Batley Grammar School and Priestley House are selective schools, and entry is conditional on a good performance in the entrance examination or tests. No student will be refused admission on the basis of his or her disability. Batley Grammar School and Priestley House have selection criteria based on ability, which all candidates must meet, but all reasonable adjustments to entry procedures will be made to accommodate disabled students.

 

Entry procedures into Priestley House vary according to the age of the child.

 

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 about 45minutes with our Head of Early Years 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.

At the end of Year 2 all the children will be required to sit the Year 3 Entrance exam and reach a satisfactory standard in order to progress to Key Stage 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 2 ½ hours.

 

In most cases all Priestley House pupils who wish to transfer to Year 7 in the Senior School do so automatically. However, if we have any concerns about a Priestley House pupil who we believe may struggle in Senior School, they will be required to sit the formal Batley Grammar School Year 7 Entrance Exam and reach a satisfactory standard.