Thinking Skills at Crescent School
As part of our key aim to prepare our pupils as much as possible for the next stage in their educational journey, children in Years 4 and 5 receive weekly Thinking Skills lessons as part of their learning provision. This is delivered in a pressure-free, stress-free manner, with a real emphasis on fun puzzle solving and detective work, rather than keeping scores and meeting boundaries. We feel that this gives them the greatest possible chance to achieve their very best in transitioning to Secondary school, whether this be through the 11+, independent school entrance exams, or just in developing life-long transferrable skills.
Please see below for the key points:
- All pupils in Year 4 and Year 5 receive 30 mins Verbal Reason and 30 mins Non-Verbal Reasoning per week, hitting two out of the 3 key areas of most assessments (Maths covered by curriculum lessons, with an extra focus in NVR lessons on problem solving and application)
- Small class sizes of 12 pupils for enhanced feedback and guidance
- Explicit and differentiated teaching tailored directly to the current Warwickshire 11+ GL exam, regularly updated with feedback from pupils who have recently sat the exams
- Key preparation for Warwickshire 11+ and Independent school entrance exams such as Princethorpe College
- Focus on key areas not covered in National Curriculum – such as pattern spotting, problem solving etc.
- Builds familiarity with expected question types from test
- Explicit teaching of exam technique such as time management, pace, double checking answers etc.
- Delivered by Mr Adkins and Ms Clark, two fully qualified teachers with experience in private 11+ tuition
- Pressure free with emphasis on fun puzzle solving and detective work
- Fully transferrable skills – problem solving, time management, checking answers, process of elimination, trial and error, exam technique etc.
- Includes full mock exam experience in hall at start of Year 6 prior to 11+ and Independent school entrance exams