Learning in the Pre-Prep

“Children enjoy their learning and quickly develop skills that help them understand that they can make their own decisions.” ISI INSPECTION REPORT 2017

In Pre-Prep we aim to provide a language rich environment which stimulates and challenges each child. We place an emphasis on nurturing the whole child and ensuring that we develop the skills and attitudes that open the door to life long learning.

Pre-Prep pupil in classroom

We are committed to:

providing a safe, stimulating environment in which the children feed confident and secure
encouraging the Personal, Social and Emotional development that underpins creative and intellectual development
developing confidence
offering positive role models and opportunities to explore, question and engage in their learning
extending and challenging children to achieve

We operate a team league system in Pre-Prep. All pupils (and staff) belong to one of the following Leagues: Athens, Carthage, Mycenae, Rome, Sparta or Troy.

Pre-Prep pupil doing activity Cultivating a sense of belonging is an essential ingredient to every child’s development as a person. Adopting the League system provides many opportunities for reinforcing the benefits of being part of a team and developing an appreciation that every member, with their unique skills, knowledge and experience, is important.

We are passionate about ensuring each child has the confidence to engage in their peers' learning environment and personal knowledge. We understand that the age of our children is unique in that knowledge and skills are developed rapidly.

We celebrate effort and originality, praising perseverance, improvement and a job well done. Helping children to be adventurous, whilst guiding them, is important and we try to enable them to be adaptable, ready to tackle new concepts and to deal with unfamiliar situations with courage to take measured risks.

Praise in class and assembly reinforces an ethos for striving to do one’s best and recognition of successes both small and large. Children are proud of their achievements and love to share their successes and work with their parents, teachers and friends. We maintain a close relationship and indeed partnership with parents.

Pre-Prep pupils last year made excellent progress during the year. By the end of the year, nearly 100% of Reception pupils had reached all the Early Learning Goal. Year 1 and Year 2 pupils also made very significant progress during the year, scoring nearly 90% across all areas in the teacher assessed key skills including maths, literacy, IT, science and PSHE.

Curriculum

Our exemption from the restrictions of the National Curriculum has been extended to the Reception Class. This enables us to meet the needs of each pupil, often going beyond the National Curriculum and providing numerous opportunities for pupils to be challenged and extend their knowledge.

We still support learning under the umbrellas of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development as well as Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

Access to a rich and stimulating curriculum and learning environment takes into account the uniqueness of every child and their interests.

Subjects from Year 1:
English – literacy, language, Mathematics – numeracy and problem solving, Science, ICT, History, Geography, RE, PSHE, Art, Design, Music and PE. The pupils also do Swimming, Dance, Games and Drama.

More able pupils are given extension work appropriate to their ability and less able pupils are supported in a small group with individual tasks.

Breadth and balance lie at the heart of the education we offer. Our broad curriculum reflects this, with the major areas of sport, music, drama and art being essential ingredients.

We consider the outdoor area as much of a learning environment as the classroom and take full advantage of the wonderfully spacious grounds and facilities we share with the rest of the College to enrich the children’s development.