparing for the InterviewThe interview will take place within an informal setting and every effort will be made to ensure that your child is relaxed and at ease. The interviewer will be either the Head, Jane Tudor, or a senior member of staff. The aim of the interview is to find out more about your child and his or her interests, talents and aspirations.

As part of the interview process for Year 7 entry, we invite candidates to complete a personal ‘Story Board’ to demonstrate their hobbies, achievements and interests. This can be as simple or creative as the child desires.

EXAMPLE

Accepting a PlaceWe will send out letters within two weeks of the entrance examination date. If successful, the offer of a place will be held until Monday 29 February 2016, which is our deadline for acceptance. To accept a place for your child you will be required to return the acceptance form, along with a deposit of £600. All deposits are set against the final term’s disbursements.

SEN SupportWhere additional educational needs have been identified, offers may be conditional upon the child receiving learning support at Luckley. An assessment will be arranged with our SEN Co-ordinator, followed by a meeting to discuss the support proposed.

A typical classroom in which entrance exams take place

THE ENTRANCE EXAMINATIONSThe entrance examination is our means of assessing what the pupils are able to do. Although our school is selective, we do accept a relatively wide ability range. Most importantly, we are keen to ensure that the curriculum we offer is suitable to all the pupils in the school. As we offer the traditional GCSE and A Level qualifications, all pupils must be able to access these. Therefore we would expect successful candidates to have reached the average standard expected of pupils in Year 6. This indicates that they will be able to achieve passes in at least five GCSE subjects, including Mathematics and English.

We set entrance examination papers in Mathematics, English (comprehension and composition) and Non-Verbal Reasoning. The following pages give a selection of the types of questions your child will encounter, and any preparation could involve practising normal SATS type questions in Mathematics and English. We are keen to see every child at their best and so we aim to make the day as calm and relaxed as possible.

ENGLISH TEST

The English test will comprise two parts; firstly your child will be asked to read a short story, or piece of text and will then answer 10 questions about what they have read. He/she will then produce a piece of creative writing, with a given subject or title.

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

Section A

Read the following paragraph carefully and then answer the comprehension question beneath.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?' So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, `Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

Answer the following questions in whole sentences. Marks will be awarded for any relevant evidence used in your answers. 1. What strange event happens to Alice? (2 marks)2. What is unusual about the rabbit? (2 marks)3. Describe Alice’s attitude towards books. (2 marks)

NB. This example is an excerpt, the actual text will be longer, with approx. 10 questions.

Section B

Write a description of a special event that you attended.

The candidate is being assessed on the use of correct written English in this section. Bonus marks will be awarded for the correct use of paragraphs and tenses, as well as the use of different sorts of sentences.

MATHEMATICS TEST

The Year 7 entrance exam for Mathematics contains questions of National Curriculum levels 3 to 6 in order to give all students sitting the paper a variety of difficulty, although there is no expectation that the students have covered some of the level 6 content. Here is an example of the difficulty of questions on the paper:

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

Age (years) Average height for boys (cm)

Average height for girls (cm)

7 122 1219 134 13311 143 14413 155 15515 169 162

a) What is the average height for girls aged 9 years old?

Answer .......... cm

b) A boy and a girl are both 15 years old. Their heights are average for their age. How much taller is the boy than the girl?

Answer ......... cm

LEVEL 3 The table shows the average heights of boys and girls of different ages.

LEVEL 5The diagram shows triangle PQR

Work out the sizes of angles a, b and ca = b = c =

LEVEL 6 (Extension)a) Solve this equation.

7 + 5k = 8k + 1

k = ..................

b) Solve this equation. Show your working.

10y + 23 = 4y + 26

y = .................

LEVEL 4

Mark and Kate each buy a family pack of crisps. Each family pack contains ten bags of crisps.

The table shows how many bags of each flavour are in each family pack.

Flavour Number of bagsplain 5

vinegar 2chicken 2cheese 1

a) Mark is going to take a bag of crisps at random from his family pack. Complete these sentences.

The probability that the flavour will be....... is 1/2

Answer:

The probability that the flavour will be cheese is.....

Answer:

b) Kate ate two bags of plain crisps from her family pack of ten bags. Now she is going to take a bag at random from the bags that are left.

What is the probability that the flavour will be cheese?

Answer:

NON-VERBAL REASONING TEST

Non-verbal reasoning questions are designed to test a child’s ability to work out problems regardless of their knowledge of English. The questions use abstract figures which require the child to work out similarities in sequences of shapes or codes. To be successful in a non-verbal reasoning test a child will need to be able to see how objects relate to each other, apply logical deduction skills and understand maths concepts such as symmetry and rotation.

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS

a) Find the shape or pattern which completes the square. Circle the letter.

b) Find the shape or pattern which completes or continues the given series. Circle the letter.

Now try this one.

Example

Example

Now try this one.

c) Find the shape or pattern which completes the second pair in the same way as the first pair. Circle the letter.

Example

Now try this one.

Examples from Nelson Thorne

HOUSE SCHOOLLuckle

Luckley RoadWokinghamRG40 3EU

T: 0118 978 4175 E: Registrar@luckleyhouseschool.orgwww.luckleyhouseschool.org

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OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT

Open Evening Thursday 4 June - 6.15pm

Open Morning Saturday 10 October 2015 - 9.15am

Open HouseEvery Friday morning during term time. Arrive at 9.30am for coffee with the Head, followed by a tour of the school.

Individual AppointmentsContact the Registrar to arrange a meeting with the Head.