Our School : Preparatory

Co-located on the same campus as the Senior School you will find our busy Prep school girls thriving in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

We provide an environment where girls learn to love learning and are prepared fully for their Senior School education. The girls are encouraged to take part in all that is on offer, celebrate success but also learn from mistakes and failure. All this is done in a safe and supportive environment where the girls and staff know each other well and enjoy each other's company enormously.

We have just over 100 girls in the Prep School ranging from 4-11 years. There is usually one Form per Year group and each class comprises children of one year group only. There is an average of 14 girls per class. We recommend entry into the Reception class during the academic year your daughter is 5 years old as she will then continue to benefit fully from all that the 'Outstanding' Early Years Foundation has to offer, as well as enjoying the facilities and ethos of our school as a whole as she progresses up through Prep. As with Nursery, our Prep girls are always taught PE by Senior School specialists and enjoy a healthy active lifestyle alongside excellent academic progress.

Our Prep School girls benefit hugely from being co-located with the Senior School and use many of the academic, sporting, musical and drama facilities often missed by stand-alone primary schools. They also enjoy the company and support of Sixth Form Prefects who provide a perfect 'big sister' role model as well as some of those in Years 10 and 11 who read to the younger girls. Assemblies are held every day and, on Fridays, we join the Senior School and Sixth Form for a whole school assembly. It is a joy to see the younger girls totally confident and happy in the company of those much older and to witness the support, encourage and often loud applause our Senior Girls offer the Prep!

The curriculum is challenging and varied but certainly not rigid. As a result, we do not test our girls formally at KS1 or KS2 believing strongly that the education provided is full, fun and secure and a perfect stepping stone to senior studies in due course. Indeed our Prep School girls are granted automatic right of transfer into our Senior School to continue their journey to success. They do not have to pass the 11+ entrance examinations which external candidates sit because if we have accepted a student on board lower down the school then we have the moral and professional responsibility to see their academic career through to GCSE, if that is what you decide. In order to help the transition into the Senior School our Prep 6 girls are taught by Senior School specialists in the following subjects: Mathematics, English, French, Art, Science, Food and Nutrition, PE and, sometimes, Drama. They start to take lessons about the campus from the January of Prep 6 so that when September and Year 7 comes around they are familiar and happy with the school site as a whole.

Please come and visit us - we'd love to show you what we do!