Batley Grammar School (including Priestley House, the junior school) is a selective coeducational, independent, fee paying day school.  In our recruitment process we are seeking to identify girls and boys who have both academic potential and are going to be willing to take advantage of the wide range of extracurricular opportunities available.  Batley Grammar School and Priestley House have selection criteria based upon ability, which all candidates should meet, but all reasonable adjustments to entry procedures will be made to accommodate pupils with specific needs.  No pupil will be refused admission on the basis of her/his disability.

 

Children who wish to be admitted into Nursery need to be fully toilet trained and able to eat independently using a spoon at least.  Prospective pupils are invited into the Nursery for about an hour to be informally assessed by the Nursery teacher. She will look at how well a child interacts with other pupils and adults; their speech development; and how they respond to a variety of activities such as role play in the home corner, sand and water play etc. On some occasions it may be necessary for the child to have another assessment session in Nursery, if we are unable to fully assess their responses on the first visit

Children applying to join classes Reception to Year 2 inclusive, are required to spend approximately 45 minutes with the Deputy Head of Priestley House. They will be expected to complete a range of tasks covering early knowledge of number and appropriate grasp of number concepts and moving from spoken language in Reception to the written word in Years 1 and 2. The tasks will be practical in Reception but will include written work for Years 1 and 2.

For pupils wishing to join Years 3 to 6 inclusive, assessment procedures are more formal. All children will be expected to sit reading, writing and maths tests for the appropriate year group. These tests, and an informal talk with the Head of Priestley House, will last approximately 2 to 2½ hours.