Selection Day 2021

Posted: 15th January 2021

An innovative start to the New Year.

Mrs Savic, the St Augustine’s Priory Registrar, reports on this year’s unusual Selection Day:

‘This year’s 11+ Selection Day was like no other in that we did not have any written tests but instead an extended interview via Zoom.  The current national lockdown has meant that we could not invite the girls in to sit the 11+ London Consortium test, as planned, but instead we moved over to Zoom.  We successfully interviewed 70 girls on Friday 8th January and will be interviewing another group on Saturday 16th January.

Our teachers are very experienced at interviewing and many of those who participated on Friday have interviewed our 11+ candidates over the years.  However, interviewing via Zoom whilst also including questions on Maths, English, Art and Science added another dimension to the interview process.  We heard some wonderful answers to questions such as “would you prefer a tail or a horn?” with conversations turning to unicorns and luxurious tails which could be used as scarves in the cold weather woven into the conversation.  Not your average 11+ interview methinks!  Then again, nothing about the last 10 months has been average, has it?

Some of the candidates we interviewed had missed many months of learning owing to school closures in the Summer Term and then having to self-isolate last term for several weeks at a time, but their resilience shone through as they smiled and laughed showed us items which they were proud of, such as a robotic arm built from scratch by the candidate.

Many of our questions do not have a right or wrong answer, they are designed to see ‘how’ a child thinks on their feet and how they articulate their ideas.  This is more powerful somehow and as exhausting as it was to interview 10 candidates in one day it was an extremely productive and insightful way to get to know each girl.  They are much more than a result in Maths and English and they showed us that in abundance.  We look forward to meeting more girls on Saturday and our Art, Drama, Music and Sport teachers have innovatively adapted their scholarship processes this year and will be running everything via Zoom on Saturday 16th January.

Here at St Augustine’s we continue to find ways to innovate and adapt when we need to but always with what is in the best interest of the child at the heart of everything we do.’

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