Preparatory School
The Prep School starts for children in Year 4 and ends in Year 8, after which the pupils move to our Senior School at Appleford.
Each child has a Form Teacher responsible for his or her academic progress and pastoral care, which is augmented by our Pastoral and Therapy teams and overseen by the Head of Learning Support and Director of Studies. Each Teacher is responsible for a class of no larger than ten pupils and is supported by a Learning Support Assistant.
The overriding principle in the Prep School is to get our children ready for the demands of Senior School study and examinations. We do this by giving them the confidence to learn through a curriculum which provides a specialised, multi-sensory approach with an emphasis on literacy and numeracy skills. The children in Years 4 to 6 follow a ‘Creative Curriculum’ where they learn through creative and active teaching strategies. This gets beyond rote learning and focuses on big ideas and interesting projects. We have our own Forest School and Vegetable Garden and Polytunnel, which allows for plenty of outdoor learning.
When children move into Years 7 and 8 they develop greater independence following a broad curriculum and taught by subject specialists in literacy, numeracy and science. They will also access Senior School resources such as the Food Tech room and Science Labs.
Alongside their academic provision, children enjoy a wide range of extra curricular activities such as sporting fixtures which play an important part of Prep life with our teams regularly competing against other schools.
