Format de nos tests d'entrée

Pre-Kindergarten / Moyenne Section 

Year 1 or Kindergarten / Grande Section 

Tips for preparing for the test

• Read and share books with your child regularly.
• Try to read together every day. It doesn’t have to be books; use your environment, exploit the texts around you – posters, cereal packets, notices – they can be used for spotting letters and sounds.
• Talk about the book before reading it. Look at the title, the pictures and the information on the cover. If it’s an old book, discuss your favourite bits.
• Read with different voices and get your child to join in with bits that are repetitive (‘They pulled and pulled’, ‘Oh, no said the… I won’t let you in’, etc.)
• When you have finished, talk about the events in the book.
• Encourage your child to talk by asking if something similar has happened to them, or what they would have done in the same situation.
• Encourage them to ask you questions about the book.
• After reading, play letter spotting and word games. How many words can you find that begin with the ‘t’ sound? What word rhymes with say?

Year 2 / CP

Tips for preparing for the test

• Read and share books with your child regularly.
• Try to read together every day. It doesn’t have to be books; use your environment, exploit the texts around you – posters, cereal packets, notices – they can be used for spotting letters and sounds.
• Talk about the book before reading it. Look at the title, the pictures and the information on the cover. If it’s an old book, discuss your favourite bits.
• Read with different voices and get your child to join in with bits that are repetitive (‘They pulled and pulled’, ‘Oh, no said the… I won’t let you in’, etc.)
• When you have finished, talk about the events in the book.
• Encourage your child to talk by asking if something similar has happened to them, or what they would have done in the same situation.
• Encourage them to ask you questions about the book.
• After reading, play letter spotting and word games. How many words can you find that begin with the ‘t’ sound? What word rhymes with say?
• After reading, play letter spotting and word games. How many words can you find that begin with the ‘t’ sound? What word rhymes with say? This word says ‘Dan’; can you find it anywhere else on the page?
• Make sure they are pronouncing the sounds of the letters correctly.
• Practise writing their names with them.

Year 3 / CE1 

Tips for preparing for the test

• To prepare them for the test it is a good idea to read with your child every day.
• Read a range of literature: picture books, short chapter books and information books are all useful tools for developing their reading strategies and giving them the opportunity to express their views.
• If the book your child has chosen to read with you is too challenging for them, share the reading. You read one page, they read the next or, they read the captions and you read the main body of text. Both of you can read at the same time and when your child nudges you, you stop reading and let them read alone until they begin to stumble, at which point you begin reading with them again.
• When they get stuck on a word, encourage them to use their sound knowledge rather than the alphabet.
• Encourage them to retell the main events.
•  Encourage them to discuss the events in relation to their life.
• Play word games, finding words that rhyme or have the same sound but are spelt differently in the text (there, bear, hair, etc.); think of synonyms for words.
• Ask them their opinion about the characters’ actions and behaviour.
• Get them to ask you questions.
• Get them to perform: to use different voices, volumes and pace.
• Encourage them to read to younger siblings.
• Get your child writing regularly – lists of shopping, things to do, labels in their rooms on pictures they draw, postcards, thank you letters, emails – don’t worry about the spelling, just let them write.
• Practise writing frequently used words like ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘it’, ‘the’ and ‘and’.
• Sound out words they ask you to help them with rather than using the names of the letters.
•  Be a model; show them that you write too.

Year 4 / CE2 

Tips for preparing for the test

• Hearing a story rather than watching it on the TV still has a big influence on reading skills, so regular story reading is highly advised.
• If the book your child has chosen to read with you is too challenging for them, share the reading. You read one page, they read the next or, they read the captions and you read the main body of text. Both of you can read at the same time and when you child nudges you, you stop reading and let them read alone until then begin to stumble, at which point you begin reading with them again.
• Get them to perform; using different voices, pace and tone.
• When reading with your child, stop them occasionally and ask them to predict the subsequent event or action of the character.
• Encourage them to ask questions about things they don’t understand or know the meaning of.
• Ask them to give you a synonym for words in the text.
• Ask them their opinion on the actions or events in the book.
• Encourage them to discuss events in their lives that are similar to those in books.
• Get them writing regularly (5 minutes a day) but don’t correct their work – just let them write and then share what they have written with you.
• Be a model; show them that you write too.

Year 5/6 - CM1/CM2 

Tips for preparing for the test

• Sharing books is an important tool for developing children’s reading strategies and thus comprehension of books, so share a variety of literature with your child on a regular basis.
• Read aloud to them and be dramatic!
•  Get them to read aloud to you, encouraging expression.
•  Make a game of predicting – who made the most accurate prediction.
•  Discuss the inferences made in the story – what mood do you think the mum is in? What does it say in the story to make you think that?
• Encourage them to ask questions: about the things they don’t understand; about words they are not familiar with; about things that they won’t find an answer to in the book.
• Compare and contrast the story or characters with other stories.
• Encourage them to make links with their own lives.
• Ask them their opinions on characters or events.
• Get them writing regularly (10 minutes a day) about anything that interests them (a diary, a play for their Lego characters, a picture book, jokes, letters, stories like the one they are sharing with you, etc.) but don’t correct their work – just let them write and then share what they have written with you.

Lower Secondary - Collège 

The entry tests for the lower secondary - collège level candidates include both a written composition and an oral interview.

Candidates must be fluent speakers of English and be able to read and write at levels equivalent to the year groups applied for in our native language programme.

Written Composition: 

• Candidate will read a non-fiction text and respond to a question related to their reading and comprehension of the text. 
• They will have 1 hour to write a well-structured composition that addresses appropriately the writing prompt. 
• Candidate's will be assessed on their written expression, range of vocabulary and ability to structure and link their ideas. 

Oral Interview:

• Candidates will be given an extract from a work of fiction appropriate to level of the year group applied for. 
• They will then be engaged in general conversation with a teacher and discuss questions arising from the text.
• Candidates will be assessed on their ability to infer meaning, on their level of comprehension and analysis of the elements of fiction (eg. character, setting, language choices, themes). 

Suggested English workbooks and study guides for 6e and 5e candidates: 

KS3 English revision Guide:  https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/secondary-books/ks3/english/ehs37-new-ks3-english-complete-revision

KS3 revision workbook: https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/secondary-books/ks3/english/ehw36b-new-ks3-english-workbook-with-answers

KS3 SPAG revision guide: https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/secondary-books/ks3/english/egr32-new-ks3-spelling-punctuation-grammar

KS3 SPAG workbook: https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/secondary-books/ks3/english/egw32b-new-ks3-spelling-punctuation-grammar

Upper Secondary - Lycée 

The entry tests for the upper secondary - lycée level candidates include both a written composition and an oral interview.

Candidates must be fluent speakers of English and be able to read and write at levels equivalent to the year groups applied for in our native language programme.

Written Composition: 

• Candidate will read a non-fiction text and respond to a question related to their reading and comprehension of the text. 
• They will have 1 hour and 20mins  to write a well-structured composition that addresses appropriately the writing prompt. 
• Candidate's will be assessed on their written expression, range of vocabulary and ability to structure and link their ideas, as well their understanding of the audience and the relevancy of their response. 

Oral Interview:

• Candidates will be given an extract from a work of fiction appropriate to level of the year group applied for. 
• They will then be engaged in general conversation with a teacher and discuss questions arising from the text.
• Candidates will be assessed on their ability to infer meaning, on their level of close-reading and analysis of the elements of fiction (eg. character, setting, language choices, literary allusions, themes and genre). 

Suggested English workbooks and study guides for  candidates entering Seconde: