Wimbledon High School gets creative with 11+ process

Many alumnae will have memories of their 11+ experience – for good or bad the system of testing in some schools hasn’t changed much in years. Wimbledon High moved to testing in VR (verbal reasoning) and NVR (non-verbal reasoning) some years ago, more recently adding in a creative task and swapping interviews for fun but nevertheless highly illuminating group assessments.

As you may have seen in the Sunday Times in May, Wimbledon is now taking this more creative approach a step further. ‘We were looking at the skills needed in future jobs – jobs that don’t get exist yet but need problem solving, team work and intellectual agility, and wondered if these are important in our teaching, then why not in our 11+ assessments too?’ said Jane Lunnon, Head. The school is indeed embracing a cross curricular approach throughout the school: ‘We need to move past 19th century constructs of what is Biology, what is Geography and view education in the round. Because it’s what happens when Religious Studies meets Physics or English meets Biology that is truly fascinating. These sorts of discussions and enquiry encourage the sort of flexibility of thought that will be so vital in an age of Artificial Intelligence and future technologies.’

Wimbledon High School is investing in this innovative approach to learning, building a STEAM (full..) Tower on its Mansel Road site that will foster interdisciplinary research. You can find out more at http://www.wimbledonhigh.gdst.net/about-us/project-ex-humilibus.

Meanwhile the school would love to hear about your 11+ experiences – please contact Alison.hunt@wim.gdst.net.